The 1970s: 1978-1979 Milan Meeting

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with a 5,700 word article on the entire 1978-79 season – a season which saw City mount a UEFA Cup challenge and a former hero return (if only he hadn’t!). My article, like the other indepth pieces, contains material from interviews I have performed with many of the key figures – chairman, managers, players and others. You can read this below.

This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s has been running throughout January and now into February with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. Every day in January offered something to enjoy and I’ll continue this series for a little while yet. Thanks for all the positive comments about it.

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 5,700 word article is on the 1978-79 season and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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The 1970s: 1977-1978 Bell’s Return

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with a 3,700 word article on the entire 1977-78 season – a season which saw an emotional return to the League for Colin Bell and a MCFC title challenge (well, we hoped!). You can read this below. This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s has been running throughout January and now into February with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. Every day in January offered something to enjoy and I’ll continue this series for a little while yet. Thanks for all the positive comments about it.

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 3,700 word article is on the 1977-78 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.

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The 1970s: 1975-1976 Overhead

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with 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. This series of articles and features on Manchester City in the 1970s has been running throughout January with indepth articles some days and smaller ‘on this day’ style posts on others. 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 5,320 word article is on the 1975-76 season and 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 1970s: Redemption at Rotherham

The 1978-79 season had promised so much with City progressing to the UEFA Cup quarter final before Christmas. However, before that game could be played a series of worrying results and agitation from director Ian Niven caused City to bring back former assistant manager Malcolm Allison in January 1979. Big Mal, as he liked to be termed by this time, was expected to give a bit of a boost but it didn’t quite work out like that.

A league game with Leeds ended 1-1 then a FA Cup tie with Rotherham saw a shock goalless draw at Maine Road. The Blues received significant criticism and two days later the media waited for a shock FA Cup giant killing at Rotherham. It didn’t happen as City won the match 4-2 with Brian Kidd netting twice and goals from Gary Owen and Peter Barnes. It wasn’t a straightforward win though, as this report shows. The game was played on this day (17 January) in 1979.

The 1970s: Colin Bell v West Ham, Jan 1978

Here’s an interesting film of Colin Bell in action for Manchester City against West Ham on this day (14 January) in 1978. The commentary is from a much later feature but it’s worth hearing and watching this clip to get an appreciation of how we all felt about Colin at this time. We desperately wanted him to be in another trophy winning side and to be the player he’d been only a few years earlier before that horrific injury.

The game was a 3-2 City victory with goals from Peter Barnes, Brian Kidd and Tommy Booth.

The 1970s: FA Cup win at WBA

On this day (11 January) in 1977 Manchester City defeated West Bromwich Albion 1-0 in a FA Cup 3rd round replay. The original game had ended 1-1 with Kidd scoring for City at Maine Road. The goalscorer in the replay was Joe Royle. It’s well worth reading this report which highlights there was a bit of a conflict in the game too! Enjoy!

Dave Watson, Joe Royle and Albion’s John Wile

The 1970s: A Typical Away Day At Leeds

If you’ve ever wondered what a typical match day was like in the 1970s then you should have a watch of this. This is Leeds v City in 1978 and is part of my series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s. Watch for the large away following (City fans behind the goal to the right but also positioned in various spots around Elland Road); Leeds’ players fighting themselves; a penalty appeal that would be given today; Colin Bell carrying an excited Peter Barnes; LUFC manager Jimmy Armfield smoking his pipe; a pitch invasion followed by the referee announcing the possibility of abandoning the game if it doesn’t stop – which of course is cheered by Leeds fans as an abandonment could work in their favour (it took a long time for football to realise this was never a good thing to say if you wanted trouble to stop!)… what an era! You’ll also notice that when Tueart is about to score a flash from a camera goes off in the away section. I wonder if that fan photo ever turned out?

So here goes with this on this day (7 January) from 1978.

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 5,600 word article is on the successes of 1970 and is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!

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The 1980s: 1986-1987 We Never Win At Home And We Never Win Away

A new daily series of articles for subscribers started last week covering the 1980s. This is a seasonal journey through a truly important decade in the history of Manchester City Football Club. Today’s article is a 2,500 word feature on the 1986-87 season. Enjoy!

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Tomorrow’s feature is on the 1987-88 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:

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

The 1980s: 1985-1986 Trophy Success

A new daily series of articles for subscribers started last week covering the 1980s. This is a seasonal journey through a truly important decade in the history of Manchester City Football Club. Today’s article is a 2,500 word feature on the 1985-86 season. Enjoy!

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Tomorrow’s feature is on the 1986-87 season. If you missed the earlier features then start here:

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

First Live Manchester Derby

Today (26 October) is the anniversary of the first ever Manchester Derby shown live on television. The game was the 109th League derby between the teams and ended in a 1-1 draw (Frank Stapleton for United; Mick McCarthy for City). Subscribers can read a feature on the game, including a match report and background, below:

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