Tag Archives: Brian Kidd

50 Years Ago Today: A Win At Norwich

After a 1-0 defeat at title-hopefuls Ipswich Manchester City faced Norwich on this day (30 October) in 1976. City’s lack of goals in previous games had caused a little concern to manager Tony Book, and he asked coach Bill Taylor to take target men Joe Royle and Brian Kidd, together with Dennis Tueart, for some special training. Book commented afterwards: ‘The causes for the lack of success were discussed very sensibly, and the main lesson learned was that both players had made life more difficult for themselves by attempting to do each other’s job.’

He added: ‘I had in mind that, if the week’s work did not provide signs of improvement, then the attack would be re-adjusted but not necessarily by the omission of both players from the side. As it happened, all came well at Norwich, I do not simply refer to the late goals they grabbed which gave us the 2-0 victory. The display was vastly improved, and even had they failed to get on the scoring sheet at Carrow Road I knew there was enough in their work and the way their talents were being harnessed that justified me having patience for a little longer.’

Kidd netted the opening goal in the 87th minute and Royle made it 2-0 a minute later. The 2-0 win placed City second, three points behind Liverpool, but more significantly the win was the first of an undefeated run of 17 League and Cup games.

Off the pitch the two games away in East Anglia were noteworthy for the appearance of a new chant on the terraces. After the film The Vikings, starring Tony Curtis and Kirk Douglas, had appeared on TV in London, a few days before the Ipswich game, and in Granadaland a few days before the Norwich match, several fans adapted the famous Viking Call used in the film to call out ‘CCC-IIII-TTT-YYY’. Over the months that followed the chant grew in popularity with the words ‘The best team in the land, and all the world’ eventually added. It remains a popular match day chant. More on this here:

50 Years Old Today: The “Best Team in the Land and all the World” Chant

You can also read more on this season if you subscribe to the website. Here’s a 2,100 word article on the entire 1976-77 season – a season which saw City come close to League success. 

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Kidd’s Double

On this day (April 8) in 1977 two goals from Brian Kidd gave Manchester City a 2-1 victory over Leeds at Maine Road.  A crowd of 47,727 witnessed the game as the Blues challenged for the League title. This result saw City move a point behind the League leaders Ipswich Town, managed by Bobby Robson.

It had not been a convincing City performance but there had been injury issues with Mike Doyle and Brian Kidd playing in an unorthodox midfield – my biography of Peter Barnes goes in to a lot of detail about these easter 1977 games. You can order that here:

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Leeds had taken the lead with Joe Jordan heading home after 17 minutes. Kidd equalised in the 38th minute after Joe Royle’s pass bounced off Leeds’ Trevor Cherry. Kidd’s second came when he flicked in the winner after Paul Madeley had seemingly headed clear a Peter Barnes corner in the 64th minute.

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60 Years Ago Today: City and United Youth

Here’s the front of a match programme for the FA Youth Cup tie between Manchester City and Manchester United on this day (13 December) in 1965. How many names do you recognise? The match ended in a 5-0 United win.

You can find out more on Manchester City during the 1965-66 season by reading the following 4100 word article. As with most of the other features in this series it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there. This is a subscriber article (see below).

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Juventus & MCFC

Tonight it’s Juventus v Manchester City and here’s a report (& film) of Manchester City beating Juventus in their first competitive meeting. It was played on 15 September 1976. That day Brian Kidd scored the only goal (a header) and you can see that goal here:

The match report expresses the disappointment City felt at only taking a 1-0 lead to Italy for the 2nd leg.

Here’s a photo from the game. Notice anything odd? Follow the link after the photo for the story.

Maine Road 100 – Day 24

Subscribers can read more about the game here:

On This Day in 1976: Juventus

1920s Manchester Derby Day Rivals

Here’s an interesting clip from this day (9 September) in 1977 featuring two Manchester football fans. This was shown on the BBC north west regional news programme on the eve of the Manchester Derby and originally would’ve included a voiceover which, sadly, has not survived.

The BBC’s David Davies talks with Nellie Walker, a supporter of Manchester City since the mid 1920s and Charlie Swinchatt, who had supported Manchester United since that time too.

https://bbcrewind.co.uk/asset/61d8676881037f0022f61528?q=Manchesteru0026amp;size=30

The derby the following day ended in a 3-1 City win with Brian Kidd netting a couple. You can view highlights here:

The 1990s: 1999 The Fightback

The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1990s continues today with an indepth article on the opening months of 1999-2000 season. City had been promoted the previous May and the last few months of 1999 saw the Club continue its resurrection. The article is almost 4,000 words long. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this period and an extraordinary decade? As with all these 1990s subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 4900 word article on that season:

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This series of articles and features will run throughout March with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. There will be flashbacks to great games, players and more. Every day in March will offer something to enjoy.

Subscribers will get access to everything, while some on this day material will be free for all to view.

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The 1970s: Kiddo Header

Here’s another flashback to the 1970s. This is video of Brian Kidd scoring a header v Everton on this day (25 February) in 1978. It was the only goal of the match and you can watch it here:

This is part of a series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s which ran during January & February 2024 with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. Subscribers can access all of these. If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 3,700 word article is on the 1977-78 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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The 1970s: MCFC Win Sparks Rampage!

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with this flashback to today (24 February) in 1979 when City won 3-0 at Coventry. The goalscorers were Mike Channon (2) and Brian Kidd and was City’s second successive away win by that score (the previous had been Spurs 3 weeks earlier). You can read a report of the game above but you may also be interested in this article about some ‘rampaging’ that occurred after the game. For once away fans were not blamed! Instead newspapers blamed the Coventry fans who, it was felt, couldn’t handle the defeat. All interesting stuff!

This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s has been running throughout January and into February with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. Every day offered something to enjoy.

Subscribers can access everything. If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 5,700 word article is on the 1978-79 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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The 1970s: A Beauty by Barnes!

Today’s 1970s flashback includes video of a brilliant goal by Peter Barnes during the 3-0 victory over Spurs by MCFC on this day (3 February) in 1979. You can watch the goal and the others in this game here (these highlights were shown on LWT’s Big Match on 4 February 1979:

This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s has been running throughout January and into February with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others.

Subscribers can access everything. If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 5,700 word article is on the 1978-79 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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The 1970s: 1978-1979 Milan Meeting

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with a 5,700 word article on the entire 1978-79 season – a season which saw City mount a UEFA Cup challenge and a former hero return (if only he hadn’t!). My article, like the other indepth pieces, contains material from interviews I have performed with many of the key figures – chairman, managers, players and others. You can read this below.

This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s has been running throughout January and now into February with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. Every day in January offered something to enjoy and I’ll continue this series for a little while yet. Thanks for all the positive comments about it.

Subscribers can access everything. If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 5,700 word article is on the 1978-79 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.

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