Tag Archives: Malcolm Allison

The 1980s: 1980-1981 Gow, Hutchison & McDonald

A new daily series of articles for subscribers starts today covering the 1980s. This will be a seasonal journey through a truly important decade in the history of Manchester City Football Club. Today’s article is a ten thousand word long read on the 1980-81 season. Enjoy!

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Tomorrow’s feature is on the 1981-82 season.

Flashback to 1993: Radio Interview About Joe Mercer

Late in 1993 Jimmy Wagg interviewed me on GMR about my new book on Joe Mercer. Next month it’ll be 30 years (I know!) since that book came out and so I thought I’d post the recording of the interview with Jimmy from that year. The quality is not great (neither are my answers at times!) but you can now hear the recording on my website.

If you want to hear why I did the book and the answers I gave back then have a listen now. Here goes (again apologies for the quality of the recording):

While you’re here why not have a look at all the other articles, interviews, videos and material on this site. Subscribers get access to everything and this includes PDFs of the entire Manchester A Football History book; From Maine Men To Banana Citizens (my first book) and Farewell To Maine Road. There are also audio recordings of my interviews with John Bond, Malcolm Allison, George Graham etc. It costs £3 per month or £20 per year. Details of how to subscribe below:

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Today in 1978: Kaziu Deyna

On this day (10 November) in 1978 it was reported that Polish international Kaziu Deyna signed for Manchester City. It was some time before it was all sorted out however! Back in 2003 I wrote this profile of former Manchester City player and Polish World Cup star Kazimierz Deyna. Deyna was such an important and unusual signing at the time he joined City that I feel this article is still appropriate and of interest to subscribers to my blog today.

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Malcolm Allison

Today (14 October) marks the anniversary of the death of legendary Manchester City coach Malcolm Allison. He passed away in 2010. I’ve interviewed Malcolm often over the years and you can listen to one of those interviews here:

Malcolm Allison Audio Interview Part One

Here’s also an article I published in September this year on Allison. It included comments from a variety of interviews I have performed over the decades. Allison’s views on then young footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips are captured and comments from various people who know Allison well are included.

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Dennis Tueart Interview

Here’s a video of my latest interview with Dennis Tueart. In this we focus on him leaving Manchester City for the NASL and New York Cosmos; his experiences there and his return to City. Dennis is always a great talker and there are some wonderful moments in this as he talks about this significant time in the changing Manchester City and in the excitement of New York soccer.

The conversation links Tony Book, Leonard Rossiter, Pele, Carlos Alberto, John Cleese, Dave Sexton, Malcolm Allison and Franz Beckenbauer amongst others.

It lasts about 50 minutes so get your self a brew and sit down to watch:

Dennis’s biography is still available (see link below).

If you have enjoyed this interview then why not subscribe to access other interviews in the archive, plus over 1000 articles/features. See below for details.

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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Dennis Tueart’s biography is available at most bookshops, including the usual online retailers such as:

Steve Daley Interview

Yesterday (6 September 2023) I posted a story highlighting the transfer of Steve Daley to Manchester City in 1979. Today I’d like to expand on that by posting here an interview I did with Steve where we discuss that transfer, City fans and the spending City were doing at the time we did the interview. It was a great time to interview Steve and I enjoyed it immensely, helping fill in some gaps.

This interview is available to subscribers below.

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Spend, Spend, Spend Image of Manchester City

Well, it seems the norm today to talk about the cost of Manchester City’s squad with TV commentators frequently talking about the price of City’s bench. It gets tiring. However, this is not the first time the media talked of City as a ‘spend, spend, spend’ club. Today marks the anniversary of one day in particular when City’s spending caught the media’s attention. That day was on 6 September 1979 when Steve Daley signed for the Blues at a cost of £1,450,277.

City had to defend this spending which – and I know it’s difficult to understand in the modern world of £100m+ footballers – absolutely stunned football. This transfer was the British record but it was perceived as huge.

