The first time Manchester City earned three points for a win came on this day (29 August) in 1981 when City defeated West Brom 2-1. The new points system had been introduced for that season (it’s not that City had gone a decade without a win or anything!). The idea was that 3 points would encourage teams (especially away teams) to play for a win instead of a draw. The old system gave two points for a win and some teams, including several 1970s title winners, went out looking for draws away from home it was felt.
Category Archives: Seasons
Sponsorship Arrives
On this day in 1982 Manchester City should have played their first League game with a sponsor’s name on their shirt. However the match was televised and in those days TV did not allow clubs to wear sponsors names in televised games. The match was a 2-1 win away at Norwich and City’s first sponsor was the car company Saab.
New signing David Cross scored the opener after 3 minutes and 5 seconds (below) and we all thought this was going to be a great season. I won’t spoil it by saying what happened the following May!
Abandoned Derby
On this day (27 August) in 1960 the only Manchester Derby to be abandoned (and the game replayed) took place. It was abandoned at 2-2 with heavy rain at Maine Road.
Strictly speaking another derby (the one at Old Trafford in 1974) was also abandoned but the result for that game was allowed to stand.
Ball Out!
On this day (26 August) in 1996 the reign of Alan Ball as Manchester City boss finally and thankfully came to an end. It was by some way the worst managerial period of the last fifty years at the club (and that’s saying something!).
Three games into the new season he resigned. He should have gone at least a year earlier!
City would’ve been better with Bobby Ball as manager!
The First Don
The first League meeting between Manchester City and Wimbledon came on this day (25 August) in 1984. It was an altogether new experience for City. Relegation in May 1983 had brought many changes to the club, including the arrival of manager Billy McNeill and his assistant Jimmy Frizzell. Their first season in charge had seen the Blues finish fourth behind Chelsea, Newcastle, and Sheffield Wednesday, and much was expected from their second campaign. Subscribers can read a feature, including match reports, on the first meeting with Wimbledon below:
Subscribe to get access
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. Subscribe here for £20 a year and get access to everything posted on the site since launching in December 2020. Subscribe below for £3 a month for access to everything since 1st October 2022. Whichever subscription you take out you will get access to everything for the full length of your subscription. Why not do £3 for a month to see what you think?
Subscribe to get access – Monthly
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. Subscribe above for £20 a year and get access to everything posted on the site since launching in December 2020. Subscribe here for £3 a month for access to everything since 1st October 2022. Whichever subscription you take out you will get access to everything for the full length of your subscription. Why not do £3 for a month to see what you think?
Maine Road 100 – Day 100: The English Hampden
2023 marks the 100th anniversary of Maine Road’s first game and to commemorate this landmark moment I have been posting a different image or feature on the old stadium each day for the last 100 days. Today is day 100 and is the actual centenary of that historic first game. So guess what I’m covering today? On this day (25 August) in 1923 Manchester City’s Maine Road Stadium staged its first game. Here is film of that landmark day in Manchester’s sporting history…
https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-million-spectators-welcome-return-of-football-1923-online
You can also read a 1100 word article about the opening of the stadium and on why the ground was considered to be the ‘English Hampden’ and not the ‘Wembley of the North’ that some have tried to claim in more recent times.
Subscribe to get access – Annual
Read this and all other content when you subscribe. It costs £20 a year to access all the articles, interviews, talks and books on the site plus everything posted during your subscription. There’s also a monthly option (see below)
Subscribe to get access – Monthly
Monthly subscriptions (cancel any time) costs £3 per month to access all the articles, interviews, talks and books posted on the site since 1 October 2022 plus everything posted during your subscription. Why not try it for a month?
Maine Road 100 – Day 99
It’s Day 99 of my Maine Road 100 countdown to the centenary of Maine Road’s first game. One more day to go! I hope you’ve enjoyed this free series. Today it’s about the oldest and youngest players to have appeared for City at Maine Road. Any ideas who they may be?
Billy Meredith was the oldest to play for City at Maine Road. He was 49 years & 238 days old when he played for City against Preston on 22/3/1924. This was Maine Road’s first season too!
Glyn Pardoe was the youngest to play for City at Maine Road. He was 15 years and 314 days old when he made his debut v Birmingham City on 11/4/1961.
Tomorrow will be the centenary of Maine Road’s first game. I hope you have enjoyed my 100 day countdown. If you have enjoyed this series of articles and posts on Maine Road then why not become a subscriber and access all the other great content. To find out more see:
Maine Road 100 – Day 98
It’s Day 98 of my Maine Road 100 countdown to the centenary of Maine Road’s first game. I hope you’ve enjoyed these. Today it’s about the players who have scored most goals in individual games at Maine Road. Any ideas who may be heading the list and how many goals they may have scored in a single game at Maine Road?
The following are the players who have scored most in a single game for each of the domestic competitions at Maine Road:
League: 5 goals – scored by Tommy Browell v Burnley 24/10/25 & George Smith v Newport 14/6/47
FA Cup: 5 goals – scored by Frank Roberts v Crystal Palace 20/2/26
League Cup: 4 goals – scored by Dennis Tueart v Notts County 29/10/80. You can see stuff on this here:
You can read about Frank Roberts v Palace here:
If you have enjoyed this series of articles and posts on Maine Road then why not become a subscriber and access all the other great content. To find out more see:
Maine Road 100 – Day 96
It’s Day 96 of my Maine Road 100 countdown (not long to go now!) to the centenary of Maine Road’s first game and a brief post on the first and last first team penalty takers at Maine Road. Anyone know who they were? I’m sure many people reading this were there when the last penalty was taken in a first team game at Maine Road. Got it?
That’s right the last first team competitive penalty taken at Maine Road was by Stuart Pearce on 21 April 2002 v Portsmouth. He missed (Elsewhere on this site I tell the story of that day – well worth reading if you’re wondering what was so special about it).
The first penalty at Maine Road was also missed. That was taken by Frank Roberts in the opening game v Sheffield United on 25 August 1923.
Of course Garry Bradbury will claim it’s actually him who took the last penalty at Maine Road as he took one for Merseyside CSA in the Supporters’ Club challenge against Prestwich & Whitefield, in a match that was claimed to be the final game at Maine Road on 12 June 2003.
If you have enjoyed this series of articles and posts on Maine Road then why not become a subscriber and access all the other great content. To find out more see:
BBC & MCFC Interviews
Busy day today talking about the history of Manchester City, in particular the story of City’s stadia. It’s 100 years on Friday since Maine Road’s first game and we’ve just had the 20th anniversary of the Etihad’s (then known as City of Manchester Stadium) first game. Time flies!
The interviews today started with Mike Sweeney interviewing me about Maine Rd and the Etihad for BBC Radio Manchester – that will be played on Friday assuming all is okay – and then it was off to Manchester City for the next set of interviews about the club’s grounds and other stuff.
Later I’m chatting elsewhere about football, sorry soccer, in the USA. A busy day.
Gary James' Football Archive 