Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
Forty years ago today (11 December 1985) a 2-0 victory (3-2 on aggregate) by Billy McNeill’s Manchester City over Brian Horton’s Hull sent the Blues to Wembley for the inaugural Full Members’ Cup Final. City’s scorers at Maine Road were David Phillips and Jim Melrose before the largest crowd (by any club) of the entire tournament, excluding the final, of 10,180. Here’s a contemporary report by Patrick Barclay of the game:
You can read more on the Full Members Cup and what it was all about here:
This will make you feel old! The first City-Wimbledon fixture shown on Match of the Day was the 3-0 City victory on 19th January 1985. This was only the second fixture between the two sides and goals from Smith, Baker and Phillips made this a comfortable Second Division win. Highlights here:
More on that season here:
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DonateOn this day in 1984 Manchester City faced Wolves.
Here for subscribers is a flashback piece detailing what features were in the MCFC match programme that day:
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David Phillips signed for Manchester City on this day (26 July) in 1984. You can find several articles that mention David throughout this website. Start looking here:
Today’s 1980s flashback is a brief reminder from the Manchester City match programme for this day (29 December) in 1984 when City defeated Wolves 4-0 (yes, another day of beating Wolves at Christmas) at Maine Road.
The goalscorers were Graham Baker, David Phillips, Gordon Smith and Clive Wilson but today’s reminder isn’t really about the game it’s about this programme advert for the MCFC Hamper Club. That’s right City’s Development Association used to have a hamper club whereby you could save all year and receive an hamper full of items you might just need over Christmas, like a tin of ham or real fruit jellies!
Did you join City’s hamper club? My family used to get one from Park Hampers, not City sadly! Now, back to the football…
You can find out more on this season and the rest of this important decade in the history of Manchester City Football Club by subscribing. The following subscriber article is a 2,600 word feature on the 1984-85 season. Enjoy!
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.
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.
If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:
Tomorrow’s feature is on the 1985-86 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:
The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald
Today’s 1980s flashback is a brief reminder of this day (15 December) in 1984 when a crowd of 5,568 witnessed Manchester City’s 3-1 victory at Charlton Athletic. This was a promotion season for City and the club’s goalscorers that day in the old Second Division (2nd tier) were Jim Melrose, David Phillips and Gordon Smith. The return game with Charlton was hugely significant.
You can find out more on this season and the rest of this important decade in the history of Manchester City Football Club by subscribing. The following subscriber article is a 2,600 word feature on the 1984-85 season. Enjoy!
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.
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.
If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:
Tomorrow’s feature is on the 1985-86 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:
The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald
A new daily series of articles for subscribers started last week covering the 1980s. This is a seasonal journey through a truly important decade in the history of Manchester City Football Club. Today’s article is a 2,600 word feature on the 1984-85 season. Enjoy!
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.
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.
If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:
Tomorrow’s feature is on the 1985-86 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:
The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald
On this day (11 December) in 1985 a 2-0 victory (3-2 on aggregate) by Billy McNeill’s Manchester City over Brian Horton’s Hull sent the Blues to Wembley for the inaugural Full Members’ Cup Final. City’s scorers at Maine Road were David Phillips and Jim Melrose before the largest crowd (by any club) of the entire tournament, excluding the final, of 10,180. Here’s a contemporary report by Patrick Barclay of the game:
You can read more on the Full Members Cup and what it was all about here:
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