Category Archives: Manchester United

Maine Road 100 – Day 73

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).

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Maine Road 100 – Day 71

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!

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Maine Road 100 – Day 62

Day 6 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game continues with another segregation image. This is a late 1970s Manchester derby image and the City player is Mike Doyle but look beyond him at the segregation and perimeter fencing. As well as the railings in front of the Kippax Stand the away section (to the right) has an additional chicken wire style temporary fence in front of the United fans.

This was a period when United fans had an extremely bad reputation for pitch invasions and crowd actions and City had been forced to install this additional netting for this derby match after consultation with the police.

The fencing didn’t last of course and so this image is extremely unusual.

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:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One
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Maine Road 100 – Day 58

Day 58 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game is an aerial photo of the ground from about 1973. Unusually this image looks towards the ground from behind the North Stand (from the city centre direction looking south) and shows the streets that would soon disappear as part of the area’s housing developments.

I’ve highlighted what became recognised as MCFC property with blue lines – that’s the stadium site plus the Platt Lane training complex, which became City’s during the 1970s.

The two areas marked in yellow on either side of Lloyd Street South were redeveloped into Walks and Closes named after former City players. Many of these new Walks & Closes still exist, although some have been remodelled and the names of some, for example the one named after Frank Swift, have disappeared altogether.

The are marked in pink between the player streets and the stadium became the Claremont Road School playing fields which, on match day, provided extra car parking for supporters.

c.1973 Maine Road

It’s worth comparing that 1970s image with this one from recent years, showing the housing and school now built on Maine Road.

And compare both to this 1940s image of the Maine Road site too:

This 1971 aerial image shows the stadium from another angle, looking west.

Maine Road aerial 1971 from Farewell To Maine Road

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:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One
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Maine Road 100 – Day 57

Day 57 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game is a follow on from yesterday. It’s a cutting from the same newspaper, which was produced shortly after City and Arsenal had met at Maine Road in February 1935. It also follows on from some recent articles about stadium improvements. Here, the rumour was that City were planning to make Maine Road a 130,000 capacity venue.

February 1935 City v Arsenal Maine Road extension plans

Maine Road was only 12 years old but already it held a record individual crowd (84,569) for a game on a club ground that still stands today and it held the record League crowd (set at the game with Arsenal in February 1935). It had been expanded a little with the extension to the Platt Lane Corner (near the Main Stand and numbered 3 on the 1971 aerial photo lower down the page).

There was a development plan being developed which would see both the Platt Lane End and Scoreboard End have roofs added and be extended and then attention would turn to the Kippax where a double deck stand was suggested. By that time it was felt the stadium would hold 130,000. As it was the 1930s extensions meant it’s capacity was viewed as about 86,000.

The Platt Lane Stand (number 5 below) was built in 1935 (the old terracing was extended at the back on wooden steps and a roof was erected over the terracing) to the plan but World War Two meant the other plans were put on hold. They were eventually dropped and the next major development would be the Kippax roof and terracing extension in 1957.

Back in February 1935 the local media debated how often City would need a 100,000 capacity venue. The view was that, unless City could persuade the FA to move the FAC Final to Maine Road, then only one game a season would attract that kind of figure to the ground. With United in Division Two for much of the 1930s, and being watched by exceptionally low crowds, the game that most fans saw as the biggest meeting back then was the visit of Arsenal. How times change!

This 1971 aerial image shows the proximity of the housing on Thornton Road (bottom left, near number 6) and behind the North Stand (number 10). They were planned to be demolished in Lee’s 1994 plan.

Maine Road aerial 1971 from Farewell To Maine Road

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:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One
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Maine Road 100 – Day 44

For the first time in my series of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game I’ve posted an image of a letter. This Day 44 feature is about the day Manchester United offered George Best to Manchester City.

Basically, Best was put on the transfer list by United and they sent a letter to every team in the top two tiers telling them he was available. In 1968 Best had said that he wanted to play for City as he felt they had the most attack-minded team in the League and he loved the thought of playing in a team that contained Colin Bell (below, seen in 1972-73), Mike Summerbee and Francis Lee.

Malcolm Allison did show interest in signing him but ultimately it never happened. Nevertheless this MCFC stamped letter is a rare item showing that United did offer the player to City and the other clubs in 1972.

Here’s an aerial photo of Maine Road from 1971, the year before Best was offered to City.

Maine Road aerial 1971 from Farewell To Maine Road

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:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One
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Maine Road 100 – Day 36

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.

Fan memories of that day in Farewell To Maine Road

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.

Goater’s 100th goal, scored v MUFC in November 2002.

