Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
A new series of features starts tomorrow. This series provides a season by season account of Manchester City FC in the early 1900s. Some are 2000+ word articles, others are a bit less, but each adds to the story of how the club evolved. So, if you’ve ever wondered how Manchester found its first major success or wondered about the scandal that rocked the club, here’s your chance to find out. This series covers 1900-1910.
Watch this space tomorrow for details.
The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1898-99 when Manchester City was a Second Division club – but look where they are in the attendance table! These figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.
In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.
1897-9 Average Attendances
| Average | Team |
| 20675 | Aston Villa |
| 18150 | Newcastle |
| 14525 | Everton |
| 13975 | Liverpool |
| 12300 | Sunderland |
| 10675 | Notts County |
| 10000 | Manchester City (2) |
| 9850 | Sheff Utd |
| 9400 | Blackburn Rovers |
| 8875 | Sheff Wed |
| 8850 | Nottm Forest |
| 8025 | Stoke |
| 7775 | Newton Heath (2) |
| 7550 | Wolves |
| 7450 | Leicester Fosse (2) |
| 7325 | Bolton |
| 7225 | Derby |
| 6125 | Burnley |
| 6025 | Preston |
| 5775 | Small Heath (2) |
| 5200 | WBA |
| 4600 | Burslem Port Vale (2) |
| 4525 | Bury |
| 4475 | Woolwich Arsenal (2) |
| 3350 | New Brighton Tower (2) |
| 3325 | Grimsby (2) |
| 3000 | Lincoln (2) |
| 2875 | Walsall (2) |
| 2775 | Luton (2) |
| 2750 | Glossop (2) |
| 2400 | Barnsley (2) |
| 2375 | Burton Swifts (2) |
| 2275 | Gainsborough Trinity (2) |
| 1900 | Loughborough (2) |
| 1500 | Blackpool (2) |
| 900 | Darwen (2) |
This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature? Here’s a link to the story of the 1898-99 season:
Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
More features tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?
The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1897-98 when Manchester City was a Second Division club. These figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.
In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.
1897-9 Average Attendances
| Average | Team |
| 17550 | Everton |
| 15325 | Aston Villa |
| 12125 | Liverpool |
| 11800 | Sheff Utd |
| 11600 | Newcastle (2) |
| 10925 | Sunderland |
| 9475 | Sheff Wed |
| 9050 | Derby |
| 8600 | Notts County |
| 8300 | Bolton |
| 8050 | Blackburn Rovers |
| 8000 | Manchester City (2) |
| 7875 | Woolwich Arsenal (2) |
| 7425 | Nottm Forest |
| 6950 | WBA |
| 6925 | Wolves |
| 6825 | Stoke |
| 6200 | Preston |
| 6125 | Newton Heath (2) |
| 5900 | Leicester Fosse (2) |
| 5400 | Small Heath (2) |
| 5200 | Bury |
| 3825 | Burnley (2) |
| 3525 | Grimsby (2) |
| 3325 | Luton (2) |
| 2950 | Lincoln (2) |
| 2825 | Walsall (2) |
| 2600 | Darwen (2) |
| 2300 | Burton Swifts (2) |
| 2250 | Gainsborough Trinity (2) (2) |
| 2050 | Loughborough (2) |
| 1825 | Blackpool (2) |
This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature? Here’s a link to the story of the 1897-98 season:
Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
More on the 1890s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?
The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1896-97 when Manchester City was a Second Division club. These figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.
In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.
1896-97 Average Attendances
| Average | Team |
| 15525 | Everton |
| 12925 | Aston Villa |
| 11675 | Liverpool |
| 8575 | Bolton |
| 8300 | Derby |
| 8200 | Sheff Utd |
| 8075 | Newcastle (2) |
| 8000 | Manchester City (2) |
| 7300 | Sheff Wed |
| 6775 | Blackburn |
| 6725 | Preston |
| 6425 | Wolves |
| 6275 | Woolwich Arsenal (2) |
| 6200 | Newton Heath (2) |
| 6150 | Bury |
| 6000 | Leicester Fosse (2) |
| 5825 | Small Heath |
| 5550 | WBA |
| 5525 | Sunderland |
| 5425 | Stoke |
| 5300 | Leicester Fosse (2) |
| 5175 | Burnley |
| 5125 | Nottm Forest |
| 4850 | Notts County (2) |
| 4800 | Grimsby (2) |
| 4500 | Small Heath (2) |
| 3325 | Gainsborough Trinity (2) |
| 2950 | Blackpool (2) |
| 2875 | Walsall (2) |
| 2650 | Burton Wanderers (2) |
| 1500 | Darwen (2) |
| 2325 | Burton Swifts (2) |
| 2075 | Loughborough (2) |
| 1675 | Lincoln (2) |
This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature? Here’s a link to the story of the 1896-97 season:
Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
More on the 1890s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?
