Ball Out, Dalglish or Graham in?

On this day (26 August) in 1996 the reign of Alan Ball as Manchester City boss finally and thankfully came to an end. Three games into the new season he resigned, prompting City to show interest in Kenny Dalglish and George Graham to say he wanted the job. Instead a strange period of caretaker managers and short stay managers followed. You can read all about that here:

The 1990s: 1996-1997 Further Managerial Changes

Manchester City Chants

Yesterday I saw quite a few City fans talk about the 1930s song ‘Who Said City Couldn’t Play?’ which remained popular for a couple of decades (my Dad used to talk of singing it in the 40s and 50s). So it seems right to post again a talk I did on this a few years back. Chanting at football games is rarely documented correctly with many myths, rumours and stories developing over the years. This feature is designed to give a potted overview of the development of singing at City.

I explained about some of the chants in this talk I did a couple of years ago. If you’ve got time watch it:

Now, for subscribers is an 1800 word article on the history and development of chants at Manchester City:

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WBA v MCFC: The Earliest Film

On this day (25th August) in 1934 West Bromwich Albion played the FA Cup holders Manchester City. Nothing particularly unusual about that I guess, but that match was filmed and this is now the earliest known surviving film of WBA v MCFC at the Hawthorns.

Here’s film of the game:

https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/41087

It’s a curious little film and it does show one of the goals (Albion’s not City’s) and so you will see Frank Swift making an attempt to save it. Notice at the start the way the two teams enter the field (more like the way teams entered the pitch following the arrival of Covid than what became typical in the 2010s).

WBA’s shirts are interesting with their extra white section on the front.

This game is from 25 August 1934 and ended 1-1 with Sam Barkas scoring for MCFC.

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Maine Road’s First

On this day (August 25) in 1923 Maine Road staged its first game. Two decades later it staged the first World Cup match in England and the decade after that the first European Cup game in England. It still holds the record provincial crowd and the record for a League game, and for eighty years it was the home of Manchester City. Here’s a look at the life of Maine Road.

Here for subscribers is a 2,000 word piece on City’s former home. It corrects a few myths (the ‘Wembley of the North – pah! It was better than that when it opened!).

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Bidding War Between MCFC And Villa!

On this day (25 August) in 1981 Manchester City and Aston Villa were in a bidding war to sign Trevor Francis.

I know in recent years City have been criticised by some in the media for both high spending and for not spending more than they deem a player is worth (what a crazy world it is when a potential purchasing team is criticised for not wanting to spend what a selling club want when there are no other clubs interested in buying that player at that price!) but in 1981 the desire to sign Francis meant they were prepared to spend big if necessary.

A bidding war is always in the best interests of the selling club and occasionally a friendly word with a journalist or another club can create a bidding war even if there really isn’t much interest from a club. Thinking back I can’t remember Villa seriously going after Francis but this Daily Mirror report suggests they were interested.

It wasn’t long of course before City got their man.

Notice the brief mention of Peter Barnes at the bottom of that cutting? If you want to know more then obviously I recommend The Peter Barnes Authorised Biography (use tabs/menu to find out more).

Black shirts, White Cross

Identity is important to any aspiring football team and in 1884 the fledgling Gorton Association Football Club chose to wear a distinctive kit consisting of black shirts with a white cross pattée emblazoned across the left breast. The smart new kit set the tone for what the players hoped would be a successful period in the club’s development and from the moment it was first worn in 1884 the club progressed and grew, becoming Ardwick in 1887, before re-launching as Manchester City in 1894. 

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Manchester 1840-1919 (Part Four)

Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the third chapter of the book (a 11,500 word section). This focuses on the mid 1800s and the development of Manchester’s earliest known association football club Hulme Athenaeum and its long term impact.

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Record Attendance at Manchester City

Congratulations on your 2-1 victory today over Bournemouth in Enzo Maresca’s first League game but also on establishing a new record crowd for the Etihad Stadium. The crowd was 60,645 and this was not only the Etihad’s record, it was also City’s highest home attendance since 6 November 1971 when 63,326 attended a City league game v United. Capacity restrictions since then have ensured attendances could not be higher.

City v Bournemouth

It’s the start of the Premier League season this weekend and Manchester’s Blues are at home to Bournemouth. My programme articles today include a Memory Match between the clubs. If you get chance to see that I hope you enjoy it. If you want more on Bournemouth and City there are several articles on this site that mention them. The following links to a few mentioning Bourenemouth: https://gjfootballarchive.com/?s=Bournemouth

Top Flight Wimbledon

Wimbledon’s first fixture in English football’s top flight was against Manchester City forty years ago today (23rd August 1986) at Maine Road.  The game was goal-less at half time, but by the end City had won 3-1 with goals from Trevor Christie and two from Graham Baker.  The Wimbledon scorer was Andy Thorn.  The Dons’ lineup for this historic first match was:  Beasant, Kay, Winterburn, Galliers, Morris, Thorn (Gage), Wise, Cork, Fashanu, Sanchez, and Hodges.  For the record City comprised of:  Suckling, May, Wilson, Clements, McCarthy, Redmond, Davies, McNab, Christie, Baker, and Brightwell (Simpson).

Although goalkeeper Perry Suckling made his debut in this City-Wimbledon fixture, he very nearly didn’t make it to Maine Road.  On the day of his arrival he travelled to Old Trafford claiming he’d been given directions there instead of Maine Road!  A United official had to direct him back to Manchester.  Suckling later became more famous as the goalkeeper who conceded 9 goals while playing for Crystal Palace at Anfield.  No doubt a few Wimbledon fans remember that match!

You can read more on that season for MCFC here:

The 1980s: 1986-1987 We Never Win At Home And We Never Win Away