Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
On April 12 1894 a meeting was held to formally establish Manchester City AFC.
Dates and the story around the establishment of the club often get incorrectly recorded, so here for subscribers is the story of the demise of Ardwick and establishment of Manchester City with all the key dates…
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How time flies? Two years ago today (April 11 2019) I staged an event at the Dancehouse in central Manchester to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Manchester City. We had a packed audience for the event and I intended to stage at least one event like this every year (then Covid happened!).
In 2019 I managed three special events at the Dancehouse connected with Manchester City’s history. In June there was the most recent showing of The Boys In Blue (my collaboration with the North West Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University) which provided exclusive films of the club from 1905 through to the modern era.
In September there was the launch of Manchester City Women: An Oral History (you can buy that book here: https://gjfootballarchive.com/shop/ ). This was a celebration of the history of the women’s club with guests from every era of the club’s history including many founding players and also England international Karen Bardsley.
I had hoped to stage events in 2020 and 2021 but back in April 2019 there was the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the club’s birth as Manchester City. The talk of course went back further and discussed the 1870s and 1880s where I hoped to kill off a few myths (I’m still trying to kill off some of these myths. See: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2021/03/09/the-origins-of-manchester-city-facts-not-fiction/ for details!).
The presentation didn’t just dwell on the formative years of the club as I covered stories connected with Maine Road, fans and more. The following images are slides from that day and give an indication of what was covered.
On this day (April 11) in 2012 Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City lay eight points behind Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United and possessed an inferior goal difference (two goals) after the same number of games. There were only six games left to play and, as far as the wider public was concerned, it was only a matter of time before United won the title. But things began to change on this day in 2012 when City faced West Bromwich Albion.
Here for subscribers is the story of that day…
If you’d like to subscribe to costs £20 per year (works out £1.67 a week) and you can access all 300+ articles including the entire Manchester A Football History book and various audio interviews.
It’s Manchester city v Leeds today (April 10 2021) so here are a few Manchester City-Leeds United posts on the site to read before the game:
Also, here’s a profile of Denton’s Jimmy Armfield who went on to manage Leeds:
On this day (April 8) in 1977 two goals from Brian Kidd gave Manchester City a 2-1 victory over Leeds at Maine Road. A crowd of 47,727 witnessed the game as the Blues challenged for the League title. This result saw City move a point behind the League leaders Ipswich Town, managed by Bobby Robson.
It had not been a convincing City performance but there had been injury issues with Mike Doyle and Brian Kidd playing in an unorthodox midfield – my forthcoming biography of Peter Barnes goes in to a lot of detail about these easter 1977 games. Watch this space over the coming month to hear details of how you can subscribe to that book:
Leeds had taken the lead with Joe Jordan heading home after 17 minutes. Kidd equalised in the 38th minute after Joe Royle’s pass bounced off Leeds’ Trevor Cherry. Kidd’s second came when he flicked in the winner after Paul Madeley had seemingly headed clear a Peter Barnes corner in the 64th minute.
This is a small free taster of the material on this site. If you’d like to find out more about the site then have a read of:
Thanks for reading.
On this day (April 6) in 2002 Kevin Keegan’s Manchester City won the Football League Championship by defeating Barnsley at Maine Road. Here, for subscribers to this site, is the story of that weekend, including quotes from Keegan, Ali Benarbia and even Alan Ball! Enjoy reliving that day again…
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They’ve been a part of football history since the beginning and we often take them for granted but over the years the goals – nets, posts and crossbar – have changed. For this subscriber feature I decided to try to understand what Manchester City’s current goals are constructed of and provide a bit of background on the development of them.
If you would like to read this and all the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book and the audio interview with John Bond) then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year) or £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time. Each subscriber gets full access to the 250+ articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.
This site was launched on January 1 this year and already I’ve reached the 300th post. I’d like to take this opportunity of thanking all those who have commented on the site and, especially, those who have subscribed. 22,326 people have visited the site since it’s launch. I’m bowled over by the response. It really is appreciated.
For those that haven’t subscribed here’s some background to the site and comments on the material that you can find here.
I set the site up as an archive of new writing and of my past works with the intention being that over time as much of my past writing can be posted here for the enjoyment of subscribers. Subscribers can access all content on here, including the entire 2010 edition of my Manchester A Football History book (PDFs of every chapter from this out of print history of men’s football within the Manchester region) and exclusive audio interviews with John Bond, Malcolm Allison and George Graham. Much more to come of course.
There’s also the oldest surviving film of Manchester City Ladies (now Women), captured in January 1989 and numerous other articles (including some of my academic work) and stories.
Many of the articles are in-depth pieces of several thousand words.
If you would like to see the type of feature that’s been posted and do not currently subscribe use the ‘Free’ tab above to see a selection of posts, including an audio interview with Trevor Sinclair and profiles of Colin Bell, Sergio Agüero plus others.
