It’s finally online-the Peter Swales video we’ve been waiting for P31

philiph20 said:
Didn't John Bond say he nearly walked out at city after the 81 FA Cup semi final because Swales showed zero emotion at the game and afterwards, any true fan would have been ecstatic?.
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It was after the FA Cup final first game but it wasn’t Swales. It was Niven. Bond said Niven went up to him and told him he knew nothing about management at the hotel that Saturday night. I‘ve Bond on tape telling me that he almost resigned before the FAC replay. Obviously, that’s his side of the story but I do know that Niven did a number of things to try and unsettle Bond. The reason, according to a couple of key figures,was that Niven resented Bond because he wasn’t Malcolm. It says a lot about how the club was run by the entire board at the time, not just Swales.
 
Gary James said:
It was after the FA Cup final first game but it wasn’t Swales. It was Niven. Bond said Niven went up to him and told him he knew nothing about management at the hotel that Saturday night. I‘ve Bond on tape telling me that he almost resigned before the FAC replay. Obviously, that’s his side of the story but I do know that Niven did a number of things to try and unsettle Bond. The reason, according to a couple of key figures,was that Niven resented Bond because he wasn’t Malcolm. It says a lot about how the club was run by the entire board at the time, not just Swales.
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I think I remember a similar story from one of your books. After the Wembley defeat, at the dinner which had been pre-arranged, Bond felt that the board were bitter and angry at him for losing and he realised then that the club culture was all wrong.
 
LongsightM13 said:
Rob Gretton and maybe Ian Curtis might have gone to Maine Road but the rest of them were reds if they were ever interested at all in football
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Fair enough. I think Cummins just suggested that the photoshoot wouldn't have happened had the match taken place. Perhaps he meant they wouldn't have had a photographer because he'd have been at Maine Road!

I just love the idea that the fate of such an iconic set of images depended on whether a City v Rotherham cup match could go ahead.

Gary James said:
It was after the FA Cup final first game but it wasn’t Swales. It was Niven. Bond said Niven went up to him and told him he knew nothing about management at the hotel that Saturday night. I‘ve Bond on tape telling me that he almost resigned before the FAC replay. Obviously, that’s his side of the story but I do know that Niven did a number of things to try and unsettle Bond. The reason, according to a couple of key figures,was that Niven resented Bond because he wasn’t Malcolm. It says a lot about how the club was run by the entire board at the time, not just Swales.
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I remember that when Bond eventually did resign, some allegations about him having an affair made their way into the tabloids. There was also comment at the time that people inside the club were trying to undermine him.

I listened to your interview with him on your site when he spoke about a lack of warmth within the club compared with Norwich. I thought it very sad he felt that, as the 1980/81 season was such a thrilling time to be a City fan and obviously he inspired that revival.
 
petrusha said:
Fair enough. I think Cummins just suggested that the photoshoot wouldn't have happened had the match taken place. Perhaps he meant they wouldn't have had a photographer because he'd have been at Maine Road!

I just love the idea that the fate of such an iconic set of images depended on whether a City v Rotherham cup match could go ahead.



I remember that when Bond eventually did resign, some allegations about him having an affair made their way into the tabloids. There was also comment at the time that people inside the club were trying to undermine him.

I listened to your interview with him on your site when he spoke about a lack of warmth within the club compared with Norwich. I thought it very sad he felt that, as the 1980/81 season was such a thrilling time to be a City fan and obviously he inspired that revival.
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Looks like it was Curtis and Cummins, and probably Rob Gretton as well though he isn’t mentioned

www.mancity.com

City DNA #28: Ian Curtis

The 28th instalment of our City DNA series focuses on one of City’s most unique and talented fans…
www.mancity.com www.mancity.com
 
Gary James said:
It was after the FA Cup final first game but it wasn’t Swales. It was Niven. Bond said Niven went up to him and told him he knew nothing about management at the hotel that Saturday night. I‘ve Bond on tape telling me that he almost resigned before the FAC replay. Obviously, that’s his side of the story but I do know that Niven did a number of things to try and unsettle Bond. The reason, according to a couple of key figures,was that Niven resented Bond because he wasn’t Malcolm. It says a lot about how the club was run by the entire board at the time, not just Swales.
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Thanks Gary, i do remember seeing Swales in the director's box at Villa Park and the rest of the board are going wild at the final whistle and he was sat there showing zero emotion hence me thinking it was him who Bond was irate with.
 
philiph20 said:
Thanks Gary, i do remember seeing Swales in the director's box at Villa Park and the rest of the board are going wild at the final whistle and he was sat there showing zero emotion hence me thinking it was him who Bond was irate with.
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Swales pretending to be too cool for school. While he was probably more worried about slipping in his heels or his hair doing a Bobby Charlton
 
Gary James said:
I did ask him when I interviewed him about his support and how it started. He came from Ardwick and claimed he was often forced to hear Utd fans going on and on at school. He said he was picked on for being a Blue at his school.