The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1895-96 when Manchester City was a Second Division club. These figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.
In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.
Notice how Second Division Manchester City had a better average attendance than all clubs apart from the First Division’s third placed club Everton and League champions Aston Villa.
1895-96 Average Attendances
| Average | Team |
| 16000 | Everton |
| 11875 | Aston Villa |
| 10000 | Manchester City (2) |
| 9725 | Bolton |
| 8700 | Sheff Wednesday |
| 8375 | Derby |
| 7600 | Blackburn Rovers |
| 7250 | Sheff Utd |
| 7200 | Newcastle (2) |
| 6975 | Woolwich Arsenal (2) |
| 6825 | Preston |
| 6600 | Stoke |
| 6275 | Wolves |
| 6100 | Sunderland |
| 6000 | Bury |
| 6000 | Leicester Fosse (2) |
| 5825 | Small Heath |
| 5600 | WBA |
| 5575 | Liverpool (2) |
| 5575 | Nottm Forest |
| 5500 | Newton Heath (2) |
| 5475 | Burnley |
| 3500 | Grimsby (2) |
| 3125 | Notts County (2) |
| 2775 | Darwen (2) |
| 2725 | Crewe (2) |
| 2625 | Burton Swifts (2) |
| 2475 | Burton Wanderers (2) |
| 2400 | Lincoln (2) |
| 2075 | Loughborough (2) |
| 1775 | Rotherham Town (2) |
| 1725 | Burslem Port Vale (2) |
This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature? Here’s a link to the story of the 1895-96 season:
Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
More on the 1890s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?
The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1894-95 when Manchester City was established under that name. These figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.
In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.
1894-95 Average Attendances
| Average | Team |
| 16225 | Everton |
| 10925 | Liverpool |
| 8900 | Aston Villa |
| 8750 | Sheff Wednesday |
| 8325 | Sunderland |
| 8150 | Bolton |
| 7900 | Blackburn Rovers |
| 7675 | Sheff Utd |
| 6400 | Woolwich Arsenal (2) |
| 6200 | Burnley |
| 6200 | Small Heath |
| 6175 | WBA |
| 6150 | Preston |
| 6000 | Manchester City (2) |
| 6000 | Newton Heath (2) |
| 5525 | Nottm Forest |
| 5500 | Leicester Fosse (2) |
| 5300 | Wolves |
| 4350 | Derby |
| 4250 | Notts County (2) |
| 3925 | Darwen (2) |
| 3925 | Newcastle (2) |
| 3900 | Bury (2) |
| 3550 | Stoke |
| 3325 | Grimsby (2) |
| 2750 | Burton Swifts (2) |
| 2525 | Lincoln (2) |
| 2350 | Burton Wanderers (2) |
| 2100 | Rotherham Town (2) |
| 2075 | Walsall Town Swifts (2) |
| 1825 | Burslem Port Vale (2) |
| 1725 | Crewe (2) |
This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature? Here’s a link to the story of the 1894-95 season:
Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
More on the 1890s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?
The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the last League tables for the 1800s. These were published after the final games of December 1899 and cover the Football League First Division and the Second Division. See if you can spot your club.
Notice the Division One table includes Bury and Manchester City from present day Greater Manchester, with near neighbours Glossop also in there (at the time the smallest town ever to have had a top flight team). Glossop were funded by Samuel Hill-Wood who eventually turned his attentions to Arsenal (they’re in the Second Division in these tables).
The Second Division included Bolton and Newton Heath (MUFC) from present day Greater Manchester. Arsenal appear below New Brighton Tower.
This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature like this 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899?
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
More on the 1890s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?
The series of features on Manchester City in the 1890s continues today with a 1900 word article on Manchester City in 1898-99 – the first season that any of the Manchester teams had achieved a national trophy success. Want to know more about this thrilling and landmark season? Then why not subscribe?
This series covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
More on the 1890s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?
The series of features on Manchester City in the 1890s continues today with an article on Manchester City in 1897-98.
This series covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
More on the 1890s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?
The series of features on Manchester City in the 1890s continues today with an article on Manchester City in 1896-97.
This series covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
More on the 1890s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?
Gary James' Football Archive 