Chairman Peter Swales’ defence for the spending was that City was a profitable club (see the article) and this is true. City were a hugely profitable club in the 1970s but that all changed over the coming years with Swales, his supporting directors and managers getting giddy trying to buy success. As we all know it takes more than money to generate success and this period of City’s history is the one that actually created the club’s fall from grace, leading to some to believe in the 2010s & 2020s that the club had ‘no history’ and was not a ‘giant’. All that is balderdash. City were a giant who fell unlucky through poor management by a board of directors who did not plan for long term development.

Anyway, lots to say on this but read the article here from 1979 and hopefully that will show the position of strength the club was in (but soon messed up!).

While you’re here why not listen to one of my interviews with Malcolm Allison. You can hear a taster here:

Coming Soon: My 1991 Malcolm Allison Interview

The full interview is available to subscribers here:

Malcolm Allison Audio Interview Part One

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Allison’s Birth & Interview

On this day (5 September) in 1927 legendary Manchester City coach Malcolm Allison was born. To commemorate that day and remember his life here’s a 2500+ word article for subscribers on the great man. Enjoy! The article includes comments from a variety of interviews I have performed. Allison’s views on then young footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips are captured and comments from various people who know Allison well are included.

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Maine Road 100 – Day 81

Post 81 of the Maine Road 100 countdown is this image of City’s coach Malcolm Allison in 1968 preparing to come on during a City game at Maine Road. So what was the story? Read on…

The story starts on the final day of the 1967-68 season:

As it had still been possible for either Manchester City or Manchester United to win the League on the final day of the 1967-68 season, the Championship trophy was left at the home of the reigning champions United.

City won the League at Newcastle while United lost 2-1 to struggling Sunderland.

You can read about that final day of the season here:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/2021/05/11/manchester-city-win-the-league/

At United the Championship trophy vanished at some point during that day.  The Daily Express reporter Alan Thompson set off on a mission to track it down.  He started questioning the Old Trafford staff:  “Secretary Les Olive was under the impression that a League official had taken it earlier in the week, Matt Busby was not at all sure what had happened to it, and for a minute or two it was lost until a member of the female staff admitted that it had been locked up ‘in the vault’.  You are at liberty to allow full rein to your imaginations in concluding exactly where the ‘vault’ is at Old Trafford.  But the centre of the boardroom table, where the League Championship Cup has stood proudly for the last 12 months was occupied by five shillings worth of flowers.  Sit down the City fan who says symbolic.”

City still needed the trophy to be presented (Joe Mercer had offered to walk all the way from the Newcastle game to Old Trafford to collect it if he had to!) and so a friendly against Bury was hastily arranged for the Tuesday (May 14 1968) following the Newcastle game to enable the Championship trophy to be presented. 

If the destination of the title was not obvious during the season, the trophy would be presented at the League’s annual dinner but as City would be on tour in America, the League agreed to present it at Maine Road.  The presentation took place before the Bury game with Tony Book and the rest of the players going on a lap of honour before Mercer was handed the trophy to lift above his head.  The crowd roared with delight and then witnessed a 4-2 victory.

Bury’s two goals were scored by Bobby Owen who, two months later signed for the Blues.

The game was noteworthy for it also included an appearance by Malcolm Allison.  For much of the game he’d sat, wearing his familiar red tracksuit then, with about ten minutes left he took the tracksuit off and this image was taken.

Allison then substituted George Heslop and entered the field himself wearing the number 8 shirt.  This caused a little confusion as Colin Bell remained on the pitch with the same number but nobody complained, after all it was a night to enjoy especially when Allison threw himself into the game.  He forced a great save from Neil Ramsbottom, the Bury ‘keeper, and had a goal disallowed.  The City supporters chanted ‘Allison for England’, and even called for Mercer to take to the field. 

Charity Final

With Manchester City facing Arsenal in the Community Shield tomorrow it seems appropriate to remember a time when City, like Arsenal this year, we’re given a place in the Charity Shield (now Community Shield). Coincidentally, on this day (August 5) in 1972 City faced another team who had been given a place in the Shield match (though this team had actually won something) and that was the Third Division Champions Aston Villa. This was the first time the Blues had played a Charity Shield match at Villa Park (but not the last). Here’s a feature on it and a match report from the game.

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