Manchester City meeting Ipswich this weekend is a nice reminder that a fixture between the two almost 50 years ago made an enormous contribution to the birth of a City chant. That chant is still sung today and is known as either the Viking Call or ‘The Best Team In The Land…’
Chanting at football games is rarely documented correctly with many myths, rumours and stories developing over the years. Te following feature is designed to give a potted overview of the development of singing at City and tells the story and part Ipswich played in it:
Now, for subscribers is an 1800 word article on the history and development of chants at Manchester City:
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On this day (19 August) in 2007 Sven’s Manchester City defeated Fergie’s United 1-0 in Sven’s first derby since joining City that summer. His City career ended with him having a 100% win record in the derby. Here’s a video of Geovanni’s goal:
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 Trafford Archive website I mention during my talk is available here:
150 years ago today on 30 July 1874 Billy Meredith was born. Billy was the captain when Manchester City brought Manchester their first major trophy, the FA Cup in 1904. He was also the goal scorer and a major hero to City fans. He later helped United achieve their first successes but returned to City for a final flourish.
His last game for City was 100 years ago this year! You can read about that and many other Meredith related stories across this website. Here’s a link to sone of them:
Continuing the series of features on Manchester City in the early 1900s! Today it’s an article on the 1908-09 season. If you’re a subscriber you can read this 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?
Continuing the series of features on Manchester City in the early 1900s! Today it’s an article on the season after the ban, showing how City coped. Despite everything that had been thrown at Manchester’s Blues they finished third. Read the subscriber article below for the story.
If you’re not a subscriber then why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
Subscribe to get access
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?
Continuing the series of features on Manchester City in the early 1900s! Today it’s a 3900 word article telling the story of 1906-07 when the FA ban continued to affect Manchester’s Blues. This story continues to be one of skullduggery (by other teams too!) and powerful figures seeking to limit opposition.
All of this sound familiar? Well, get a brew and start reading below if you’re a subscriber. Maybe read the last few days’ features first?
If you’re not a subscriber then why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
Subscribe to get access
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?
Continuing the series of features on Manchester City in the early 1900s! Today it’s a 9400 (yes that’s right!) word article telling the story of 1903-04 when Manchester won its first major trophy. If you’re a subscriber you’ll need to get a brew before reading this celebration of that season. If you’re not a subscriber then why not?
Ever wondered how Manchester found its first major trophy success or what the scandal that rocked City was all about? Then subscribe and read this series of articles.
Subscribe to get access
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?
Continuing the series of features on Manchester City in the early 1900s! Today it’s a 1400 word article telling the story of 1902-03 when Celtic legend Tom Maley became City boss.
Ever wondered how Manchester found its first major trophy success or what the scandal that rocked City was all about? Then subscribe and read this series of articles.
Subscribe to get access
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?
The series of features on the 1900s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1900-1901 when Manchester City finished 11th in the First Division (top tier). There were 18 clubs in the division that season. Despite this relatively low position, City were the second best supported club – the highest position either Manchester team had enjoyed up to that point. League champions Liverpool were the 5th best supported club. Newton Heath (MUFC) were still a Second Division club and were 22nd best supported team.
All 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.
Match programme for 29 September 1900. Manchester City v Stoke
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.
1900-1901 Average Attendances
Average
Team
18700
Aston Villa
18300
Manchester City
16225
Everton
15800
Newcastle
15000
Liverpool
13600
Sheff Utd
11525
Sunderland
10575
WBA
10175
Bolton
9950
Sheff Wed
9450
Notts County
9350
Nottm Forest
8375
Middlesbrough (2)
8050
Derby
6950
Bury
6850
Stoke
6575
Blackburn
6325
Preston
5900
Small Heath (2)
5900
Woolwich Arsenal (2)
5850
Wolves
5475
Newton Heath (2)
4975
Leicester Fosse (2)
4625
Grimsby (2)
3725
Stockport (2)
3575
Lincoln (2)
3125
Walsall (2)
3100
Burnley (2)
2850
Barnsley (2)
2825
Chesterfield (2)
2800
Glossop (2)
2675
New Brighton Tower (2)
2375
Burton Swifts (2)
2075
Burslem Port Vale (2)
2050
Gainsborough Trinity (2)
1850
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?
Gary James' Football Archive 