Tag Archives: Carl Griffiths

Manchester City 2 Ipswich Town 1

The February 1994 (on this day in 1994) meeting between the two clubs made the headlines as it heralded the dawn of the Francis Lee era at Maine Road and, not for the first time that season, much of the focus was on off-field activities.  Nevertheless the game itself was an extremely pleasing from a City perspective.  It commenced in typical City big match style – Garry Flitcroft’s attempted back pass ended up gifting Ian Marshall, the former Oldham player, a rather simple opportunity to score!

Fortunately, City didn’t give up.  David Rocastle, who had joined City from Leeds in a £1 million exchange for the out of form David White in December, had quickly established himself as an important member of Brian Horton’s side.  Many saw him as a great addition to the Blue cause, and this match proved to be his greatest as he clearly helped City attack Ipswich.  At one point he cut through two defenders, charged to the goal-line and sent over a superb cross for Carl Griffiths to flick in a great goal.  Afterwards the new Chairman claimed Rocastle possessed Brazilian-style skill and few argued.

The goal brought more confidence and with Michel Vonk defending superbly, and Steve Lomas controlling midfield, the Blues dominated.  Terry Phelan attempted an overhead shot, before a foul on Lomas brought a free kick.  Keith Curle took it and Vonk knocked it down for Garry Flitcroft to touch in the winning goal.

That night City fans celebrated their first League victory since 8th December.  They ended the season in16th place while Ipswich finished 19th (one point above the relegation zone).

Stats: Premier League, 5th February 1994

City 2 Ipswich Town 1

Scorers – City: Flitcroft, Griffiths

Ipswich: Marshall

City:  Coton, Edghill, Phelan, Lomas, Curle, Vonk, Rocastle, Flitcroft, Griffiths, Shutt, Sheron

Attendance: 28,188

More on this season here:

The 1990s: 1993-1994 Swales Out

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The 1990s: Loyal Support?

A slight diversion here. The cutting above is from March 1995 and was published in a Liverpool newspaper about attendances at Anfield and Goodison. It’s not worth getting into the local support rivalry that clearly existed on Merseyside then (and probably still does today) but it is worth showing this cutting as it demonstrates that the biggest clubs haven’t always had full stadia.

People assume the 1990s was a decade of full houses but that’s not always the case. The 1994-95 season is an interesting one because there was building work at many stadia as a result of the move to all seater grounds. Manchester City averaged 22,725 which may not sound to great but the season started with City’s capacity down to less than 20,000 for several games. The capacity increased in stages, ultimately reaching about 28,000 that season but this was the first complete season of Franny Lee’s chairmanship and demand was huge.

You can read more on 1994-95 season below. This article is almost 5,000 words long. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this extraordinary season? As with all these 1990s subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 5000 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.

If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

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The 1990s: 1994-1995 Horton’s Entertainers

The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1990s continues today with the 1994-95 season. Another significant season and this article is almost 5,000 words long. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this extraordinary season? As with all these 1990s subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 5000 word article on that season:

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

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.

Subscribe

Subscribe to get access – Annual

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.

Subscribe

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.

If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

How To Subscribe

The 1980s: Machin’s Warning

The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1980s continues today with a reminder of the day in 1988 manager Mel Machin warned the City team to be careful of Shrewsbury. See the newspaper article. The Blues were due to play them the day after this article (published on Friday 16 December 1988) was published. Anybody remember the score? I was in the Kippax that day and you can watch what happened here (look out for future Blue Carl Griffiths!):

That game was played on 17 December 1988. If you want to know more of the 1988-89 season for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read the following 4,100 word feature on the 1988-89 season. 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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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.

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If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

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Tomorrow’s feature is the last on the 1980s as we tell the story of the 1989-90 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:

The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald

Everton Beaten

On this day (8 December) in 1993 Brian Horton’s Manchester City defeated Everton 1-0 with a goal from Carl Griffiths. You can read more on the 1993-94 season here:

Manchester City Season – 1993-94

Cheltenham V MCFC: The Story So Far

I’ve seen it mentioned often in the build up to today’s FA Cup tie between Manchester City and Cheltenham Town that the two clubs have never met before. Well, that may be true for competitive fixtures but there has been a previous meeting.

On August 2nd 1994 the two teams met in a testimonial for Cheltenham midfielder Steve Brooks. City classed the game as a reserve team friendly and my own records show the following details:

I have the attendance as an estimated 300 but Cheltenham sources say 816 which has to be more like it (I’ll correct my records now!).

The City team was: Margetson, Kerr, Beech, Simpson, Foster (Smith 66), Harkin, Finney, Groenendijk, Mike (Brown 75), Griffiths (Thomas 46), Whitley (Sharpe 46). Unused sub: Nurse.

The goals were scored by Carl Griffiths (2) and Michael Brown for City; Jimmy Smith and Simon Cooper for Cheltenham.

Thanks to Martin Wilson for reminding me of this game.