Football writing, thoughts and more by Gary James
On this day (26 September) in 1998 Manchester City drew 2-2 with Northampton Town in ‘new’ Division Two (third tier). City goalscorers were Paul Dickov and Shaun Goater. Twice City had come back from being behind. This is the Manchester Evening News report of the game:
The 1999 Play Off Final was played on Sunday 30 May in 1999 with Manchester City clearly the favourites. According to the media Gillingham were going to be swept aside by Royle’s men. For many Blues the day began with a long journey down to the capital. Some stayed overnight close by – the Wembley Hilton seemed to have City banners and flags hanging from every window.
When the players were brought out on to the pitch for the commencement of play they were greeted by smoke, fireworks, and inflatable Nationwide Building Society men. It all seemed a little surreal, but this was nothing compared to the match itself.
When the action started City were not the great force the media expected, instead they slipped their way across a wet surface and relied on the 20 year old Nicky Weaver to keep Gillingham at bay, particularly in the 9th minute when he palmed away an effort from Galloway. As the game wore on confidence grew and in the 26th minute a downward header from Horlock was superbly saved by Gillingham’s Bartram.
Mixed play followed, although it’s fair to say that City several chances and should have taken the lead, especially in the 75th minute when Goater sidefooted a shot against the post. As the game progressed City fans became nervous, then with only 9 minutes remaining the Blues were dealt a major blow when Asaba toe-poked a shot into the roof of City’s net. Worse was to follow for City as Robert Taylor made it 2-0 in the 86th minute. Two thirds of the stadium fell silent, then many, many Blues decided enough was enough and left for home. Those that remained were in for a treat.
Radio Five commentator Alan Green told his listeners about the plight of the thousands of City fans silent at Wembley adding: “That many fans go to every home game. Why do they do it?” It wasn’t long before he found the answer.
With a mere 17 seconds of normal time remaining Horlock sidefooted a goal, prompting those in the stands to start to believe that an equaliser could be possible. Four and a half minutes into injury time Dickov fired an equaliser into the top corner. For a few seconds the stadium fell silent as City supporters struggled to comprehend the importance of the goal, and then wild celebrations erupted. Outside Wembley those that had left early heard the news and rushed back.
An extremely tense period of extra time followed, and then came penalties. The City players huddled together as a team, showing the unity that previous sides had clearly not enjoyed. This unity helped City win the penalty shoot out 3-1, but this score says nothing about the drama and the excitement of it all. The penalty sequence started with Kevin Horlock scoring the first at the City-filled Players Tunnel end of the stadium. Then Weaver’s legs blocked Gillingham’s first effort by midfielder Paul Smith.
A confident looking Paul Dickov marched forward to take City’s second, but he watched in agony as his attempt bounced off both posts to leave the score at 1-0. Adrian Pennock then shot wide for Gillingham, before Terry Cooke calmly slotted his effort into the bottom corner to make it 2-0.
Gillingham’s third penalty was sent clinically into the roof of the net by John Hodge to make the score 2-1, then Richard Edghill sent his spot kick in off the bar. The pressure was at long last on Gillingham. Guy Butters looked a little on edge as he prepared for the eighth penalty, while in the nets Weaver seemed relatively composed. The young City goalkeeper dived the right way and blocked Butters’ effort to give City victory. He immediately went on a rather manic run across Wembley, until he was dragged back to reality by Morrison and the other players.
Wild celebrations followed, with the players bowing to the supporters to show their appreciation of sticking by the club through an extremely difficult period.
Manager Joe Royle was delighted, although it’s fair to say he looked absolutely worn out when he made it into the dressing room after City’s extravagant celebrations. In a rather down to earth manner he told the media: “We’re not getting too excited about this. A club this size should not be too euphoric about getting out of the old Division Three. And even though we won today, I still think the play offs are a joke. After 46 League games it comes down to a lottery.” This was a comment many at Gillingham would have agreed with.
Royle added: “I think we have gone a long way to curing Man City-itis. We can handle the big games now, even though we weren’t at our best today.”
Stats: Division Two Play Off Final. 30th May 1999.
