Category Archives: Manchester United

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.

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The 1940s: The 1939-40 Season

The new series on Manchester City in the 1940s starts today with this 1,400 word article on the 1939-40 season. The season started as any other but then world events intervened!

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City V Newcastle

When high-flying Newcastle arrived at Maine Road on this day (9 April) in 1994 many expected the Geordies to embarrass Manchester City, particularly as the Blues were struggling at the other end of the table, but a determined performance brought City the points and the plaudits.

Maine Road’s second largest crowd of the season felt a little apprehensive in the opening period – especially when Newcastle’s £700,000 purchase Scot Sellars netted in the 19th minute.  The worry didn’t last however, and as the match progressed Brian Horton’s Blues began to excel.  After 33 minutes Paul Walsh scored a deserved equaliser, and then 3 minutes into the second half defender David Brightwell scored the winner.  This was the unlikely hero’s first goal for the club and pre-match bookmakers Ladbrookes had offered odds of 66-1 for him to score.   Immediately after netting he was mobbed by Paul Walsh, Peter Beagrie, and David Rocastle.

For the rest of the match City appeared confident and were certainly good value for money, matching Newcastle throughout.  An ecstatic crowd gave the Blues a tremendous ovation at the whistle with the talents of Beagrie, Walsh, and Rosler gaining particular praise.  Afterwards Kevin Keegan gave the Blues further praise – something he repeated two years later in an equally thrilling 3-3 draw between a Geordie side six points clear at the top, and a City side slipping towards relegation.

The season ended with Newcastle in third place, and City in 16th position – 3 points above the relegation zone.

Stats:  Premier League 9th April 1994.

City 2 Newcastle United 1

Scorers – City: Walsh, Brightwell (D)

Newcastle: Sellers

City:  Dibble, Hill, Brightwell D., McMahon, Curle, Vonk, Rocastle, Karl (Lomas), Rosler, Walsh, Beagrie

Attendance: 33,774

Subscribers to this website can read all about the 1993-94 season below. It was such an important (and at times complicated season) that this article on that season is over 9,000 words long. It’s like a book in itself! It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this extraordinary season? It contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time. In particular this one contains quotes from Peter Swales and Francis Lee which they discussed with me personally.

Here’s the 9000+ word article on that season:

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The 1960s: Allison’s Plymouth

On this day (3 April) in 1965 Manchester City defeated Plymouth 2-1 thanks to goals from Alan Oakes and Trevor Ogden. Mike Trebilcock scored for Plymouth. Tony Book played for Plymouth that day while Malcolm Allison was their manager. The following summer Allison would arrive as number two to Joe Mercer and the year after that Tony Book would become a Blue too. Incredible success followed of course!

The 1964-65 season was remarkable and, perhaps, demonstrated how bonkers things were at Maine Road before Mercer and Allison arrived. This was the season when a City director held meetings, hoping to merge City and United! If you’d like to read the following 2350 word article on that season, plus all other articles on the site, then please subscribe (see below). As with most of the other features in this series it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there.

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The 1950s: Sunderland v Manchester City

On this day (30 March) in 1956 Manchester City defeated Sunderland 3-0 before 40,394 at Roker Park. The City scorers were Joe Hayes and Don Revie (pictured with Ken Barnes and Johnny Williamson) plus an own goal. 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 1920s – The First All-Manchester FAC Semi-Final

On this day (27 March) in 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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The 1960s: 1967-1968 Leeds v Manchester City

On this day (23 March) in 1968 came a game between two title challenging teams – Leeds Utd and Manchester City. The view was that this game could knock City out of the title race if it went Leeds’ way. So what happened? Here’s film of the game:

You can find out more aboutthe potential impact of this game by reading this subscriber article on Manchester City during the 1967-68 season. If you’d like to read this 7,600 word article (yes, 7,600 words on one season!), plus all other articles on the site, then please subscribe (see below). As with most of the other features in this series it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there.

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The 1950s: Film of Law’s Debut

Here’s film of Denis Law making his debut on this day (19 March) in 1960 at Elland Road against Leeds. He was, of course, making his first appearance for Manchester City following his transfer from Huddersfield Town. Notice the photographers lining up to catch him. This was an uncommon sight at football back then and demonstrates how significant Law’s transfer was at the time.

You can read more about Law elsewhere on this site. There’s also a series of articles already posted on the 1950s and 1960s for Manchester City. 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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The 1950s: The 1959-1960 Season for Manchester City

The series of features on the 1950s continues with this 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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The 1950s: The 1956 FA Cup Semi Final

On this day (17 March) in 1956 Manchester City defeated Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in the FA Cup semi 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!

You can read the article by subscribing below.

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month or you can subscriber for the discounted annual rate of £20 per year. Each subscriber gets access to everything posted so far, including PDFs of a couple of my books.

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