On this day (4 September) in 1920 Liverpool were defeated by Manchester City 3-2 with a City hat trick from Tommy Browell. A crowd recorded as 30,000 at the time watched the match at Hyde Road.
For more on this season why not read the following 2,350 word subscriber article. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you are not currently a subscriber then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?
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Continuing the series on Manchester City in the 1920s here’s a free to read 1100 word article on 1920s City (and 1930s Everton) star Tommy Johnson. Enjoy!
Tommy Johnson was a huge favourite with City supporters throughout his eleven year career with the Blues. Their love affair with the Dalton-in-Furness born goalscorer was borne out of a tremendous appreciation of his contribution to the Blue cause. They also recognised that despite the fame and adulation Johnson was from the same background as they were. For much of his City life he lived in the Gorton area and was often seen in the pubs and clubs talking and mixing with supporters.
In an interview I did with him two decades ago, Johnson’s son Alan remembered his father being a familiar presence in Gorton: “My father was proud of being an ordinary bloke. The players didn’t get paid large wages and life at times was tough, and I think most of his neighbours and friends understood that he really wasn’t any different from them. After he’d left City and joined Everton he would sometimes bring Dixie Dean to Gorton and the two of them would sit in the Plough or one of the other pubs chatting away. In fact Dixie became as well known in the pubs of Gorton as my Dad was!”
Around 1918 City full back Eli Fletcher spotted the promise of Dalton-In-Furness born Johnson when he saw him play. He contacted the Blues and urged them to sign the exciting 17 year old. Johnson joined the Blues in February 1919, and he immediately made an impression during that final season of wartime football.
Once the full League programme resumed in August 1919 Johnson had to wait for his opportunity to impress in the First Division. His chance did not come until the following February, but when it did he scored both goals in City’s 2-0 defeat of Middlesbrough. It wasn’t however until the 1922-3 season that the striker could be regarded as a regular. That season he played 35 of City’s 42 League games and scored on 14 occasions.
In 1926 Johnson appeared in the FA Cup final and a few weeks later he made his England debut at inside left against Belgium in Antwerp. He scored as England won 5-3. A journalist of the period described him as: “an inside forward with a left foot shot few players have equalled and a penchant for the telling cross-field pass.”
During 1926-7 Johnson broke the twenty goals a season barrier when he scored 25 in 38 League appearances, including a hat-trick in the 8-0 victory over Bradford on the final day of the season. The following season he became recognised across the country as a major striker as he managed to score a Club record 38 goals in 39 League appearances. Five of those goals came in one incredible match with Everton at Goodison when City defeated the home side 6-2.
Tommy Johnson’s record breaking 38th League goal of the season as drawn for the Liverpool Echo.
The following season was to be his last at Maine Road despite his role as the fans’ favourite. There were plenty of magical moments from Johnson. The Manchester derby of October 1929 saw one of Johnson’s most memorable performances. According to the renowned Manchester journalist Ivan Sharpe writing in the Athletic News: “Johnson should have been a fairly happy man. He has the credit of making the match come to life. It was going to pieces early in the second half when Moore thoughtlessly pulled up while appealing for off-side and Johnson – with his right foot – scored and set the game alight.”
The game with United ended in a 3-1 City victory but it also saw one of the more controversial moments of the season when the referee blew for full-time a good two minutes before time was actually up. This was particularly galling for Johnson as he netted the ball after an amazing run just at the moment the whistle went. Ivan Sharpe gave his entertaining thoughts on the incident in his match report: “When Thomas CF Johnson was a boy he dreamed of playing for a First Division team, and like every youngster, of playing at centre-forward.
“On his night of nights he was playing against his own club’s deadly rivals, and over 100,000 eyes were riveted upon him as he darted through the defence – ‘Go on Johnson!’ – dodged this man and that man, drew out the goalkeeper, dribbled the ball round the other side’s last hope and with the roars of the delighted populace acclaiming his performance, rolled the ball through the untenanted goal. I have not asked him, but I know it’s true, because every schoolboy gets those midnight, alone-I-did-it goals.
“But isn’t it a hard world? The once-in-a-lifetime goal dribbled around the goalkeeper on the aforesaid deadly rivals’ very own ground all came true in this battle of Manchester, and the referee said the time had expired a moment before the ball had crossed the line! And that’s not all. Time had not expired. My watch and every watch around me – plus the carefully compiled record I invariably keep of the minutes of the passing show – definitely established that the referee was two and a half minutes too soon. And this is making no allowance whatever for lost time.
“How curious that the referee got in a muddle with his minutes on the day the clock goes back. He provided the last ‘rows’ of summer!”
The following March, Johnson was transferred to Everton for £6,000. The supporters were furious. Petitions were written. Demonstrations were made, and even a boycott of the Blues was threatened, but there was nothing the fans could do to actually stop the transfer. City’s average attendance did drop by several thousand however.
At Everton Johnson won the Second Division Championship and the FA Cup – beating City 3-0 in the final. A spell at Liverpool followed before he became player-manager of Darwen.
