Category Archives: Uncategorized

Football League Stop United From Playing In European Cup

On this day (1 September) in 1958 a really distasteful moment in League football saw Manchester United prevented from taking a special place that had been awarded to them in the European Cup. It was the Football League that effectively banned United from competing. THe background is that UEFA had offered United a place in the European Cup as a mark of sympathy following the Munich Air Crash – fans of all clubs supported the move – and the FA had approved the decision but then discussions within the League proved problematic, leading to the Football League banning the move.

This cutting even quotes an unnamed official who basically said the European Cup is for champions and United ‘are not the English champions.’ It was all a mess and distasteful.

To understand the full story/impact of the Munich Air Disaster and how it affected all of Manchester then have a read of this:

The Munich Air Disaster: A Long Read

Who Said City Couldn’t Play Chant

It looks like the 1894 group at Manchester City’s are hoping fans will re-adopt the 1930s classic song Who Said City Couldn’t Play? It’s City’s earliest recorded chant (there were earlier ones but this is the first we’ve found sound/film recordings of). Here’s a sound recording from the 1930s:

The tune used is the bit from Knees Up Mother Brown that goes: “Oh my, what a rotten song,
What a rotten song,
What a rotten song,
Oh my, what a rotten song,
And what a rotten singer too-oo-oo!”

If anyone at City wants to get the music played then dig out an instrumental version of that section of the song and get it played prematch. Just like the Viking chant it would be great to get it used in club material.

Historic Name That Ground: The Answer

Yesterday I asked if you can name that ground. This image is from the early 1930s. Can you name the ground? The answer is not as straightforward as it should be and proves why historians and others researching football’s history need to properly analyse their material. According to the newspaper this came from the ground is Everton’s Goodison Park photographed in 1933 (keep reading!):

BUT it is clearly not Goodison Park and is actually Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Molineux ground. Like Goodison there were well known stands such as the multispan roof on the right.

The message here is don’t believe everything you read in the papers whether a modern story or one that’s 90 years old! The newspaper that got this wrong was the Daily Express.

If you’d like to look at previous posts showing old grounds then do a search on the phrase Historic Name That Ground in the search box below. Here’s a link to one of the old articles:

Historic Name That Ground – Week 29

Historic Name That Ground

In previous close seasons I’ve often run a ‘historic name that ground’ series of posts where I’ve shown an old image of a football ground. Today I’ve decided to do a one off name that ground. This image is from the early 1930s. Can you name the ground? Answer tomorrow.

If you’d like to look at previous posts showing old grounds then do a search on the phrase Historic Name That Ground in the search box below. Here’s a link to one of the old articles:

Historic Name That Ground – Week 29

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.