Tag Archives: John Bond

John Bond Arrives

On this day (17 October) in 1980 John Bond was officially appointed Manchester City’s manager. The season would end with him guiding the Blues to the FA Cup final.

Back in November 1995 I interviewed John at his home. At the time I was researching my in-depth history of the club called Manchester The Greatest City (later updated as Manchester The City Years).

I met John at his home and spent a good few hours with him chatting about the Blues and his career. I loved doing this interview and was always grateful for the time he gave me. He was quite frank, open and honest – which delighted me because he was a great talker. He was also happy for me to quote everything he said in the interview. I did end up quoting him extensively in the book (and in others I’ve produced).

You can listen to the first 17 minutes of the interview here. He talks about the steps taken by City to appoint him; the interview (and the directors involved in that notorious filmed interview for the City documentary in 1980-81); the signing of Tommy Hutchison, Bobby McDonald and Gerry Gow. As I said earlier, he is quite frank in his comments and that may surprise a few.

This audio recording of the first 17 minutes of the interview is available to subscribers. If you want to listen then please subscribe below. Other sections can be listened to (see below for details).

Of course as this interview was recorded on my old cassette recorder the quality isn’t the best but I’m working on improving that for future pieces.

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The other parts of the interview are available here:

John Bond Interview Part Two
John Bond Interview – Part Three
John Bond Interview – Part Four
John Bond Interview – Part 5
John Bond Interview Part 6 (of 7)
John Bond Interview Part 7 (Final Part)

I’ve also posted an obituary I wrote to John here:

Johnny Bond, Johnny Bond, Johnny Bond

You’ll Be Back: MCFC and WHU 1987

As Manchester City visit West Ham today (31st August 2024) in the Premier League I thought I’d post a small feature remembering a relegation game in 1987 that entered folklore as the You’ll Be Back game. What was it all about? Here goes…

City and West Ham fans have developed a special relationship over the years. There has been a mutual recognition of the journey our clubs have been on.

The biggest demonstration of the special relationship between the fans of the two clubs came in May 1987. City were relegated after a 2-0 defeat at West Ham.  At the end of the game City supporters and West Ham fans climbed over the fences and onto the pitch. Some thought that the two sets of supporters were about to confront each other, but the fans knew differently. The Hammers began chanting “You’ll be back” and both groups swapped scarves and souvenirs on the pitch. It was the kind of moment that should have been widely reported in the media but at the time focus tended to be on hooliganism and confrontation rather than the positives of football support. City had been relegated, but their supporters did not seek revenge.  The West Ham fans could have ridiculed, but they didn’t.  If only those condemning football fans at the time could have seen the two sets of loyal supporters genuinely appreciating and understanding each other.

The relationship between the fans of the two clubs is not something that is widely discussed or promoted but it is something that has endured. City fans have never forgotten the ‘You’ll be back’ game and in recent years, as others have unfairly mocked both sets of fans, the supporters of both the Blues and the Hammers seem to understand and respect each other. Inevitably, there will always be banter during a game but outside of the match the mutual recognition and respect always seems to win through.

To many West Ham are the City of the South – a proud football club with a great history and heritage, combined with a loyal and passionate fanbase.

I reckon that City and West Ham fans have a shared understanding of football history, status and achievements with supporters aware of their club’s traditions, rivalries and shared history. The two clubs’ roots are very much based around hardworking working class areas of their cities with the supporters of both the Hammers and the Blues coming traditionally from the working classes. In recent years an analysis of the original shareholders at the majority of Football League clubs identified that by 1900 City’s shareholders came mostly from the working class – a larger percentage than at any club other than West Ham who had a slightly higher percentage. This demonstrates that those who owned both City and West Ham were representative of the fans on the terraces and that these clubs were similarly organised and run. As a result of this both clubs were representative of their communities in ways in which their nearest local rivals were not at the time.

Both clubs have enjoyed stylish, attractive football over the years with a belief that the game should be an entertainment. The roots of this go back decades at both clubs with West Ham’s Ted Fenton and Ron Greenwood influencing men such as Malcolm Allison and John Bond who managed the Blues. 

Recently, City fans were delighted to see Manuel Pellegrini and Pablo Zabaleta become Hammers following a line that includes other popular Blues such as Ian Bishop and Trevor Morley.

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If you would like to read more like 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. Subscribers get full access to the 1600+ articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.

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While you’re here why not check out the frank audio interview with former WHU player and MCFC boss John Bond? Taster clip here:

Liverpool 1 MCFC 3 – John Bond’s Views on Liverpool’s Reaction

The 1981 FA Cup Final

On this day (May 9) in 1981 the 100th FA Cup Final took place between Manchester City and Tottenham. Below is a long read on the final but before details of that, there are also profiles of City’s starting 11 on the site. Here’s a link to the one on Tommy Hutchison published 3 years ago (it’s a free read). Enjoy:

The Starting Eleven – Tommy Hutchison

Here for subscribers is a long read on the build up, the final and the post-final scenes. It contains material from interviews I have performed over the years with Dennis Tueart, John Bond and Joe Corrigan. There are also a few quotes that may surprise readers of what discussions took place after the final.

Here goes….

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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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The 1970s: 1979-1980 Spend, Spend, Spend

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with a 4,220 word article on the entire 1979-80 season – a season which saw heroes leave and spending get ridiculous!). My article, like the other indepth pieces, contains material from interviews I have performed with many of the key figures – chairman, managers, players and others. You can read this below.

