Tag Archives: Blackburn

The 1900s: 1899-1900 Attendances

The series of features on the 1900s starts today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1899-1900 when Manchester City was a First Division club for the first time. They were the third best supported club – the highest position either Manchester team had enjoyed up to that point. In fact City had been the best supported club for the opening months of the season as the heading photo shows (that’s from 20 January 1900).

All these figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.

Manchester City with the Second Division Shield, 1899

In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.

1899-1900 Average Attendances

AverageTeam
19825Aston Villa
16725Newcastle
16000Manchester City
12925Everton
11325Liverpool
11175Sheff Utd
10475Sunderland
8950Notts County
8125Derby
7875Nottm Forest
7700Stoke
7150Sheff Wed (2)
6575Wolves
6475Blackburn
6250Leicester Fosse (2)
6225Newton Heath (2)
6175WBA
5925Burnley
5925Middlesbrough (2)
5775Bury
5050Small Heath (2)
4825Preston
4800Bolton (2)
4125Woolwich Arsenal (2)
4000Glossop
3775Grimsby (2)
3775Lincoln (2)
2950Chesterfield (2)
2875New Brighton Tower (2)
2525Walsall (2)
2400Barnsley (2)
1875Gainsborough Trinity (2)
1675Burslem Port Vale (2)
1650Loughborough (2)
1650Luton (2)
1500Burton Swifts (2)

This series of features covers Manchester City in the opening years of the twentieth century. Why not subscribe and read every feature?

Tomorrow there’ll be a subscriber article on the 1900-01 season in a similar style to those recently posted on the 1890s. Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:

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The 1890s: 1898-99 Attendances

The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1898-99 when Manchester City was a Second Division club – but look where they are in the attendance table! These figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.

Glossop North End 1898

In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.

1897-9 Average Attendances

AverageTeam
20675Aston Villa
18150Newcastle
14525Everton
13975Liverpool
12300Sunderland
10675Notts County
10000Manchester City (2)
9850Sheff Utd
9400Blackburn Rovers
8875Sheff Wed
8850Nottm Forest
8025Stoke
7775Newton Heath (2)
7550Wolves
7450Leicester Fosse (2)
7325Bolton
7225Derby
6125Burnley
6025Preston
5775Small Heath (2)
5200WBA
4600Burslem Port Vale (2)
4525Bury
4475Woolwich Arsenal (2)
3350New Brighton Tower (2)
3325Grimsby (2)
3000Lincoln (2)
2875Walsall (2)
2775Luton (2)
2750Glossop (2)
2400Barnsley (2)
2375Burton Swifts (2)
2275Gainsborough Trinity (2)
1900Loughborough (2)
1500Blackpool (2)
900Darwen (2)

This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature? Here’s a link to the story of the 1898-99 season:

The 1890s: 1898-1899 Manchester’s First National Success

Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

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More features tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?

The 1890s: 1897-98 Attendances

The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1897-98 when Manchester City was a Second Division club. These figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.

From 9 May 1898 the first Manchester football programme was a mock up based on Everton Liverpool programme

In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.

1897-9 Average Attendances

AverageTeam
17550Everton
15325Aston Villa
12125Liverpool
11800Sheff Utd
11600Newcastle (2)
10925Sunderland
9475Sheff Wed
9050Derby
8600Notts County
8300Bolton
8050Blackburn Rovers
8000Manchester City (2)
7875Woolwich Arsenal (2)
7425Nottm Forest
6950WBA
6925Wolves
6825Stoke
6200Preston
6125Newton Heath (2)
5900Leicester Fosse (2)
5400Small Heath (2)
5200Bury
3825Burnley (2)
3525Grimsby (2)
3325Luton (2)
2950Lincoln (2)
2825Walsall (2)
2600Darwen (2)
2300Burton Swifts (2)
2250Gainsborough Trinity (2) (2)
2050Loughborough (2)
1825Blackpool (2)

This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature? Here’s a link to the story of the 1897-98 season:

The 1890s: 1897-1898  Buxton and Stockport

Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

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More on the 1890s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?

The 1890s: 1896-97 Attendances

The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1896-97 when Manchester City was a Second Division club. These figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.

In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.

1896-97 Average Attendances

AverageTeam
15525Everton
12925Aston Villa
11675Liverpool
8575Bolton
8300Derby
8200Sheff Utd
8075Newcastle (2)
8000Manchester City (2)
7300Sheff Wed
6775Blackburn
6725Preston
6425Wolves
6275Woolwich Arsenal (2)
6200Newton Heath (2)
6150Bury
6000Leicester Fosse (2)
5825Small Heath
5550WBA
5525Sunderland
5425Stoke
5300Leicester Fosse (2)
5175Burnley
5125Nottm Forest
4850Notts County (2)
4800Grimsby (2)
4500Small Heath (2)
3325Gainsborough Trinity (2)
2950Blackpool (2)
2875Walsall (2)
2650Burton Wanderers (2)
1500Darwen (2)
2325Burton Swifts (2)
2075Loughborough (2)
1675Lincoln (2)

This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature? Here’s a link to the story of the 1896-97 season:

The 1890s: 1896-1897 Gillespie Arrives  

Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

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More on the 1890s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?

The 1890s: 1895-96 Attendances

The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1895-96 when Manchester City was a Second Division club. These figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.

In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.

