On this day (25 February) in 1956 Bobby Johnstone scored twice as Manchester City defeated Preston 3-0. Joe Hayes scored the other goal.
I’m contemplating writing a series of features on the 1950s as this decade is beginning to slip from living memory. We’ve lost almost all the players who played during that decade for City and maybe it’s time to post some of the interviews I did with the likes of Fagan, Barnes, Clarke, Little? What do you think? I’m always keen to hear from readers/subscribers to the site.
City v Newcastle is one of the most enduring fixtures in English football. There have been cup finals, title deciders, dramatic games, shared heroes and so much more. The two clubs first met in the League in October 1893 (Ardwick/MCFC’s 2nd season in the League) and City’s record is:
Competition
Played
Won
Drawn
Lost
League
174
71
38
65
FA Cup
12
4
2
6
League Cup
6
3
1
2
European
0
0
0
0
Other
0
0
0
0
There have been lots of significant games in the League, FA Cup and League Cup. A League Cup final in 1976 saw them meet at Wembley when Peter Barnes and Dennis Tueart both scoring for the Blues.
Most Blues of my age and above will remember where they were when our King returned to action on Boxing Day 1977. Here’s an interview I did with him a few years back when we talked about that special day:
There was a really odd thing a while back where a Newcastle paper claimed that their local team had first worn bar scarves at games. A few simple searches soon proved there were much earlier bar scarfs:
If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.
City v Newcastle is one of the most enduring fixtures in English football. There have been cup finals, title deciders, dramatic games, shared heroes and so much more. The two clubs first met in the League in October 1893 (Ardwick/MCFC’s 2nd season in the League) and have since played each other 189 times overall with City winning 76 and Newcastle 72 games.
As tonight is a League Cup tie, the most famous meeting of the teams in that competition came in 1976 at Wembley when Peter Barnes and Dennis Tueart both scored for the Blues.
Most Blues of my age and above will remember where they were when our King returned to action on Boxing Day 1977. Here’s an interview I did with him a few years back when we talked about that special day:
There was a really odd thing a while back where a Newcastle paper claimed that their local team had first worn bar scarves at games. A few simple searches soon proved there were much earlier bar scarfs:
If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.
I like this colour team photo of Manchester City which was taken as part of the build-up to the 1955 FA Cup final between the Blues and Newcastle United. City lost that final – and at the time of writing it remains the last major domestic trophy won by the Geordies.
At least two of the men here later had involvement in women’s football with the Manchester Corinthians. Bert Trautmann acted as an ambassador for the pioneering women’s team later in the 1950s while Dave Ewing coached the team when it used City’s Platt Lane facilities in the late 1970s/early 1980s. You can find out more about the Corinthians here:
For many, many years Dave Masey has been collecting stats and historical information on Manchester City. Like me he was a member of the Association of Football Statisticians and he has helped me often over the years. Following Saturday’s FA Cup final he got in touch with me to tell me about one of his spreadsheets which holds details of City scorers in trophy winning games.
His records capture those who have scored in major cup finals, but besides Cup Finals he also records other trophy-winning games. These include the deciding League games from 1937 onwards against Sheffield Wednesday (1937), Newcastle, QPR, West Ham, Brighton and Villa (2022), but nothing from three recent title successes where the Blues clinched the title when they were not playing. Got that? Good, now….
Dave tells me that Gundogan is now at the top of the list with 5 goals, overtaking Neil Young and Sergio Aguero. So he has scored more goals in trophy-winning games than any other Blue.
The list of scorers in trophy winning games reads:
1904
Meredith
1934/7
Tilson (3), Brook (2), Doherty
1956
Hayes, Dyson, Johnstone
1968/70
Young (4), Lee (2), Summerbee, Doyle, Pardoe
1976
P Barnes, Tueart
2011-(former)
Aguero (4), Y Toure (2), Nasri (2), Kompany (2), D Silva (2),Jesus (2), Sterling (2), Dzeko, Zabaleta, Navas, Fernandinho
2016-(current)
Gundogan (5), Laporte (2), Rodri (2), Mahrez, De Bruyne
Dave also tells me that in the three seasons where somebody else’s defeat clinched the title for City, the scorers in the club’s last game before the title confirmation were:
Gundogan (3), Sterling (2), Jesus, Haaland.
As Dave says, Ilkay gets a remarkable number of important goals, particularly for somebody who is ‘just’ a 1 goal in 5 games player (60 in 303 for City). Certainly this season he has played a true leader’s role and, looking at his place in this table, he is clearly a man for all trophy-winning seasons.
Today (7 May) marks the anniversary of the 1955 FA Cup final between Manchester City and Newcastle United. Here for subscribers is a 1200 word article on the final and highlights. Enjoy!
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On this day (9 January) in 1957 Manchester City and Newcastle United met in a game that was described as the game of the season and also Newcastle’s ‘most thrilling encounter.’ What was the game and why did they say this? Well here for subscribers is the story of that day and film of it too. Enjoy:
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I wasn’t born then so couldn’t be at the game but were you at this match? If you were why not leave your memory as a comment or email it to me for possible future use on this website?
On this day (10 November) in 1956 the great Don Revie left Manchester City for Sunderland. Revie had been in and out of favour with manager Les McDowall for over a year, but fans recognised his qualities. You can read more about his departure and find out about the first Manchester game without him here:
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On this day (22 September) in 1959 Manchester City’s Cup final hero Bobby Johnstone returned to his former club Hibernian after 50 goals in 137 first team appearances for the Blues. Here are a few details on him and a quote saying he was better than Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney & others. Enjoy…
At the start of that season there had been indications that 29 year old Johnstone was nearing the end of his Maine Road career. He had made only 18 League appearances and scored four goals during the 1958-9 season and, although he was vital in a number of games, City were beginning to look to a future without him. Les McDowall had already started looking at a nineteen year old striker playing for Huddersfield. He appeared to offer a great deal, the only problem was the price. City would have to pay a considerable amount to sign the young, exciting forward. His name? Denis Law. It would take McDowall some time to sign the youngster, but as the close season began he considered City’s strengths and weaknesses. City was in a period of transition. Old campaigners like Johnstone were on their way out. Indeed he left for a fee of £7,000 on this day in 1959.
Later Roy Warhurst, the City half-back signed from Birmingham during the 1957 close season, described the Scotsman as the greatest player he ever saw: ‘Johnstone was the greatest footballer I ever played with or against. I was 29 when I came to City and I’d seen all Britain’s best. But there was nobody to compare with Bobby, when he felt like turning it on. Not even Carter, Doherty, Finney, Billy Steele or Matthews. They couldn’t touch him.
‘My first game for City was a tour game in Holland. Bobby was brilliant. As the locals cheered him off the park I kept thinking “this is some great outfit I’ve joined.” It was the greatest display I’ve seen from any player that night.’
It is widely known about Bobby’s goals in the 1955 & 1956 FA Cup finals but here’s a couple in a thrilling game v Newcastle in 1957. City lost 5-4 but it’s well worth watching for the drama of it all. Look out for the crowd scenes, especially the exaggerated acting by a lad after about 1min 25 seconds who spills his drink!
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On this day (17 March) in 1956 a solitary goal from Bobby Johnstone was enough to see Manchester City beat Spurs in the FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park. Here for subscribers is the story of that day…
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Gary James' Football Archive 