Tag Archives: QPR

What a Day That Was: The Final Whistle from MCFC v QPR, 13 May 2012

On this day (13 May) in 2012…

I’m sure it gets boring to some but for those of us there that day the drama and the emotion can never be forgotten. Here’s my own personal film of the moment the final whistle went on that incredible day when MCFC won the Premier League title in 2012.

I know the camera’s all over the place (I was jumping up and down like everybody else) and the sound isn’t great but I hope it helps to show what it was like to all those who couldn’t be there that day.

https://gjfootballarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2012-aguerooooooooo-sd-480p.mov

You can also read this 3,400 article about the day:

Happy Agueroooo Day!

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Stan Bowles

I’ve just heard the news of Stan Bowles’ death. He was born on 24 December 1948 and was a great maverick Mancunian footballer. Here’s a profile of him, focusing on his Manchester City days.

Bowles joined City as an amateur on 27 July 1965, becoming an apprentice on 1 October 1965 and then professional on 29 December 1966.

Then in 1967 things really began to happen and Bowles’ first game was as a substitute in a League Cup tie at home to Leicester City. He scored two goals in the second half and the following Saturday he made his League debut another memorable one. He scored two again!

Lots of stories have circulated over the years about his time at City. Like Mario Balotelli many years later some are truthful; others are exaggerations and some are completely make up.

The stories go that Bowles once missed a flight to Amsterdam where City were to play against Ajax, and that Bowles’ interest in the horses led to Joe Mercer saying: ‘If Stan could pass a betting shop like he can pass a ball, he’d be a world beater.’ Suspensions and other issues led to Stan refusing to sign a new contract and he asked to leave. That in itself led to him being suspended for 14 days on the advice of the Football League.

Inevitably Bowles moved on, first to Bury (July 1970) and then to Crewe (September 1970).

A spell at Carlisle followed and then in September 1972 a bid of £110,000 took him to Loftus Road where he won five England caps as a QPR player.

Seven years later Nottingham Forest’s Brian Clough bought him for £210,000 but sold him again less than a year later after further issues. Further spells were reported at Orient, Brentford, Hounslow and Epping.

In 2015 it was announced he was suffering with Alzheimer’s Disease, like his former boss Joe Mercer.

At City Bowles made a total of 20 first team appearances, scoring 4 goals, but he remains recognised as a hugely talented player.

There are articles on this site mentioning Bowles. Here’s a selection:

Stan Bowles Debut
Welcome to Gary James’ Football Archive

The 1970s: Icy Conditions

The series of features/articles covering Manchester City in the 1970s continues with this brief reminder of a day when icy conditions brought chaos to many grounds. City managed to get their game against QPR on and it was played on this day (11 February) in 1978. City still had ambitions to catch League leaders Liverpool. There’s a report of the game and post match League table below but the highlights were that Corrigan made some significant saves; Bell scored his first goal since his return on Boxing Day and Mike Channon scored the other in a 2-1 City victory.

Here’s the report:

Here are the top two divisions’ results and positions post match. Note some of those clubs in the second tier.

The following 3,700 word article is on the 1977-78 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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Horton’s 9 Men Hold On

Manchester City were down to nine men when they defeated QPR 2-1 on this day (15 October) in 1994. It was a bit of a strange one for Brian Horton’s Blues with both goalkeeper Andy Dibble (two footed challenge on Les Ferdinand) and Richard Edghill (2nd bookable offence) sent off.

City had taken a 56th minute lead via a Garry Flitcroft header but then followed a frantic seven minutes or so. Paul Walsh scored City’s second when the ball went in off his face! Then Andy Dibble raced forward under pressure from Ferdinand and was judged to have handled the ball outside the area. Former blue Clive Wilson netted from the free kick.

After that came the sending off of Dibble then Edghill. You can read more on the game in this contemporary match report from the Telegraph:

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Lee Peacock

On this day (9 October) in 1976 Lee Peacock was born. Peacock was a Mansfield Town player who joined Manchester City in 1999, making his debut as a substitute in the League game with QPR on 6 November 1999. Co-incidentally his last game was also against QPR on 8 March 2000. Not bad considering he only made ten actual appearances for the Blues

Prior to joining City Peacock did play his part in one game that often gets talked about when discussing City in the late 1990s and this is the infamous Auto Windscreen Shield tie of December 1998. It was a competition City did not want to be in and it was a fact known across City’s supporter base. They also knew that a weakened team would be played and, to be frank, we were mostly full of apathy for the competition. The League was the only competition that mattered that season.

