Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
Score 1-1, Attendance 52,424 Maine Road
City’s penultimate match of the season turned out to be one of the most controversial derby matches of all time. Both clubs were languishing at the foot of the table, and a derby victory would more or less guarantee the victor’s survival.
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On this day (28 January) in 1961 Denis Law’s six goals against Luton in the FAC were wiped from the records when the game was abandoned due to fog. Manchester City were winning 6-2, and lost the replay 3-1 (Law scored City’s consolation).
Subscribers can read a report of the game and more on Law & this game below.
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On this day (12 January) in 1974 Denis Law and Rodney Marsh provided the goals as Manchester City defeated Leicester City 2-0 in a thrilling game at Maine Road.
City were in blistering form for this game and absolutely tore in to Leicester. Only the brilliance of England ‘keeper Peter Shilton kept the score down as the report shows.
I was six years old and sat in the ‘old’ Platt Lane Stand with my dad that day. Were you also at this match? If you were why not leave your memory as a comment or email it to me for possible future use on this website?
Film of the game here:
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Here’s a review of the 1974-75 season as experienced by Manchester City. That year Manchester City finished 8th with an average attendance of 32,898 (fifth highest in the top flight). The following explains how Denis Law played on into the 1974-75 season, even scoring in one game (this is often ignored by those who incorrectly claim Law retired after the 1974 Manchester derby – he did not and played club football in 1974-75 for City!).
This 1500 word article is available to subscribers. It costs £3 per month (below) or £20 a year (here) to subscribe. Annual subscribers get access to all material (including PDFs of 2 books out of print and audio interviews etc.) posted since December 2020 and monthly subscribers get access to everything posted since 1 October 2022.
This 1500 word article is available to subscribers. It costs £3 per month (here) or £20 a year (above) to subscribe. Why not subscribe for a month and see what you think? Monthly subscribers get access to everything posted since 1 October 2022.
Over the years there has been a lot of discussion on Denis Law and his backheeled goal for Manchester City v Manchester United at Old Trafford in April 1974. If you’re a Blue you tend to say it relegated United; if you’re a Red you tend to say ‘absolutely not! It made no difference.’ So, for this feature I decided to focus on the facts, emotion and mood of the era to paint an accurate picture of that day and the significance or not of that goal. Hopefully, Blues & Reds alike will gain a good understanding of it all. I include quotes from some of the interviews I’ve performed in the past. This article will be free to read until 27th September then it’s available to subscribers only. Here goes…
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On this day (April 27) 1974 Denis law played his last League game on a day that saw Manchester United relegated. Law was in his second spell at Manchester City and, over the years, many myths have developed about his final game and the weeks that followed.
United fans like to say that this game had no bearing on relegation (though pre match United were not relegated and still had a chance of survival) while City fans like to boast that Law’s goal relegated United (mathematically it did not). Many in the media claim Law’s goal was his last in first team football (it wasn’t) and that he retired immediately afterwards (he didn’t). There are other myths about the pitch invasions (there were two not one) and the actions of the ref, so here for the benefit of subscribers is the true story of that day, including quotes from interviews I have performed over the years. Those quoted are Dennis Tueart, Tommy Docherty, Denis law and Willie Donachie.
So get yourself a brew and enjoy this long read on that infamous day:
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On this day (15th March) in 1960 Huddersfield Town’s Denis Law signed for Manchester City for £55,000 – £10,000 more than the previous British transfer record fee.
Here for subscribers is an overview of that transfer plus footage from Law’s debut and other material.
If you would like to read this and all the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book and the audio interview with John Bond) then please subscribe. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year) or £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time. Each subscriber gets full access to the 280+ articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.
Today (28th January) in 1961 Denis Law’s six goals for Manchester City against Luton in the FAC were wiped from the records when the game was abandoned. City were winning 6-2. Here for subscribers to the blog is the story of that game and the ‘typical City’ replay that followed.
If you would like to read this and the blog’s in-depth, longer articles (including the entire Manchester A Football History book) then please subscribe below. It works out about £1.67 a month if you take out an annual subscription (£20 per year) or £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time. Each subscriber gets full access to the 500+ articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.
On this day (16th January) in 1974 Denis Law scored again (after netting in the League game with Leicester four days earlier).
Law’s goal came as Manchester City defeated Coventry City 4-2 in the League Cup quarter-final replay. That game was notable for lots of reasons, not least because it came in the middle of industrial action resulting in power cuts across the Country. For this game to go ahead City had to bring in an Electricity generator, which was positioned outside the ground. I remember hearing a loud buzzing noise from the generator as I made my way towards the Platt Lane Stand with my dad and brother.
Like City’s 2-0 victory over Leicester in the League four days earlier, this was another scintillating display by Ron Saunders’ City team.
Incredibly, City had been losing 2-1 as late as the 79th minute but then Francis Lee ‘exploded on to the scene with two goals in three minutes’ according to one report. One of Lee’s goals was a penalty awarded after a foul on Colin Bell by Willie Carr.
Watch highlights of the game here (watch the celebrations by Law & Lee after the last goal):
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