Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
On this day (17 September) in 1910 Old Trafford staged its first Manchester derby and City were even awarded a penalty there too! The penalty was saved and the game ended in a 2-1 United win in front of a crowd estimated to be about 60,000. Here’s a brief match report from that day. Note also the preview for City’s next game at Hyde Road:
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.
Roberto Mancini has left his role as Italy’s men’s football manager. Hopefully, he’ll be back in club management soon and maybe in the Premier League too. His contribution to Manchester City’s history is huge and so I think it’s worth reposting this audio special I did a couple of years ago. It’s a special audio recording talking about the years building up to the 2011 FA Cup success brought to City by Mancini. It includes some audio I did with him back in 2011 too. Enjoy this reminder of a time when Mancini helped transform City’s fortunes.
Restored 2011: The All-Manchester FA Cup Semi Final is a special 1 hour audio recording looks at the game and the years between the 1976 League Cup success and the FA Cup glory of 2011. The 2011 semi-final was a crucial step in City’s journey since the 2008 takeover and I felt it was vital to do a special marking this.
So what’s in this special recording? Well, I’ve included exclusive material from interviews and recordings I’ve done over the years with Garry Cook, Brian Marwood, Roberto Mancini, Peter Barnes and Peter Swales. Why Swales? Well, have a listen and you’ll hear why. Basically though I’m trying to set the tone for why the 2011 FA Cup semi final victory and overcoming Manchester United was so significant.
On Mancini… I include a few words from him recorded in 2011 and at one point he talks about the view that was then being expressed that City were ‘trying’ to buy success (now they say City ‘have’ bought success!). His words are a reminder that City have been having that particular criticism thrown at them for over a decade! Oh well, I wonder how long those criticisms were laid at other clubs who had seen major investment which propelled them forward?
Anyway, get yourself a brew and be prepared to be transported back in time. Here’s the recording:
If you enjoy the recording then please let me know, comment or subscribe to the site. I’ve produced videos/talks like this highlighting key points in Manchester City’s footballing history which subscribers can watch.
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Match Stats for the 2011 FA Cup Semi-final
City 1-0 United (HT 0-0)
Yaya Toure 52
City: 25 Hart 04 Kompany (yellow card), 05 Zabaleta (yellow card), 13 Kolarov, 19 Lescott, 11 Johnson (Wright-Phillips 79), 18 Barry, 21 Silva (Vieira 86), 34 De Jong (yellow card), 42 Y Toure, 45 Balotelli (yellow card). Substitutes 12 Taylor, 38 Boyata, 07 Milner, 08 Wright-Phillips, 24 Vieira, 10 Dzeko, 27 Jo
United: 01 Van der Sar, 03 Evra, 05 Ferdinand, 15 Vidic, 22 O’Shea (Fabio Da Silva 84), 13 Park Ji-Sung, 16 Carrick, 17 Nani, 18 Scholes (red card), 25 Valencia (Hernandez 65), 09 Berbatov (Anderson 74). Substitutes 29 Kuszczak, 12 Smalling, 20 Fabio Da Silva, 08 Anderson, 28 Gibson, 07 Owen, 14 Hernandez
Referee: Dean
Attendance: 86,549
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DonateIt’s post 82 of my 100 Maine Road countdown and today a reminder of the largest ever Manchester derby crowd for a game at City or United. On 20 September 1947 a crowd of approximately 78,000 witnessed the first post-war Manchester derby. A tense match ended goalless before the derby’s record crowd on a club ground. This attendance remained the highest for a Manchester derby until the 2011 FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium. The return fixture, also played at Maine Road, was watched by 71,690.
Subscribers can read the story of the 1947 game (background, match report, statistics etc.) below:
You can read this detailed article when you subscriber (plus all other material on the site). It costs £20 a year (£1.67 per month) to subscribe or you can subscribe a month at a time (see below).
You can read this detailed article when you subscribe (plus all other material on the site). It costs £20 a year (above) to subscribe annually or you can subscribe a month at a time for £3 per month (cancel anytime; monthly subscribers get access to everything posted since 1 October 2022).
