Tag Archives: Denis Law

Happy 90th Birthday Tony Book

On this day (4 September) in 1934 Tony Book was born. Happy 90th birthday Tony! Tony was of course a major footballing star of the 60s and early 70s. It seems appropriate today to highlight some of his achievements with quotes here from interviews I’ve performed over the years. Enjoy!

Tony arrived at Maine Road in 1966 and captained Manchester City to phenomenal success.  When he arrived at City Book he was in his thirties:  “I hoped I’d get a couple of years and I would have been very happy with two years at City, of course.  Because of what happened and the way the success came in my second year, I felt I could go on again. Winning the League in 1968 was like a spark and I wanted to keep the flame going.”

Book lifted more trophies as captain than any other Blue, until the incredible success experienced during Vincent Kompany’s time. Back in 2015-16 as Kompany was nearing Book’s record, Book told me: “Next time he lifts a major trophy he’ll have matched my record as captain. I hope that success comes soon, and that he then goes on to pass my record this season.” 

His time as captain and player was incredible and this was a golden era for City. What is often overlooked though is Tony’s contribution as a manager. In 1973-74 he became manager of City for the final month of the season – a spell that was noteworthy for the infamous Manchester derby when Denis Law netted against United in the Reds’ relegation match.  In the years that followed, Book developed a squad of real talent, blending well-regarded internationals with enthusiastic youth to create a flamboyant and entertaining team.  

Book’s second full season saw his team of entertainers annihilate United 4-0 in the 4th round of the League Cup – on a night remembered more for the devastating injury to Colin Bell – and progress to the competition’s final where they defeated Newcastle 2-1.  The victory meant Book was the first man to win the trophy as a player and as a manager.  He said at the time:  “Two weeks ago I met Gordon Lee (Newcastle manager) and we agreed that whoever won, it was more important for us to provide a good final.  I think we have done that.  This was my greatest moment.  It was a tremendous final and Tueart’s goal was something special… quite out of this world.”

Looking back on 1976 Book believes the key to the success lay in City’s preparation: “We wanted everything to be low key and travelled down early in the week.  We did simple training and tried to build an environment around us that was positive.  It worked well and by the day of the final we were ready.”

City were missing Kenny Clements, and Colin Bell was still out of action, causing Book to bring youngster Ged Keegan in. There had been media talk that Keegan and another youngster, Peter Barnes, would feel the pressure but Book felt differently: “I had total faith in my lads. Barnes scored the first – in a move that we’d worked on in training – and Keegan more than justified his place.  I never had a doubt.”

Book managed City through one of the club’s most exciting periods: “As a manager I was proud that in five years we won the League Cup; finished runners up by a point to Liverpool; we were in Europe for three consecutive seasons; and we reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. I had some good players that came in – Dave Watson, Brian Kidd, Joe Royle, Asa Hartford – and did an excellent job for me.”

City fans loved what he had brought the club and at the 1976 League Cup homecoming they chanted ‘Tony, Tony’ repeatedly for some time.  At various film shows over the last decade I’ve shown (together with Will McTaggart from the North West Film Archive) a rediscovered film of the homecoming parade which shows exactly what the success meant to the City boss: “I wanted to win the League Cup for them and I remember looking out over the crowd in Albert Square. They were celebrating and singing. Everything we did was for the fans.  These fans have been so loyal over the years and they had made me so welcome when I arrived in 1966.  Such a special club and wonderful fans. They deserved that success – and so many more for the way they stood by this club during the painful years that came later.”

Almost sixty years after he first arrived at City, Tony Book is still a regular and popular presence around the club:  “I love this club and am grateful to all those who brought me here and involved me for so long.  Whenever I’ve been given a job to do I’ve always tried to give my best.” 

Book certainly represents all that is good about football and he is a powerful reminder of the successes Manchester City achieved during his captaincy and as manager.

While you’re here why not read other content. There are plenty of free articles here but also there are many, many more only available to subscribers. Subscribers have access to everything. You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. The following 1,700 word article is on the 1973-74 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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IN SEARCH OF THE BLUES – Bobby Kennedy (Interviewed in April 2005)

Defender Bobby Kennedy proved to be a popular player after joining the Blues in 1961.  He went on to make 251 (plus 3 as sub) appearances for City over a seven year period and was a key member of City’s mid sixties side.  In April 2005 Gary James caught up with him at the stadium.

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Five in the FA Cup

Last night (27 February 2024) Erling Haaland became the third Manchester City player to score five goals in a FA Cup game when he faced Luton. The two previous players to achieve this feat were Frank Roberts (see link below for video of the game he scored 5 in) and Bobby Marshall. Marshall’s five came in a FA Cup replay at Swindon on 29 January 1930 when City won 10-1. The attendance for this Tuesday afternoon match was 46,082 – a remarkable figure for an afternoon game in the days before floodlit competition.

