Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
Today (27 October) in 1900 the Manchester Official Programme, a combined effort for Manchester City & Newton Heath, included an advert for City director John Allison’s hydro therapy baths. Allison was perceived as the leading figure in the sports hydrotherapy business back then.
You can find out more about Allison (a key figure at City, Celtic and Salford Harriers) here:
Today (26 October) is the anniversary of the first ever Manchester Derby shown live on television. The game was the 109th League derby between the teams and ended in a 1-1 draw (Frank Stapleton for United; Mick McCarthy for City). Subscribers can read a feature on the game, including a match report and background, below:
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On this day (25 October) last year a hard-fought draw with Dortmund ensured Manchester City were Group G winners, qualifying for the knockout stages of teh Champions League with a game to spare. A crowd of 81,000 watched this goalless game. Highlights below:
https://www.mancity.com/citytv/mens/borussia-dortmund-manchester-city-highlights-63802321
City went on to win the Champions League that season of course! There are plenty of articles on here about the 2023 Champions League such as:
There’s going to be a book on the Manchester Corinthians and yet another TV appearance…
Firstly, the TV appearance: Anne Grimes, Jan Lyons, Margaret Shepherd and Margaret Whitworth will be on Steph’s Packed Lunch tomorrow (25 October 2023) to talk about the Corinthians and their achievements over the decades. Well worth watching if you can.
Next, I’m delighted to formally announce that I will be bringing out a history of the Corinthians. I’ve known some of the Corinthians for over 35 years and work on the book has been ongoing for some time. I first formally interviewed a few Corinthians about their playing careers back in 2016 and have been interviewing others in the years that have followed. The book will be a similar size and scale to my Manchester City Women: An Oral History book. It will be written in a similar format with the voices of the women who played (and the other people involved) telling the story of the club. It will be their words, telling their story as with the City Women book.
I’m still interested in interviewing other Corinthians and also finding other material, so if you played or know someone who did then ask them to get in touch. Similarly, if you’ve got photos or other material I’d be keen to see it.
Thanks to all who have been in touch and supported this project so far. The cover has been posted here – please note this is a draft. The colours and cover photo may change yet.
This is an interesting article. It’s an article written by a Manchester City official challenging the authority/interference of the FA and basically saying that the FA is antiquated and governs football poorly. This is well worth reading in its entirety. It was written in 1900 and I can’t help thinking that this may have added to the negativity in which City was viewed by FA officials at the time. In the years that followed, of course, the FA took every opportunity possible to challenge and investigate City even when other, FA favoured, clubs were guilty themselves.
I guess there are parallels with today. I won’t go into detail but have a read of it all and see what you think. This criticism was published in the MCFC match programme and therefore was the official word of the club at the time. No wonder the FA wanted to curb City’s development!
There have been many wonderful tributes and there are definitely people who can talk better than I can about the great Bobby Charlton. However, I do want to mark this sad time with a brief story about him which I think shows the character of the man. It’s a personal story from 30 years ago.
Back in November 1993 we were preparing for the book launch of my biography of Joe Mercer, which was to take place at the start of December. As well as those that had been interviewed for the book, such as Colin Bell, Tom Finney, Francis Lee etc. Norah Mercer asked me if she could invite a few others. Obviously she could but I didn’t know who she was inviting. I just left it to her.
About a week before the launch I received a phone call at home. I answered it and the voice on the other end said: ‘Hello Gary. It’s Bobby Charlton here. I’ve just spoken with Norah Mercer and told her I can’t make it to your book launch because I’ll be in Kuala Lumpur. She said I should let you know. Sorry I can’t make it. Is that okay? I really am sorry and would be there if I could.’
I was absolutely stunned. Bobby really didn’t need to phone either of us but he certainly didn’t need to call me. He was so polite and apologetic too. It was appreciated and added to the high esteem that I already held him in.
Often it’s the simplest of things that make the biggest impression. There were several people who had been invited who didn’t come to the launch and hadn’t let us know – I don’t expect everyone to be interested or to call – so when Bobby took the time and trouble to phone us both it really was something I treasured (and still do).
