Tag Archives: Tottenham

George Graham Interview – March 1993

Happy 79th birthday to former Arsenal manager George Graham. George was brought to England by Joe Mercer to play for Aston Villa and on 30 March 1993 I travelled to Arsenal’s old stadium, Highbury, to interview George. I wanted to capture his views on his former boss – and Arsenal legend – Joe Mercer.

As I mentioned earlier, Joe was the Aston Villa manager who brought George to England many, many years before George had found fame as a footballer and Joe had taken Manchester City to their first European honour. Joe did win the League Cup as Aston Villa boss, but these were not great days for the former Everton and Arsenal playing legend, but he did always feel responsible for bringing George to England (and loved the success he brought Arsenal).

My interview with George had been arranged for Tuesday 30 March 1993 some time in advance but then Arsenal’s FA Cup semi-final with Tottenham was scheduled for the following Sunday at Wembley (a highly unusual occurrence at the time!). I expected to get a call cancelling the interview but instead George decided to go ahead with it.

On the day I parked up outside Highbury quite early but as I pulled up I saw George leave the stadium and jump into a car. I was early, so wasn’t too worried. Then I remembered the FA Cup semi-final and assumed that George would be busy with plans. I expected to be told when I entered the marble hall at Highbury that the meeting would be off.

When I spoke with the reception staff they told me to take a seat. They said that George had been called away and so could be a few minutes late (which he was). I was relieved because I’d been convinced he would cancel (it’s happened often with other busy managers).

I sat in reception thinking about the chat and then, a few minutes after we were due to meet, George walked in. He spoke with the receptionist and then came towards me, hand out, saying ‘I’m George Graham’ (I remember thinking ‘I know’ but I did love the fact that he introduced himself). He took me up to his impressive office at Highbury – no other offices at any ground I had been to at that time could match the quality and status of that room.

We then did the interview. It’s not my best – I think I was overawed by the situation – but I was appreciative of George’s time. During the interview Stewart Houston, his assistant, popped in to check something with George (I turned off my recorder) and George ushered him away, telling him that he was busy. Again, I loved this – other managers have sometimes disappeared and not come back but for George he’d set this time aside to see me and chat about Joe Mercer and that’s what he was doing.

Arsenal beat Spurs that weekend so, I suppose, George knew what he was doing but I do remember watching that game on TV thinking that if Arsenal lose I’d never be able to tell anyone that George had spent time being pestered about Joe Mercer when he should’ve been preparing for Tottenham!

If you subscribe to this site you can hear the interview below. I have been researching and writing for a long time and my Joe Mercer book was my third (first published in 1993). I am not employed by anyone and I do not have sponsorship either and so I’ve set up this website to help share my 35 years plus writing and research. The intention is to develop the archive and to provide access to as much of my material as possible over the coming weeks, months & years. Annual subscribers can already access over 1250 articles/posts including the entire Manchester A Football History book, my first book on MCFC (published in 1989) and Farewell To Maine Road, plus audio interviews with Malcolm Allison and John Bond.

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Anyway, here’s the George Graham interview:

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City End Spurs Run

A 1-1 draw saw Tottenham Hotspur’s run of consecutive victories from the start of the season come to an end at 11 wins (a run of 13 consecutive League wins in total). City of course now hold this record. A crowd of 58,916 saw the game on this day (10 October) in 1960 when City, wearing maroon and white stripes, ended Spurs’ run.

Tottenham’s Bobby Smith heading the opening goal past Bert Trautmann. The City ‘keeper had been superb and went on to demonstrate his skills throughout the game.

City’s Clive Colbridge equalised five minutes into the second half but most newspapers focused on the significance of Tottenham’s winning run with some believing it would never be bettered. They obviously couldn’t predict the brilliance of Pep Guardiola’s team.

Tottenham did go on to win the double (in the days when that seemed an impossibility, never mind a domestic treble or treble involving a European Cup! There was some praise for City in the report.

Here’s a contemporary match report of the Spurs game in 1960:

Heatwave at Tottenham

110 years ago today! A famous heatwave game for Manchester City at Spurs. Photos from this match often get mistakenly published as Hyde Road but this match was definitely in London and played on 27 September 1913. The City scorer was Billy Lot Jones (Spurs won 3-1).

