Category Archives: Seasons

The Allison Curse and City’s Nightmare at Halifax

Malcolm Allison’s multi-million pound Manchester City side were humbled 1-0 at Fourth Division Halifax Town in the FAC on this day (5 January) in 1980 but there’s so much more to it than that. At Christmas 1979 big spending City were 12th in the League and Malcolm Allison was in charge of the most expensive British team ever assembled up to that point.12th was disappointing of course but it wasn’t the end of the world. In those days a decent run in the League could easily lift a team (similar to the 2025-26 season in terms of the number of clubs capable of winning the League at Christmas). Sadly, City collapsed in the weeks that followed.  

A 1-1 draw at Stoke on Boxing Day was disappointing, but it wasn’t the end of the world.  Then a 4-1 defeat at First Division newcomers Brighton knocked confidence at an important time.  The next game was the third round F.A. Cup clash against Fourth Division Halifax Town at the Shay.

In his programme notes for the match Halifax Manager George Kirby predicted a shock:  “In today’s F.A. Cup 3rd round the only certainty is that there are going to be some surprises, especially with the wintry conditions underfoot.  I like to think that we are among one of the possible giant killers.  This is because we are playing against one of the certain to be ‘top teams’ of the 80s.  A 4th Div side at home to a 1st Div outfit with such stars as Joe Corrigan, Steve Daley, and Mike Robinson is a possible shock result.  It only needs an off day by a key player and Halifax are in the hunt.”

Kirby was determined to defeat football’s biggest spenders and even brought in an hypnotist, Romark (who had previously ‘cursed’ Allison while the City boss had been manager of Crystal Palace – a really interesting story which will be covered in my biography of Peter Barnes to be published in 2021), to get his players in the right frame of mind.  The game itself was played in horrendous conditions, with multi-million pound City struggling to achieve anything.  In the 75th minute it was all over as the ex-Birmingham City player Paul Hendrie converted a cross from former City schoolboy Andy Stafford to give Halifax a 1-0 victory.  It was the biggest result in Halifax history, and the most embarrassing City defeat of the Allison period.  Even today the name of Halifax and the sight of the Shay brings back nightmares for a large number of Blues.

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MCFC v Chelsea Today

City v Chelsea today (4 January 2026 at 5.30pm). This has been an important fixture over the decades with European semi finals played between the sides decades ago for example. Many of these are featured on this website, so why not have a search around. Here’s a link to all articles tagged Chelsea on here: https://gjfootballarchive.com/tag/chelsea/

1971 ECWC v Chelsea. Tony Book and mascot Paul Todd. Photo by Alan Jubb

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The 1950s: Film of WBA v Manchester City

Here’s film from this day (4 January) in 1958 when Manchester City visited West Bromwich Albion for a FA Cup tie. The game, played at the Hawthorns, was watched by 49,669. Joe Hayes scored for City… I won’t mention the result but it’s well worth watching these rare images of a game from that season.

https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/186752/

To find out more on this period in football then why not read my series on Manchester City in the 1950s. Here’s a 2,200 word article on the 1957-58 season. Enjoy!

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Abandoned Match: City v Ipswich

Today (3 January) in 1994: After 39 minutes Manchester City’s game with Ipswich Town was abandoned with the Blues winning 2-0.  The scorers were Vonk and Ingebrigtsen – his only League goal for the Blues was expunged from the records as a result!

The referee David Elleray angered the City players, especially Tony Coton, by abandoning the tie due to a waterlogged pitch.  The pitch had been appalling at the kick-off and perhaps the game should not have commenced.  Naturally, it was a big disappointment at the time.

I was at this abandoned game in the ‘new’ Platt Lane Stand. Were you also at Maine Road that day? If so why not leave your memory as a comment or email it to me for possible future use on this website?

You can read more on the 1993-94 season here:

Manchester City Season – 1993-94

Broadbottom 3 Manchester City 0…

Not quite MCFC but it was Broadbottom 3 St Mark’s (West Gorton) 0 on this day (31 December) in 1881. St Mark’s was a precursor to City (see elsewhere on the site for details). The fact that Gorton only managed to field nine players appears to be the reason why the match was so one sided especially as, only two months later, the home fixture between the two clubs ended 3-0 in West Gorton’s favour.  It is fair to say however that the St. Mark’s men were rather inconsistent! For the record here’s the team:

St Mark’s did eventually evolve into Manchester City (through various other changes) of course!

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Frank Clark Becomes City Boss

On this day (30 December) in 1996 Frank Clark became the Manchester City manager. These were odd days for the Blues. There’s more on Frank Clark elsewhere on the site, such as:

Manchester City Season – 1996-97

From My Collection: The 1967-68 Champions

Here’s an odd item from my collection. It’s a compliment slip by a Star Press (the ‘champion printers’) which lists the players in Manchester City’s 1967-68 title winning team. There are a couple of spelling mistakes. See if you can spot them. One side of the compliments slip shows the League Champions and the other side looks like this:

I’m not certain if there was a close connection between Manchester City and Star Press at this time.

You can find out more about the 1967-68 season by reading the following subscriber article. If you’d like to read this 7,600 word article (yes, 7,600 words on one season!), plus all other articles on the site, then please subscribe (see below). As with most of the other seasonal features it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there.

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From My Collection: 1970 League Cup Final

Ever wondered who the official guests were for major games like the League Cup final? Here’s an item from my collection showing the guest lists and tables for the 1970 League Cup final which featured West Bromwich Albion and Manchester City. One of the guests was Manchester United manager and former City player Matt Busby. Here’s the full list:

If you want to know more on the incredible 1960s & 1970s for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? Have a search through what’s been posted and see what you want to read, watch and remember. The following 5,600 word article on the successes of 1970 is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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From My Collection: MEN Football Special 1982-83 and Its Predictions!

Here’s a few images from the 1982-83 football special publication produced at the start of the season by the Manchester Evening News. Back then the newspaper tended to produce a preview for the season each year. David Meek (United) and Peter Gardner (City) would write features on the two local top flight teams and then there’d also be features on Oldham, Bolton, Stockport and Rochdale. Both Meek and Gardner would also predict what the season would be like for United and City. Typically, Meek would say that the new season was likley to be the one that ‘finally’ brought the League title back to Old Trafford while Gardner would often try to be upbeat about City’s chances in some way. In 1982 Gardner took a different approach though and basically said it would be a difficult season – he was right! – but Meek stuck to the usual approach and said that 1982-83 could be the year the League title returned to Old Trafford for the first time since 1967 (City had won it in 1968).

United didn’t win the title for another decade and if you’d like to know exactly what happened to City, you can read all about the 1982-83 season for the Blues in this 3,500 word subscriber feature. Enjoy (well, if you know the outcome of this season you can enjoy this memory refresh while reflecting on the modern day successes of the Blues!).

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