Category Archives: Manchester United

15 Years Ago: The All-Manchester FA Cup Semi Final

On 16 April 2011 Manchester City faced Manchester United in the FA Cup semi final. Five years ago I produced Restored 2011: The All-Manchester FA Cup Semi Final and I think it’s well worth listening to today to get a feel for how significant this game actually was. This special 1 hour audio recording looked at the game and the years between City’s 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. If it’s of interest then, over the coming months and years, I’ll produce others like this highlighting key points in Manchester City – and Manchester’s – footballing history. It costs £20 a year to subscribe (it works out £1.67 a month) or £3 if you’d like to sign up a month at a time to get full access for as long as you subscribe (you can always try it for a month). It’s worth bearing in mind that the 2010 Manchester A Football History cost £24.95 and all subscribers will be able to access all of that for as long as they are a subscriber (plus all the other stuff of course). You can subscribe below.

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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

The 1940s: Manchester City 4 Manchester United 1

On this day (10 April) in 1944 the North Regional League (a wartime league) Manchester derby ended in a 4-1 City victory over United. The City scorers were Les McDowall (3) and Les Bardsley. The United scorer was Billy Bryant and the game was watched by an official crowd of 18,990 at Maine Road (a City home game). The image shows that days results in the war leagues.

You can read more on MCFC in the 1943-44 season below. The story of George Smith is included within this. George was the victim of friendly fire and his story is remarkable.

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Mayhem in Manchester

On this day (April 7) in 1992 a Keith Curle penalty, in front of an Old Trafford crowd of 46,781, helped Manchester City to a 1-1 draw in a controversial Manchester derby.  The game was viewed as being highly significant in the title race as only four days earlier the Blues had beaten title-hopefuls Leeds 4-0 at Maine Road. Here’s the story of that game including quotes from an interview I performed with Neil Pointon, who gives his views on a controversial incident that was pivotal to this derby…

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The 1950s: Manchester City 3 West Ham 1

On this day (30 March) in 1960 Manchester City defeated West Ham United 3-1 with goals from Colin Barlow, Denis Law and Billy McAdams. You can read more on this period for City with a series of articles posted on the 1950s and 1960s. Why not start with the following subscriber article on Manchester City during the 1959-60 season? If you’d like to read this 1200 word article, plus all other articles on the site, then please subscribe (see below).

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100 Years Ago Today – The First All-Manchester FAC Semi-Final

100 years ago today (27 March 1926) the first all-Manchester FA Cup semi final occurred. You can see film of that game here and subscribers can read about the match below. Here’s the film from Bramall Lane:

https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/51947/

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Double The Crowd: Crerand’s Bet With Allison

60 years ago this week (March 1966) Manchester City announced that their FA Cup quarter final was a 63,000 sell out. Why is this significant? Because the attendance was larger than any domestic crowd at Old Trafford that season, but why is that significant? Because at the start of the season United’s Pat Crerand bet City assistant manager Malcolm Allison that City would never get more than 30,000 for a game again! I interviewed Malcolm back in 1993 when we talked about this and he also mentioned it in he biography. The story…

Basically, Allison was sat at United’s League championship celebration and became somewhat frustrated by the glorification of United that night. While Joe Mercer took a diplomatic approach, afterall it was United’s celebration dinner, Allison decided to speak out. He told Matt Busby’s son Sandy that his dad had a twenty year start but ‘I’ll pass him in three’ and then Allison claimed he got into a discussion with Crerand about ‘little City’ compared to United. Allison claimed Crerand made a £10 bet with him that City would never again get 30,000+ in Maine Road.

A pause in the action (September 1967 Manchester derby) gives Summerbee Crerand and Dunne an opportunity to debate the action so far (Image: The Pride of Manchester, 1991)

On a Wednesday night in October (27/10/65) City attracted 34,091 for the visit of Norwich in the Second Division. Allison told me he couldn’t remember whether he ever got his £10 but he did laugh a great deal when I told him that United’s attendance the previous Saturday was 32,716 for the top flight visit of Fulham.

Malcolm Allison at the launch of Gary James’ Football With A Smile: The Authorised Biography of Joe Mercer, OBE in December 1993. Note Francis Lee appearing behind Allison.

