Yesterday I posted this small amount of praise published on this day (10 January) in 1970 in the Liverpool Echo. The brief post comments on how 12 City players who had appeared to date in the 1969-70 had cost the Blues nothing. So, I asked ‘can name those 12?’ Looking at the date this was published and appearances the answer is:
Joe Corrigan, Glyn Pardoe, Mike Doyle, Tommy Booth, Alan Oakes, Neil Young, Ian Bowyer, Stan Bowles, Dave Connor, Tony Towers, Jimmy Mundy & Derek Jeffries.
Did you get this right?
This series of articles and features on 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, 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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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.
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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!
Subscribe to get access – Monthly
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.
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.
The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with a reminder of the first goal Manchester City’s first team scored in the 1970s. It was scored by Neil Young on this day (3 January) in 1970 and you can watch it here:
This was a FA Cup tie at Hull that ended 1-0 before at crowd of 30,271.
Although City didn’t win the FA Cup that season this was a glorious year for the Blues. 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 on 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 5,600 word article on the successes of 1970 is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!
Subscribe to get access – Monthly
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.
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!
Subscribe to get access – Monthly
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) to access everything posted since 1 October 2022 or there’s a special annual rate below which gives greater access and works out much cheaper.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (above) or £20 a year (here) to access everything posted since the site was created in December 2020. This special rate works out about £1.67 a week and gives access to everything posted, including PDFs of 3 of my books.
On this day (18 September) in 1968 Manchester City’s first European Cup fixture against Fenerbahce ended goalless at Maine Road. This was the first time two British clubs from the same city had competed in the European Cup. Here’s a match report of the City game:
Francis Lee (left) and Mike Summberbee (right) threaten the Fenerbahce goal in City’s first European Cup tie in 1968.
Subscribers can read a feature about that game here:
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This is an unusual tale from this day (9 September) in 1965. On that day Manchester City’s game with Norwich was abandoned at half time due to a waterlogged pitch. Norwich had taken an early lead via a Ron Davies header.
Neil Young equalised for the Blues in the 37th minute and fans had been hopeful of a win but referee Jim Carr (Sheffield) abandoned the match stating: ‘The lines were not visible. In seven seasons on the list, I can’t remember a ground in this state at this time of year.’
Journalist Peter Gardner thought the ref had made a mistake as conditions seemed to be improving. Many fans agreed and after the abandonment several confronted a man they believed to be the ref but it was actually Stretford mayor Edward Cavanagh. He claimed about 300 people confronted him as he headed for his car. A woman apparently kicked a councillor who was with him and the ‘mob’ started to bang on his car too!
The story made the papers. The replay ended in a goalless draw before over 34,000 on 27 October.
On 29 April 1970 Manchester City won the European Cup Winners’ Cup beating Gornik Zabrze from Poland 2-1 at the Prater Stadium in Vienna. Here are a few comments and feelings from supporters, players, and others affected by the game. These were gathered as part of a project I organised to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the final. As we’ve now past the 51st anniversary they have become an even greater historical record.
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It’s day 23 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game and today’s feature is on the building of the North Stand. As Manchester City are about to appear in the 2023 Champions League final I thought I’d post images from a much earlier European game. This image of Neil Young comes from the 1971 ECWC semi-final v Chelsea. Notice Young is wearing City’s away colours. People often assume that City rarely wore away colours at Maine Road, but the truth is somewhat different.
Often when there was a clash of colours in a cup game City would wear their away strip. Games in the 1920s right through to 1970s saw the Blues don maroon, red/black and even scarlet at times at Maine Road.
The main image shows that North Stand being constructed in the background. You can see that the roof is not yet complete but that the terracing is in use for this ECWC semi final. The terracing was new concrete and the stand housed bars underneath. It was a terraced stand until summer 1972 when the decision was taken to make it a seated stand.
City chairman Eric Alexander was the main man responsible for the stand’s development and he was a passionate believer in giving fans the best facilities possible. He also had ambitious plans to redevelop the Kippax, however Peter Swales became the chairman soon after and he put Ian Niven in charge of ground developments. From then on, until 1993, the only major development was the erection of a new Main Stand roof in 1982. In the 1990s the club was forced to build – or condemn – the Platt Lane Stand.
Maine Road was a major ground for most of its existence and, even with little investment during from 1973 onwards, it was still selected as a cup semi-final venue. BUT I often wonder how spectacular the stadium would have been had Eric Alexander been left in charge of stadium developments. Instead of penny-pinching and devaluing the ground maybe it would have eclipsed Old Trafford as it had for the first 40 years of its existence?
People always focus on Swales as the cause of all the problems and it is true that he was the chairman and the man ultimately responsible, but he was not the major shareholder. In fact he often talked of how he only had a small number of shares until 1983 (when he made a major purchase following City’s relegation he often said). He was supported by directors who often held many more shares than he did. They could’ve ousted him, but instead supported him. Each director had responsibilities for different elements of the club – Swales often talked of this and the match programme frequently told us who was responsible and what they did – yet once Swales did stand down and Franny Lee took over some of those who had worked with Swales swapped sides and retained their positions. I know, from my own interviews with Swales, Alexander and others, that Swales felt let down and betrayed. Every issue was suddenly made to be ‘his’ fault. He accepted this, saying that he was the main man, but others needed to hold their hands up for the lack of investment in Maine Road etc.
1971 ECWC v Chelsea. Francis Lee. Photo by Alan Jubb
The above image shows Francis Lee at this same game and to the right you can see more of the North Stand under construction.
For those unfamiliar with Maine Road this photo may help. The North Stand can be seen with a completed roof on this image (number 10). This was later in 1971 and the stand is still a terraced one.
Maine Road aerial 1971 from Farewell To Maine Road
If you’d like to read more on the history of Maine Road, take a look at Farewell To Maine Road, which can be downloaded from this page:
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.
For many, many years Dave Masey has been collecting stats and historical information on Manchester City. Like me he was a member of the Association of Football Statisticians and he has helped me often over the years. Following Saturday’s FA Cup final he got in touch with 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 Gundogan is now at 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:
1904
Meredith
1934/7
Tilson (3), Brook (2), Doherty
1956
Hayes, Dyson, Johnstone
1968/70
Young (4), Lee (2), Summerbee, Doyle, Pardoe
1976
P 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 games player (60 in 303 for City). Certainly this season he has played a true leader’s role and, looking at his place in this table, he is clearly a man for all trophy-winning seasons.
Today (15 April) in 1970 German side Schalke 04 were defeated 5-1 in the ECWC semi-final second leg at Maine Road by Manchester City. You can read the story of that game (and watch video highlights) below.
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Gary James' Football Archive 