Tag Archives: Stoke

Manchester 1840-1919 (Part Six)

Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the fifth chapter of the book (a 8,200 word section). This focuses on the establishment of clubs in the 1870s and 1880s, including City and United’s predecessors.

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Manchester 1840-1919 (Part Five)

Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the fourth chapter of the book (a 11,000 word section). This focuses on the footballing communities that developed during the mid to late 1800s.

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45 Years Ago: Trevor Francis Debut At Stoke

45 Years ago today (September 5, 1981) I attended my first away game. That day my parents told me we were going to Stoke v Manchester City. The reason why? It was to be the debut of new City striker Trevor Francis. This was perceived as a huge transfer at the time (don’t be fooled into thinking major transfers have only come in recent years!) and part of manager John Bond’s plan to challenge for the League title – and for a while it looked as if they would!

Here for subscribers is a piece on that day and what followed with quotes from interviews I’ve performed with Trevor Francis and Peter Swales who tell the story of that time. There are also contemporary match reports too:

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GOLDEN GOALS – 1934 Eric Brook V Stoke City

It has virtually slipped out of living memory but this goal is possibly the greatest ever scored at Maine Road.  It is also the goal that was viewed by the largest paying audience of all time at the old stadium.

The goalscorer Eric Brook remains one of City’s biggest stars and he was idolised by thousands of Mancunians throughout his career.  This goal was obviously popular with Maine Road regulars at the time but it has to be stressed that it was also highly significant in the Blues’ quest to re-establish themselves as a major force.

The idea of this ‘GOLDEN GOALS’ feature is to remember a significant or spectacular Manchester City goal from yesteryear.  My hope is that supporters who were not around back then will learn more about these goals while those who were here will hopefully be reminded of them.  If you would like to nominate a goal for possible use in a future feature then please comment at the end of this piece or email me with details of game, goal scorer and date.

This article, covering Brook’s goal is available for subscribers to the website below. It costs £20 a year (it works out £1.67 per month) and you get full access to all articles posted, including PDFs of the out of print Manchester A Football History and my first ever book about Manchester City. There are also audio interviews & more. Do a few searches on past content to see what’s available.      

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Frank Soo Blue Plaque

I was delighted to be one of the guests today when a Historic England blue plaque was unveiled for groundbreaking footballer Frank Soo. Soo was the first player of Chinese heritage to play for England and he was born in Buxton. HIs dad was from China, his mum was from Manchester. The unveiling today took place in the town and members of the Soo family were present today. HIstorian Martin Polley, representing Historic England, made a great speech about the player and other speeches were made by family members, local historians and blue plaque campaigners. Guests included Max Portman, representing the British Society of Sports History. Stoke City sent a message too. Here are a few images from the day.

You can find out more about Frank Soo (who was a teammate of Joe Mercer’s for England) and the campaign to erect a blue plaque to him here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c74yg20g378o

You can find out about other footballing blue plaques mentioned on my site by searching on ‘plaque’ below. Here you can read about the blue plaque campaign on the Manchester Corinthian Ladies FC:

Photos from the Corinthians Plaque Unveiling

Frank Soo and Joe Mercer remained friends throughout their lives. Frank, for example, attended Joe’s This Is Your Life.

This is Your Life Joe Mercer

Fifteen Years On: 2011 FA Cup

Today (14 May 2026) marks the 15th anniversary of Manchester City’s 2011 FA Cup final success over Stoke. There are so many angles to that first major success of the modern era for Manchester City and it is impossible to cover them all here. Elsewhere on this website I talk about the 2011 FA Cup run, especially that semi-final win over Manchester United. If you’ve not heard it have a listen to this:

Restored 2011: The All-Manchester FA Cup Semi Final

Today I’ll focus on the final itself with a lengthy article on the final below. This is a subscriber article. It costs £3 a month to subscribe OR take out an annual subscription at £20 (works out about £1.67 a month). All subscribers get full access to everything throughout their subscription.

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The 2010s: Champions League Qualification

Manchester City qualified for the Champions League for the first time when they defeated Tottenham 1-0 via an own goal from Peter Crouch on this day (10 May) in 2011. Crouch had deflected a James Milner cross past his own ‘keeper. This had been a rather tense game against a Spurs team desperate to get into a European place. They ended the day sixth, behind fifth place Liverpool. City were fourth, two points behind third placed Arsenal and seven ahead of fifth placed Liverpool with only two games remaining.The target remained third place, as this avoided a Champions League play off, and success in the FA Cup final. Finishing in the top four for the first time since the 1970s was an achievement in its own right, but winning the FA Cup would end 35 years without success at the highest levels of the game. The final was against Stoke at Wembley on 14 May.

The Origins Of Manchester City: The Earliest Known Game

Continuing here: the story of Manchester City’s origins. Today’s feature is a 3,300+ word feature on the earliest known game, played in November 1880. Have a look elsewhere on the site for other content on this period.

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Tueart Controversy

For the second successive FA Cup game there was a controversial head-butting incident involving Dennis Tueart fifty years ago today (28 January 1976). If you’d like to know what happened and its significance read the following subscriber feature:

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There’s also the following 5,320 word article on the entire 1975-76 season – a season which saw Tony Book guide the club to major success. You can read this below. You could even subscribe for a month and see what you think. Enjoy!

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City’s First League Cup Semi

As tonight sees Manchester City face Newcastle United in the League Cup semi-final here’s a reminder of the first ever League Cup semi played by the Blues. That came in 1964 and was a two-legged, often forgotten, tie. The first leg ended in a 2-0 defeat to Stoke in January 1964 and then on 5 February City defeated Stoke 1-0 in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final. The goalscorer was Derek Kevan. This was the first time City had reached the semi final stage but the competition was not particularly welcome at this time in football history. Here’s a report of the game:

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Attendances across football were low in this competition. This Maine Road tie with Stoke was watched by 16,894. The first leg, on 15 January, had seen City suffer a 2-0 loss at Stoke.

Were you at either of these games? Please post your comments if you were. I’m keen to understand how fans felt about the semi final back in 1964.