The 1970s: Law and Marsh

Here are highlights of the goals from fifty years ago today (12 January 1974) when Denis Law and Rodney Marsh both scored in Manchester City’s 2-0 victory over Leicester City at a muddy Maine Road. I’m sure that second goal would go through one of those panels these days to try and work out who actually scored it though I think both Law and Marsh knew it was Marsh’s. Watch out for Colin Bell too.

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Alan Oakes’ 500 Appearances

Today (9 November) in 1974 Manchester City presented longserving player Alan Oakes with a silver plate to commemorate his 500th League appearance. He’d actually made his 500th League appearance the previous week when City faced Everton at Goodison.

At Maine Road on 9 November City chairman Peter Swales presented him with the award before the game with Stoke (Oakes made his 501st League appearance that day). City won that match 1-0 with a goal from Rodney Marsh. You can see Marsh’s goal here:

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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Swales Sells Main Stand

Here’s a nice little quote from 1973. It’s a reminder of the days just before Peter Swales became Manchester City chairman but he was already the main mouthpiece for the board (something that riled chairman Eric Alexander significantly!). It shows how Swales was already trying to grab the headlines with comments that he knew would get media attention.

The background is that there had been some discussion on whether Rodney Marsh would be sold as, according to the media, he wasn’t exactly fitting in with City’s perceived direction and had, according to some, cost the Blues the League title in 1972. You can read about that elsewhere on my site (see below).

I wonder if Swales ever did get any offers for the Main Stand as a result of this? I do know that Punch magazine did a humorous piece outlining that it had been bought by Tottenham for £500,000 and their forward.

You can read about 1971-72 here:

A UEFA First For City

On this day (13 September) in 1972 Manchester City drew 2-2 at home to Valencia in City’s first UEFA Cup tie.  The City scorers were Ian Mellor and Rodney Marsh. Subscribers can read more about that game here:

Charity Final

With Manchester City facing Arsenal in the Community Shield tomorrow it seems appropriate to remember a time when City, like Arsenal this year, we’re given a place in the Charity Shield (now Community Shield). Coincidentally, on this day (August 5) in 1972 City faced another team who had been given a place in the Shield match (though this team had actually won something) and that was the Third Division Champions Aston Villa. This was the first time the Blues had played a Charity Shield match at Villa Park (but not the last). Here’s a feature on it and a match report from the game.

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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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Manchester City 2 Newcastle Utd 0

Fifty years ago today (18 April 1973) City defeated Newcastle 2-0 with goals from Tommy Booth (a header) and a brilliant effort from Rodney Marsh (in 69th minute). City’s boss at the time was Johnny Hart. You can read his frank views (from an interview I did with him several years ago) here:

Denis Law and Rodney Marsh Both Score

On this day (12 January) in 1974 Denis Law and Rodney Marsh provided the goals as Manchester City defeated Leicester City 2-0 in a thrilling game at Maine Road.  

City were in blistering form for this game and absolutely tore in to Leicester. Only the brilliance of England ‘keeper Peter Shilton kept the score down as the report shows.

I was six years old and sat in the ‘old’ Platt Lane Stand with my dad that day. Were you also at this match? If you were why not leave your memory as a comment or email it to me for possible future use on this website?

Film of the game here:

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The Story of 1974-75

Here’s a review of the 1974-75 season as experienced by Manchester City. That year Manchester City finished 8th with an average attendance of 32,898 (fifth highest in the top flight). The following explains how Denis Law played on into the 1974-75 season, even scoring in one game (this is often ignored by those who incorrectly claim Law retired after the 1974 Manchester derby – he did not and played club football in 1974-75 for City!).

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This 1500 word article is available to subscribers. It costs £3 per month (here) or £20 a year (above) to subscribe. Why not subscribe for a month and see what you think? Monthly subscribers get access to everything posted since 1 October 2022.