Obviously, it’s difficult to prove one thing or another. I think we’d like to see evidence of people at games and soon. I know some doubted Bernstein was a Blue for example. I’ve also done in-depth interviews with former directors who have pointed the finger at others on the board claiming they weren’t Blues. For example, Eric Alexander was absolutely adamant that Sidney Rose had been desperate to join the board at Utd before he joined City’s board (due to Busby connection). Obviously, it’s opinions not fact.
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Sidney was kind enough to give me some documents before he died and among them is one describing his experiences of going to matches at Maine Road in the 1930's.
 
Bloody hell that video and the documentary they did on us takes me back to my childhood. Maine Road, chairman's office, all the hopes and dreams I and others had, dashed on the ego of Swales and his cronies. Looking back at it now it's like a comedy but incredibly it was real life. It's no wonder we almost sunk into oblivion and it's criminal this clown wasn't ousted earlier. People might say those dark years were fun, character building, blah blah blah but it was mainly 35 years of misery as we became a laughing stock and lost generations of young fans along the way.
 
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paulchapo said:
Bloody hell that video and the documentary they did on us takes me back to my childhood. Maine Road, chairman's office, all the hopes and dreams I and others had, dashed on the ego of Swales and his cronies. Looking back at it now it's like a comedy but incredibly it was real life. It's no wonder we almost sunk into oblivion and it's criminal this clown wasn't ousted earlier. People might say those dark years were fun, character building, blah blah blah but it was mainly 35 years of misery as we became a laughing stock and lost generations of young fans along the way.
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Looking at it now it looks like something scripted by Vic and Bob or the League of Gentlemen team
 
gordondaviesmoustache said:
Skip was uncomfortably servile in that clip. Probably too nice to cut it as a manager
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In the City! documentary by Granada covering 1980/81, you see Book being paraded in front of the media at a press conference after he and Allison have been sacked, with Swales then announcing that Book will stay as interim manager for the next game. Book then asks to speak and says that "to be fair to the chairman", he and Allison always knew where they stood. An air of uncomfortable servility would be an excellent description for that moment, too, IMO.
 
petrusha said:
In the City! documentary by Granada covering 1980/81, you see Book being paraded in front of the media at a press conference after he and Allison have been sacked, with Swales then announcing that Book will stay as interim manager for the next game. Book then asks to speak and says that "to be fair to the chairman", he and Allison always knew where they stood. An air of uncomfortable servility would be an excellent description for that moment, too, IMO.
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I always got the vague impression Tony Book was something of a reluctant manager, no matter how good a job he made of it
 
LongsightM13 said:
I always got the vague impression Tony Book was something of a reluctant manager, no matter how good a job he made of it
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I got to chat to Tony a fair few times and his group of friends when they all used to holiday in Tenerife. He was a lovely bloke as was his friends. I didn't want to badger him too much about football bit his best friend from childhood told me Tony felt badly let down by Malcolm.
 
Dave Ewing's Back 'eader said:
There's one shot, just before he smiles, where he gives the total impression that he hasn't a fuckin' clue where he is, what he's doing, or where he's going. Swales: Is it a shit or a haircut I need? Mmmmmmm, just can't seem to make up my mind!"
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He was a classic chancer who's stumbled onto a good thing and then bullied his way to stay in it, when everyone knew he was fucking useless at the job but were too afraid to do anything about it.
 
gordondaviesmoustache said:
Skip was uncomfortably servile in that clip. Probably too nice to cut it as a manager
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The impression i got regarding Tony was especially when he was coaching the kids was that he was as hard a snails, very competitive and took no shit, i don't think that clip does him justice. He i'm sure knew was that despot with the comb over was like and wanted to keep his job.
 
LongsightM13 said:
I always got the vague impression Tony Book was something of a reluctant manager, no matter how good a job he made of it
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The fact that he took an assistant manager's job at Cardiff after leaving City and then came back to coach our reserves and juniors suggests you're right. Despite that last period with Allison, he'd surely done well enough at Maine Road before that to have warranted a chance somewhere else in a manager's job if he'd kept applying for positions that came up.
 
Didsbury Dave said:
I think I remember a similar story from one of your books. After the Wembley defeat, at the dinner which had been pre-arranged, Bond felt that the board were bitter and angry at him for losing and he realised then that the club culture was all wrong.
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Absolutely spot on. Culture comes from the top and if it’s run by egomaniacs in it for themselves then there’ll never be successful as a club.
 
Prestwich_Blue said:
Sidney was kind enough to give me some documents before he died and among them is one describing his experiences of going to matches at Maine Road in the 1930's.
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Eric talked about Sidney’s relationship with Busby being the connection and the interest in joining Utd’s board. Albert Alexander was asked to join Utd’s board by Busby before he was a City director but Albert turned it down. The story told to me was that Sidney waited for his turn to be asked but it never came so he joined City’s. One of the things I’m always passionate about is triangulation and getting every angle covered but all too often with directors they have vastly different views. Facts are often loose with them and their stories change. If only everything was on the record and documented.
 
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