Tag Archives: Bert Trautmann

Restoring Faith in the Joy of Football

It’s been a tough week or so if you’re a fan of Manchester City, but on Friday I visited a 90+ year old woman who reminded me of the joy and the positives football can bring. She was one of the legendary Manchester Corinthians who I’ve been keeping in regular contact with since the Blue Plaque campaign. As always she talked so positively and enthusiastically about football; about the day she opened the door to Bert Trautmann; about her team mates playing when women were ‘banned’ from playing football; and how excited and pleased she was with the Corinthians’ reunion we organised two years ago and the other activities. It was a hugely positive experience.

I think the thing that struck me was how she still saw the passion and fun the game could bring, even though women’s football had been banned on FA grounds (almost every football pitch you can think of) and those involved with FA affiliated clubs were banned from assisting women’s teams too (though some, like Trautmann, felt happy to make a stand for a while). Imagine the ban existing throughout your career. It seems ridiculous and yet that’s what happened with the Corinthian I was with on Friday. She played for the club for over a decade and the ban was in place for ALL of her playing career.

It was also a nice reminder that football’s authorities get things wrong and the media can support that idea too! Many in the media certainly backed the FA’s ban at key moments when pressure may have helped change the situation and allowed women to play on an equal basis to men.

The Corinthian I caught up with on Friday was quoted in the first edition of my Corinthians’ book of course, and those views remain in the second. Friday’s visit was a social call. It was wonderful and I hope all feel that positive about football if I’m lucky enough to reach a similar age.

Manchester Corinthians Reunion 2024

You can find out more about the Corinthians book here:

Manchester Corinthians: Last Chance To Order

You can see film from the Corinthians’ reunion here:

One Year On: The Manchester Corinthians Reunion

From The Archive: Facts That Rarely Change

Here’s a section from a magazine in my collection. It’s part of the 1970s Book Of Football series and this section shows Manchester City’s kit and club details as they were in 1972. For years much of this didn’t change but now almost every line of club facts/details have changed, even the address of course! Interestingly, the capacity of the Etihad today is closer to the recorded capacity of Maine Road when this was published than at any other time since then (the seating of the North Stand dropped the attendance by around 10,000 and the capacity continued to drop until the move to the current stadium and then the increases since then).

I’ve not reviewed every fact but from memory the ones that remain are: Founded 1880 (as St Mark’s but 1894 at MCFC); the record attendance of 84,569; record victory and record defeat; Most League goals has been equalled; Tommy Johnson still holds the most goals in a League season but all the other player stats have changed. Of course the badge and kit have also changed on more than one occasion since then.

Manchester City 3 Fulham 1

On this day (2 September) in 1959 Ian Barton, a key member of the Manchester City Supporters Club, attended his first game. I spoke with Ian years ago about this and here’s his story of that day all those years ago: ‘It may not be the most significant game in City’s history but for me it shines out like a beacon light.  As a 5 year old – I’ve given my age away now! – it was my first ever game. I had looked forward to this more than anything I could remember, after all my Dad, cousins, uncles and everyone else in the family could go to Maine Road so it was natural for me to follow on.

‘I remember how huge the place looked.  I’d never seen anything on such a scale and I’ll never forget the smell which was a combination of tobacco, wintergreen & Bovril which always seemed to permeate around the stadium.  Then there were the floodlights.  They created a fantastic effect for a young boy and to this day I always think night games have a dramatic feel to them.  

‘Our team had the great Bert in goal, Joe Hayes up front, with Colin Barlow on the wing and Ken Barnes at wing half.  Sadly the local hero Denis Law was injured so didn’t play.  Fortunately his heal, which he put to such good use some 15 years later, was not harmed.  Although he was soon to become a firm favourite of mine, it was short-lived.  For some reason – and I’m sure all Blues agree on this one – Law seemed to disappear from the scene for most of his career only to have one glorious season before retiring in style.

‘Fulham had some names which were to become famous namely Bobby Robson, George Cohen, Alan Mullery & Jimmy Hill, but neither Hill nor Robson turned out that night.  City turned on the style and won comfortably.  I was hooked for life.