In the late 1940s he became licensee of a pub in Gorton and attended Maine Road regularly. He purchased his own season ticket for several years. According to his son Alan, Tommy Johnson was a dedicated City fan: “At Everton he had a lot of success – he won more trophies than he had in Manchester – but City remained his club. In fact, after he’d left City he kept coming back to Maine Road and sometimes paid to stand on the Kippax side of the ground. He was often recognised and was usually congratulated simply for being ‘Tosh’ Johnson!”
Johnson passed away in 1973 at the age of 71. Four years later Manchester City Council named part of a new Moss Side housing development ‘Tommy Johnson Walk’ in his honour close to Maine Road.
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The new series on Manchester City in the 1920s continues today with a subscriber article on the 1924-25 season. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you are not currently a subscriber then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?
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Those who saw the Manchester City v Tottenham match programme at weekend May have noticed my new series of articles. This year I’m doing a season tracker feature and have chosen the seasons 1975-76, 2010-11 and 2020-21. Each issue will cover those seasons plus I’ll write a Memory Match feature on a game from that week in one of the three seasons. The three seasons are all important ones in the history of Manchester’s Blues (every season is important of course!) and I hope I can do them justice. The reason I’ve chosen those seasons….
Typically season tracker pick seasons that are a multiple of five and usually focus on 5, 10, 25 years but I felt it was important to look at a season further back, so chose fifty years ago (1975-76 – one of my own personal favourite seasons). I also wanted to recognise the 2010-11 season as that saw Roberto Mancini’s team win their first major trophy. The 2020-21 season was of course a major trophy winning season unde Pep Guardiola.
The Memory Match I chose for the first issue was from 2010 and a day when Liverpool were defeated.
I hope everyone who gets chance to see the programme enjoys the four page feature. Thanks, as always, to those who support my writing.
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)?
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My series on Manchester City in the 1930s continues today with a 2,500 word subscriber article on the 1936-37 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)?
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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.
My series on Manchester City in the 1930s continues today with a subscriber article on the 1935-36 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)?
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Back in June 1985 English football clubs planned tours and preseason games were in doubt after first UEFA, then FIFA instigated bans on English clubs playing outside of the UK. According to the Liverpool Echo Manchester City was to be the first team to challenge the ban (see below for details). The bans followed the awful, tragic scenes at the 1985 European Cup Final featuring Liverpool. That day was an absolutely disgraceful day that saw 39 people die – please find a way to read about the circumstances. It really was horrific.
The reason this became a story on 11 June in 1985 in the Liverpool Echo is that City’s planned trip to Sweden was in jeopardy and the newspaper wanted to raise awareness of the possibility that the ban could be lifted.
Ultimately, City did not get to Sweden in 1985 and they played in the Isle Of Man tournament in July and August instead.
Today was a wonderful day when Liverpool FC welcomed myself & several Manchester Corinthians to their women’s training facility at Melwood. The women who played for the Corinthians during the 50s-80s met the current first team WSL squad of Liverpool; had a tour of the facilities; signed autographs (LFC wanted the Corinthians’ autographs and vice versa); and were given a wonderful lunch. I cannot stress highly enough how incredible the welcome was from LFC – all at LFC, not simply one or two people but everybody from security though to every area of the club.
The oldest Corinthian able to attend was 90 year old Centre-forward Mary Bee. Mary, along with Margaret Whitworth and Gill Holland who were also there today, participated in a major international tournament in Venezuela in 1960 which the Corinthians won. She also played in the 1957 European Cup victory over Germany in Berlin (the Corinthians played as an unofficial England team). Others present today included players who had defeated Juventus in a major final in France in 1970.
Thank you Liverpool! It really was appreciated. Some photographs from the visit appear at the end of this article.
If you’re wondering why the Corinthians are so important to football’s history watch this free 18 minute film (including interviews with some of those at LFC today) now. You won’t be disappointed:
You can discover more on the Corinthians’ history (the facts not the fiction!) in my new book. Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History. It is a must for anyone interested in Manchester or women’s football and consists of 356 pages.
It is illustrated throughout and you can order it now for £25 (including UK postage and packaging). I’ll sign all copies ordered direct from me below.
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UK ONLY – Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History
The story of a pioneering women’s club as told to Gary James by those who were there. This will be published in late December 2024. This is UK only at £25 (incl UK postage and packaging). Outside UK contact for additional postage costs.
After a glittering career with Preston, Everton and Liverpool, striker David Johnson joined Manchester City on this day (21 March) in 1984. Johnson scored on his City debut – an 83rd minute equaliser v Cardiff in a game the Blues went on to win 2-1 (Image is of that goal). Unfortunately, despite a reputation as a lethal striker – and hard evidence of achievement – Johnson’s time at Maine Road was not particularly successful. After one goal in four (plus two as substitute) games Johnson moved to play soccer in North America in May 1984.
Johnson died in November 2022 and the following piece was written by Samuel Meade and published in the Mirror:
You can read an article on the entire 1983-84 season if you subscribe (see below):
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