I did meet him a few times in the years that followed but it’s the 1993 phone call that remains my strongest non-footballing memory of Bobby.
Without doubt Bobby was a wonderful England international and a major global footballing figure. He was also a wonderful ambassador for Manchester (the reason he was going to Kuala Lumpur too) but most significantly he was a humble, nice man.
Here’s a team photo of Manchester City, taken at Hyde Road, in 1900. It’s a typical squad pose in front of the old Hyde Road main stand which was destroyed by fire twenty years later. Notice the way the wooden wall of the stand was painted in City blue and white. People often talk about Hyde Road as if it was this dull, dismal ground but the stand here had only been erected a few years earlier and Joshua Parlby, Lawrence Furniss and the others behind the club made sure it was frequently painted blue and white (plus green) wherever possible.
Over the following twenty years City continued to invest in the ground but the site restricted the club’s growth and 40,000 crowds could not be accommodated particularly well. Often gates would be closed some way off capacity under the orders of the local police who tried to keep crowds back. Bennett Street and even Hyde Road itself were often overcrowded with fans hoping to get in.
There’s lots more on here about Hyde Road and City’s other grounds. Do a few searches and see what you find. Some is only for subscribers but much is available freely. It takes a lot of time, effort and money to research Manchester’s football history so if you want to support this work and get something back then please subscribe. Thanks.
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DonateA year ago today (22 October) lifelong City fan Bobby Ward was in touch with a video he’d caught during City’s home game v Brighton of fans chanting a new Erling Haaland chant. Here’s the video (look out for the actions):
https://gjfootballarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/img_4796-1.mov
The words, if you can’t work them out, are:
What shall we do with a big Norwegian, What shall we do with a big Norwegian, Can’t stop him from scoring, Erling, Erling Haaland, Erling, Erling Haaland…
The game v Brighton on 22 October 2022 ended in a 3-1 City win with Haaland scoring twice.
I’m always keen on the development of football chants, so if you’re one of the guys who started this please get in touch with your story of the chant, the actions and so on. I’d be happy to say more about it here. You guys were certainly persistent.
Today marks a special day in the history of football. 100 years ago today (22 October 1923) a boy was born in Bremen, Germany who would go on to be a major footballing icon with a remarkable story. Bernhard Carl Trautmann was that boy. Here to mark the centenary of his birth is a feature on a crucial game in his career. No, it’s not the 1956 FA Cup final, it’s 6 years earlier…
The game I’m talking about is a League game with Fulham – in fact it’s a City defeat! Why was this so special? Subscribers can find out below. There’s also a special video interview with me about Trautmann here for subscribers to view:
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But City did not lose on this day (21 October) in 1987! Why was this remarkable? It was the first time Manchester City had won away from home in over a year. In fact the Blues had gone 34 away League games without victory.
I remember it well and was at Bradford that night when City won 4-2. At the time the buzz amongst those of us who travelled away was ‘will today be the day’ and it got that way that you felt you couldn’t miss an away game. I’m convinced numbers going to away games increased game after game as we were keen to be there on the day we finally found a win.
Throughout this long, long run without an away win the song ‘We never win at home and we never win away…’ seemed to become our anthem. It belted out game after game and, in some ways, was our release from the disappointment of another defeat or draw. The song had begun in the late 1970s (I’ve done quite a bit of research on this and should write it all up one day) but it was the 1980s, in particular the relegation season of 1986-87, when it became a regular chant, game after game. Usually reserved for when City conceded or were losing it was given more opportunities to be sung during that period than ever before.
It faded during the late 1980s and early 1990s, especially when City finished fifth two seasons running, but reappeared later in the 90s when Alan Ball’s management (and everything that followed) brought misery City’s way.
We all got a bit nervy against Bradford, especially when our 2 goal lead disappeared, but we won 4-2 and you can see how giddy those of us behind the nets were in these highlights of the goals. We were stood behind the goals to the right of the camera (the commentator makes a couple of errors but the film should give you a feel for the night):
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