For post 73 of my Maine Rd 100 countdown I’ve posted this great newspaper cutting from a significant Manchester derby. The game was on 29th January in 1955 and goals from Joe Hayes and Don Revie gave Manchester City a 2-0 victory over Manchester United in the FAC in front of 74,723. I’ve posted it partly because of the game’s significance but mostly because I just love the way newspapers would try to explain everything via images and text like this.
If you’d like to know the story of the game and see some great footage of it too then please subscribe (see below).
If you take out a monthly subscription (£3 a month) you get access to everything posted since 1 October 2022 and can cancel anytime). if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time.
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It’s post 71 of my Maine Rd 100 countdown. Today I want to show this programme cover for what was perceived as a decisive Manchester derby. Of course the derby that followed this one was more decisive but it’s worth pausing to reflect on the significance and drama of this Maine Rd derby.
MCFC v MUFC 13 March 1974, Score 0-0, Attendance 51,331 Maine Road
The Old Trafford derby of 1974 is usually quoted as a decisive derby, however the Maine Road match was viewed at the time as being vital to United’s survival. In fact in the programme Red manager Tommy Docherty claimed: “Tonight’s game is one which decides our fate. City’s League Cup defeat is a big anti-climax for them and could help our fight for First Division survival.” Here for subscribers to this site is the story of that game – a highly controversial one that was almost abandoned due to player indiscipline!
If you would like to read this and all the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book) then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year). Each annual subscriber gets full access to the 1000+ articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.
If you would like to read this then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year) above or £3 per month to subscribe on a monthly basis (here, cancel anytime). Each monthly subscriber gets full access to everything posted since 1 October 2022 and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.
It’s day 36 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game. Yesterday I featured Maine Road’s first derby match and today’s images are a reminder of the last Manchester derby played at Maine Road.
The game, played on 9 November 2002 saw City defeat United 3-1 with goals from Anelka and Goater (2). United’s historic last goal at Maine Road was scored by Solksjaer.
These images are taken from Farewell To Maine Road and subscribers can now download a PDF of that book. The feature on Maine Road’s last derby was in chapter one: End of an Era. See below for details of how to get that book.
For those unfamiliar with Maine Road this photo may help locate the the tunnel image (number 1):
If you’d like to read more on the history of Maine Road, take a look at Farewell To Maine Road, which can be downloaded from this page:
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DonateIt’s day 35 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game and today’s images are a reminder of the first Manchester derby played at Maine Road.
The game, played on 12 September 1925 (United had been in the Second Division when City first moved to Maine Road), saw City & United draw 1-1 before 66,000. This was at the time the highest Manchester derby crowd ever. It was later eclipsed with the record on a club ground being 78,000 (Maine Road). There have been higher at Wembley of course.
Sam Cowan scored for City and Clatworthy Rennox for United. Later this season the return derby at Old Trafford saw City win 6-1:
These images show Cowan’s goal and a drawing of the game’s highlights. Note the crowd references in the drawing.
Guess which game I’m going to cover tomorrow…. This was the first derby at Maine Road. Maybe it’s time to remember the last one?
For those unfamiliar with Maine Road this photo may help locate the end Cowan’s goal was scored at. In the days before the Popular Side (later Kippax) was roofed this was the goal mouth at the Platt Lane end (number 3/5) with the unroofed terracing beyond the players being located around number 8.
If you’d like to read more on the history of Maine Road, take a look at Farewell To Maine Road, which can be downloaded from this page:
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DonateI don’t know where to start with this but I wanted to get a few thoughts down ahead of the celebration chat I’ve planned for Wednesday (see link below)… This has been an absolutely incredible few weeks for fans of Manchester City and it’s also be mentally and physically draining too. It will be in the coming weeks that we get to relax and look back on it all but I wanted to get some top of the head thoughts down now while they’re buzzing around. So here goes…
The history of football moves at a frantic pace and there are key moments (Tueart, Dickov, Aguerooooooooooooo for example) that are era defining or represent the beginning or the end of an era. This last week is another of those with Rodri’s goal at Istanbul finally bringing City the Champions League that we’ve all craved for so long (but pretended at times that we didn’t).
Manchester City are now Champions Of Europe and, finally, Villa fans can stop singing their song to us! There were many occasions over the decades since City’s last European trophy that the club had a squad of players that were capable of major European success but sadly circumstances worked against them. There were also times when the club suffered major failures but I’ll forget those for the moment.
