The 1920s: The Second Attempt

The new series on Manchester City in the 1920s continues today with a 700 word subscriber article on the 1927-28 season. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you are not currently a subscriber then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?

Here’s the article:

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The 1920s: Manchester City 3 Arsenal 1

On this day (4 September 1929) Manchester City defeated Arsenal 3-1 with goals from Fred Tilson (2; photographed in the 1934 FA Cup final) and Bobby Marshall at Maine Road, watched by a crowd of 38,458. You can find out more on the 1929-30 season below in this piece for subscribers (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)?

Here’s the article:

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As well as subscriber pieces this series on the 1930s includes some free articles.

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)?

Here’s the article:

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The 1930s: 1933-1934 Record Crowds And Wembley Glory

My series on Manchester City in the 1930s continues today with a 4,300 word subscriber article on the 1933-34 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)?

Here’s the article:

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The 1930s: 1932-33 The Number Game

My series on Manchester City in the 1930s continues today with a 1600 word subscriber article on the 1932-33 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)?

Here’s the article:

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The 1930s: 1931-32 A Minute to go!

My series on Manchester City in the 1930s continues today with a subscriber article on the 1931-32 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)?

Here’s the article:

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Haaland Five v Luton

On this day (27 February) in 2024 Erling Haaland scored five against Luton Town in the FA Cup. On a night when memories of Denis Law scoring six in the FA Cup against Luton (and then getting them all wiped from the records as the game was abandoned) it was a wonderful performance, coming in Manchester City’s 6-2 victory.

When asked about the goals afterwards City manager Pep Guardiola discussed both Haaland’s scoring and the influence of Kevin De Bruyne too: ‘Erling is on fire and Kevin… the connection was perfect… Kevin needs players like Erling and Erling needs players like Kevin. Erling needs a guy with the vision, the quality, the generosity. Kevin is the less selfish player in front of goal. Kevin needs the movement from Erling. We know how aggressive they are.’

By this time De Bruyne had made nine assists in his previous five FA Cup games for De Bruyne. Surprisingly, one more than he managed in his first 23 appearances for City in the competition but he’d been waiting for a player like Haaland to come along for some time. De Bruyne was making similar moves and passes but the end product had not been there consistently prior to Haaland’s arrival.

Talking of De Bruyne, Haaland commented: ‘Kevin De Bruyne is massive. He is doing what he is best at. It’s a pleasure playing with him. We know what we both want from each other. It clicks well. He is a smart player and I like to play with him.’

Haaland became the 3rd Manchester City player to score 5 in a men’s FA Cup (and it still stands) game. Earlier players who achieved this feat are Frank Roberts & Bobby Marshall. Here’s Roberts’ game (there’s film of that match in 1926 via the link):

Of course Haaland had scored five before:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/?p=8883

For Haaland there were a few records/points to note:

  • He became the first player to score five or more in the FA Cup (1st round onwards) since Duane Darby scored 6 for Hull v Whitby in 1996-97.
  • He was the first to score five or more for a top-flight club in the FA Cup since George Best scored 6 for United v Northampton in 1970.
  • This was the second time Haaland has scored five goals in a game in his senior career, previously doing so for City against RB Leipzig in the Champions League in March 2023.
  • Since his debut for City in July 2022, Haaland had scored 79 goals in 83 games in all comps, 30 more than any other Premier League player in the that time (Salah 49) after that Luton game.
  • He became the first to score five against Luton for City since Denis Law in 1961 when Law scored 6 but all were wiped from the records as the game was abandoned. See:

Five in the FA Cup

Last night (27 February 2024) Erling Haaland became the third Manchester City player to score five goals in a FA Cup game when he faced Luton. The two previous players to achieve this feat were Frank Roberts (see link below for video of the game he scored 5 in) and Bobby Marshall. Marshall’s five came in a FA Cup replay at Swindon on 29 January 1930 when City won 10-1. The attendance for this Tuesday afternoon match was 46,082 – a remarkable figure for an afternoon game in the days before floodlit competition.

Here are a couple of reports of that game (the second contains the goalscoring times/sequence):

Here’s the story of Frank Roberts’ five:

Of course Denis Law had scored 6 in a FA Cup tie v Luton but these were wiped from the records:

For Haaland there were a few records/points to note:

  • He is regarded as the first player to score five or more in the FA Cup (1st round onwards) since Duane Darby scored 6 for Hull v Whitby in 1996-97.
  • He is the first to score five or more for a top-flight club in the FA Cup since George Best scored 6 for United v Northampton in 1970.
  • He is the first to score five against Luton for City since Denis Law in 1961 when Law scored 6 but all were wiped from the records as the game was abandoned.
  • This is the second time Haaland has scored five goals in a game in his senior career, previously doing so for City against RB Leipzig in the Champions League in March 2023.
  • Since his debut for City in July 2022, Haaland has scored 79 goals in 83 games in all comps, 30 more than any other Premier League player in the that time (Salah 49).

Two Minutes Silence

Today (11 October) is the anniversary of a game played in 1930 which highlights something about remembrance for me. These days the periods prior to football games when a recently deceased person or a tragedy is remembered tends to be either a minute’s silence or a minute’s applause. The approach varies depending on the deceased, the mood of the time and other factors. Back in 1930 it was normal to be silent for two minutes and this cutting from 1930 shows the footballers of both Manchester City and Portsmouth paying their respects to the victims of an airship disaster.

Remembering the victims of R101 airship which crashed in France, October 1930

The crash occurred in France (the airship’s first journey overseas) on 5 October 1930 and 48 of the 54 people on board died. The football match this image was taken at was played on 11 October 1930. It ended in a 3-1 City defeat (Bobby Marshall scored for City).

On the R101 – when I was researching and writing Farewell To Maine Road 20 years ago an elderly man told me how he remembered an airship flying over the ground when he was a young boy. I do know another airship, the R100, travelled over Manchester at times (including in 1930). Maybe some in the crowd at the Portsmouth game remembered seeing the airship R100 fly over the ground earlier that year?

Penalty Decides

When Manchester City and Fulham these sides met on this day (6 April) at Easter 1928 City were fighting for promotion out of Division Two, while Fulham were desperate to avoid relegation.  It was a Good Friday game and a crowd of 50,660 attended, though some reports claimed it was a 60,000 crowd (these were the days before Peter Swales though!).

The match was not as entertaining as other fixtures between the Blues and the Cottagers during this period, although the first few minutes suggested otherwise.  The Daily Dispatch reporter explained:  “Though they had a strong wind and sun against them, Manchester City opened the scoring in practically the first advance they made.  Marshall taking a pass by Sharp almost from the flag on the half-volley and crashing it into the net.”

After 30 minutes Fulham went further behind when their left-back Barrett handled a shot from Marshall.  Frank Roberts netted the resultant penalty.  Ten minutes later McNab scored a consolation goal for Fulham.  

In summary the Daily Dispatch claimed that the penalty – hotly disputed by Fulham – was the only significant difference between the sides (well it did end 2-1!).