A new series of features on the 1960s starts with this subscriber article on Manchester City during the 1959-60 season. If you’d like to read this 1200 word article, plus all other articles on the site, then please subscribe (see below).
Subscribe to get access
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.
Now that Pep Guardiola has managed his 500th Manchester City game (yes, I know he’s been ill and missed games but he’s still the manager when they occurred) here’s a brief look at the only manager ahead of his record at the club, Les McDowall (note: Les missed some games on scouting missions, so similar to Pep’s missed games?). Enjoy!
Les McDowall
June 1950 – May 1963
Previously: Impressive wing-half for City during 40s.
Took Over From: Jock Thomson, who left in February 1950 as City headed towards relegation, but it is believed Wilf Wild with Fred Tilson filled the void between managers.
Inherited: Bert Trautmann, Roy Clarke, Joe Fagan & Johnny Hart.
Players Brought In Included: City’s talented forward Don Revie & inspirational captain Roy Paul. Also Alex Harley & Peter Dobing.
Best Buy: For his role in the Revie Plan and long term commitment to the City cause – Ken Barnes.
Youngsters He Gave Debuts To: Joe Hayes, Dave Wagstaffe, John Benson, Neil Young, Alan Oakes & Glyn Pardoe.
First Game: Preston North End 2 City 4 (City scorers George Smith 2, Roy Clarke and Dennis Westcott), 19 August 1950, attendance 36,294.
High Points: Winning promotion during his first season; FA Cup finalists in 1955 & FA Cup winners in 1956 (and finishing fourth that season).
Coaches: Thirties stars Fred Tilson & Laurie Barnett.
Tactics: Became noted for tactical innovations such as the Revie Plan (although people assume this to be Revie’s idea the name came from the fact he was the key player; it had previously operated in the Reserves with Johnny Williamson in the role). The Plan revolutionised City’s play and led to the mid-fifties success.
Last Game: West Ham United 6 City 1 (City scorer Alan Oakes), 18 May 1963, attendance 16,602.
Season By Season Record:
League
1950-51 P 42 W 19 D 14 L 9 GF 89 GA 61 Pts 52
1951-52 P 42 W 13 D 13 L 16 GF 58 GA 61 Pts 39
1952-53 P 42 W 14 D 7 L 21 GF 72 GA 87 Pts 35
1953-54 P 42 W 14 D 9 L 19 GF 62 GA 77 Pts 37
1954-55 P 42 W 18 D 10 L 14 GF 76 GA 69 Pts 46
1955-56 P 42 W 18 D 10 L 14 GF 82 GA 69 Pts 46
1956-57 P 42 W 13 D 9 L 20 GF 78 GA 88 Pts 35
1957-58 P 42 W 22 D 5 L 15 GF 104 GA 100 Pts 49
1958-59 P 42 W 11 D 9 L 22 GF 64 GA 95 Pts 31
1959-60 P 42 W 17 D 3 L 22 GF 78 GA 84 Pts 37
1960-61 P 42 W 13 D 11 L 18 GF 79 GA 90 Pts 37
1961-62 P 42 W 17 D 7 L 18 GF 78 GA 81 Pts 41
1962-63 P 42 W 10 D 11 L 21 GF 58 GA 102 Pts 31
2 points for a win
FA Cup
1950-51 P 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 GF 0 GA 2 Reached 3rd round
1951-52 P 2 W 0 D 1 L 1 GF 3 GA 6 Reached 3rd round
1952-53 P 3 W 1 D 1 L 1 GF 9 GA 6 Reached 4th round
1953-54 P 2 W 1 D 0 L 1 GF 5 GA 3 Reached 4th round
1954-55 P 6 W 5 D 0 L 1 GF 10 GA 4 Reached final
1955-56 P 7 W 6 D 1 L 0 GF 11 GA 4 FA Cup winners
1956-57 P 2 W 0 D 1 L 1 GF 5 GA 6 Reached 3rd round
1957-58 P 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 GF 1 GA 5 Reached 3rd round
1958-59 P 2 W 0 D 1 L 1 GF 3 GA 4 Reached 3rd round
1959-60 P 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 GF 1 GA 5 Reached 3rd round
1960-61 P 4 W 1 D 2 L 1 GF 4 GA 4 Reached 4th round
1961-62 P 2 W 1 D 0 L 1 GF 1 GA 2 Reached 4th round
1962-63 P 3 W 2 D 0 L 1 GF 3 GA 2 Reached 5th round
League Cup
1960-61 P 2 W 1 D 0 L 1 GF 3 GA 2 Reached 3rd round
1961-62 P 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 GF 2 GA 4 Reached 2nd round
1962-63 P 6 W 3 D 2 L 1 GF 10 GA 12 Reached 5th round
TOTAL (League & cup fixtures)
P591 W220 D127 L244 GF 1049 GA 1135
Trophies Won: FA Cup (1956)
Other Competitive Fixtures: 1 Charity Shield game
They Said: “Les McDowall was very much an old school manager – shirt & tie, office type. You rarely saw him but when you did it was usually when he was unveiling one of his new tactical plans. We had one where we played with 5 at the back and I had a number 7 shirt on. He would probably have excelled in today’s game because he was absolutely driven with tactical formations.” Defender Bobby Kennedy talking in 2005.
