Manchester 1840-1919 (Part Three)

Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the second chapter of the book (another 5,000 word section). This focuses mainly on the early to mid 1800s and talks of the development of Manchester and the sporting growth occurring at that time, including forms of football as well as cricket and horse racing etc..

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Manchester 1840-1919 (Part Two)

Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the first chapter of the book (a 5,000 word section). This focuses mainly on the middle ages up to the early 1800s and talks of the 1608 ban on football in Manchester, Peterloo and leisure activities such as cockfighting and early cricket activity, as well as football of course. There is material in every section of the book that should interest fans of Manchester football, no matter which team you support, or academic researchers/historians.

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Cricket at Manchester City FC

There have been games of cricket played by Manchester City over the years and there have been occasions when other sports, such as rugby and tennis, have been played at City’s grounds but it may surprise some to know that cricket has also been played at the club’s venues. Back on 24 July 1891 a Manchester newspaper listed this cricket fixture to be played at Hyde Road (at the time the ground of Ardwick AFC – City’s predecessor). It won’t have been the only cricket match there and the site had been known to stage bare knuckle boxing bouts years before the football ground was built there.