‘Since then like all City fans I have suffered the ups and downs the highs and lows which we accept as the norm.  From Rotherham to Newcastle…  from Wembley to Vienna…  from Stoke to Blackburn via Wembley… it’s been a hell of a ride and I don’t regret one moment of it.

‘I look upon this game with Fulham as the day when my lifelong passion was born.’

The Fulham consolation goal was scored by debutant Alf Stokes, who joined Fulham for £10,000 in July 1959 from Tottenham, although it’s doubtful the young Ian would have cared about the opposition of course!

Statistics:  Football League 2nd September 1959.

City 3 Fulham 1

Scorers – City: McAdams (2; the image at the top of this article is of McAdams), Colbridge

Fulham: Stokes

City: Trautmann, Branagan, Kerr, Cheetham, McTavish, Barnes, Barlow, Hannah, McAdams, Hayes, Colbridge 

Fulham:  Macedo, Cohen, Langley, Mullery, Bentley, Lawler, Leggat, Stokes, Doherty, Cook, Chamberlain

Attendance: 37,485 

You can read more about Billy McAdams here:

A Manchester City Death in 2002

Once A Blue: Bert Trautmann

My first article for Once A Blue, the Manchester City Former Players Association, is now live. It’s about the legendary Bert Trautmann: https://onceablue.com/gary-jamess-city-soundbites-1-bert-trautmann/ Enjoy! Photo is of Steve Fleet, Bert’s understudy, with the Trautmann figure we had made for the old City museum.

70 Years Ago: Trautmann in Neck Brace

Here’s an image from 70 years ago this month (July 1956) showing Manchester City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann in Germany with his wife during his recuperation from his ‘broken neck’ injury in the FA Cup Final. Notice he’s still bandaged and has a brace on his neck and back.

The 1950s: The 1956 FA Cup Final

70 years ago today (5 May 1956) Manchester City defeated Birmingham City 3-1 in the FA Cup final with goals from Bobby Johnstone, Jack Dyson and Joe Hayes. The final became known for Bert Trautmann’s exploits and during the night I was on Talksport about 2am talking with Paul Ross about Bert’s life. I also, briefly, mentioned Bert’s role with the Manchester Corinthians. You can listen here (my part starts around 1 hour 17 minutes into the show):

https://talksport.com/play/talksport/catchup/20260505-24517

Subscribers can read more on the 1955-56 season below…

Here for subscribers is a 3,900 word article on the 1955-56 season when City won the FA Cup final (nowadays known as the Trautmann Final) and Bert Trautmann was FWA Footballer of the Year (presented in the days before the final). Enjoy!

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Talksport Interview Tonight

If all goes to plan I’ll be on Talksport Radio with broadcaster Paul Ross tonight around 2am (5 May) chatting about the legendary Manchester City ‘keeper Bert Trautmann. We’ve recorded it now and I really enjoyed it. I met and chatted with Trautmann quite a few times over the years and it was great discussing him on national radio. I even managed to get mentions in there of the Corinthians.

If you subscribe to my site and want to know more about Trautmann then read on. This is a small article about him that looks back to a day when I visited his birth place and first football club. It also talks of his involvement with the Manchester Corinthians women’s football team.

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Trautmann’s Testimonial

On this day (15 April) in 1964 Maine Road staged a remarkable testimonial for legendary goalkeeper Bert Trautmann. You can read about this incredible night, which set an attendance record for testimonials, below.

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Trautmann’s Last

On this day (28 March) in 1964 legendary Bert Trautmann played his last competitive first team game for Manchester City. At the time he was the Blues’ record appearance holder with a total of 545 first team appearances. Sadly his final game ended in a 2-0 League defeat at Preston and the great man was beaten with a penalty scored by former Manchester United forward Alex Dawson. Brian Godfrey was the last player to score against Trautmann while he was a City first team player.

Interestingly the Guardian match report of the game mentions Trautmann a couple of times. Once when he accidentally kicked an opposition player and the other time it said that ‘Trautmann wears well and delighted the crowd with several fine saves.’ The Preston fans must have given him the kind of respect he deserved.

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