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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60 Years Ago Today: Manchester City and Blackpool FAC Tie at Bloomfield Rd

On this day (22 January) in 1966 Manchester City travelled to Blackpool for a FA Cup tie. The game ended 1-1 between the Second Division promotion hopefuls and the First Division side. In this photo Glyn Pardoe has scored City’s goal. Subscribers can find out more about this game below, plus read several contemporary match reports:

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60 Years Ago Today: Manchester City in Unusual Kit at Home

On this day (15 January) in 1966 Manchester City drew 0-0 with Preston at Maine Road but look at the kit City are wearing. This photo shows George Heslop (5) and Alan Oakes (6) in unusual colours for Maine Road. Subscribers can find out more about this kit and day below, plus read several contemporary match reports:

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel any time) or you can sign up for a year at the discounted rate of £20 per year. Subscribers get access to everything posted to this site, including PDFs of Manchester A Football History and my first MCFC book too. Why not give it a go for a month and see what you think?

60 Years Ago Today: Manchester City 3 Rotherham Utd 1

On this day (12 January) in 1966 Manchester City defeated Rotherham 3-1 with goals from Mike Doyle (2) and Johnny Crossan (a penalty). Subscribers can read a contemporary match report of that important game in City’s quest to earn promotion from the second tier. What also made the day special was that City ended the day level on points with the Second Division leaders Huddersfield Town.

Here for subscribers is a contemporary match report of City v Rotherham:

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel any time) or you can sign up for a year at the discounted rate of £20 per year. Subscribers get access to everything posted to this site, including PDFs of Manchester A Football History and my first MCFC book too.

60 Years Ago Today: Portsmouth’s Free Seats for Women

On this day (8 January) 1966 Portsmouth welcomed Manchester City to Fratton Park. Subscribers can read a contemporary match report below of that important game in City’s quest to earn promotion from the second tier (Joe Mercer was not happy!). What also made the day special was that Portsmouth chose that day to introduce a policy of free tickets for women (to accompany their men according to this cutting in my collection!). I’m not certain how long their policy lasted but it’s worth noting that many clubs had previously had a policy of half price tickets for women (City had been doing that from the 1890s).

Here for subscribers is a contemporary match report of Portsmouth v City (you can find out why Joe Mercer was angry too!):

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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel any time) or you can sign up for a year at the discounted rate of £20 per year. Subscribers get access to everything posted to this site, including PDFs of Manchester A Football History and my first MCFC book too.

From My Collection: The 1967-68 Champions

Here’s an odd item from my collection. It’s a compliment slip by a Star Press (the ‘champion printers’) which lists the players in Manchester City’s 1967-68 title winning team. There are a couple of spelling mistakes. See if you can spot them. One side of the compliments slip shows the League Champions and the other side looks like this:

I’m not certain if there was a close connection between Manchester City and Star Press at this time.

You can find out more about the 1967-68 season by reading the following subscriber article. If you’d like to read this 7,600 word article (yes, 7,600 words on one season!), plus all other articles on the site, then please subscribe (see below). As with most of the other seasonal features it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there.

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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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The 1960s: Neil Young’s First League Goal

On this day (23 December) in 1961 Neil Young scored his first League goal for Manchester City. It came in a 3-0 victory over Ipswich Town. The other scorers were Peter Dobing and Joe Hayes. Subscribers can read more on City’s 1961-62 season below. The Young photo here is from the start of the following decade of course! If you’d like to read the 1600 word article, plus all other articles on the site, then please subscribe. As with most of the other features in this series it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there.

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Burnley Thrashed 7-0

On this day (7 December) in 1968 reigning Champions Manchester City defeated Burnley 7-0 at Maine Road with goals from Bell (2), Young (2), Doyle, Lee, and Coleman.

You can find out all about Manchester City during the 1968-69 season by reading the following subscriber article. If you’d like to read this 6,000 word article , plus all other articles on the site, then please subscribe (see below).

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Gundogan Record

On 3 June 2023 Ilkay Gundogan City secured his place in national football history with the quickest goal in a FA Cup final. It was a stunning volley after only 12 seconds. That day Gundogan scored two and helped City to 2-1 FA Cup final victory over Manchester United.

As well as the speed of the first goal, Gundogan’s goals gave him another MCFC record. Dave Masey, who has been collecting stats and historical information on Manchester City for years contacted me to tell me about one of his spreadsheets which holds details of City scorers in trophy winning games.

His records capture those who have scored in major cup finals, but besides Cup Finals he also records other trophy-winning games. These include the deciding League games from 1937 onwards against Sheffield Wednesday (1937), Newcastle, QPR, West Ham, Brighton and Villa (2022), but nothing from three recent title successes where the Blues clinched the title when they were not playing. Got that? Good, now….

Dave tells me that the FA Cup success saw Gundogan move to the top of the list with 5 goals, overtaking Neil Young and Sergio Aguero. So he has scored more goals in trophy-winning games than any other Blue.

The list of scorers in trophy winning games reads:

1904Meredith
1934/7Tilson (3), Brook (2), Doherty
1956Hayes, Dyson, Johnstone
1968/70Young (4), Lee (2), Summerbee, Doyle, Pardoe
1976P Barnes, Tueart
2011-(former)Aguero (4), Y Toure (2), Nasri (2), Kompany (2), D Silva (2),Jesus (2), Sterling (2), Dzeko, Zabaleta, Navas, Fernandinho
2016-(current)Gundogan (5),  Laporte (2), Rodri (2), Mahrez, De Bruyne

Dave also tells me that in the three seasons where somebody else’s defeat clinched the title for City, the scorers in the club’s last game before the title confirmation were:

Gundogan (3), Sterling (2), Jesus, Haaland.

As Dave says, Ilkay gets a remarkable number of important goals, particularly for somebody who is ‘just’ a 1 goal in 5/6 games player (63 in 357 for City by June 2025).

The 1960s: Neil Young’s Fifth League Goal

On this day (21 February) in 1962 Neil Young scored his fifth League goal for Manchester City in only his 11th League game after making his debut earlier in the season. It came in a 3-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion. The other scorers were Peter Dobing and Alan Oakes. Subscribers can read more on City’s 1961-62 season below. The Young photo here is from the start of the following decade of course! If you’d like to read the 1600 word article, plus all other articles on the site, then please subscribe. As with most of the other features in this series it includes words from interviews I have performed with those who were there.

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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.