I know it’s difficult to work out but this is the City goal:

Billy Lot Jones’ goal v Spurs, 27 September 1913. The person nearest the camera is the Tottenham keeper. Jones doesn’t appear to be on the image.
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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:

MCFC 20TH CENTURY CHRONICLE SEASON 1971-72
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Maine Road 100 – Day 95 Answer

It’s Day 95 of my Maine Road 100 countdown (not long to go now!) to the centenary of Maine Road’s first game. Earlier I asked the question: Of all the brilliant players who graced Maine Road over the decades who do you think was the one who scored most goals at the old stadium? Answer later today. Watch this space about 9pm UK time!

Well, the answer is Colin Bell. Colin scored 107 first team goals at Maine Road with Eric Brook next on 106 first team goals. The main image is Colin scoring v Spurs in December 1967.

I bet there are a few fans out there who saw every one of Colin’s 107 first team Maine Road goals. Feel free to leave comments on the great City star below. Also, why not check out the other articles that mention Colin such as this on his debut for Bury:

Goalkeeper Dowd Scores; Colin Bell’s Bury Scoring Debut

Or this interview I did with him many years ago:

IN SEARCH OF THE BLUES – Colin Bell MBE (interviewed in January 2005)

Maine Road 100 – Day 78

For post 78 of my Maine Road 100 countdown I want to post this reminder of a classic Manchester City v Tottenham gam. It was played on 9 December 1967 became known as the Ballet On Ice.  Manchester United supporter Bobby Greenroyd watched the game on Match of the Day and wrote to City afterwards:  “I am a regular Manchester United fan, but after Saturday’s game your next home gate will be increased by one.”  High praise, particularly as United themselves were on the verge of European Cup glory.

Why and how did this happen and which leading MCFC figure sneaked out to buy a bag of chips while the club celebrated its 1968 League title success? Here for subscribers is an article that explains all….

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The snowy image looks towards the Platt Lane Stand (number 5 in this 1971 ground image) from the Scoreboard End goal (number 10 is the Scoreboard End replacement the North Stand).

Maine Road aerial 1971 from Farewell To Maine Road

Manchester City Hall of Fame: Joe Corrigan’s significant game

City 2 Tottenham 3

FA Cup Final Replay

14th May 1981

City Team: Corrigan, Ranson, McDonald (Tueart), Reid, Power, Caton, Bennett, Gow, Mackenzie, Hutchison, Reeves

Attendance: 92,500

For Joe Corrigan these two matches may not have brought him a winner’s medal but they did raise his profile nationally and bring him the accolade of ‘man of the final’.  An enormous television audience worldwide witnessed this the 100th FA Cup final and the story of City’s season captured a great deal of attention.  The Blues had commenced the season with Malcolm Allison as manager but results, performances, and a general air of doom and gloom made the first few months extremely difficult.  Then John Bond arrived in October and the atmosphere transformed totally as City progressed to the League Cup semi-finals and the 100th FA Cup final.

City were in control for most of the initial match at Wembley.  Tommy Hutchison had put City into the lead in the 29th minute and the Blues looked unstoppable.  Danger did come from Spurs at times but Joe played magnificently and blocked any danger.  Unfortunately, ten minutes from the end disaster struck.  Tottenham were awarded a free kick twenty yards out.  Osvaldo Ardiles tapped the ball to Glenn Hoddle, who curled it around the wall.  Joe knew he had the shot covered but Hutchison somehow got in the way.  The ball hit his shoulder and was diverted passed Joe and into the net for Tottenham’s equaliser.  Joe:  “I’m sure Hoddle’s free-kick was going wide until Tommy got in the way and deflected it past me.”

Immediately after the equalising goal Joe, clearly disconsolate himself, walked over to the devastated Hutchison, helped him to his feet, and muttered a few words as he patted him on the back.  Clearly at a time when blame would have been easy to apportion the City ‘keeper thought more about the feelings of his team mate than the incident itself.  That says a great deal about Joe’s humanity.

The game went into extra time and with the score at 1-1 after 120 minutes, a replay was scheduled for the following Thursday.  Joe and most of the City side received considerable praise in the media with the Daily Mail stating:  “For what they are worth to the bewildered Tommy Hutchison, the defiant Joe Corrigan, the prodigious Nicky Reid and the inspiring John Bond, my sympathies are with City.  At least they gave their all for 90 minutes and then dredged up a little extra for the additional half-hour.  With the exception of Graham Roberts, Tottenham’s approach was a disgrace.”