What was even more remarkable was that the City-Everton FAC tie on 26 March 1966 was watched by 63,034 and that was higher than any domestic crowd at United that season. Allison laughed again when we discussed that briefly. As a comparison, United attracted 58,161 for their League game with Liverpool (lowest home League attendance 23,039 v Aston Villa) and they did get 60,433 for their FAC Cup quarter-final replay with Preston. Plus United managed to better all these attendances with 64,035 for their European Cup quarter-final with Benfica.

I did an earlier interview with Allison that can be listened to here:

Malcolm Allison Audio Interview Part One

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The 108th Manchester Derby in the League

Forty years ago today (22 March 1986) Manchester United hosted Manchester City in the 108th League derby between the teams. The fixture was the first of two high profile games for the Blues in consecutive days with the other game coming on Sunday at Wembley. See this story for news of that Wembley final:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/2023/03/23/wembley-wembley-86-mcfc-v-chelsea/

Here for subscribers are the match stats, background, match report, film and other details from the 1986 Old Trafford derby: 

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The 1950s: The 1956 FA Cup Semi Final

70 years ago today (17 March 1956) Manchester City defeated Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in the FA Cup final with a goal from Bobby Johnstone. The game was watched by 69,788 at Villa Park and you can watch film of it here:

https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/60611/

You can read more on this season below…

Here for subscribers is a 3,900 word article on the 1955-56 season when City won the FA Cup final (nowadays known as the Trautmann Final) and Bert Trautmann was FWA Footballer of the Year (presented in the days before the final). Enjoy!

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The First Manchester Derby at the Etihad

The first Manchester derby at Manchester City’s new stadium (then called the City of Manchester Stadium, now the Etihad) occurred on this date (14 March) in 2004.  For pride’s sake it was important Kevin Keegan’s side did not lose that fixture, but with United some 13 places above the Blues pre-match Ferguson’s side were clear favourites.  It was time for City to upset the form book.

On a wonderful day, perhaps the best the stadium had enjoyed in its inaugural year, a terrific atmosphere helped Keegan’s side achieve a memorable victory.  Fowler opened the scoring in the third minute and Macken made it 2-0 after 32 minutes.  Scholes made it 2-1 three minutes later.  

In the second half goals from Mancunian Trevor Sinclair (73) and Shaun Wright-Phillips made it 4-1 to the Blues.  You can hear my interview with Trevor Sinclair about this game here:

Trevor Sinclair Interview

Matt Dickinson (The Times):  “Humiliated by Manchester City last season, Sir Alex Ferguson and his men used the pain to fuel their drive to the title.  Humiliated again yesterday, they are condemned to live with the despair for months – perhaps even years.”  

Keegan felt the win was thoroughly deserved:  “We had played better against Chelsea and lost.  But against United we got that important early goal which gave us something to hang on to.  We had personnel problems because we had players doing jobs that don’t come naturally to them and also had to make two enforced changes at the interval.”

Chris Bailey explained the significance of the match in the Manchester Evening News:  “Maine Road saw some pulsating derbies in its time but few could have matched this first-ever neighbourly spat at Eastlands.  And how satisfying that Kevin Keegan’s side should choose this day of all days to win their first home game since October 18 and banish all thoughts of the drop.”

In 2012 Dennis Tueart, who was a director at the time of the stadium move, told me his memories of that derby match, believing it was an important moment in the stadium’s inaugural season:  “When we moved to the stadium Kevin Keegan worried about whether the atmosphere would be the same and I told him that fans would take a bit of time getting used to it because they were no longer sat with the people they’d been with for years.  The dynamics were different.  He felt we should try and get fans in the ground earlier, but I said that performance on the pitch would be the most significant factor.  

“When we beat United 4-1 in the first derby at the stadium the atmosphere was incredible.  Kevin came to me afterwards and said ‘I see what you mean’.  That then set the tone of the place.  The place was rocking – people were singing as they walked down the spirals at the end of the match and the atmosphere was absolutely superb.”

If you would like to read about other Manchester derbies then check out this:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/category/manchester-derbies/

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The Origins Of Manchester City: The Earliest Known Game

Continuing here: the story of Manchester City’s origins. Today’s feature is a 3,300+ word feature on the earliest known game, played in November 1880. Have a look elsewhere on the site for other content on this period.

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