Tag Archives: Blackburn

Peter Dobing

Last night I heard the news that the former Blackburn, Manchester City and Stoke player Peter Dobing had died. Here is a profile of him written by the late Manchester City historian John Maddocks and given to me by John around the year 2000. John was a real expert on City’s former players and had spent years researching their careers. I was fortunate to have John’s support during my early years of research and writing. Here’s his brief profile of Peter:

DOBING, Peter A.

Role: Midfield/Forward 1961-63

5’10”   11st.8lbs.

b. Manchester, 1st December 1938

CAREER: Blackburn Rovers Dec 1955/CITY 17 July 1961/Stoke City 15 Aug 1963.

Debut v Leicester City (h) 19.8.1961

An extremely skilful inside-forward with an eye for goals, Peter Dobing came to City along with Bobby Kennedy in the summer of 1961 bought with the money received for Denis Law from Torino. He had been an influential player with Blackburn Rovers, having opted for them in preference to Manchester United – who had shown great interest in him – because he felt he would have a chance of faster progress at Ewood Park. He won seven England Under-23 caps and played three times for the Football League. In his first season with the Blues Peter scored 22 goals in 41 outings with nine of those goals coming in three hat-tricks, West Ham suffering twice! His other was against Spurs who were League and cup double holders when City whipped them 6-2 at Maine Road. He was top scorer. The following season ended with a disillusioned Dobing asking for, and getting, a transfer, the thought of Second Division football just too much for him. He moved to Stoke City where he stayed for ten years after which he retired through injury. He became a pottery worker and still lives near Stoke.

Appearances:

FL:82 apps. 31 gls.

FAC:5 apps.

FLC:7 apps. 1 gl.

TOTAL:94 apps. 12 gls.

Other : 4 apps. 1 gl.

Manchester 1840-1919 (Part Seven)

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 sixth chapter of the book (a 10,000 word section). This focuses on the earliest Manchester entrants in the FA Cup, as well as Ardwick AFC and Newton Heath.

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The Smart Set – Club Colours in the 1930s

On 28 November 1931 the Liverpool Echo published this George Green cartoon of the kits worn by several leading clubs of the period. I thought I’d post it here to show how these things were often portrayed in the newspapers of the day. Thanks.

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The 1950s: Film of Blackburn v Manchester City

Here’s film of Blackburn Rovers v Manchester City from this day (18 November) in 1950: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX5BjwHhKPs I won’t mention the score! Ray Haddington scored for City though.

If you’d like to read more on this season, then here’s a 1,500 word article on the 1950-51 season. Enjoy!

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The 2010s: Blackburn 0 Manchester City 4

On this day (1 October) in 2011 Manchester City faced Blackburn in the Premier at Ewood Park. Here’s a few words I wrote on that game a few years ago:

At Blackburn on 1st October the home side tried to stifle Mancini’s men for some time.  In fact City sat back and took stock of the situation throughout the first half as a negative Blackburn team seemed happy to kill the game at every opportunity.  In the second half, as often the case during the opening months of the season, the Blues had total control and ten minutes after the interval Johnson made it 1-0.  

Balotelli sent Nasri’s cross home three minutes later, before Nasri added a third and Savić headed City’s fourth.  City fans, who had sung Roberto Mancini’s name at various points before and during the match, were in full voice at the end while the Blackburn supporters chanted for the dismissal of their boss Steve Kean.  Post match Mancini’s assistant David Platt faced the press:  ‘It was the result we were looking for to put Bayern Munich to bed.’

City had lost 2-0 at Munich in their previous game. Here are highlights of the Blackburn match:

https://www.mancity.com/citytv/match-highlights/2011/october/blackburn-v-city-extended-highlights-1-oct-11

Action Shots of Blackburn v Manchester City From Over 100 Years Ago

The quality isn’t great but here are some images from Manchester City’s 2-1 win at Blackburn on 21 February 1914. City’s scorers were Howard and Joe Cartwright.

The 1930s: 1934-1935 Topical City

My series on Manchester City in the 1930s continues today with a subscriber article on the 1934-35 season. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you don’t subscribe then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?

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The 1940s: The 1940-41 Season

The new series on Manchester City in the 1940s continues with this article on the 1940-41 season. The season ended with Manchester United sharing Maine Road after bomb damage to United’s ground. The image shows sites where bombs damaged property close to Maine Road on that same night.

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Hyde Road Image

On this day (9 December) in 1922 Manchester City defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at Hyde Road. This action shot from the game shows Blackburn threatening the City goal. The stand in the background is the Popular Side at City’s former home 102 years ago today.

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Programme Flashback Manchester City V Blackburn Rovers, 5 September 1987

On this day in 1987 Manchester City faced Blackburn Rovers at Maine Road.

Here for subscribers is a flashback piece detailing what features were in the MCFC match programme that day and game information:

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