Depending on when you were born you tend to fall into three rough categories of City fan (there’s more than this but I hope you get my point):
The media tend to portray City as a failing 3rd tier club that got lucky, but the truth is that that was only one season and it was only in the late 1990s that United overtook City in terms of number of seasons at the highest level (I’ll explain the numbers another day but prior to the late 1990s United had spent more seasons between 1894 and then in the second tier than City had !).
In the 1970s City won three times as many trophies as United and even in the 1990s/2000s the Blues only spent 6 seasons out of the top flight. This was two spells (5 years and 1 year) and that 5 year spell was the longest period the Blues had ever endured out of the top flight.
This season finding European success has lifted everything in a global sense. I’ve talked previously (way back in 2012) about City being the club for the new generation and that is absolutely how it is panning out. Add to the Champions League the FA Cup – where City’s traditional rivals United were vanquished – and the Premier League (where City’s old rival from the 1930s looked certain to win the League for much of the season) and this has been a truly brilliant season.
https://gjfootballarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023-champions-league-final-sd-480p.mov
City and United are now the only clubs ever to have achieved THE treble – a truly great achievement that many thought impossible. Add to that that Guardiola’s Blues have previously become the ONLY team to win a domestic treble and you get to see that this isn’t simply the greatest ever Manchester City side but one of, if not THE, greatest ever side in English football.
We’ve had the Viking Call (the best team in the land and all the world) chant for almost 50 years now but, for the first time, the words are absolutely true (though we haven’t yet had a competitive fixture to determine the best world team of course – that will come!).
If you’d like to come and join me for an online celebration then please do:
These are truly great times to be a Blue. Enjoy!
The Premier League fixtures have been released for League Cup winning Manchester United. As always some of these will change due to TV and potential FA Cup clashes etc. Key fixtures to look out for are the Manchester derbies on 28/10 at Old Trafford and 2/3 at the Etihad. Here they are:
14/8/2023 – Wolverhampton Wanderers (H) – 20.00
19/8/2023 – Tottenham Hotspur (A) – 15:00
26/8/2023 – Nottingham Forest (H) – 15:00
SEPTEMBER:
2/9/2023 – Arsenal (A) – 15:00
16/9/2023 – Brighton & Hove Albion (H) – 15:00
23/9/2023 – Burnley (A) – 15:00
30/9/2023 – Crystal Palace – (H) – 15:00
OCTOBER:
7/10/2023 – Brentford (H) – 15:00
21/10/2023 – Sheffield United (A) – 15:00
28/10/2023 – Manchester City (H) – 15:00
NOVEMBER:
4/11/2023 – Fulham (A) – 15:00
11/11/2023 – Luton Town (H) – 15:00
25/11/2023 – Everton (A) – 15:00
DECEMBER:
2/12/2023 – Newcastle United (A) – 15:00
6/12/2023 – Chelsea (H) – 20:00
9/12/2023 – Bournemouth (H) – 15:00
16/12/2023 – Liverpool (A) – 15:00
23/12/2023 – West Ham United (A) – 15:00
26/12/2023 – Aston Villa (H) – 15:00
30/12/2023 – Nottingham Forest (A) – 15:00
JANUARY:
13/1/2024 – Tottenham Hotspur (H) – 15.00
30/1/2024 – Wolverhampton Wanderers (A) – 19.45
FEBRUARY:
3/2/2024 – West Ham United – (H) – 15:00
10/2/2024 – Aston Villa (A) – 15:00
17/2/2024 – Luton Town (A) – 15:00
24/2/2024 – Fulham (H) – 15:00
MARCH:
2/3/2024 – Manchester City (A) – 15:00
9/3/2024 – Everton (H) – 15:00
16/3/2024 – Sheffield United (H) – 15:00
30/3/2024 – Brentford (A) – 15:00
APRIL:
3/4/2024 – Chelsea (A) – 19:45
6/4/2024 – Liverpool (H) – 15:00
13/4/2024 – Bournemouth (A) – 15:00
20/4/2024 – Newcastle United (H) – 15:00
27/4/2024 – Burnley (H) – 15:00
MAY:
4/5/2024 – Crystal Palace (A) – 15:00
11/5/2024 – Arsenal (H) – 15:00
19/5/2024 – Brighton & HA (A) – 16.00
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