Tag Archives: Norwich

Top Two Divisions Attendances and Table From 40 Years Ago!

Last week I posted the top flight attendances for this last week forty years ago and this led to a number of comments/questions and so to answer some of those I’ve now posted the top two divisions attendances together with the two League tables AND the end of season average attendances. People asked for clarity on how the figures compared to the second tier and whether League position played its part in affecting crowds. As a reminder here’s last week’s attendances…

And here’s this week’s (published 24 November 1985) and the League table too.

Obviously, these are only snapshots from that season but to add a bit more context here are the end of season averages here are the top 46 best supported clubs in order that season (hopefully it might make those who sing songs like ‘Where Were You?’ think about the crowds at their own clubs first):

A few notable League positions for those who do sing ‘Where Were You?’… The top eight clubs in the League were: Liverpool (champions), Everton, West Ham, Man Utd, Sheff Wed, Chelsea, Arsenal and Forest. Manchester City (who were 4th best supported club) were 15th (only 4 points above relegation zone), Spurs were tenth, Newcastle 11th and Aston Villa 16th.

In the Second Division best supported club Sunderland were 18th (avoiding relegation by 4 points); the top four were Norwich, Charlton, Wimbledon and Portsmouth.

If you’d like to know more about Manchester City at this time, here’s a 2,500 word subscriber feature on the 1985-86 season. Enjoy!

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Norwich Suffer

A flashback to a high scoring win for Manchester’s Blues on 2 November 2013…

After the 2-1 last gasp defeat at Chelsea in their previous League game, manager Manuel Pellegrini took the decision to drop goalkeeper Joe Hart for this important match with Norwich. The decision brought much scrutiny City’s way but Hart’s replacement Pantilimon had little to do as the Blues thrashed Norwich 7-0.  The win lifted City to fourth in the League but more significantly demonstrated the fire power the Blues possessed and demonstrated to all that Pellegrini’s men were determined to mount a serious challenge for the title. Seven separate scorers – including an own goal – made this City’s largest top flight win since 1968. Afterwards Pellegrini was delighted that his side kept striving for more: “Normally a team 4-0 ahead finishes working.”

City had a 100% home record in the Premier League but away from home life was not so easy. At Sunderland in the next League game the Blues were unfortunate to lose 1-0. The BBC’s Sam Sheringham explained: “Referee Mike Dean’s leniency was on display once again in the build-up to the opening goal. The official opted not to penalise Bardsley when he appeared to bundle over Milner, allowing the full-back to race on to Brown’s long pass and curl a precise finish past Costel Pantilimon.”

The Blues were back down to eighth in what seemed likely to be a tight title race.

Match Stats:

2013-14

2 Nov   Norwich City (H)                        W 7-0 Silva, Nastasic, Negredo, Toure, Aguero, Dzeko & Johnson (OG)              47,066

10 Nov Sunderland (A)                         L 0-1                                        40,137

League Cup

30 Oct  Newcastle United (A)                 W 2-0 Negredo, Dzeko             33,846

Goal Flood

On this day twenty years ago (1 November 2004) Willo Flood netted the only League goal of his Manchester City career. It came from a strike on the edge of the area in a 1-1 draw with Norwich. He had previously scored in a League Cup tie, but this was the only League goal in 14 League games for the Irishman. You can see the goal below:

Flood’s goal was the City opener but Norwich equalised 12 seconds into the second half.

SAAB & City

On this day (28 August) in 1982 Manchester City should have played their first League game with a sponsor’s name on their shirt. However the match was televised and in those days TV did not allow clubs to wear sponsors names in televised games. The match was a 2-1 win away at Norwich and City’s first sponsor was the car company Saab.

New signing David Cross scored the opener after 3 minutes and 5 seconds (below) and we all thought this was going to be a great season. I won’t spoil it by saying what happened the following May!

New signing David Cross scoring after 3 minutes and 5 seconds at Norwich, August 1982

Here’s another SAAB & City photo from later that season:

Oxford’s First and Last

On this day (24 April) in 1948 goalkeeper Ken Oxford made his first appearance for Manchester City’s first team when the Blues faced Arsenal in the League. Oxford kept a clean sheet as City drew with the eventual champions. Sadly, for Oxford his opportunity to play in City’s first team was limited due to the incredible exploits of England captain Frank Swift – displacing Swift was an impossibility!

The Oldham born player never got chance again to appear in City’s first team and at the end of December that year he moved to Derby County after making just 1 first team appearance at Maine Road. He had appeared in reserve games too of course.

His career saw him make 128 League appearances for Norwich and 151 for Derby amongst other clubs. This newspaper cutting from October 1977 is an interview with him and Swift inevitably gets a mention.

The 1970s: Favourites For The Title?

Despite drawing 2-2 at Newcastle on this day (16 February) in 1977 and Ipswich heading the table, Norwich’s Ken Brown believed Manchester City were the most likely team to win the title. City were certainly the team with all the flair this season and perhaps deserved success but ultimately it was the grim, more negative football played by Liverpool that was to find trophy success.

You can read a 2,100 word article on the entire 1976-77 season – a season which saw City miss the title by a point – below. This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s has been running throughout January & 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 2,100 word article is on the 1976-77 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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The 1970s: Attendance Flashback to 1978

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with this brief post about average attendances. We hear so much baloney these days about which clubs are giants and so on but the truth is that in terms of success no team has ALWAYS been at the top and in terms of support most clubs have had highs and lows. There are some clubs that generation after generation have been popular with fans and this cutting from the Manchester City match programme of 1977-78 may interest some.

I’m not going to point to any club or anything but look at the numbers and make your own minds up. Manchester City, incidentally, tended to be the 3rd best supported club (no matter where they finished) behind United and Liverpool throughout the mid to late 70s and early 1980s. They occasionally dropped to 4th depending on whether Everton or Spurs had a good season and even in City’s 1982-83 relegation season Manchester’s Blues were the 4th best supported club. Not bad for a failing club!

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: Impressive Win At Norwich

Today (21 January) in 1978 Manchester City defeated Norwich 3-1 with goals from Brian Kidd (2) and Gary Owen. These highlights of the match are well worth watching to get a feel for how exciting this team truly was:

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The 1980s: VAR would love this!

Happy Boxing Day! Continuing this series of features covering the 1980s for Manchester City… Today it’s back to this day (26 December) in 1989 and Manchester City. v Norwich. Watch these video highlights for two disallowed goals and an effort from Clive Allen. VAR officials and TV companies would love these two disallowed goals now. They’d be replaying them over and over again before deciding whether the goals should stand or not. See what you think.

Manchester City won the match at Maine Road 1-0.

If you want to know more about that weekend and the entire 1989-90 season then become a subscriber and read the following 8,000 word article on that season. Enjoy!

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Today’s feature was the last on the 1980s. I hope you’ve enjoyed them. If you missed the earlier features then start here:

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

Fans Attack Mayor Believing Him To Be Referee!

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.

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