After a glittering career with Preston, Everton and Liverpool, striker David Johnson joined Manchester City on this day (21 March) in 1984. Johnson scored on his City debut – an 83rd minute equaliser v Cardiff in a game the Blues went on to win 2-1 (Image is of that goal). Unfortunately, despite a reputation as a lethal striker – and hard evidence of achievement – Johnson’s time at Maine Road was not particularly successful. After one goal in four (plus two as substitute) games Johnson moved to play soccer in North America in May 1984.
Johnson died in November 2022 and the following piece was written by Samuel Meade and published in the Mirror:
You can read an article on the entire 1983-84 season if you subscribe (see below):
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The new series on Manchester City in the 1950s continues today with this 3,400 word article on the 1954-55 season when City reached the FA Cup final and Don Revie was FWA Footballer of the Year. Enjoy!
This is a subscriber article and you can read it by subscribing below.
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On this day (25 February) in 1956 Bobby Johnstone scored twice as Manchester City defeated Preston 3-0. Joe Hayes scored the other goal.
I’m contemplating writing a series of features on the 1950s as this decade is beginning to slip from living memory. We’ve lost almost all the players who played during that decade for City and maybe it’s time to post some of the interviews I did with the likes of Fagan, Barnes, Clarke, Little? What do you think? I’m always keen to hear from readers/subscribers to the site.
Here’s an action image I found while researching about thirteen years ago of Manchester City v Preston North End played at Hyde Rd on 20 December 1913. That day a crowd of about 20,000 watched as the two sides drew 1-1 with Tommy Browell scoring for Manchester’s Blues.
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.
Continuing the series of features on Manchester City in the early 1900s! Today it’s a 9400 (yes that’s right!) word article telling the story of 1903-04 when Manchester won its first major trophy. If you’re a subscriber you’ll need to get a brew before reading this celebration of that season. If you’re not a subscriber then why not?
Ever wondered how Manchester found its first major trophy success or what the scandal that rocked City was all about? Then subscribe and read this series of articles.
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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
Continuing the series of features on Manchester City in the early 1900s! Today it’s a 1400 word article telling the story of 1902-03 when Celtic legend Tom Maley became City boss.
Ever wondered how Manchester found its first major trophy success or what the scandal that rocked City was all about? Then subscribe and read this series of articles.
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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
Continuing the series of features on Manchester City in the early 1900s! Today it’s a 1800+ word article telling the story of 1901-02.
Ever wondered how Manchester found its first major trophy success or what the scandal that rocked City was all about? Then subscribe and read this series of articles.
Subscribe to get access
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
The series of features on the 1900s continues today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1900-1901 when Manchester City finished 11th in the First Division (top tier). There were 18 clubs in the division that season. Despite this relatively low position, City were the second best supported club – the highest position either Manchester team had enjoyed up to that point. League champions Liverpool were the 5th best supported club. Newton Heath (MUFC) were still a Second Division club and were 22nd best supported team.
All these figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.
Match programme for 29 September 1900. Manchester City v Stoke
In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.
1900-1901 Average Attendances
Average
Team
18700
Aston Villa
18300
Manchester City
16225
Everton
15800
Newcastle
15000
Liverpool
13600
Sheff Utd
11525
Sunderland
10575
WBA
10175
Bolton
9950
Sheff Wed
9450
Notts County
9350
Nottm Forest
8375
Middlesbrough (2)
8050
Derby
6950
Bury
6850
Stoke
6575
Blackburn
6325
Preston
5900
Small Heath (2)
5900
Woolwich Arsenal (2)
5850
Wolves
5475
Newton Heath (2)
4975
Leicester Fosse (2)
4625
Grimsby (2)
3725
Stockport (2)
3575
Lincoln (2)
3125
Walsall (2)
3100
Burnley (2)
2850
Barnsley (2)
2825
Chesterfield (2)
2800
Glossop (2)
2675
New Brighton Tower (2)
2375
Burton Swifts (2)
2075
Burslem Port Vale (2)
2050
Gainsborough Trinity (2)
1850
Blackpool (2)
This series of features covers the final years of Ardwick, the birth of Manchester City and the Club’s first national success. Why not subscribe and read every feature?
Starting today: A new series of features on Manchester City in the early 1900s! Ever wondered how Manchester found its first major trophy success or what the scandal that rocked City was all about? Well, now’s your chance to find out. This series covers the period 1900-1910 It starts with the second half of the 1899-1900 season in this 1300 word article:
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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
The series of features on the 1900s starts today with a simple look at the average attendances of league clubs. I’m publishing the statistics here for season 1899-1900 when Manchester City was a First Division club for the first time. They were the third best supported club – the highest position either Manchester team had enjoyed up to that point. In fact City had been the best supported club for the opening months of the season as the heading photo shows (that’s from 20 January 1900).
All these figures are estimated based on newspaper reports of the period but are widely accepted as a good indication of support enjoyed at each club.
Manchester City with the Second Division Shield, 1899
In the following table every team is in Division One unless (2) appears after their name. This indicates they were a Second Division club that season. Where two teams have the same average then these have been listed in alphabetic order.
1899-1900 Average Attendances
Average
Team
19825
Aston Villa
16725
Newcastle
16000
Manchester City
12925
Everton
11325
Liverpool
11175
Sheff Utd
10475
Sunderland
8950
Notts County
8125
Derby
7875
Nottm Forest
7700
Stoke
7150
Sheff Wed (2)
6575
Wolves
6475
Blackburn
6250
Leicester Fosse (2)
6225
Newton Heath (2)
6175
WBA
5925
Burnley
5925
Middlesbrough (2)
5775
Bury
5050
Small Heath (2)
4825
Preston
4800
Bolton (2)
4125
Woolwich Arsenal (2)
4000
Glossop
3775
Grimsby (2)
3775
Lincoln (2)
2950
Chesterfield (2)
2875
New Brighton Tower (2)
2525
Walsall (2)
2400
Barnsley (2)
1875
Gainsborough Trinity (2)
1675
Burslem Port Vale (2)
1650
Loughborough (2)
1650
Luton (2)
1500
Burton Swifts (2)
This series of features covers Manchester City in the opening years of the twentieth century. Why not subscribe and read every feature?
Tomorrow there’ll be a subscriber article on the 1900-01 season in a similar style to those recently posted on the 1890s. Here’s an 1800 article below on Manchester City in the final months of 1899:
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Read more of this content when you subscribe today. It costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or sign up a year at a time for the discounted annual fee of £20. This gives access to everything on the site, including PDFs of 3 of my books and various other articles, interviews and audio material. Each subscriber has access to all content posted during their subscription period too. Why not sign up for a month and see what you think?
Gary James' Football Archive 