The new series on Manchester City in the 1940s starts today with this 1,400 word article on the 1939-40 season. The season started as any other but then world events intervened!
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Today’s article on the 1960s is free for anyone to read and tells the story of Manchester City signing Denis Law back on 15 March 1960. There’s also film here of his debut and a great colour film of City and Law that season (see below). City manager Les McDowall had been after signing Denis Law for many, many months before he finally signed the Scottish striker for a British record fee of £55,000 the day before the transfer deadline on 15 March 1960. It had been a tense negotiation. Law himself had expected to join Arsenal to link up with his Scottish colleague Tommy Docherty, however, Huddersfield were adamant that they could not sell Law for anything less than £55,000.
Ken Barnes welcomes Denis Law to Maine Road, 1960
It all came to a head at Leeds Road where Arsenal had sent coach Ron Greenwood to negotiate a good deal. At the same time City, represented by Les McDowall and Chairman Alan Douglas, were keen to sign the 20 year old Scotsman. The Gunners had only given Greenwood power to offer £25,000 plus David Herd, making a total of £50,000, whereas McDowall and Douglas were able to discuss the pros and cons of offering more. The discussions and negotiations went on while Law himself was playing Table Tennis in the games room. When the young player was summoned he quickly realised that his move to Arsenal was off and, after less than ten minutes, he agreed to join the Blues at a cost that was said to be three times his weight in gold.
Denis Law’s Manchester City debut 1960
Law made his debut a memorable one by scoring in the 4-3 defeat at Leeds on 19th March 1960. You can view Law’s first goal for City here:
I think the commentary was added some time after and that the commentary was done in a studio over the top. The commentator (is it Stuart Hall?) mentions City’s kit as being old gold and black but colour film of kit from that season shows City wearing yellow and maroon – as can be seen in this wonderful film from that same year which includes Tottenham v City from about 5 minutes in:
Eleven days after Law’s debut he scored again as City defeated West Ham 3-1. He made one other appearance, away at Chelsea, before the player became the subject of his first controversy at the Club. Law was selected to play for Scotland at Hampden Park on 9th April – the date of the vital home game with West Bromwich Albion – and the City management took the view that playing for your country was more important than playing for your club. This angered many supporters, who realised that a Law-less City would struggle and that relegation was still a strong possibility. The Blues were only two points above the relegation zone.
The controversy heightened when other clubs took a different view and refused to release players. The City Board then felt justified in asking the League for a postponement, but the League refused. In the programme for the game, the Board outlined their views and explained how the circumstance had occurred. The article ended by stressing that the situation of club V Country cannot be allowed to continue.
As expected, without Law the Blues were defeated 1-0.
You can find out more on Manchester City in the 1959-60 season by reading the following article on the season. This is available to subscribers.
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In addition to these matches various other representative matches have been played at Maine Road. These include the following inter-league games, under-21 fixtures and B Team games.
You can read more on the 8-0 victory over Scotland in 1943 here:
I’m delighted to say that my latest biographical piece for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography has been published. It’s on the life of Tommy Docherty, the former Preston & Scotland footballer and manager with a whole host of clubs including Manchester United of course. Details of all the people featured by the dictionary this year can be viewed here:
I’ve written several articles for the dictionary in recent years, including biographical pieces on footballers Jimmy Armfield, Ray Wilkins and Frank Swift. It’s a prestigious publication, recording the achievements of the nation’s most important figures. Anyone included within the book has achieved something remarkable, or perceived as an iconic figure in some way.
Hopefully, in the future I’ll be able to contribute biographical pieces on other important figures. Various panels decide who is to be included but I would be interested to know who you think should be covered in future editions. The important aspect to remember is that these figures must now be deceased and have contributed something remarkable or iconic. Those who died in 2021 or the years that have followed will be eligible to be considered for future editions. Sadly, I won’t decide but I have previously been asked my thoughts and have provided names.
Gary James' Football Archive 