Tag Archives: Les McDowall

The 1950s: The 1956 FA Cup Semi Final

70 years ago today (17 March 1956) Manchester City defeated Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in the FA Cup final with a goal from Bobby Johnstone. The game was watched by 69,788 at Villa Park and you can watch film of it here:

https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/60611/

You can read more on this season below…

Here for subscribers is a 3,900 word article on the 1955-56 season when City won the FA Cup final (nowadays known as the Trautmann Final) and Bert Trautmann was FWA Footballer of the Year (presented in the days before the final). Enjoy!

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Denis Law Signs for Manchester City

65 years ago today 15 March 1960) Huddersfield Town’s Denis Law signed for Manchester City for £55,000 – £10,000 more than the previous British transfer record fee.

Here for subscribers is an overview of that transfer plus footage from Law’s debut and other material.

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Manchester City v Bradford Park Avenue

On this day (26 January) in 1946 a comfortable 3-1 victory for Manchester City over Bradford Park Avenue in the fourth round of the FA Cup seemed certain to put the Blues through to the fifth round.  Goals from George Smith 2 and Alec Herd. However, this first season of FA Cup football after the war saw games played on a home and away basis and the Blues had to face Bradford again a few days later.

You can read about that day below.

Manchester City v Bradford Park Avenue: A Record Breaking Day!

The 1930s: 1939-1940 War Reports

My series on Manchester City in the 1930s continues today with a 1,400 word subscriber article on the 1939-40 season. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you don’t subscribe then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?

Here’s the article:

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The 1930s: 1937-1938 Making History

My series on Manchester City in the 1930s continues today with a 1,800 word subscriber article on the 1937-38 season. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you don’t subscribe then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?

Here’s the article:

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 a month (cancel anytime) or sign up for a year at £20 per year. Subscribers have access to the 1000s of articles, features, interviews etc. posted so far and all those posted during your subscription.

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The 1940s: Manchester City 2 Bradford (Park Avenue) 1

On this day (6 May) in 1944 the North Regional League (a wartime league) game between Manchester City victory and Bradford (Park Avenue) ended in a 2-1 City victory before 5,000 at Maine Road. The City scorers were Peter Doherty (photograph) and Billy Bootle. Together with Peter Doherty, notable players in the City team that day include: Frank Swift, Billy Walsh, Jack Bray, Les McDowall, Bert Sproston and Jimmy Heale.

This was the last game of the 1943-44 season for City.

You can read more on MCFC in the 1943-44 season below. The story of George Smith is included within this. George was the victim of friendly fire and his story is remarkable.

This is a subscriber article and you can read it by subscribing below.

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month or you can subscriber for the discounted annual rate of £20 per year. Each subscriber gets access to everything posted so far, including PDFs of a couple of my books.

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The 1940s: The 1949-50 Season

The new series on the 1940s continues today with this 2,300 word article on the 1949-50 season. Enjoy!

This is a subscriber article and you can read it by subscribing below.

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month or you can subscriber for the discounted annual rate of £20 per year. Each subscriber gets access to everything posted so far, including PDFs of a couple of my books.

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The 1940s: The 1948-49 Season

The new series on Manchester City in the 1940s continues with this feature on the 1948-49 season. This article can be read by subscribing below.

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month or you can subscriber for the discounted annual rate of £20 per year. Each subscriber gets access to everything posted so far, including PDFs of a couple of my books.

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The 1940s: The 1947-48 Season

The new series on Manchester City in the 1940s continues with this feature on the 1947-48 season. This 1000 word subscriber article can be read by subscribing below.

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month or you can subscriber for the discounted annual rate of £20 per year. Each subscriber gets access to everything posted so far, including PDFs of a couple of my books.

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The 1940s: The 1946-47 Season

The new series on Manchester City in the 1940s continues with this feature on the 1946-47 season. This was the first league season after the war and ended with City winning the Second Division title. There were some truly significant – and well attended – games that season and future Liverpool manager Joe Fagan (photograph) made his debut this season too. This subscriber article includes comments from an interview I did with George Smith back in 2003.

This is a subscriber article and you can read it by subscribing below.

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month or you can subscriber for the discounted annual rate of £20 per year. Each subscriber gets access to everything posted so far, including PDFs of a couple of my books.

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