Middlesbrough Defeated

Uwe Rosler scored a memorable 17th minute penalty in Manchester City’s 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough on this day (20 December) in 1997. Paul Dickov netted the other goal. That was one of only six victories for the Blues that season as City headed towards Division Two and Boro towards the Premier League.

While you’re here, why not subscribe and read an indepth article on the 1997-98 season? The article is almost 9,500 words long – there’s so much to say! Some people write entire football club histories that are shorter than that. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this season and an extraordinary decade? As with many other subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time.

Here’s the 9500 word article on that season:

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City V Newcastle

When high-flying Newcastle arrived at Maine Road on this day (9 April) in 1994 many expected the Geordies to embarrass Manchester City, particularly as the Blues were struggling at the other end of the table, but a determined performance brought City the points and the plaudits.

Maine Road’s second largest crowd of the season felt a little apprehensive in the opening period – especially when Newcastle’s £700,000 purchase Scot Sellars netted in the 19th minute.  The worry didn’t last however, and as the match progressed Brian Horton’s Blues began to excel.  After 33 minutes Paul Walsh scored a deserved equaliser, and then 3 minutes into the second half defender David Brightwell scored the winner.  This was the unlikely hero’s first goal for the club and pre-match bookmakers Ladbrookes had offered odds of 66-1 for him to score.   Immediately after netting he was mobbed by Paul Walsh, Peter Beagrie, and David Rocastle.

For the rest of the match City appeared confident and were certainly good value for money, matching Newcastle throughout.  An ecstatic crowd gave the Blues a tremendous ovation at the whistle with the talents of Beagrie, Walsh, and Rosler gaining particular praise.  Afterwards Kevin Keegan gave the Blues further praise – something he repeated two years later in an equally thrilling 3-3 draw between a Geordie side six points clear at the top, and a City side slipping towards relegation.

The season ended with Newcastle in third place, and City in 16th position – 3 points above the relegation zone.

Stats:  Premier League 9th April 1994.

City 2 Newcastle United 1

Scorers – City: Walsh, Brightwell (D)

Newcastle: Sellers

City:  Dibble, Hill, Brightwell D., McMahon, Curle, Vonk, Rocastle, Karl (Lomas), Rosler, Walsh, Beagrie

Attendance: 33,774

Subscribers to this website can read all about the 1993-94 season below. It was such an important (and at times complicated season) that this article on that season is over 9,000 words long. It’s like a book in itself! 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. In particular this one contains quotes from Peter Swales and Francis Lee which they discussed with me personally.

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City Make History With Foreign Player Rule?

On this day (23 December) in 1995 there was a great deal of speculation that Manchester City would be the first team to field four ‘foreign players’ which wound PFA chief Gordon Taylor up considerably. There had been a rule in place limiting the number of foreign players to three but this had been challenged by English clubs, following the historic Bosman judgement in the European Court of Justice.

Basically, before Bosman challenged the restrictive trade practices UEFA insisted that a maximum of three foreign players could appear for clubs. The Bosman judgement was immediately considered by Premier League clubs who felt it meant they could play as many players from the European Union as they wanted (though the maximum of 3 from outside the EU was still a limit).

The Premier League, supported by the FA, said the ruling meant that City and other clubs could play as many EU players as they wanted. At Maine Road Alan Ball had brought Danish under-21 international Ronnie Ekelund on loan and together with Eike Immel, Uwe Rosler and Georgi Kinkladze it was suggested he would play against Chelsea on 23 December 1995.

In the end Ekelund came on as substitute for Rosler, so 4 ‘foreign players’ had appeared that day but only 3 at any one time (though there’s a whole other discussion to be had about players from other United Kingdom countries and Ireland and whether they should count as that day the Republic of Ireland’s Niall Quinn played, as did Gerry Creaney from Scotland and Welsh international Kit Symons!).

As for the game… City lost 1-0 to Chelsea!

Ekelund had a brief up and down career at City, making only 6 (plus 3 as sub) appearances and he was soon off to Barcelona, while the change to the ‘foreign player’ rule was to have a massive impact on the development of football in England, paving the way for the multitude of talented players at City today.

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Manchester City 2 Charlton 1

Goals from Gerry Creaney and Uwe Rosler gave City a 2-1 victory over Charlton Athletic on this day (3 September) in 1996. Subscribers can read an indepth article on the 1996-97 season below. If you don’t know what happened then brace yourself! The article is almost 4,900 words long.


Why not subscribe and relive this season (it’s okay, we’ve had success since then)? As with all my 1990s subscriber features it contains material from interviews I’ve performed with key figures from that time, including Phil Neal who talks about Steve Coppell’s shock resignation.

Here’s the 4900 word article on that season:

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The 1990s: 1998-1999 The Fightback

The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1990s continues today with an indepth article on the 1998-99 season – yes, that 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? 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:

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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 1990s: 1997-1998 A New Low

The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1990s continues today with an indepth article on the 1997-98 season. The article is almost 9,500 words long – there’s so much to say! Some people write entire football club histories that are shorter than that. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this season 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 9500 word article on that season:

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

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.

Subscribe to get access – Annual

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 1990s: 1996-1997 Further Managerial Changes

The series of articles covering Manchester City in the 1990s continues today with an indepth article on the 1996-97 season. If you don’t know what happened then brace yourself! The article is almost 4,900 words long. It’s available to subscribers, so why not subscribe and relive this season 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, including Phil Neal who talks about Steve Coppell’s shock resignation.

Here’s the 4900 word article on that season:

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

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.

Subscribe to get access – Annual

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 1990s: Loyal Support?

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:

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

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.

Subscribe to get access – Annual

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 1990s: 1995-1996 Managerial Change

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:

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

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.

Subscribe to get access – Annual

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 1990s: 1994-1995 Horton’s Entertainers

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:

Subscribe to get access – Monthly

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.

Subscribe to get access – Annual

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: