Category Archives: Uncategorized

From My Collection: Escape To Victory

Here’s a small feature from Shoot magazine on the premiere of the film Escape To Victory. Two former Manchester City players had roles on the Allies team. They were Mike Summerbee and Kaziu Deyna.

Malcolm Allison Autographed Copy of The Pride of Manchester

As part of my tidy-up of my collection I have a copy of The Pride of Manchester signed by Malcolm Allison available if anyone wants to buy it. I’m open to offers and will accept the best offer received by Sunday 30 November. The book was published in 1991 and originally retailed at £21.95. It was, at the time, the full history of the men’s Manchester Derby.

The dedication by Big Mal is ‘To Gary’, so if you’ve got a Gary in your family maybe it would be worth buying it for them. I’ll also be happy to write a personal dedication for the buyer.

Malcolm signed this copy when I interviewed him at his home in Yarm about Joe Mercer in 1992-93. The dustjacket is damaged a little with wear and tear at top and bottom. The book is over 30 years old so inevitably will show some wear and tear, but is in a good condition overall.

Minimum offer is £26 to cover UK postage and book original value.

To make your offer email Gary@GJFootballArchive.com with your bid (including UK postage; I won’t be blue to post this outside the UK unfortunately). I’ll review all offers on 30 November and will let everybody know as soon as I can after that.

MCFC Books

I’ve rediscovered 1 copy of Farewell To Maine Road and a few Manchester The City Years in my writing area that I can part with. To be fair to everyone who has previously purchased my books these are available for their original cover price plus postage (UK only). If you’d like to buy one please email me and I’ll sell them on a first come first served basis. The costs are:

Farewell To Maine Road £25 plus £3.99 (2nd class/standard parcel) = £28.99

Manchester The City Years £25 plus £3.99 (2nd class/standard parcel) = £28.99. New copies but there may be some slight damage to dustjacket.

I’ll be happy to write a personal dedication in each book too.

I’ll sell these on a first come first served basis so if you’d like to buy one then email me at Gary@GJFootballArchive.com and I’ll respond as soon as I can to say whether you’ve been successful. I’ll email details of how to pay and will get them posted as soon as I can after payment is made.

Manchester The City Years is the full history of Manchester City, published in 2012 (it’s an updated/redesigned version of Manchester The Greatest City). I will have some copies of Manchester The Greatest City available soon, once I’ve checked them out. It has been out of print since 2013.

Farewell To Maine Road is the official history of City’s old ground, published in 2003. It has been out of print since 2004.

The Days When Televised Games Led To Claims For Compensation

Here’s an interesting cutting from 39 years ago today (15 November 1986). Back then live televised football matches were deemed to have an effect on attendances at games and clubs could put in a claim for compensation if they could prove their gate would normally have been higher. This article talks of Liverpool’s home game with Sheffield Wednesday… The attendance was 28,020.

Name That Ground The Answer

Yesterday I asked you to name that ground, saying that there was a big clue in the photo. If you are still uncertain here’s an image of a floodlight…

The answer is of course Pisa. On the main image you can see the leaning tower in the top left.

International Football History Conference 2026

The call for papers/presentations has been released for the 2026 International Football History Conference (#Footycon26). If you are interested in attending or presenting the details are here:

International Football History Conference 

11th June – 13th June 2026

***CFP Deadline January 5th 2026***

The 2026 International Football History Conference will take place at Fulham Pier, Fulham Football Club, London, England on Friday the 12th & Saturday the 13th of June 2026. We hope delegates can join us for a welcome social event on the evening of Thursday 11th June too.

This is a call for papers for those who wish to present at the conference. There will be an opportunity to present on any topic relating to the history of football of all codes. This includes, but is not limited to: Association Football, Rugby Union & Rugby League, Gaelic Football and Aussie Rules. 

  • Main conference proceedings will take place between 8.30 am and 6 pm on Friday the 12th and Saturday the 13th of June 2026.
  • As with previous years, Abstracts are welcomed on any football-related topic (football of ALL codes)
  • Abstracts are welcomed by researchers from any discipline.
  • Presentations must not have appeared at another conference. As our conference does not have parallelsessions, we insist that presentations must not repeat something presented elsewhere.