Notice how Second Division Manchester City had a better average attendance than all clubs apart from the First Division’s third placed club Everton and League champions Aston Villa.

1895-96 Average Attendances

AverageTeam
16000Everton
11875Aston Villa
10000Manchester City (2)
9725Bolton
8700Sheff Wednesday
8375Derby
7600Blackburn Rovers
7250Sheff Utd
7200Newcastle (2)
6975Woolwich Arsenal (2)
6825Preston
6600Stoke
6275Wolves
6100Sunderland
6000Bury
6000Leicester Fosse (2)
5825Small Heath
5600WBA
5575Liverpool (2)
5575Nottm Forest
5500Newton Heath (2)
5475Burnley
3500Grimsby (2)
3125Notts County (2)
2775Darwen (2)
2725Crewe (2)
2625Burton Swifts (2)
2475Burton Wanderers (2)
2400Lincoln (2)
2075Loughborough (2)
1775Rotherham Town (2)
1725Burslem Port Vale (2)

This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature? Here’s a link to the story of the 1895-96 season:

The 1890s: 1895-1896 Test Match Special

Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

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More on the 1890s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?

The 1890s: 1894-95 Attendances

The series of features on the 1890s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1894-95 when Manchester City was established under that name. These figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.

In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.

1894-95 Average Attendances

AverageTeam
16225Everton
10925Liverpool
8900Aston Villa
8750Sheff Wednesday
8325Sunderland
8150Bolton
7900Blackburn Rovers
7675Sheff Utd
6400Woolwich Arsenal (2)
6200Burnley
6200Small Heath
6175WBA
6150Preston
6000Manchester City (2)
6000Newton Heath (2)
5525Nottm Forest
5500Leicester Fosse (2)
5300Wolves
4350Derby
4250Notts County (2)
3925Darwen (2)
3925Newcastle (2)
3900Bury (2)
3550Stoke
3325Grimsby (2)
2750Burton Swifts (2)
2525Lincoln (2)
2350Burton Wanderers (2)
2100Rotherham Town (2)
2075Walsall Town Swifts (2)
1825Burslem Port Vale (2)
1725Crewe (2)

This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature? Here’s a link to the story of the 1894-95 season:

The 1890s: 1894-1895 Parlby’s City

Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

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More on the 1890s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?

The 1890s: City’s Last Goal of the 1800s

The series of features on Manchester City in the 1890s continues today with this match report from the last first team competitive game of the 19th century for the Blues. City drew the match with Blackburn Rovers 1-1 with Billy Gillespie netting City’s equaliser.

Another report I have highlights that the match also say Billy Meredith appeal that Howarth, a Blackburn player, had handled in the penalty area which led to a lengthy conversation between the referee and linesman as to whether a penalty should be awarded. After much consideration they decided not to away a penalty – much to Meredith’s annoyance (if only they’d had VAR in operation… all problems like this would be easily resolved. Hmm!).

This series covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature like this 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899?

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

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More on the 1890s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?

The 1890s: 1899 First Division

The series of features on Manchester City in the 1890s continues today with a 1800 article on Manchester City in the final months of 1899.

This series covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success.

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

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More on the 1890s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?

The 1890s: 1890-1891 The Brewery Men

The series of features on Manchester City in the 1890s continues today with a 1300 word article on Ardwick’s exploits in the 1890-91 season. This team image has been coloured to show the club’s colours of that season. Note: the story of City adopting blue and white for the first time due to Masonic influence in 1894 is a myth. The Club had been wearing blue and white from as early as 1887.

Ever wondered how MCFC came into being and what happened to Ardwick AFC? Well, now’s your chance to find out. This series covers the final years of Ardwick and the birth of Manchester City.

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?

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More on the 1890s tomorrow. Why not subscribe and read this and all the other subscriber features?

The Span of Success: Updated for 2024

As usual, once the domestic season ends I update the table showing the English clubs’ span of success – i.e. the number of years between a club’s first major success (FA Cup, League, League Cup, European trophy) and their most recent. There’s actually not much difference between last year’s final table and this:

Okay, the span of success does not show how many trophies each club has won or how frequently that club has experienced great eras of success, but it does demonstrate how wrong those people are who believe certain clubs were unsuccessful until recent years, or those who think certain clubs have always been giants. The column on first major success helps to show when some clubs first became trophy-winning significant (often after transformational investment too!).

There’s not much difference between 2023 and 2024 – numbers have changed but not positions. In 2023 West Ham proved that if you’re a club that hasn’t won a major trophy for a while putting your focus on achieving trophy success ahead of the odd Premier League position can bring significant reward. In future decades no one will remember who finished seventh, tenth or fifteenth but they will remember the trophies. Here’s last year’s table for comparison purposes:

I know clubs focus on their financials but winning a trophy has longevity, gaining the odd Premier League place provides a bit of extra cash now but no long term kudos. Winning a trophy attracts new fans and brings money-spinning opportunities too.

If I was a supporter of any of the major clubs who have not found significant success in recent decades then I would absolutely want my team to go for whichever cup competition seems the most likely to win. That’s what I always wanted from City before they were able to compete for the League again. Winning the FA Cup in 2011 helped everything that followed happen – it gave confidence and a trophy winning mentality.

While you’re here why not take a look at the wide range of articles available on this site? Such as last summer’s 100 day series of features on Maine Road:

Maine Road 100 – Day 10
Maine Road 100 – Day 3
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