All neutrals seemed to share those views and City felt aggrieved.  Personally Joe would have preferred to see the game settled on the Saturday:  “For me the FA Cup Final is all about the Saturday.  The players are all hyped up, the fans are all hyped up, the television is all hyped up.  The Cup Final is meant to be all about who is best on the day.  I’ve no doubt that on the Saturday we were the better team.  The second game did not feel like an FA Cup final.”

Despite Joe’s views, the second game has become recognised as a classic.  It ended 3-2 to Spurs, but contained a couple of superb goals.  The most famous one is Ricky Villa’s 75th minute Tottenham winner, but City fans will always remember Steve Mackenzie’s twenty yard volley as a classic goal.

For Joe the second game put him under more pressure than the first and he certainly performed heroically.  In the years since the final the story of Ricky Villa’s goal has grown and grown yet on the day itself it was the performance of City’s brilliant ‘keeper which won the acclaim.  His profile was raised once again, but undoubtedly Joe would have much preferred to see City win the Cup rather than receive the glory himself.

Temporary Cox

A 25th minute goal from Anelka helped City to their fourth successive draw under the temporary stewardship of Arthur Cox on this day (12 April) in 2004. Manager Kevin Keegan was absent due to instructions from his doctor to rest his bad back.  The game with Spurs ended 1-1 on Easter Monday.

Pearce’s Blues

On this day (19 March) in 2005 Stuart Pearce managed Manchester City for the first time following the resignation of Kevin Keegan.  The game with Spurs ended in a 2-1 defeat with Reyna scoring for City at White Hart Lane. Pearce’s side went unbeaten for the rest of the season after this match.

Vital Points in the 2012 Title Race

People often talk about last game of the season title winning goals (and we do love the drama and memory of those) but often goals in games earlier in the season can be decisive too. On this day (22 January) in 2012 a clumsy challenge in the dying moments from Tottenham’s Ledley King on Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli gave City a penalty and the chance of three points. You can read about the game and see highlights below:

The game was played on Sunday 22 January 2012 with a 13.30 start in Manchester. City’s match stats were:

City: Hart, Richards (c), Savic, Lescott, Clichy, Milner, Barry, Silva, Nasri, Aguero, Dzeko (Balotelli 67)
Unused: Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Kolarov, Onuoha, de Jong, A Johnson
Goals: Nasri (56), Lescott (59), Balotelli (pen 90+5)
Booked: Clichy, Balotelli

Referee: Howard Webb

A tight and nervous first half ended goalless and it felt as if the game could well end in a 0-0 draw, however the second half brought 5 goals and plenty of drama.

After 56 minutes Silva found Nasri with a brilliant through ball. The Frenchman was through on goal and he fired the ball past Friedel to make it 1-0 to the Blues. Three minutes later from a corner, the ball fell to Lescott at the back post who sent the ball the yard or so needed to increase City’s lead.

2-0 and we thought City were home and dry but then, within a minute, Spurs scored. Defoe pushed forward around the onrushing Hart to score a fairly easy goal.

As was the case at times during 2011-12 the nerves set in and it wasn’t long before the visitors equalised. Bale picked up the ball from 20 yards out after City had struggled to clear their lines. His stunning effort found the top corner.

Both sides looked for the winner and the general mood around the stadium was one of missed opportunity. It felt like this was going to be one of those days, especially as Spurs had a great opportunity around the ninety minute mark. But then with less than a minute of added time to play, a Clichy clearance fell nicely for Balotelli to run on to. As he moved into the box a clumsy challenge from King brought Balotelli’s run to an abrupt end. Inevitably, referee Howard Webb awarded a penalty. Balotelli stepped up and scored to give City the points.

I know we will always talk about the final day of this 2011-12 season (and rightly so) but without Balotelli’s penalty v Spurs and the resultant three points the title would not have made it to City. There are plenty of these moments in title winning seasons.

Subscribers can read what I said about this game in a piece I wrote in 2012 here:

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Highlights here:

https://www.mancity.com/citytv/match-highlights/2012/january/city-v-spurs-22-jan-extended

I was sat in the North Stand 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?

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