NEW FOR 2026: We have added a new style of presentation (‘Interview’) which some delegates may find more appropriate to their style, topic or experience and we encourage delegates to consider that or any of the other formats. Please also get in touch if there’s a style you have used elsewhere that you feel would work well instead of those listed below.

Abstracts for the following presentation styles are welcomed:

Interview (20 minutes) – New for 2026. We are aware that some delegates may find the idea of standing up to do a presentation daunting. Similarly, a traditional presentation style may not always be the best way to get your material out there, while some find it difficult to engage with audiences. So, for this year we would like to offer delegates the opportunity to be interviewed about their research by either one of the organising committee or by another delegate. The intention is to have the expert/author/presenter and interviewer seated for a general discussion covering the key points (agreed in advance) of the expert’s research. 

This would be a more relaxed style and, hopefully, will appeal to those who would like to present but are put off in some way by traditional formats.

The opportunity for multiple delegates with related topics to be interviewed together exists (like a panel presentation).

Short Form (10 minutes) – Suggested 20 slides (plus a title slide) with a maximum of 20 seconds per slide. Ideal for a summary of research; to present early findings; Image-related research etc. We allow ten minutes for these.

Twenty Minutes – Those choosing a 20-minute slot will be able to split that time between presentation and questions as they feel appropriate (for example 15 minutes of presentation and 5 minutes of questions or 20 minutes presentation and no audience questions).

Panel – One hour: three presenters and a moderator on a related theme with specific time for individual presentations within the session agreed by the moderator including allowance for questions at the end to the group.

If you wish to present at the conference, please send a 100-to-150-word proposal to footycon@outlook.com bythe 5th of January 2026. The selection of presentations will take place by the organising committee, and we will ensure confirmation as soon as possible after that date, particularly for those travelling some distance.

COST OF ATTENDANCE

 

The International Football History Conference is a self-funding event. All delegates, whether presenting or not, willneed to book their place before attending. We will open the booking system in October.

Financially, these remain difficult times for delegates and for the conference (a self-funding, non-profit making endeavour). Once again an early bird price for delegates will be available for booking before the end of January. This will keep the cost of attendance for full-time delegates at the 2023, 2024 and 2025 conference rates. The rate from 1 February will be the same as last year’s final rate.

Full Delegate (2 days):  £139 (rising to £149 from 1 February)

Students/unwaged/retired delegates (2 Days): £129 (rising to £139 from 1 February)

Special Day Rate: £76 (employed) & £67.50 (unwaged/Students/retired; rising to £70 on 1 February)

Travel & Accommodation

Delegates will need to make their own arrangements regarding travel & accommodation for the conference. The organisers of the conference recommend reviewing transport arrangements to Fulham Pier/Fulham FC before booking accommodation. The venue is about a 20 minute walk from the nearest London underground station, Putney Bridge. London prices can be steep, but Fulham’s excellent transport connections via the underground or bus network mean that it may be cheaper to stay in locations around the Greater London area with direct connections to Fulham than in Fulham or central London.

Further information will be released closer to the conference. 

It is our intention to have a welcome gathering on Thursday 11th June evening. Any social gatherings on Friday 12th and Saturday 13th of June are expected to be in the Fulham area.

Future Opportunities

We hope to announce exciting new opportunities linked to the International Football History Conference over the next few months. Please watch this space.  

Ricky Hatton

I’m shocked at the devastating news that Ricky Hatton has died. I grew up on the same estate as Ricky and remember seeing him as a young boy at the New Inn. His dad Ray was the landlord and that used to be the pub I first started drinking at as a teenager. I’ve also met and chatted with Ricky as an adult. We did a joint session with City’s Academy lads a few years back where we talked about what it was like to be a supporter.

He was an important role model for so many growing up in Hattersley and, of course, Manchester.

I don’t really know what to say. Its devastating news. My thoughts are with his family and friends.