Category Archives: Seasons

The 1990s: Series Starts Now!

The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1990s starts today with the story of the opening months of 1990. Howard Kendall was the City manager and the Blues were in the middle of a period where many of their 1986 FA Youth Cup winners were now regulars. Kendall recognised that topflight experienced/major trophy winning players were needed and he had embarked on strengthening the Blues with several players he felt he could trust to re-establish City as a credible trophy challenging team.

The story starts with the opening months of 1990 (see below). This series of articles and features will run throughout March with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. There will be flashbacks to great games, players and more. Every day in March will offer something to enjoy.

Subscribers will get access to everything, while some on this day material will be free for all to view.

If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? The following 1,300 word article on the end of the 1989-90 season is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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Starting Tomorrow: The 1990s

A new series of articles starts tomorrow on Manchester City in the 1990s. There will be a seasonal journey through a truly important decade when Manchester City began the decade hoping to challenge for the Premier League. People often forget how things changed that decade. A giant of a club at the start of the decade and one that the whole football world recognised as being part of English football’s aristocracy. By the end of the decade it was the loyalty of fans that most recognised the club for.

Those that claim City has ‘no history’ may learn something about a decade that is often highlighted for its failings but which actually had some wonderful, incredible, positive moments too. This series of features will show how that decade actually went and will hopefully help to explain why the narrative of ‘third tier club that got lucky’ is so wrong! For the entire month of March there will be features to make every Blue proud, while also recognising the true nature of football – some times it’s great being a fan and sometimes it’s awful. That’s football!

Re-live the highs and lows of the 1990s decade from tomorrow onwards.

If you’d like to read everything in this series then please subscribe. Details below:

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The 1970s: Series Ends

The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s has now ended but you can still take a look at the posts that have been made over the last couple of months. The series of articles and features ran throughout January and for much of February with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. There were flashbacks to great games, players and more. Every day offered something to enjoy.

Subscribers can still access to everything and there are plenty of free on this day material for all to view.

If you want to know more on this incredible decade 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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The 1970s: The 1976 League Cup Final

Another 1970s flashback today with film of the 1976 League Cup final played on this day (28 February) in 1976. I blame Tueart for my bad back as we all tried to replicate his goal at school the following week! Here’s film of the game:

You can read more on this amazing season below.

This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s has been running throughout January and February with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others.

Subscribers get access to everything. If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 5,320 word article is on the 1975-76 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.

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Five in the FA Cup

Last night (27 February 2024) Erling Haaland became the third Manchester City player to score five goals in a FA Cup game when he faced Luton. The two previous players to achieve this feat were Frank Roberts (see link below for video of the game he scored 5 in) and Bobby Marshall. Marshall’s five came in a FA Cup replay at Swindon on 29 January 1930 when City won 10-1. The attendance for this Tuesday afternoon match was 46,082 – a remarkable figure for an afternoon game in the days before floodlit competition.

Here are a couple of reports of that game (the second contains the goalscoring times/sequence):

Here’s the story of Frank Roberts’ five:

Maine Road 100 – Day 91

Of course Denis Law had scored 6 in a FA Cup tie v Luton but these were wiped from the records:

FAC Draw a Reminder! Law’s Expunged Six

For Haaland there were a few records/points to note:

  • He is regarded as the first player to score five or more in the FA Cup (1st round onwards) since Duane Darby scored 6 for Hull v Whitby in 1996-97.
  • He is the first to score five or more for a top-flight club in the FA Cup since George Best scored 6 for United v Northampton in 1970.
  • He is the first to score five against Luton for City since Denis Law in 1961 when Law scored 6 but all were wiped from the records as the game was abandoned.
  • This is the second time Haaland has scored five goals in a game in his senior career, previously doing so for City against RB Leipzig in the Champions League in March 2023.
  • Since his debut for City in July 2022, Haaland has scored 79 goals in 83 games in all comps, 30 more than any other Premier League player in the that time (Salah 49).

Luton v MCFC: Story So Far!

It’s Luton v Manchester City in the FA Cup tonight. The two sides have met on 7 previous occasions in the competition with City winning 4, drawing 1 and 2 ending in defeat. There was also the famous expunged game where Denis Law netted six. ‘Expunged’ – what a great word! For anyone wondering, it means wiped from the records. So none of those six count in either Law’s goals record or City’s, but it is a game that often gets remembered.

You can read about that one here:

FAC Draw a Reminder! Law’s Expunged Six

Other fixtures include…

Paul Cooper saving a penaly:

Saving a 56th Penalty: Paul Cooper

Both sides pay their respects following the death of a monarch (interesting to note that that weekend’s FA Cup games went ahead as scheduled. Over 65,000 watched City defeat Luton 2-1 at Maine Road).

