Category Archives: Old Trafford

A 2nd Successive Manchester League Derby At United Ends early!

On 4 May 1976 and for the second consecutive League derby at Old Trafford, a meeting between United and City was cut short when thousands stormed the pitch before its natural conclusion. Home fans invaded the pitch before the 90th minute with United leading 2-0. Afterwards it was reported that the police had signalled to the referee to blow the whistle while fans were on the pitch. Referee Roy Capey told reporters: ‘My only concern was for the linesman who had to run from the far side of the ground. But he got into the dressing room safely.’

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Derek Wallis, writing for the Daily Mirror, explained that United fans had raced on to the pitch: ‘ahead of time last night – nearly three minutes by my watch – and diplomatically referee Roy Capey promptly blew for time.’

A few days earlier United had been defeated by Second Division Southampton in the FA Cup final and United reporter David Meek started his Manchester Evening News report of the derby with this interesting line (his emphasis): ‘”WE’D RATHER win the derby than the Cup,” sang the Stretford enders as Manchester United sailed to a 2-0 win over Manchester City at Old Trafford last night.’

The Corinthians at United-City

A year ago today (4 May 2025) we managed to take a small group of Manchester Corinthians to the WSL Manchester Derby at Old Trafford as guests of United. They were taken pitchside and also had seats in the Directors Box. Players from the 50s to 90s were there, such as Linda Hallam, who scored the only goal against Juventus when the team won a major tournament in 1970. Margaret Whitworth, who participated in the tour of South America was also one of our party. Others, like Wendy Crossland, had been significant players during the club’s first league successes – back when the Corinthians became champions of the highest league available to them. Here are a few photos from the day, plus images of the match programme article I wrote for United. It talks about the full history of the club of course and mentions Maureen Charlton, one of three original players in 1948 (yes, 1948 not 1949 as is often claimed), who I interviewed for the book:

You can discover more on the Corinthians’ history (the facts not the fiction!) in my new book. Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History. It is a must for anyone interested in Manchester or women’s football and consists of over 350 pages. It is illustrated throughout and you can find out more here:

Manchester Corinthians The Authorised History Revised and Updated: Subscribe Now

The 1910s: 1912-1913 Mangnall Walks Out On United 

The new series of features on Manchester City in the 1910s continues today with a 2800 word article on the 1912-13 season – A season which saw United’s most successful manager (at the time) walk out on the Reds to become City’s manager (he believed that City, with the larger pulling power, was a more ambitious club). If you’re a subscriber you can read all about that and the rest of the season below. If you’re not a subscriber then why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

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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?

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More on the 1910s soon. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?

The 1980s: Bury 1 Manchester City 2 at Old Trafford

On this day (25 September) in 1985 Manchester City defeated Bury 2-1 at Old Trafford in the League Cup. The game was played at Manchester United’s ground as Bury hoped for a big attendance. In the end the crowd of 11,377 wasn’t that much more than Gigg Lane could hold. Many City fans had stayed away simply because the game was at Old Trafford! Here’s a plan of OT as it was back then from the back of my ticket for the game:

You can read more on this season for Manchester City below. This is a 2,500 word feature on the 1985-86 season. Enjoy!

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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.

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Tomorrow’s feature is on the 1986-87 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:

The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald

Video of History Of Women’s Football Talk

If you’re interested in women’s football or in football in Trafford or Manchester then get your self a brew, settle down and enjoy this video of my talk. It was part of my work on the #WEuro2022 Heritage Lottery funded project and my long standing project into the history of women’s football in Manchester. Here goes:

This talk on the history of women’s football was staged at the National Football Museum a few years back. The talk lasts about 47 mins. Enjoy!

The history of women’s football in Trafford is documented in the new book on women’s football I’ve co-edited. You can find out more about that here:

Book Launch at the Embassy of Ireland

My work on the Manchester Corinthians continues and you can find out about the Authorised History here:

Manchester Corinthians

The 1930s: 1939-1940 War Reports

My series on Manchester City in the 1930s continues today with a 1,400 word subscriber article on the 1939-40 season. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you don’t subscribe then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?

Here’s the article:

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Photos From The Corinthians at United-City

A small group of Manchester Corinthians were invited to attend the WSL Manchester Derby today at Old Trafford. They were taken pitchside and also had seats in the Directors Box. Players from the 50s to 90s were there, such as Margaret Whitworth, who participated in major trophy winning successes for the club in Venezuela and France. Others, like Wendy Crossland, had been significant players during the club’s first league successes – back when the Corinthians became champions of the highest league available to them. Here are a few photos from the day, plus images of the match programme article:

You can discover more on the Corinthians’ history (the facts not the fiction!) in my new book. Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History. It is a must for anyone interested in Manchester or women’s football and consists of 356 pages.

It is illustrated throughout and you can order it now for £25 (including UK postage and packaging). I’ll sign all copies ordered direct from me below.

If you live outside the UK then please contact for details of additional postage costs.

You do not need to have a PayPal account to order – use the ‘Pay with PayPal’ button above and it will give you the option to pay by credit/debit card without creating a PayPal account.

UK ONLY – Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History

The story of a pioneering women’s club as told to Gary James by those who were there. This will be published in late December 2024. This is UK only at £25 (incl UK postage and packaging). Outside UK contact for additional postage costs.

£25.00

Some photos from when a group of Corinthians visited LFC’s Melwood a few days ago:

The Corinthians at United

If you’re attending the WSL Manchester Derby today at Old Trafford watch out for a few representatives of the Manchester Corinthians. United will be taking them pitchside for a few photographs nears the dugout about 10.50 so watch out for them and give them a cheer if you can. In addition, the match programme will contain a five page feature on the team, explaining their significance and experiences. This really is appreciated. Thanks United! Some photographs from the visit will appear here over the coming days.

If you’re wondering why the Corinthians are so important to football’s history watch this free 18 minute film (including interviews with some of those at United today) now. You won’t be disappointed:

You can discover more on the Corinthians’ history (the facts not the fiction!) in my new book. Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History. It is a must for anyone interested in Manchester or women’s football and consists of 356 pages.

It is illustrated throughout and you can order it now for £25 (including UK postage and packaging). I’ll sign all copies ordered direct from me below.

If you live outside the UK then please contact for details of additional postage costs.

You do not need to have a PayPal account to order – use the ‘Pay with PayPal’ button above and it will give you the option to pay by credit/debit card without creating a PayPal account.

UK ONLY – Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History

The story of a pioneering women’s club as told to Gary James by those who were there. This will be published in late December 2024. This is UK only at £25 (incl UK postage and packaging). Outside UK contact for additional postage costs.

£25.00

Some photos from when a group of Corinthians visited LFC’s Melwood a few days ago:

The 1940s: A Wartime Manchester Derby

This is the cover of the wartime Manchester derby match programme for today (27 April) in 1940. The game was actually a League War Cup tie second leg and ended in a 2-0 United victory at Maine Road. The first leg had ended 1-0 to City. Wartime crowds were restricted by the Government and accurate attendance figures are often difficult to find but I do know that this Maine Road game attracted a restricted crowd of 21,596. You can read more on this wartime season below. It’s a 1,400 word article on Manchester City’s 1939-40 season. The season started as any other but then world events intervened!

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The 1940s: The 1940-41 Season

The new series on Manchester City in the 1940s continues with this article on the 1940-41 season. The season ended with Manchester United sharing Maine Road after bomb damage to United’s ground. The image shows sites where bombs damaged property close to Maine Road on that same night.

This is a subscriber article and you can read it by subscribing below.

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