For those unfamiliar with Maine Road this photo may help locate the the tunnel image (number 1):

Maine Road aerial 1971 from Farewell To Maine Road

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:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One
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Maine Road 100 – Day 35

It’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:

6-1 Old Trafford Derby

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.

Maine Road aerial 1971 from Farewell To Maine Road

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:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One
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Manchester United Fixtures 2023-24

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

European Span of Success

Following Sevilla’s, West Ham’s and Manchester City’s successes in major UEFA competition this season I’ve updated the UEFA European Span of Success table. What is this? It’s a list of those clubs who have won two or more major UEFA tournaments showing the span between their first UEFA success and their most recent. The list may surprise some who think that football is all about those perceived as European giants with ‘history’.

The ‘history’ ‘no history’ thing really irritates me. All clubs have history and even when that’s recognised some still go on about history as if it started in 1992, 1999 or 2008 etc. depending on whether your club was successful or your rivals were failing. Both West Ham and Manchester City found major European success before some of those clubs recognised today as Europe’s elite and while this table does not show the number of major trophies won, it does give an indication of trophy winning longevity for those who obsess on ‘my cup’s bigger than yours’ and similar debates. Personally, I think we should all be proud of our club’s achievements and not worry about what a rival has won.

West Ham have the second longest span of all Europe’s clubs and City have the fifth. Nice work Hammers and Blues!

Anyway, here’s the table showing all those with two or more successes:

European span of success 2023, showing EC/CL, ECWC, UEFA/Europa & Europa Conference

The table includes the four major UEFA tournaments: European Cup/Champions League; European Cup Winner’s Cup; UEFA Cup/Europa League & the Europa Conference League. It does not include non-UEFA tournaments such as the Mitropa Cup and Fairs Cup. Nor does it include the Intertoto Cup or similar.

I’m sure some will say but why aren’t the Mitropa or Fairs Cups in there? It’s a good point but these were not UEFA tournaments, though I recognise that the Mitropa Cup had some significant clubs competing in it. It was predominantly an East European competition and participants were not spread over the entire continent.

With the Fairs Cup… It is true that this was later transformed into the UEFA Cup and I have included all UEFA Cup finals in my analysis. But the Fairs Cup had an odd series of entry rules at times. Cities, rather than clubs, often entered with Barcelona beating London in one final for example. It was set up as a friendly type of competition with cities that had staged trade fairs playing each other. As time wore on entry came via the League Cup or League position in England, which added significance to it. But two teams from the same city were not allowed to participate, which meant that teams finishing way down the table could be (and were) included if those above them were multiple clubs from the same city.

In 1970 Manchester City’s Mike Doyle joked that by winning the League Cup he was satisfying his aim of ‘keeping United out of Europe’ (he joked about creating car stickers with that slogan!) because it appeared at that time that United’s only chance of Europe had gone with City’s qualification for the Fairs Cup.

1970 ECWC

City went on to win the ECWC that season, meaning that Fairs Cup place was opened up to League position, but United had finished lower down the table anyway and qualified for the Watney Cup instead. Actually, the Watney Cup is one worth talking about, but I’ll save that for another day. In 1970 Fourth placed Derby County qualified for the Watney Cup, while 5th to 7th (Liverpool, Coventry and Newcastle) all got a Fairs Cup place, alongside 12th placed Arsenal (Fairs Cup winners). I’ve not investigated this fully but it does seem odd that the Watney Cup took precedence over the Fairs Cup.

Arsenal’s 1970 Fairs Cup success was their first European trophy but is not included in the span, neither are those Fairs Cup wins of Barcelona. As an example of the odd qualification rules at times it’s worth looking at the 1969 qualification via the English League system.

In 1969 champions Leeds entered the European Cup. The ECWC place went to FA Cup winners Manchester City and the Fairs Cup places went to: Arsenal (4th), Southampton (7th) and Newcastle (9th). Swindon had won the League Cup, beating Arsenal in the final, but the Fairs Cup organisers wouldn’t allow them to participate as they were not a top flight club! This adds to the reason the competition is not included.

Similarly, Everton (3rd), Chelsea (5th), Spurs (6th) and West Ham (8th) who all finished above Newcastle were denied because of the rule that only one club from each city be allowed. So Liverpool and Arsenal’s inclusion meant their rivals stood less chance of winning the trophy than Newcastle simply because there were multiple clubs in their cities.

That rule does make me wonder what would have happened if both Manchester clubs had qualified for the competition as City are within the city of Manchester boundaries and United are not. Would the two clubs have challenged any decision not to include one of them based on the age old argument of Manchester’s boundaries?

Maybe I’ll post more on the odd rules of football competitions and tell the story of some of those long forgotten competitions.

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