Tag Archives: Middlesbrough

Darren Beckford

I’ve just heard the news of Darren Beckford’s passing at the age of 59. Darren played for a variety of clubs but began his career with Manchester City and spent four years at Oldham Athletic. he also had two spells at Bury. My thoughts are with his family, friends and of course his brother Jason.

Darren was born on 12 May 1967 and became a forward with City, making his debut as substiture iv Middlesbrough in October 1984. His full debut came at Leeds on 8 April 1985.

In total he made 12 appearances in City’s first team. He joined Oldham in March 1993 and was with them until February 1997.

Throughout his time at City he was much loved by fans who hoped that he’d get a decent run in the first team. In the reserves and youth teams his skills were clear but some of the managerial change and player churn at City meant his first team chances were limited.

Of course Darren’s most successful spell of his career came at Port Vale. Signed permanently for £15,000—a fee raised in part by fans doing bucket collections—he established himself as an electric and dominant striker. He helped the club secure promotion to the Second Division via the play-offs in 1989 and finished as Port Vale’s top scorer for four consecutive seasons. In total, he bagged 81 goals in 214 appearances for the club.

Matt Busby’s Debut

On this day (2 November) in 1929 Matt Busby made his debut for Manchester City in the 3-1 victory over Middlesbrough at Maine Road. City’s goalscorers were Jack Harrison, Tommy Tait and Ernie Toseland. Despite scoring this was the last of only two appearances for Harrison in City’s first team, while Busby would go on to make 227 appearances for the Blues.

Matt Busby in the 1933 FA Cup Final

If you’d like to find out more on this period, why not read this 1,300 word subscriber article on the 1929-30 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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As well as subscriber pieces this series on the 1930s includes some free articles. Watch out for a daily post.

MCFC Takeover Anniversary

Today (23 September) marks the anniversary of the takeover of Manchester City by Sheikh Mansour. It was on this date in 2008 that the legal transfer occurred. People often focus on transfer deadline day (1 September) when the news first broke but negotiations continued throughout the month until everything finally was signed on this date. For those interested, the image comes from Ian Herbert’s article on 23 September 2008 talking about the takeover. A couple of days before this I was invited in to talk to Khaldoon Al Mubarak about City’s history. I’ve since talked about this at supporters meetings and maybe one day I’ll post the story of it here.

If you’d like to find out more on the extraordinary 2008-09 season then why not subscribe and read this 11,300 word article on it (below) – not much happened that year did it? As always, this includes material from exclusive interviews I have performed with various figures associated with the club over the years. The article, like everything else on this site is under copyright and cannot be posted elsewhere without my express permission.

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David James

On this day (1 August) in 1970 former Manchester City and England goalkeeper David James was born in Welwyn. Here for subscribers is a profile of James:

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Were You There 60 Years Ago Today? Manchester City 3 Middlesbrough 1

Today (29 January) in 1966 goals from Mike Summerbee (2) and Neil Young brought City a 3-1 victory over Middlesbrough and left City top of Division Two. It was a convincing win (Malcolm Allison boasted how City could have scored 6) but fans actually felt dissatisfied at the end as the Blues had eased off. Here’s the League table from after that game:

Here for subscribers are match reports from this game:

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You can find out more on Manchester City during the 1965-66 season by reading the following 4100 word article. As with most of the other features in this series it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there. This is a subscriber article (see below).

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City v Middlesbrough: League Cup Semi

Jack Charlton’s Middlesbrough arrived at Maine Road on this day (21 January) in 1976 for the second leg of the League Cup Semi final 1-0 up after a tense first leg match.  The majority of the first leg had been played out in midfield with Alan Oakes, Asa Hartford and the emerging Paul Power putting up a good fight on City’s behalf.  Boro had found it difficult to break through City’s powerful defence until John Hickton (I had previously said David Armstrong had scored but he’d netted for them in the 1-0 League meeting 3 days earlier) gave them the lead in the 66th minute.  Despite the advantage Middlesbrough’s Evening Gazette predicted a difficult return game.

At Maine Road a youthful City side destroyed Boro.  As early as the 5th minute 19 year old Peter Barnes – now working for GMR – crossed the ball to 20 year old Ged Keegan, who headed home his first senior goal.  Six minutes later Keegan laid the ball off for Oakes to fire a left foot shot past ‘keeper Jim Platt.  A minute into the 2nd half Barnes made it 3-1 on aggregate.  Shortly before the end Joe Royle made it 4-1 and maintained his record of scoring in every round. 

Stats:  League Cup semi-final 2nd leg. 21st January 1976.

City 4 Middlesbrough 0

Scorers – City: Barnes, Keegan, Oakes, Royle

City:  Corrigan, Barrett, Donachie, Doyle, Clements, Oakes, Power, Keegan, Royle, Hartford, Barnes.

Boro: Platt, Craggs, Cooper, Souness, Boam, Maddren, Murdoch (McAndrew), Brine, Hickton, Mills, Armstrong.

Attendance: 44,426

While you’re here why not subscribe and read a 5,320 word article on the entire 1975-76 season – a season which saw Tony Book guide the club to major success. You can read this below.

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The 1910s: 1910-1911 Ground Work

The new series of features on Manchester City in the 1910s continues today with a 1500 word article on the 1910-11 season. If you’re a subscriber you can read this below.

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Middlesbrough Defeated

Uwe Rosler scored a memorable 17th minute penalty in Manchester City’s 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough on this day (20 December) in 1997. Paul Dickov netted the other goal. That was one of only six victories for the Blues that season as City headed towards Division Two and Boro towards the Premier League.

While you’re here, why not subscribe and read an indepth article on the 1997-98 season? The article is almost 9,500 words long – there’s so much to say! Some people write entire football club histories that are shorter than that. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this season and an extraordinary decade? As with many other subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 9500 word article on that season:

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From My Collection… Topical Times Sporting Annual 1934 1935

During my tidy-up of my writing space I’ve rediscovered items I’ve used in my research over the years and thought I’d post some on here. Today here are some images and information from the Topical Times Sporting Annual 1934-35. There’s some interesting aspects and information that I’m sure some of you will find interesting. let’s start with the cover…

The player in the blue shirt is Manchester City’s Matt Busby who the yearbook regarded as one of the 6 sporting stars of 1934. Here’s what they said about him:

The book included a small section on each team. City’s looked like this (notice the record attendance has a typo; it should be 84,569. Also, look at Middlesbrough’s record crowd. It has since been passed though!):

For those wondering why this alphabetical list of clubs went from City to Middlesbrough and not Manchester United, the list was by division. At that time City were in the top tier and United were in the second. Here’s their profile:

At that time United’s record crowd was for a game staged at Old Trafford but not featuring United. That has since been surpassed but Old Trafford’s record is still for a game not featuring United (Wolves v Grimsby FAC tie). Note also the official colours of United.

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Bradley Wright-Phillips’ Debut

On this day (6 December) in 2004 Bradley Wright-Phillips marks his first League appearance for Manchester Cuty with an 80th minute goal against Middlesbrough. The game ended in a 3-2 defeat for City (Robbie Fowler scored the other City goal) but, if you fancy a flashback, you can watch highlights here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYEYZF118Ao