This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s has been running throughout January and now into February with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. Every day in January offered something to enjoy and I’ll continue this series for a little while yet. Thanks for all the positive comments about it.

Subscribers can access 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 4,220 word article is on the 1979-80 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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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: 1978-1979 Milan Meeting

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with a 5,700 word article on the entire 1978-79 season – a season which saw City mount a UEFA Cup challenge and a former hero return (if only he hadn’t!). My article, like the other indepth pieces, contains material from interviews I have performed with many of the key figures – chairman, managers, players and others. You can read this below.

This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s has been running throughout January and now into February with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. Every day in January offered something to enjoy and I’ll continue this series for a little while yet. Thanks for all the positive comments about it.

Subscribers can access 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 5,700 word article is on the 1978-79 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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If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.

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Manchester City v Burnley

Today’s game with Burnley and the return of Vincent Kompany provides a great opportunity to remember some key games and stories from years gone by featuring the two clubs. I’ve written a lot about City & Burnley games over the years so sit back and get yourself in the mood for tonight’s game by having a look at these articles:

A game in 2001:

Capacity Crowd Watch City And Burnley

An amazing crowd for a second tier match:

69,463 watch MCFC and Burnley in Division Two

Another incredible crowd for a City-Burnley match:

An Incredible Crowd and Day in 1921

Sterling inspired City here:

Sterling Double

One of my quests to find missing objects involves the 1904 FA Cup final ball. I know it was in Burnley for over 40 years and was still there in the 1950s but where is it today? Can you help find it? Have a read of this:

Finding 1904 Objects

Jimmy Ross was a brilliant footballer for both City and Burnley but he’s often forgotten. You can find out who he was here:

The Great Jimmy Ross

More on Ross here:

The Death Of Jimmy Ross

John Bond managed both. Here’s an exclusive interview I did with him many years ago where we talked about his career at both:

John Bond Interview – Part 5

A season when City and Burnley challenged each other for the title:

MCFC 20TH CENTURY CHRONICLE – SEASON 1920-21

The earliest known surviving film of a City Ladies (now Women) match was against Burnley:

Manchester City Ladies – The Earliest Film

There are of course several articles mentioning Burnley manager Vincent Kompany’s time at MCFC. You can access some of them here:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/tag/vincent-kompany/

The 1980s: Corrigan Bottled as Liverpool Lose 3-1 to MCFC

Here’s another 1980s themed story. On this day (26 December) in 1981 Manchester City defeated Liverpool 3-1 at Anfield but it was a day marred when City keeper Joe Corrigan was felled by a bottle thrown at him. Here are highlights of the game plus a brief audio clip of John Bond talking about the LFC reaction that day.

In 1995 I interviewed former City boss John Bond at his home. The interview lasted about two hours and here’s a brief snippet from that interview where he talks about that win over Liverpool on Boxing Day 1981.

The Blues won 3-1 (Bond, Hartford & Reeves) then two days later (Bond says it’s the next day in this clip but it was 28th December) City defeated Wolves 2-1 at Maine Rd. John discusses a brilliant goal from Trevor Francis. City went top of the League after the Wolves victory.

Stick with the clip because it ends with Bond’s views on how Liverpool used to react to wins and defeats. I’d best not comment – have a listen:

Here are a couple of cuttings from the day.

The 1980s: Kick Off Is Back!

Continuing the series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1980s. Here’s a reminder from the City match programme in December 1988 of the return of an old favourite – Granada TV’s Kick Off! The programme was essential viewing for football fans in Granadaland and the programme’s return was something many fans wanted. The show had ended in 1983 (it was all tied in with TV rights for games etc.).

The host when the show was at its peak was Gerald Sinstadt and Elton Welsby (above) joined him as a young co-host eventually. When the show returned in January 1989 Elton was the main host and former City boss John Bond was also to appear on the show (later this season he angered City fans with his view that the Blues young players were not ready to get promoted and that led to him receiving some abuse from travelling fans at Bradford on the final day of the 1988-89 season).

If you’d like to know more about what John Bond said and how things went for City throughout 1988-89 (or indeed any season) then why not subscribe to this site? Subscribers can read a 4,100 word feature on the 1988-89 season below. Enjoy!

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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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Tomorrow’s feature is the last on the 1980s as we tell the story of the 1989-90 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:

The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald

The 1980s: Why Did Bond Sit In The Directors’ Box?

It’s December 1980 and the City match programme’s letters page contained this letter about new City boss John Bond. Back then many managers would prefer to sit in the directors’ box at games as it would give them a good view and John Bond chose to do that for many games during his opening months as manager (often throughout his actual time at City to be fair). It wasn’t so unusual but this fan wanted to understand why and wrote to the City programme looking for an answer.

It’s actually the sort of question that would seem more appropriate today as few managers ever really spend time in the directors’ box. I certainly wouldn’t expect Pep to sit up there on a regular basis.

Just one of the many things that has changed over the decades. The letter writer claimed that Malcolm Allison never sat in the directors’ box – that’s not true. There are plenty of occasions in the 60s & 70s when Allison sat up there.

You can find out more on the 1980s, John Bond (including a fairly frank audio interview I did with him years ago) and City elsewhere on this website. Subscribers get access to a lot of extra content. To subscribe see the following:

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If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.

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