Tag Archives: Watford

Top Two Divisions Attendances and Table From 40 Years Ago!

Last week I posted the top flight attendances for this last week forty years ago and this led to a number of comments/questions and so to answer some of those I’ve now posted the top two divisions attendances together with the two League tables AND the end of season average attendances. People asked for clarity on how the figures compared to the second tier and whether League position played its part in affecting crowds. As a reminder here’s last week’s attendances…

And here’s this week’s (published 24 November 1985) and the League table too.

Obviously, these are only snapshots from that season but to add a bit more context here are the end of season averages here are the top 46 best supported clubs in order that season (hopefully it might make those who sing songs like ‘Where Were You?’ think about the crowds at their own clubs first):

A few notable League positions for those who do sing ‘Where Were You?’… The top eight clubs in the League were: Liverpool (champions), Everton, West Ham, Man Utd, Sheff Wed, Chelsea, Arsenal and Forest. Manchester City (who were 4th best supported club) were 15th (only 4 points above relegation zone), Spurs were tenth, Newcastle 11th and Aston Villa 16th.

In the Second Division best supported club Sunderland were 18th (avoiding relegation by 4 points); the top four were Norwich, Charlton, Wimbledon and Portsmouth.

If you’d like to know more about Manchester City at this time, here’s a 2,500 word subscriber feature on the 1985-86 season. Enjoy!

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Attendances 40 Years Ago!

These two results tables for top flight football in November 1985 make interesting reading. I’ve included the details published today (17 November, for games played the previous day) in 1985 and also the week after’s details too. This gives an idea of what the top clubs were attracting back then. Notice West Ham’s game attracted more at home than Arsenal’s and that Liverpool were over 26,000 less than Manchester United. Arsenal’s crowd was 6,000 less than struggling Manchester City and Tottenham attracted more than Arsenal too. Reigning League champions Everton were some way ahead of the London clubs and only about 600 behind Liverpool. Obviously, these are only snapshots from two weekends but hopefully it might make those who sing songs like ‘Where Were You?’ think about the crowds at their own clubs first.

the Marwood scoring for Sheffield Wednesday was of course Brian Marwood who went on to play a key part in Manchester City’s modern return to glory. If you’d like to know more about Manchester City at this time, here’s a 2,500 word subscriber feature on the 1985-86 season. Enjoy!

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.

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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.

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Bobby McDonald

If you read tomorrow night’s match programme you’ll see (if all goes to plan) my One Moment In Time feature which is an image of Bobby McDonald playing against Watford. So, for this feature I thought I’d republish an article I wrote in 2011 on McDonald. This was first published in the build up to the 2011 FA Cup final. I took a look at the eleven players who made the starting line-up for City’s FA Cup final in 1981.  Subscribers can read my feature on left-back Bobby McDonald below.

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One Moment In Time

For those who haven’t seen Manchester City’s match programme yet this season I’d just like to take a few moments to talk about my article this season. This year I’m doing a two page feature called ‘One Moment in Time’ where I select an image from a game, usually connecting the two clubs playing that day, and provide some information or tell a story.

For Ipswich I selected a classic 1981 FA Cup semi final image of fans on the Holte End while for Brentford I dug out an old glass plate image of City at Brentford in 1937 when the two teams challenged for the title.

I’ve already selected the photos and written my articles for tonight’s game with Inter, as well as the Arsenal and Watford games. You’ll have to buy the programmes to see what they are but I’m sure most City fans could guess that the Inter Milan feature will come from a certain major game between the two clubs in recent seasons.

I’m looking for ideas for future games of course, so if there’s a memorable image that you are aware of from a game between City and their opponents throughout this season then get in touch and remind me. It may be an image I’ve forgotten about. I’m trying to ensure these are not always the standard images people have seen. Where possible I want to select photos that are either capturing a moment that typifies City’s long history and great players or is a rare incident that was caught on camera.

Read the City programme throughout the season to see if your favourite City images are there.

A New Era: Keegan

On this day (11 August) in 2001 new Manchester City manager Kevin Keegan guided the Blues to a 3-0 victory against Watford at Maine Road. You can watch highlights of that win here (and relive the season):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XexNSmKtQgu0026amp;t=269s

A New Era

On this day (11 August) in 2001 new Manchester City manager Kevin Keegan guided the Blues to a 3-0 victory against Watford at Maine Road. You can watch highlights of that win here (and relive the season):

FA Cup Final Record Score

On this day (May 18) in 2019 Manchester City defeated Watford 6-0 at Wembley Stadium in the FA Cup final. This equalled the record score achieved in the final by any team.

You can view highlights of the final here:

https://www.mancity.com/citytv/match-highlights/2019/may/city-v-watford-fa-cup-final-extended-highlights

The record City equalled was held by Bury. You can read about Bury’s FA Cup successes here:

https://gjfootballarchive.com/2021/05/12/burys-fa-cup-successes/