Followed By: George Poyser
After City: Became Oldham Athletic manager shortly after leaving City. Died in August 1991 at the age of 78.
On this day (10 November) in 1956 the great Don Revie left Manchester City for Sunderland. Revie had been in and out of favour with manager Les McDowall for over a year, but fans recognised his qualities. Here for subscribers is a profile of Don. Enjoy.
Subscribe to get access
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month or there’s a special discounted rate of £20 a year. Subscribers have access to everything posted on the site, including PDFs or Manchester A Football History and my 1st book on MCFC (published in 1989).
It was a miserable day all round as Manchester City’s Bert Trautmann was sent off for booting the ball at the referee on this day (8 September) in 1962. City lost the game with West Ham 6-1 with Trautmann’s dismissal coming after the fifth goal.
After he had booted the ball at the ref, the official took out his notebook and ordered Trautmann off. The German goalkeeper immediately took his shirt off and headed down the tunnel and straight out of the ground and into his car.
Here are Trautmann’s views, as told to a journalist the following day:
The view from West Ham was that their team was not particularly worth the 6-1 victory. This London report makes interesting reading:
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.
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.
Subscribe to get access
Read more of this content when you subscribe today.
I like this colour team photo of Manchester City which was taken as part of the build-up to the 1955 FA Cup final between the Blues and Newcastle United. City lost that final – and at the time of writing it remains the last major domestic trophy won by the Geordies.
At least two of the men here later had involvement in women’s football with the Manchester Corinthians. Bert Trautmann acted as an ambassador for the pioneering women’s team later in the 1950s while Dave Ewing coached the team when it used City’s Platt Lane facilities in the late 1970s/early 1980s. You can find out more about the Corinthians here:
It was a miserable day all round as Manchester City’s Bert Trautmann was sent off for booting the ball at the referee on this day (8 September 1962). City lost the game with West Ham 6-1 with Trautmann’s dismissal coming after the fifth goal.
After he had booted the ball at the ref, the official took out his notebook and ordered Trautmann off. The German goalkeeper immediately took his shirt off and headed down the tunnel and straight out of the ground and into his car.
Here are Trautmann’s views, as told to a journalist the following day:
The view from West Ham was that their team was not particularly worth the 6-1 victory. This London report makes interesting reading:
Demonstrations followed the game expressing anger towards the manager Les McDowall but Trautmann managed to escape fan criticism.
This is an odd article for a few reasons from today (25 April) in 1955. Basically the Manchester City manager Les McDowall was getting inundated with requests for FA Cup final tickets from fans, friends, former players and others. Some were turning up at his house…. So what did the Manchester Evening News do? It included the name of the street McDowall lived on! Surely that would’ve added to his woes?
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.
Subscribe to get access
Read more of this content when you subscribe today.
On this day (15th March) in 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.
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 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. Each subscriber gets full access to the 280+ articles posted so far and the hundreds scheduled to be posted in the coming weeks.
Gary James' Football Archive 