On this day (3 October) in 1987 Paul Stewart & Imre Varadi both scored twice as Manchester City beat Leicester City 4-2 at Maine Road. Games with Leicester were often newsworthy in the 1980s. Sadly, there was the match in March 1989 when Paul Lake swallowed his tongue and there was the FA Cup tie in January 1989 which saw the City players take to the field carrying large inflatable bananas which they then threw into the crowd. This was not a regular occurrence! You can read more on the banana craze here:
Tag Archives: Leicester
Stan Horne Debut
Three days after making his Manchester City debut in a League Cup tie with Leicester (22 September 1965, 3-1 City win) Stan Horne made his League debut for Joe Mercer’s Blues. The game, played on this day (25th) in 1965 ended in a 1-0 City win over Derby County at Maine Road. The scorer was Jimmy Murray.
Horne had previously played for Mercer’s Aston Villa too.
Another Record Attendance at Manchester City Set Today
For the third successive home game Manchester City have established a record attendance for a football game at the Etihad Stadium. The four highest football attendances at the stadium are:
60,765 Manchester City vs Coventry City 5 September 2026 (photo is my image of the Pep Guardiola Stand during today’s game)
60,645 Manchester City vs Bournemouth 23 August 2026
60,332 Manchester City vs Aston Villa 24 May 2026
54,693 Manchester City vs Leicester City 6 February 2016
Congratulations on today’s 1-0 win over Coventry City. This was not only the Etihad’s record attendance today, it was also City’s highest home attendance since 6 November 1971 when 63,326 attended a City league game v United. Capacity restrictions from 1971 meant that attendances could not be higher than 60,000 until the last game of the 2025-26 season.
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Jeremy Monga signs for Manchester City on five-year deal
Manchester City have announced a new signing. Here’s the press release: Manchester City is delighted to announce the signing of Jeremy Monga.
The highly rated 17-year-old winger joins the Club after emerging as one of the brightest young talents in English football, having already gained significant first team experience despite his age.
The England youth international, who joins from Leicester City, has signed a five-year deal that will keep him at the Etihad Stadium until the summer of 2031.
Born in Coventry, Monga joined Leicester City’s Academy at Under-9 level and progressed rapidly through the ranks. His outstanding performances at youth level saw him become the youngest scorer in Premier League 2 history at the time of his goal against Aston Villa in November 2024.
He went on to earn opportunities with Leicester’s Development Squad before breaking into the first team while still only 15 years old. Monga made history in April 2025 when he became Leicester’s second-youngest appearance maker and the second-youngest Premier League debutant in history after appearing against Newcastle United.
Monga arrives at the Club having already made 37 senior appearances for Leicester City, including seven in the Premier League.
On signing for City, Monga said: “When I became aware that Manchester City were interested, I knew instantly this was the right choice for me.
“For any young footballer, to become part of this amazing club is a dream come true. This has been the best club in England over the past 10 years. And it has also handed opportunities to players from the Academy like Phil Foden and Nico O’Reilly which shows that the pathway is there.
“It is a privilege to be here, and I’m delighted to have joined.”
Director of Football Hugo Viana added: “Jeremy is an exciting player who has already made huge strides in his young career.
“We were already very aware of him as a Club and we have seen his ability first-hand from his time at Leicester. At 17-years-old we feel he is only going to continue to improve and that this is the correct next step in his career.
“We look forward to supporting him on every step in his journey.”
1969 Manchester City’s Fourth FA Cup
On this day (26 April) in 1969 Manchester City defeated Leicester City 1-0 in the FA Cup final. City’s scorer was Neil Young. If you’d like to know more about that success or the 1968-69 season then have a read of this subscriber article on Manchester City during the 1968-69 season.
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Were You There 60 Years Ago Today? Leicester v Manchester City FAC Replay
Today (9 March) in 1966 Second Division Manchester City defeated First Division Leicester City 1-0 in a FAC 5th round replay. Gordon Banks was the Leicester ‘keeper and City gained many plaudits from this display. More was to follow as the football world began to notice how City were revitalised under manager Joe Mercer and his assistant Malcolm Allison. Were you there that day? If you were please feel free to add your comments.
Here for subscribers are some contemporary match reports from this game:
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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).
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Were You There 60 Years Ago Today? Manchester City v Leicester FAC
Today (5 March) in 1966 two goals from Neil Young helped Second Division Manchester City to a 2-2 draw against First Division Leicester City in the 5th round of the FA Cup. Gordon Banks was the Leicester ‘keeper and City gained many plaudits from this display. More was to follow as the football world began to notice how City were revitalised under manager Joe Mercer and his assistant Malcolm Allison. Were you there that day? If you were please feel free to add your comments.
Here for subscribers are some contemporary match reports and images from this game:
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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).
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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.
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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The 1950s: An 8-4 Defeat for Manchester City!
Today (22 February) in 1958 saw a remarkable game where Manchester City’s Bobby Johnstone scored in the third minute but the Manchester Blues lost 8-4 to Leicester City. This is a simple report from that game. Were you there? I’d love to hear your memories of that strange day. Note the Arsenal-Tottenham match ended 4-4 – another strange result for a London Derby. To find out more on this period in football then why not read my series on Manchester City in the 1950s. Here’s a 2,200 word article on the 1957-58 season. Enjoy!
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Top Two Divisions Attendances and Table From 40 Years Ago!
Last week I posted the top flight attendances for this last week forty years ago and this led to a number of comments/questions and so to answer some of those I’ve now posted the top two divisions attendances together with the two League tables AND the end of season average attendances. People asked for clarity on how the figures compared to the second tier and whether League position played its part in affecting crowds. As a reminder here’s last week’s attendances…
And here’s this week’s (published 24 November 1985) and the League table too.
Obviously, these are only snapshots from that season but to add a bit more context here are the end of season averages here are the top 46 best supported clubs in order that season (hopefully it might make those who sing songs like ‘Where Were You?’ think about the crowds at their own clubs first):
A few notable League positions for those who do sing ‘Where Were You?’… The top eight clubs in the League were: Liverpool (champions), Everton, West Ham, Man Utd, Sheff Wed, Chelsea, Arsenal and Forest. Manchester City (who were 4th best supported club) were 15th (only 4 points above relegation zone), Spurs were tenth, Newcastle 11th and Aston Villa 16th.
In the Second Division best supported club Sunderland were 18th (avoiding relegation by 4 points); the top four were Norwich, Charlton, Wimbledon and Portsmouth.
If you’d like to know more about Manchester City at this time, here’s a 2,500 word subscriber feature on the 1985-86 season. Enjoy!
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Attendances 40 Years Ago!
These two results tables for top flight football in November 1985 make interesting reading. I’ve included the details published today (17 November, for games played the previous day) in 1985 and also the week after’s details too. This gives an idea of what the top clubs were attracting back then. Notice West Ham’s game attracted more at home than Arsenal’s and that Liverpool were over 26,000 less than Manchester United. Arsenal’s crowd was 6,000 less than struggling Manchester City and Tottenham attracted more than Arsenal too. Reigning League champions Everton were some way ahead of the London clubs and only about 600 behind Liverpool. Obviously, these are only snapshots from two weekends but hopefully it might make those who sing songs like ‘Where Were You?’ think about the crowds at their own clubs first.
the Marwood scoring for Sheffield Wednesday was of course Brian Marwood who went on to play a key part in Manchester City’s modern return to glory. If you’d like to know more about Manchester City at this time, here’s a 2,500 word subscriber feature on the 1985-86 season. Enjoy!
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