New MCFC History section on Bluemoon

johnny crossan said:
pauldominic said:
Many, many congratulations Gentlemen.
Indeed, but as well as Ric & Gary a big vote of thanks to Steve Kay and these chaps is in order

mcfcstats-2.jpg

Well said Johnny. The MCFC Stats site was great resource, and the inspiration behind what we did. It felt important to carry Steve's legacy on.
 
Ric said:
johnny crossan said:
pauldominic said:
Many, many congratulations Gentlemen.
Indeed, but as well as Ric & Gary a big vote of thanks to Steve Kay and these chaps is in order

mcfcstats-2.jpg

Well said Johnny. The MCFC Stats site was great resource, and the inspiration behind what we did. It felt important to carry Steve's legacy on.

I could talk for hours on the history of "City's historians" and who has provided what over the years. There's a book in there itself, but it might be worth a brief summary of how we've reached the position we have with the stats and material. There have been a lot of people contributing a great deal and it is important to remember this.

Way back in the 1920s City's first historian was a guy called Bob Roden. He compiled material on City's history and helped the club rediscover some of its stories following the 1920 fire. He'd been a fan since the 1890s and also set up the Official Supporters Club (in the 1920s - this carried on growing during 1930s and was still in existence in 1948 with branches in places like Denton, Moss Side etc. - what happened in 1949 to 'create' the current OSC I haven't got to the bottom of yet but that's the year the Brooks Bar branch was formed).

After Bob, Bill Miles was the club's historian and also a key figure in the OSC. He compiled stats and facts and had them published in the 1970s. Alongside Bill a dedicated Blue called Dennis Chapman started compiling detailed records of every City game during the 1940s - this is the basis of everything the rest of us have used since.

Dennis was a great guy and his meticulous records started with his first City game in wartime and then he backtracked and researched the history further.

Dennis used to meet with Bill and others to identify facts etc. By the 1970s Ray Goble had joined this group and he was as obsessive and meticulous as Dennis. Ray spent hours researching old newspapers at various archives up and down the country and he and Dennis would compare notes.

Ray ultimately published the first statistical record in 1987 based on his research and that of Dennis Chapman and John Maddocks. Maddocks was another who was dedicated to the cause of City research and the three men regularly met up, compared notes, argued about errors, and generally furthered the knowledge. I was very fortunate when I started writing my first book in 1987 (pubd 1989) to meet them all and ultimately to be accepted as another keen City historian. I met them regularly and John proof read "Manchester The Greatest City" for me. I am personally very grateful to him for his support and encouragement.

All four of us were members of the Association of Football Statisticians - but there were many others who were members who helped us and vice versa (I tried to acknowledge them all in my books - so if you want a full list sneak a look next time you're in the library/bookshop).

Bill Miles passed away in 1984 and John Maddocks was asked by Bernard Halford to take on the role of official club historian. When John died about 11 years ago the role of club historian went with him (people often call me club historian but although I am very happy to be a Manchester City Historian or Manchester Football Historian I have never been given the title club historian by MCFC). When John was ill I tended to be sent queries and so on from the Club and I was asked to take over John's programme piece (I had written a few when health issues prevented him during 1999 but only did so with his approval and support - rightly they kept his name and I made sure people knew it was a temporary arrangement; sadly it became permanent when John died).

When Steve Kay set up his website he based his initial stats directly on those published by Ray Goble and then he spent a lot of time talking with me and also with Dennis Chapman (he'd also spent time with John Maddocks before he passed away). I would say that Dennis' records were by far the most accurate and detailed and I know Steve valued his support, as I did as well.

Steve typed in every lineup based on Ray's book and then once he'd completed that exercise he went back and added as much as he could (things like referee's, venues, unused subs...). Simply doing this is time-consuming and, so the fact that he then posted the stats free of charge (at a time when similar sites sometimes had a charge) or without adverts shows true dedication.

Steve did an excellent job in making the stats public on a website and once he passed away I felt it was only right that my own excel sheets of data should be made available, which Ric has since done an incredible amount of work with to make them accessible on the site. My stats have come from a combination of my own years of research at various libraries; Dennis's and Ray's material and the records of the Football League (hence variations in attendances between what club's submitted and what newspapers reported).

There have been plenty of others researching City's history over the years and all have contributed something. It's worth noting though until Ray Goble produced his book in 1987 stats for every City first team game were not available anywhere. Ray is now not in the best of health but he continues to record City's stats in the traditional manner.

In recent years others have started to research the Club's roots again - I am particularly impressed by the efforts of Paul Toovey who, like Ray, Dennis, me and John has spent hours, weeks, months poring over old newspapers in various archives.

There's still much to learn about City's past. Although my stats have been used for the Bluemoon database it is fair to say I prefer the stories connected with the club rather than the maths. Hopefully one day we'll develop the site to contain a more meaty history of the Blues/games/players and so on. The only things against us are time & money.
 
My compliments about the MCFC History section on Bluemoon!!
It is amazing stuff!!
 
a new record?

"At the age of just 17 years and eight days, Lopes is believed to be the youngest City goal scorer in history, beating Ian Thompstone, who also scored on debut for the Blues, in 1988.

Thompstone left City without ever playing for the first team again, and forged a respectable career in the lower divisions, but Lopes appears to have a big future."


<a class="postlink" href="http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/sport/football/manchester_city/s/1597462_marcos-lopes-enters-the-city-record-books" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://menmedia.co.uk/manchesterevening ... cord-books</a>
 
johnny crossan said:
a new record?

"At the age of just 17 years and eight days, Lopes is believed to be the youngest City goal scorer in history, beating Ian Thompstone, who also scored on debut for the Blues, in 1988.

Thompstone left City without ever playing for the first team again, and forged a respectable career in the lower divisions, but Lopes appears to have a big future."


<a class="postlink" href="http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/sport/football/manchester_city/s/1597462_marcos-lopes-enters-the-city-record-books" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://menmedia.co.uk/manchesterevening ... cord-books</a>

I wonder where Stuart Brennan got his info from? I posted these details on my twitter last night after Simon Weigh reminded me of Thompstone. If I get chance I'll post Thompstone's story on my facebook today.
 
I can only add to comments above about MCFCstats.
Having just written the book ''Teenage Kicks'' the story of the 1986 FA Youth Cup winning team, this website was so invaluable, I had every stat involving the seven players from the youth team that played for the first team at a mouse click away.

PS I hope that wasn't a shameless plug for the book, it was meant as a tribute to a fantastic resource for City fans and in how it helped a Blue to be able to produce a book.
 
Slightly off topic, but been having a clear out and found a match day programme from the Manchester derby 1996 at Maine Road. Before I bin it does anyone collect or want it? It's in good Nic and yes it's free to a fellow blue
 

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