Gillingham 2-2 Manchester City
City won 3-1 on penalties
Scorers – City: Horlock, Dickov
Gillingham: Asaba, R. Taylor
CITY: Weaver, Crooks (Taylor), Edghill, Wiekens, Morrison (Vaughan), Horlock, Brown (Bishop), Jeff Whitley, Dickov, Goater, Cooke
GILLINGHAM: Bartram, Southall, Ashby, Smith, Butters, Pennock, Patterson (Hodge), Hessenthaler, Asaba (Carr), Galloway (Saunders), Taylor
ATTENDANCE: 76,935
REFEREE: M Halsey (Welwyn Garden City)
GUEST OF HONOUR: Mike Lazenby, Divisional Director of Marketing, Nationwide Building Society
While you’re here why not subscribe and read an indepth article on the 1998-99 season. It saw the Blues reach their all-time low before an incredible fight back. It’s City’s one and only season at that level. The article is almost 8,000 words long. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this extraordinary season? It contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.
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DonateThe February 1994 (on this day in 1994) meeting between the two clubs made the headlines as it heralded the dawn of the Francis Lee era at Maine Road and, not for the first time that season, much of the focus was on off-field activities. Nevertheless the game itself was an extremely pleasing from a City perspective. It commenced in typical City big match style – Garry Flitcroft’s attempted back pass ended up gifting Ian Marshall, the former Oldham player, a rather simple opportunity to score!
Fortunately, City didn’t give up. David Rocastle, who had joined City from Leeds in a £1 million exchange for the out of form David White in December, had quickly established himself as an important member of Brian Horton’s side. Many saw him as a great addition to the Blue cause, and this match proved to be his greatest as he clearly helped City attack Ipswich. At one point he cut through two defenders, charged to the goal-line and sent over a superb cross for Carl Griffiths to flick in a great goal. Afterwards the new Chairman claimed Rocastle possessed Brazilian-style skill and few argued.
The goal brought more confidence and with Michel Vonk defending superbly, and Steve Lomas controlling midfield, the Blues dominated. Terry Phelan attempted an overhead shot, before a foul on Lomas brought a free kick. Keith Curle took it and Vonk knocked it down for Garry Flitcroft to touch in the winning goal.
That night City fans celebrated their first League victory since 8th December. They ended the season in16th place while Ipswich finished 19th (one point above the relegation zone).
Stats: Premier League, 5th February 1994
City 2 Ipswich Town 1
Scorers – City: Flitcroft, Griffiths
Ipswich: Marshall
City: Coton, Edghill, Phelan, Lomas, Curle, Vonk, Rocastle, Flitcroft, Griffiths, Shutt, Sheron
Attendance: 28,188
More on this season here:
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DonateThe series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1990s continues today with an indepth article on the opening months of 1999-2000 season. City had been promoted the previous May and the last few months of 1999 saw the Club continue its resurrection. The article is almost 4,000 words long. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this period and an extraordinary decade? As with all these 1990s subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.
Here’s the 4900 word article on that season:
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.
This series of articles and features will run throughout March 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 March 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? If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:
A slight diversion here. The cutting above is from March 1995 and was published in a Liverpool newspaper about attendances at Anfield and Goodison. It’s not worth getting into the local support rivalry that clearly existed on Merseyside then (and probably still does today) but it is worth showing this cutting as it demonstrates that the biggest clubs haven’t always had full stadia.
People assume the 1990s was a decade of full houses but that’s not always the case. The 1994-95 season is an interesting one because there was building work at many stadia as a result of the move to all seater grounds. Manchester City averaged 22,725 which may not sound to great but the season started with City’s capacity down to less than 20,000 for several games. The capacity increased in stages, ultimately reaching about 28,000 that season but this was the first complete season of Franny Lee’s chairmanship and demand was huge.
You can read more on 1994-95 season below. This article is almost 5,000 words long. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this extraordinary season? As with all these 1990s subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.
Here’s the 5000 word article on that season:
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.
This series of articles and features will run throughout March 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 March 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? If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:
The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1990s continues today with the 1995-96 season. Yes, I know but we can look back and remember from a position of relative comfortability now! This was a hugely significant season and this article is almost 5,500 words long. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this extraordinary season? As with all these 1990s subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.
Here’s the 5500 word article on that season:
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.
This series of articles and features will run throughout March 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 March 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? If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:
The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1990s continues today with the 1994-95 season. Another significant season and this article is almost 5,000 words long. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this extraordinary season? As with all these 1990s subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.
Here’s the 5000 word article on that season:
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.
This series of articles and features will run throughout March 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 March 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? If you’d like to know more about subscribing then see:
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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DonateManchester City fans are extremely proud of the development of young players. Throughout the years City’s Academy has developed some extraordinarily talented players. Today I’m taking a look at some of the club’s landmark youngest record holders.
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