For the record Peacock scored twice for Mansfield – a 53 minute penalty and another three minutes later. If you want to relive that game (why would you?) here’s a match report from a Mansfield based newspaper:

Rodney Marsh Special

I’ve talked about this before but it’s always worth reminding ourselves of it. On this day 49 years ago (28 September 1974) Rodney Marsh netted a spectacular overhead goal. It was the only goal of the match with QPR at Maine Road. Do you remember it? The following subscriber post tells the story of that classic goal and images of it step by step.

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Anti-owner demos: Just another day in Manchester football

One Manchester club seems to be getting everything right, winning League titles, European trophies and so on while the other appears to be in self-destruct mode with demonstrations against the owner and all sorts of worrying stories appearing in the media. Sound familiar? This was actually the situation on this day (11 September) in 1993 when Manchester City (not United) were the team in crisis and United (not City) were the team winning Leagues and European trophies.

This cutting is from 11 September 1993 and highlights the proposed takeover by Francis Lee of the Blues. Peter Swales had been City’s chairman for twenty years during which he’d taken the club from being a major, profitable power to one that was heavily in debt – debt that was hampering the club’s development – with a stadium that was being downgraded almost every day via a lack of serious investment. Across at United the club appeared relatively stable with a stadium that was being invested in. They also had one of the game’s most talented and successful managers while City had gone through a series of managers in the previous few years. City were a relatively stable top flight team though by 1993. Brian Horton was now City’s boss and he seemed to offer a positive style of football but the wider problems of the club were never far away. All sound familiar still?

I do find it amazing that City and United seem to have swapped roles so emphatically since 1993 in terms of how the clubs are managed, invested in, stadium developments and so on.

For those unaware of what happened to City or those who perhaps support United and are looking to see what happened and whether history will repeat here’s a brief overview: United dominated football for most of the 1990s & 2000s while City’s Lee takeover was successful. Lee, however, was unable to revive City’s fortunes and build on the fifth place finished that had occurred in 1991 and 1992. Although much of the financial infrastructure of City was improved following the takeover, the dismissal of Horton as manager and a poor appointment in Alan Ball led to relegation. Further issues followed as star players left, managers were sacked or left and the Blues ended up in the 3rd tier (for one season – too many believe City were a 3rd tier club who eventually got lucky but they were a top 6 team who fell apart!).

Could history repeat itself with the roles reversed? Unlikely United will ever fall as low as City but it is worth noting that City never expected to fall that low. Also, removing Swales from power was something that fans had been wanting for decades. It only became a possibility when a former hero announced he could take over the club BUT even then the hopes and ambition of all Blues could not be met.

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Match stats here:

https://bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/History/Matches/Match.aspx?id=4048

Maine Road 100 – Day 68

It’s day 68 of my Maine Rd countdown…. Many goals over the old stadium’s 80 year life were described as the greatest ever at Maine Road.  Sometimes these became a talking point for a few days, sometimes for a few years but unless they happen to occur in a major game goals tend to lose their significance as time moves on.  This is especially true for Maine Rd games prior to the 1990s when television coverage was limited to, at best, a handful of top flight games.

One that was remembered for many years was Rodney Marsh’s overhead kick from the City-QPR Division One game of September 1974.  Do you remember it? The following subscriber post tells the story of that classic goal and images of it step by step.

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Aguero Hat-trick

When Manchester City defeated QPR 6-0 on this day (10 May) in 2015 Sergio Aguero netted a hat-trick for the Blues. His first came after three minutes when he went on a mazy run before clipping the ball over the onrushing Rob Green to give Manuel Pellegrini’s side a perfect start.

Aleksandr Kolarov netted City’s second (a free kick from 30 yards) in the 31st minute and the Blues made it 3-0 when Aguero scored in the 49th minute.

Aguero’s third came from a penalty after David Silva had been pulled down in the 64th minute. James Milner made it 5-0 five minutes later before Silva completed the scoring in the 86th minute. when he ran on to a wonderful back heel from Bony, before rounding goalkeeper Green.

City lineup: Hart (c), Zabaleta, Demichelis, Mangala, Kolarov, Fernando, Fernandinho (Toure 73), Lampard (Bony 62), Milner (Navas 81), Silva, Aguero
Unused: Caballero, Sagna, Clichy, Dzeko

Attendance 44,564 (building work as part of the extension of the South Stand had reduced the capacity).