Were You There 60 Years Ago Today? Manchester City 3 Birmingham City 1

Today (30 April) in 1966 Manchester City were almost back in the top flight after a 3-1 victory at home to Birmingham City. There were only four games left after this match in the Second Division with the next game being away at Rotherham the following Wednesday – fans wondered could this be the night (and if it is would a song eventually be created that would be sung for at least the next three decades remembering the night? No they didn’t wonder that but that is what happened).

Were you there that day? If you were please feel free to add your comments. Here’s some match reports from the Birmingham game:

You can find out more on Manchester City during the 1965-66 season by reading the following 4100 word article. As with most of the other features in this series it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there. This is a subscriber article (see below).

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Were You There 60 Years Ago Today? Ipswich Town 1 Manchester City 1

Today (23 April) in 1966 Manchester City draw 1-1 at Ipswich. There were only five games left after this match in the Second Division and City hadn’t yet achieved promotion, though they remained in pole position. Notice that the report (main image) was written by Henry Blofeld, more commonly recognised for his cricket work on radio and TV.

Johnny Crossan scored six minutes from time to ensure a point in this match, much to the relief of manager Joe Mercer who commented afterwards (with typical Mercer humour): ‘We worked hard for it but I began to wonder if it would come. We missed enough chances to have won three games!’

Subscribers can read some contemporary match reports from this game below. Were you there that day? If you were please feel free to add your comments.

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You can find out more on Manchester City during the 1965-66 season by reading the following 4100 word article. As with most of the other features in this series it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there. This is a subscriber article (see below).

Subscribe to get access

Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up for a year at the discounted price of £20 per year (works out £1.67 per month). Subscribers access the 1000+ articles posted so far and the others scheduled during the life of your subscription.