For those of you that do subscribe I’d like to say ‘thanks’. It really is appreciated and I hope you’re happy with everything on the site. If you would like to suggest content (don’t worry I’ve got plenty scheduled over the coming months, but I’m always open to ideas from subscribers) then please contact me.
I’ve been asked a few times why I’ve set this site up and why much content is only available to subscribers. Well, at present I do not have a regular outlet for my writing, research and interviews and so I’ve set up this website to help share my 32 years plus writing and research. The intention is to develop the archive and to provide access to as much of my material as possible over the coming weeks, months & years.
I am not employed by anyone and no one pays me to do research or interviews. Similarly, I do not have sponsorship or advertising either and so the choice was either find advertisers (which potentially may then have a detrimental effect on one of the other great Manchester writers/bloggers/vloggers who do have advertising – there’s only so many advertisers to go around) or have a subscription model. I chose the subscription model as this seems fairest. If people want to subscribe then that’s appreciated and I’m grateful; if not then that’s absolutely fine. That’s personal choice which I always support.
It costs £20 a year (it works out £1.67 a month) or £3 if you’d like to sign up a month at a time to get full access for as long as you subscribe (you can always try it for a month if you’ve doubts). It’s worth bearing in mind that the 2010 Manchester A Football History cost £24.95 and all subscribers will be able to access all of that for as long as they are a subscriber (plus all the other stuff of course). You can subscribe below.
Read more of this site when you subscribe today.
Anyway, thanks for the support and for reading this. It is appreciated. Here’s to the next 300 posts!
Best wishes,
Gary.
On this day (March 31) in 1971 holders Manchester City were forced to play a European Cup Winners’ Cup game at a neutral ground. These were the days before penalty shoot outs decided ties. For subscribers to my site, here’s the story of that game:
Subscribing to this site will provide access to this article and the other 290+ articles plus hundreds more scheduled over the coming months. It costs £20 per year (works out about £1.67 per month). Thanks
On this day (30th March) in 1993 I travelled to Arsenal’s old stadium, Highbury, to interview the Arsenal manager George Graham, not about the Gunners’ form that season but about his former boss – and Arsenal legend – Joe Mercer.
Joe was the Aston Villa manager who brought George to England many, many years before George had found fame as a footballer and Joe had taken Manchester City to their first European honour. Joe did win the League Cup as Aston Villa boss, but these were not great days for the former Everton and Arsenal playing legend, but he did always feel responsible for bringing George to England (and loved the success he brought Arsenal).
My interview with George had been arranged for Tuesday 30th March 1993 some time in advance but then Arsenal’s FA Cup semi-final with Tottenham was scheduled for the following Sunday at Wembley (a highly unusual occurrence at the time!). I expected to get a call cancelling the interview but instead George decided to go ahead with it.
On the day I parked up outside Highbury quite early but as I pulled up I saw George leave the stadium and jump into a car. I was early, so wasn’t too worried. Then I remembered the FA Cup semi-final and assumed that George would be busy with plans. I expected to be told when I entered the marble hall at Highbury that the meeting would be off.
When I spoke with the reception staff they told me to take a seat. They said that George had been called away and so could be a few minutes late (which he was). I was relieved because I’d been convinced he would cancel (it’s happened often with other busy managers).
I sat in reception thinking about the chat and then, a few minutes after we were due to meet, George walked in. He spoke with the receptionist and then came towards me, hand out, saying ‘I’m George Graham’ (I remember thinking ‘I know’ but I did love the fact that he introduced himself). He took me up to his impressive office at Highbury – no other offices at any ground I had been to at that time could match the quality and status of that room.
We then did the interview. It’s not my best – I think I was overawed by the situation – but I was appreciative of George’s time. During the interview Stewart Houston, his assistant, popped in to check something with George (I turned off my recorder) and George ushered him away, telling him that he was busy. Again, I loved this – other managers have sometimes disappeared and not come back but for George he’d set this time aside to see me and chat about Joe Mercer and that’s what he was doing.
Arsenal beat Spurs that weekend so, I suppose, George knew what he was doing but I do remember watching that game on TV thinking that if Arsenal lose I’d never be able to tell anyone that George had spent time being pestered about Joe Mercer when he should’ve been preparing for Tottenham!
If you subscribe to this site you can hear the interview below. I have been researching and writing for a long time and my Joe Mercer book was my third (first published in 1993). I am not employed by anyone and I do not have sponsorship either and so I’ve set up this website to help share my 32 years plus writing and research. The intention is to develop the archive and to provide access to as much of my material as possible over the coming weeks, months & years. Subscribers can already access over 280 articles/posts including the entire Manchester A Football History book and audio interviews with Malcolm Allison and John Bond.
It costs £20 a year (it works out £1.67 a month) or £3 if you’d like to sign up a month at a time to get full access for as long as you subscribe.
Anyway, here’s the George Graham interview:
To listen please subscribe. Each subscriber gets full access to the 290+ articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.
An update hardback edition of my Joe Mercer biography can be bought here:
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