Royal Reactions (part one)

Of course, Luton played their part in one of the most infamous end of season games in 1983. I won’t put a link here to that but do a search if you’re interested as there’s plenty on my website about that day!

The full record for Manchester City against Luton prior to tonight’s game is:

CompetitionPlayedWonDrawnLost
League37141211
FA Cup7412
League Cup6321
European0000
Other0000

The 1970s: Colin Bell & Success

Continuing the series on the 1970s and to mark the anniversary of Colin Bell’s birth it’s well worth reminding ourselves of something he viewed as one of his greatest successes. It may surprise some fans… When I interviewed Colin quite a few years ago we talked about his many successes and triumphs as a player. He was as humble as ever. Then he told me something which surprised me a little and that was about Manchester City’s 1977-78 Central League title.

City’s reserve team played in the Central League back then and, due to his devastating injury, Colin played reserve games throughout that season as he pushed for full fitness. He started 22 of these games and scored five goals.

When I interviewed Colin he told me he was as pleased with this Central League success as he was with all his other medals. To him that season saw a return to competitive football and it was irrelevant whether it was a reserve league or the Football League. It mattered enormously.

Most posts on Colin won’t talk about the 1977-78 Central League title but, as he was so keen to ensure he mentioned it to me all those years ago, I feel it’s appropriate to give it a little focus.

His first Central League appearance of the 1977-78 season attracted almost 5,000 as many of us were determined to be there when he returned to action. For the record that game was v Huddersfield on 17th September 1977, attendance 4,921.

Colin was a wonderful player and man. Those of us who saw him play know what a great player he was; those of us who were privileged to meet him met a truly humble & wonderful human being. He was the King of our Kippax but was truly a legend of football at Bury, City and England. His name will always be remembered.

This image of my ledger for 1977-78 shows Colin in City’s Central League match records.

More on that season here of course:

The 1970s: 1977-1978 Bell’s Return

The 1970s: Kiddo Header

Here’s another flashback to the 1970s. This is video of Brian Kidd scoring a header v Everton on this day (25 February) in 1978. It was the only goal of the match and you can watch it here:

This is part of a series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s which ran during January & February 2024 with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. Subscribers can access all of these. If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 3,700 word article is on the 1977-78 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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Stan Bowles

I’ve just heard the news of Stan Bowles’ death. He was born on 24 December 1948 and was a great maverick Mancunian footballer. Here’s a profile of him, focusing on his Manchester City days.

Bowles joined City as an amateur on 27 July 1965, becoming an apprentice on 1 October 1965 and then professional on 29 December 1966.

Then in 1967 things really began to happen and Bowles’ first game was as a substitute in a League Cup tie at home to Leicester City. He scored two goals in the second half and the following Saturday he made his League debut another memorable one. He scored two again!

Lots of stories have circulated over the years about his time at City. Like Mario Balotelli many years later some are truthful; others are exaggerations and some are completely make up.

The stories go that Bowles once missed a flight to Amsterdam where City were to play against Ajax, and that Bowles’ interest in the horses led to Joe Mercer saying: ‘If Stan could pass a betting shop like he can pass a ball, he’d be a world beater.’ Suspensions and other issues led to Stan refusing to sign a new contract and he asked to leave. That in itself led to him being suspended for 14 days on the advice of the Football League.

Inevitably Bowles moved on, first to Bury (July 1970) and then to Crewe (September 1970).

A spell at Carlisle followed and then in September 1972 a bid of £110,000 took him to Loftus Road where he won five England caps as a QPR player.

Seven years later Nottingham Forest’s Brian Clough bought him for £210,000 but sold him again less than a year later after further issues. Further spells were reported at Orient, Brentford, Hounslow and Epping.

In 2015 it was announced he was suffering with Alzheimer’s Disease, like his former boss Joe Mercer.

At City Bowles made a total of 20 first team appearances, scoring 4 goals, but he remains recognised as a hugely talented player.

There are articles on this site mentioning Bowles. Here’s a selection:

Stan Bowles Debut
Welcome to Gary James’ Football Archive

The 1970s: MCFC Win Sparks Rampage!

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with this flashback to today (24 February) in 1979 when City won 3-0 at Coventry. The goalscorers were Mike Channon (2) and Brian Kidd and was City’s second successive away win by that score (the previous had been Spurs 3 weeks earlier). You can read a report of the game above but you may also be interested in this article about some ‘rampaging’ that occurred after the game. For once away fans were not blamed! Instead newspapers blamed the Coventry fans who, it was felt, couldn’t handle the defeat. All interesting stuff!

This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s has been running throughout January and into February with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. Every day offered something to enjoy.

Subscribers can access everything. If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 5,700 word article is on the 1978-79 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access – Annual

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.

Subscribe

If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

How To Subscribe

If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.

Choose an amount

£2.50
£5.00
£7.50

Or enter a custom amount

£

Your contribution is appreciated.

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