Tag Archives: James Moores

Manchester City: The Earliest Known Game

Today (13 November) is the anniversary of the earliest known game of association football played by St Mark’s Church in West Gorton, though I doubt it was actually the first game ever played by the boys of the parish. Detailed research has shown that the match took place on this day in 1880 at Farmer’s Field, off present day Wenlock Way, in West Gorton and was played against the Baptist Church from Macclesfield. It ended in a 2-1 defeat for the club who, rightly, is recognised as the roots of Manchester City. Both sides fielded 12 players.

Can I stress that this is the earliest reported game found so far and at no time is it described as the first game.

I’ve written and talked extensively on this game and the formation of the club (and sadly myths still appear and get repeated!) and you can find out much more elsewhere on this site or in my books (most importantly The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919 and Manchester The City Years). As I hinted earlier, there are lots of myths about the birth of St Mark’s (many of which will be spread today no doubt!) and the club that went through various changes that led to the creation of Manchester City in 1894. I would urge everyone to read the facts, rather than the fiction, Take a look at the following articles and talks:

History Talk Video: The Origins of MCFC
The Origins of Manchester City: Facts Not Fiction

You can also find out about the people involved:

True Blues: William Sumner, the Earliest Captain
True Blues – William Beastow and James Moores
True Blues – St Mark’s Community Leaders
True Blues – Walter Chew

True Blues – William Beastow and James Moores

Concluding the weekly series of ‘True Blue’ figures associated with the early years of Manchester City, here’s an article on William Beastow and James Moores, two men influential during the development of footballing activities in the 1870s-1890s. Most people don’t tend to talk about these guys but they are possibly the two most important church figures directly involved with the development of the football club. You can find out more below:

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That was the tenth consecutive weekly ‘True Blues’ feature. Use the tag ‘True Blues’ to find the other profiles in this series. If there’s interest I’ll write some other True Blue profiles later in the year. You can nominate the names that you’d like featured by emailing me at Gary@GJFootballArchive.com or by adding a comment in the comments area below. Thanks.

The full series of True Blue profiles featured:

Lawrence Furniss, John Allison, Joshua Parlby, Walter Chew, William Sumner, Tom Maley, St Mark’s community leaders, Billy Meredith, John Chapman, William Beastow and James Moores.