Here are a couple of reports of that game (the second contains the goalscoring times/sequence):

Here’s the story of Frank Roberts’ five:

Maine Road 100 – Day 91

Of course Denis Law had scored 6 in a FA Cup tie v Luton but these were wiped from the records:

FAC Draw a Reminder! Law’s Expunged Six

For Haaland there were a few records/points to note:

  • He is regarded as the first player to score five or more in the FA Cup (1st round onwards) since Duane Darby scored 6 for Hull v Whitby in 1996-97.
  • He is the first to score five or more for a top-flight club in the FA Cup since George Best scored 6 for United v Northampton in 1970.
  • He is the first to score five against Luton for City since Denis Law in 1961 when Law scored 6 but all were wiped from the records as the game was abandoned.
  • This is the second time Haaland has scored five goals in a game in his senior career, previously doing so for City against RB Leipzig in the Champions League in March 2023.
  • Since his debut for City in July 2022, Haaland has scored 79 goals in 83 games in all comps, 30 more than any other Premier League player in the that time (Salah 49).

Luton v MCFC: Story So Far!

It’s Luton v Manchester City in the FA Cup tonight. The two sides have met on 7 previous occasions in the competition with City winning 4, drawing 1 and 2 ending in defeat. There was also the famous expunged game where Denis Law netted six. ‘Expunged’ – what a great word! For anyone wondering, it means wiped from the records. So none of those six count in either Law’s goals record or City’s, but it is a game that often gets remembered.

You can read about that one here:

FAC Draw a Reminder! Law’s Expunged Six

Other fixtures include…

Paul Cooper saving a penaly:

Saving a 56th Penalty: Paul Cooper

Both sides pay their respects following the death of a monarch (interesting to note that that weekend’s FA Cup games went ahead as scheduled. Over 65,000 watched City defeat Luton 2-1 at Maine Road).

Royal Reactions (part one)

Of course, Luton played their part in one of the most infamous end of season games in 1983. I won’t put a link here to that but do a search if you’re interested as there’s plenty on my website about that day!

The full record for Manchester City against Luton prior to tonight’s game is:

CompetitionPlayedWonDrawnLost
League37141211
FA Cup7412
League Cup6321
European0000
Other0000

The 1970s: Where Do You Get Your Shirts Dyed?

Here’s an interesting article from today (18 February) in 1974 which tells the story of FH Drabble & Sons, Tansley, Matlock. Who? Well look at these wonderful shirts from the 1974 League Cup final – They were that colourful because of Drabble! So who was Drabble & Sons? Read on…

This was an important company in the production of football shirts and they dyed shirts for Manchester City, Wolves and many international teams. In essence, if you had an Umbro shirt (or another British manufacturer prior to the late 1970s) then there’s a good chance it was dyed at their works.

I’ve been interested in football kit production for many, many years and spent some great time about twenty years ago with Umbro people going through collections and spotting unique work etc. There are a lot of people interested in kits today and, rightly so, they define great eras and often show football clubs at their best. Think of a great team and no doubt you’ll remember the style of kit worn.

One area that is often overlooked though is the actual process of kit manufacture, especially the dyeing. This is odd seeing as it’s so often the colour, especially for teams wearing unique or rare colours (I see MCFC as one of these – other clubs have copied City’s blue but for MCFC this colour or a shade of it goes back to their days as Ardwick when they wore ‘quartered’ shirts of pale blue and white), that is the brand or identity as far as many of us are concerned. 

Ah well, I could go on for hours, but have a read of this. Sadly, Drabble’s dye works was derelicht by the 2000s. Maybe polyester football shirts/overseas production put an end to their operation. Did you work at Drabbles? Any memories of their football related dyeing?

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

Subscribers will get access to 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 1,700 word article is on the 1973-74 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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FAC Draw a Reminder! Law’s Expunged Six

It’s interesting that yesterday (28 January), the day Luton Town were drawn at home to Manchester City in the FA Cup, was the anniversary of one of the most remarkable FAC games between the two clubs. On 28 January 1961 Denis Law’s six goals for 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.

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The 1970s: 1974-1975  Look At His Face

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with a 1,600 word article on the entire 1974-75 season – a season which saw Denis Law score for City (he definitely had not retired following the previous season’s Manchester derby!) and Tony Book guide the club for his first full season as manager. You can read this below. This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s has been running throughout January with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. Every day in January will offer something to enjoy.

Subscribers will get access to 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 1,600 word article is on the 1974-75 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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The 1970s: Away at Plymouth

This footage of Plymouth v Manchester City from fifty years ago today (23 January 1974) is well worth watching for a few reasons. First it’s an important game on the way to Wembley for Manchester’s Blues. Also, you can see both a disallowed goal from Denis Law and a muddy slip by Willie Donachie (extremely rare for any slip up from Donachie but it was the conditions here that failed!). Also, when Tommy Booth rescues the League Cup tie for the Blues listen out for Helen ‘the Bell’ Turner’s bell!

Keep watching and you can see the replay too!

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The 1970s: 1973-1974 Wembley Return

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with a 1,700 word article on the entire 1973-74 season – a season which included a Wembley final, multiple managerial changes and a controversial Manchester Derby at Old Trafford! You can read this below. This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s has been running throughout January with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. Every day in January will offer something to enjoy.

Subscribers will get access to 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 1,700 word article is on the 1973-74 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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.

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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.

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The 1970s: Denis Law Header

Here’s film of Denis Law scoring a header 50 years ago today (19 January 1974) for Manchester City at Birmingham City. Wearing red & black stripes City drew this game 1-1 but it’s worth seeing the goal for that kit and to recognise Law’s final season in League football.

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