Tag Archives: Derby County

Colin Bell’s City Debut Goal

60 years ago today (19 March 1966) Colin Bell made his debut for Manchester City in a League game with Derby County. The game ended 2-1 with Colin Bell scoring a debut goal (see main photo). Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison often joked about the goal (according to Allison it hit him and went in which Allison claimed caused Mercer to cry out: ‘Oh no, what have we done!’). That was more of a story used years later when Colin had proved his worth time and time again.

Bell signed on 16 March. Here for subscribers are contemporary match reports and also an image of Young’s goal too:

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If you’d like to find out about Colin’s Bury debut (which was against Manchester City), you can read that here:

The 1960s: Colin Bell’s Bury Debut

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The 1933 FA Cup Semi Final – Manchester City v Derby County at Huddersfield

On this day (18 March) in 1933 Manchester City faced Derby County in the FA Cup semi-final at Leeds Road. Here for subscribers is the story of that day, including images, a match report and film of the game. Enjoy!

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Colin Bell Signs

60 years ago today (17 March 1966) newspapers carried the story that Colin Bell had transferred from Bury to Manchester City. He actually signed on 16 March and made his debut on 19 March v Derby (watch this space for a story about that).

If you’d like to find out about Colin’s Bury debut (which was against Manchester City), you can read that here:

The 1960s: Colin Bell’s Bury Debut

League Tables From 50 Years Ago Today

On this day fifty years ago (26 November 1975) the League tables for England’s top two tiers looked like this. Surprising top two clubs? You can find out what happened to Manchester City that season by reading the following 5,320 word article on the entire 1975-76 season for the Blues – a season which saw Tony Book guide the club to major success. You can read this below.

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Invacars at Maine Road

Here’s some film from a Manchester City-Derby County game at Maine Road on this day (14 November) in 1970. The film has a few things to look out for including a Colin Bell goal and scenes of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison, but you can also see the Invacars that used to be used by disabled people and they were allowed to park pitchside. You can see them a couple of times in this footage (look out after about 19 seconds at the top of the image) positioned in front of the Kippax/Platt Lane Corner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFQWc_pumhQ

The game ended 1-1 in front of 31,817 at Maine Road. Subscribers can read about this season for Manchester City below. This is a 5,200 word article on the entire 1970-71 season. Enjoy!

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An Official Programme from October 1900

Here’s the Official Programme cover and Manchester City comments (below), published on 27 October 1900 for City’s game with Derby at Hyde Road. Back then the programme was a shared one with Second Division Newton Heath (later United) and a couple of rugby clubs. the comments below on City’s performances and preview of the Derby game are interesting. The 3-0 game it opens with was City’s 3-0 Division One defeat at Sunderland. The Monday game it mentions was a 2-0 victory over Newton Heath in the Lancashire Cup.

The ‘Doctor’ mentioned lower down was City half back William ‘Doc’ Holmes. The preview suggested this would be a tough game for City, though the return of Jimmy Ross was welcomed. Ross, a former Preston Invincible, was a key member of the side and he’d been sidelined for the previous six League games.

The match with Derby ended in a 2-0 victory with both goals scored by Fred Williams. If you’d like to find out more on this season for Manchester City then why not read the following 1200+ word article telling the story of 1900-01? Why not subscribe and read this and all the other content on here? You can even try it for a month at a time if that works best?

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Manchester City’s Three Royal Boxes!

Last Saturday (25 October 2025) I was fortunate to be invited to the England v Brazil women’s international as a guest of the FA. My seat was in the Royal Box at the Etihad (City of Manchester Stadium as it was named on the night due to sponsorship reasons). On social media someone commented that the Royal Box was a bit of a stretch in terms of its name but the truth is that the Directors Box (as it’s more commonly known) has housed members of the British royal family, including the late Queen Elizabeth II. In fact it was originally named the Royal Box for the Commonwealth Games in 2002. Back then I remember suggesting it should retain the name and now, maybe, the original name should return?

Other royals, including the former King of Spain, have sat there for Manchester City games and other events, so the name would be quite apt. Funnily enough, the Etihad’s ‘Royal Box’ isn’t the first part of a City ground to be given that name. It’s not even the second but the third! Both Maine Road and before that Hyde Road, had visits from senior members of the British Royal Family and on each occasion the Directors Box was spruced up and renamed the Royal Box for the game. Here’s the current King’s great grandad at Hyde Road’s Royal Box in 1920:

The King with the Mayor in Hyde Road’s ‘Royal Box’. Notice Lawrence Furniss stood, behind the King. Furniss was a major figure from the 1880s to the 1940s at City.

So, City, how about renaming the Directors Box the Royal Box again?

The following subscriber article talks about all of that, but in essence the current King’s dad, grandad and great grandad have all attended City matches at one of City’s home grounds. You can read about those visits here:

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The 1920s: Manchester City 3 Derby County 0

On this day (28 September 1929) a hat trick from Fred Tilson (photographed at Wembley in 1934) gave Manchester City a 3-0 victory over Derby at Maine Road, watched by a crowd of 42,047. You can find out more on the 1929-30 season below in this piece for subscribers (see below). I hope you enjoy it. If you don’t subscribe then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?

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As well as subscriber pieces this series on the 1930s includes some free articles.

The 1930s: 1937-1938 Making History

My series on Manchester City in the 1930s continues today with a 1,800 word subscriber article on the 1937-38 season. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you don’t subscribe then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?

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The 1930s: 1932-33 The Number Game

My series on Manchester City in the 1930s continues today with a 1600 word subscriber article on the 1932-33 season. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you don’t subscribe then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?

Here’s the article:

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