From My Collection: Escape To Victory

Here’s a small feature from Shoot magazine on the premiere of the film Escape To Victory. Two former Manchester City players had roles on the Allies team. They were Mike Summerbee and Kaziu Deyna.

The First Time: Manchester City V Real Madrid

Almost 46 years since their first ever meeting Manchester City and Real Madrid meet tomorrow (10 December 2025) in the Champions League. I doubt anyone in the media covering the game will mention the first meeting but if there is anyone interested it took place on 19 December in 1979. Back in 1979 the game was considered a prestigious friendly, or at least that’s what it was supposed to be, but it turned out to be a controversial game with implications for the Blues for some time. Here for subscribers is an 1800 word article with images of that game and the controversy surrounding it.

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The 1980s: Victory Over Bristol City

On this day (19 April) in 1980 Kaziu Deyna, Michael Robinson, and Dennis Tueart all scored form Manchester City as Bristol City were defeated 3-1 in this top flight game. You can watch film of the City goals here:

Subscribers can access everything on this website, so if you want to know more on this season 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 (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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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.

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.

If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:

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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£7.50

Or enter a custom amount

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Your contribution is appreciated.

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Manchester City V Real Madrid, 19 December 1979

On this day (19 December) in 1979 Manchester City’s first meeting with Real Madrid occurred. Back then it was viewed as a prestigious friendly, or at least that’s what it was supposed to be, but it turned out to be a controversial game with implications for the Blues for some time. Here’s an 1800 word article with images of that game and the controversy surrounding it.

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

This article is available to subscribers to the website. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or £20 a year (see below).

Subscribe to get access – Annual

This article is available to subscribers to the website. Annual subscribers access everything on the site (books, articles, videos, history talks, interviews etc.) posted since it was created in December 2020. Monthly subscribers access everything since 1 October 2022. Both Monthly & Annual subscribers access all new content too throughout their subscription.

Today in 1978: Kaziu Deyna

On this day (10 November) in 1978 it was reported that Polish international Kaziu Deyna signed for Manchester City. It was some time before it was all sorted out however! Back in 2003 I wrote this profile of former Manchester City player and Polish World Cup star Kazimierz Deyna. Deyna was such an important and unusual signing at the time he joined City that I feel this article is still appropriate and of interest to subscribers to my blog today.

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If you would like to read this in-depth article then why not subscribe? It costs £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time. Monthly subscribers get full access to everything posted since 1 October 2022. You can also sign up for a year at a discounted rate and get even more access (see below).

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If you would like to read everything on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book, my first book & Farewell To Maine Road) then please take out an annual subscription (£20 per year; equivalent to £1.67 per month).

Kaziu Deyna Goal v Forest

On this day (13 October) in 1979 Kaziu Deyna scored the only goal of the City-Nottingham Forest League game at Maine Road.  A crowd of 41,683 witnessed the City win with future Spanish TV presenter Michael Robinson wearing the number 9 shirt for the Blues that day.

Back in 2003 I wrote this profile of former Manchester City player and Polish World Cup star Kazimierz Deyna. Deyna was such an important and unusual signing at the time he joined City in November 1978 that I feel this article is still appropriate and of interest to subscribers to my blog today.

Subscribe to get access – Annual

If you would like to read this in-depth article and all the others on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book) 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 (see below) if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time. Each subscriber gets full access to the 1000+ articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.

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If you would like to read this in-depth article and all the others on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book) then please subscribe. It costs £3 a month (cancel anytime) of take out a special annual subscription for £20 (above).

Maine Road 100 – Day 86

For post 86 of my Maine Rd 100 a photo of Tony Book, Peter Swales and Kaz Deyna. They were photographed at Deyna’s signing in the Maine Rd boardroom. Swales was the City chairman for what became a quarter of Maine Road’s existence, but who were the other chairmen? For the benefit of subscribers to my website I decided to compile for the first time ever a full list of Manchester City’s chairmen since the club’s earliest known game in 1880 through to today. Here goes:

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If you would like to read 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. Annual subscribers get full access to the 1000+ articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.

Subscribe to get access

If you would like to read this and all the in-depth articles on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book) then please subscribe. Monthly subscription costs £3 a month if you’d like to sign up for a month at a time. Monthly subscribers get full access to everything posted since 1 October 2022 and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.

Kaziu Deyna

Back in 2003 I wrote this profile of former Manchester City player and Polish World Cup star Kazimierz Deyna. Deyna was such an important and unusual signing at the time he joined City in November 1978 that I feel this article is still appropriate and of interest to subscribers to my blog today.

Subscribe to get access

If you would like to read this in-depth article and all the others on this site (including the entire Manchester A Football History book) 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. Each subscriber gets full access to the 500+ articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.