Tag Archives: Malcolm Allison

The 1970s: A Beauty by Barnes!

Today’s 1970s flashback includes video of a brilliant goal by Peter Barnes during the 3-0 victory over Spurs by MCFC on this day (3 February) in 1979. You can watch the goal and the others in this game here (these highlights were shown on LWT’s Big Match on 4 February 1979:

This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s has been running throughout January and into February with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others.

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!

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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!

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The 1970s: Title Favourites According to Spurs

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with this cutting from today (29 January) in 1972. It’s a story which basically quotes Bill Nicholson, the Spurs manager, who believed that City were the best team Tottenham had faced all season. It came prior to City’s 5-2 thrashing of Wolves that day.

City and Spurs had met at White Hart Lane 21 days earlier and that match had ended in a 1-1 draw (Wyn Davies scoring for City).

People tend to forget how wonderful this period was in City history. The 70s was a brilliant decade with the Blues, for example, winning their first European trophy (beating Liverpool, Chelsea & many others to this feat). They also won more major trophies in the 1970s than United. It’s often overlooked but for much of the 70s City and Liverpool saw themselves as THE Granadaland rivals, especially when United were in the Second Division or when the two clubs challenged each other for the League.

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 4,700 word article is on the 1971-72 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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The 1970s: Redemption at Rotherham

The 1978-79 season had promised so much with City progressing to the UEFA Cup quarter final before Christmas. However, before that game could be played a series of worrying results and agitation from director Ian Niven caused City to bring back former assistant manager Malcolm Allison in January 1979. Big Mal, as he liked to be termed by this time, was expected to give a bit of a boost but it didn’t quite work out like that.

A league game with Leeds ended 1-1 then a FA Cup tie with Rotherham saw a shock goalless draw at Maine Road. The Blues received significant criticism and two days later the media waited for a shock FA Cup giant killing at Rotherham. It didn’t happen as City won the match 4-2 with Brian Kidd netting twice and goals from Gary Owen and Peter Barnes. It wasn’t a straightforward win though, as this report shows. The game was played on this day (17 January) in 1979.

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The 1970s: 1972-1973 Allison Leaves

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with a 1,700 word article on the entire 1972-73 season – a season of major change which saw one man who didn’t want to be manager told to take the manager’s job or you’ll be leaving yourself! Oh City! You can read this below. This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s has been running throughout January with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. Every day in January will offer something to enjoy.

Subscribers will get access to 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 1,700 word article is on the 1972-73 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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The 1970s: Hijacking a Successful City!

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with this newspaper reminder (published on this day – 15 January – in 1971) of the bitter takeover that killed off Manchester City’s period of trophy-winning dominance and ultimately led to Peter Swales becoming chairman. It’s something that dragged the first team into the takeover battle and pitted manager Joe Mercer and assistant Malcolm Allison on opposite sides. Those seeking to takeover the club, including future director Ian Niven, believed Joe Mercer contributed nothing to MCFC (he told me this himself in April 1989 – at that time Mercer remained the most successful City manager ever) and they split up the partnership. Not only that but they started the process which led to City being downgraded and becoming a fallen giant. Here’s another cutting from January 1971 which fits with the comments I’ve just made (that end line seems to be referring to Niven & others involved with the takeover):

Some of those involved with the takeover managed to create positions for themselves which gave them status for decades at the club, while men like Mercer were cast aside. Oh, I could go on for hours about this period! If you would like to know more then this 5,200 word article on the entire 1970-71 season may help explain some of these points. 

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The 1970s: 1971-72 Mistreating Mercer

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with a 4,700 word article on the entire 1971-72 season – a hugely significant season though one that’s often neglected. You can read this below. This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s will run throughout January with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. There will be flashbacks to great games, players and more. Every day in January will offer something to enjoy.

Subscribers will get access to 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 4,700 word article is on the 1971-72 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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The 1970s: 1970-71 Takeover Madness

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with a 5,200 word article on the entire 1970-71 season. You can read this below. This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s will run throughout January with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. There will be flashbacks to great games, players and more. Every day in January will offer something to enjoy.

Subscribers will get access to 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 5,200 word article is on the 1970-71 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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The 1970s: Series Starts Now!

The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s starts today with the story of the opening months of 1970. By the end of April the Blues would have two major trophies on the shelf, including the club’s first European trophy (won before so many of today’s perceived European giants). This series of articles and features will run throughout January with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. There will be flashbacks to great games, players and more. Every day in January will offer something to enjoy.

Subscribers will get access to everything, while some on this day material will be free for all to view.

If you want to know more on this incredible decade for Manchester City Football Club then why not subscribe and read it all? The following 5,600 word article on the successes of 1970 is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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The 1980s: Why Did Bond Sit In The Directors’ Box?

It’s December 1980 and the City match programme’s letters page contained this letter about new City boss John Bond. Back then many managers would prefer to sit in the directors’ box at games as it would give them a good view and John Bond chose to do that for many games during his opening months as manager (often throughout his actual time at City to be fair). It wasn’t so unusual but this fan wanted to understand why and wrote to the City programme looking for an answer.

It’s actually the sort of question that would seem more appropriate today as few managers ever really spend time in the directors’ box. I certainly wouldn’t expect Pep to sit up there on a regular basis.

Just one of the many things that has changed over the decades. The letter writer claimed that Malcolm Allison never sat in the directors’ box – that’s not true. There are plenty of occasions in the 60s & 70s when Allison sat up there.

You can find out more on the 1980s, John Bond (including a fairly frank audio interview I did with him years ago) and City elsewhere on this website. Subscribers get access to a lot of extra content. To subscribe see the following:

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