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It all came from some research I did for one of my books. A related article appears here: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/FERGET+IT%3B+REDS+PLANNED+SHOCK+EXIT+FROM+OLD+TRAFFORD%3A+Sir+Alex...-a0243542493 The full story is in the 2010 edition of Manchester A Football History.

In the end it was Fergie who had final say. Manchester Council tried to persuade Utd that even just playing European games at, what they intended to be a 80,000 capacity stadium, would be beneficial to both parties. Full story in 2nd edition of Manchester A Football History. I’d interviewed...

And that’s why Clough didn’t get the job in 1983. Also the reason he didn’t get the England job.

Just a reminder that the video is free to watch until Thursday morning only: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2023/03/02/history-talk-video-joshua-parlby-and-the-launch-of-mcfc/

Don’t worry! I didn’t say I believed Swales. I just said what he claimed. There were a few things he said in the interview with me that I knew were absolutely the truth then there were things that seemed inaccurate. I did challenge him on it, asking for the details and he told me it was 1983...

That’s all from my interview with Swales. I asked him about England as Swales was in charge of the committee that appointed the England boss and that’s when Swales brought up that we could’ve had him at City.

In keeping with all the other posts with a similar title I thought I’d post this one. This was 1983 and to be honest it wasn’t really the last second when it fell through (sorry!). It actually fell through when Swales realised Clough would want more power than him. Swales told me when I...

Today is the anniversary of City’s record crowd of 84,569. This remains the record attendance for any game on a club ground. It is also the record for any game in Britain outside of Glasgow and London. I’ve written quite a lot on this over the years such as...

I had the Ardwick photo colourised for Manchester The City Years (By a Utd fan too!) in 2012. Hopefully more to come.

Thanks for the comments it’s been my passion since the 1980s and my aim now is to make www.GJFootballArchive.com a repository for all my research, writing, interviews etc. Only a small fraction of my stuff has ever been published and so there’s lots more to post. My site has a subscriber...

I’d love to but not certain it‘d be popular again. I think we’d need a sponsor to cover the costs but I’ve never managed to get one for anything before. If any BM regulars know any company or individual able to sponsor the film show or a similar talk then I’d be very interested in talking to...

I did another online MCFC history talk last night and you can now watch it here: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2023/03/02/history-talk-video-joshua-parlby-and-the-launch-of-mcfc/ This is about the launch of City in 1894 with particular focus on the work of Joshua Parlby. If you’re not certain...

It was always going to be Burnley or Utd. Great to see Vinny return but it’s not the easiest of ties. It’s good to see so many non-PL teams get there and if you know any Utd fans it’s worth highlighting the Grimsby story…. The last time they were one step away from Wembley in the FA Cup they...

For those who have booked on tomorrow’s talk I’ll be emailing a link to all those registered about 1 hour before it’s due to start. Check your email accounts (Last talk Eventbrite emails gave some the impression that the talk would be accessed via them but it’s not, itll be direct from me)...

I’d be keen to hear about this. I spoke with a developer a few years back and talked about doing a dig like they had at Bradford Park Avenue and was told they’d raise it internally but then nothing happened. Hopefully they’ve got the old maps and stuff and should find some great items under there.

Due to demand I’ve increased capacity on Wednesday’s free online talk about the launch of MCFC in 1894. You can register for the talk here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/joshua-parlby-the-launch-of-manchester-city-tickets-537769542177 I‘ll be talking about the visionary who promoted the club...

Upset by the news of Motty’s death. I posted earlier a story of taking him to the COM/Etihad for the first time and him telling me off: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2023/02/23/john-motson/ He certainly had a good relationship with Bernard Halford and with City - a club he liked going to.

Sadly it’s been out of print since 2004. £45 is quite cheap it seems (original was £24.95 once published). At one point copies were being advertised on Amazon for thousands. I doubt anyone bought one for that but I do know someone who paid over £70 for a second hand copy. If only I’d kept a few...

I’ve dug out a page from the Mirror with the Blue Vicar as he was often dubbed on it and posted it here: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2023/02/22/sit-down-protest/ On my website post I’ve put the full page of the Mirror but haven’t made reference to the story at the top of that page (it...

Here you go… This is Emma Taylor’s photo which she kindly allowed me to use, alongside lots of great other photos she’d taken, in Farewell To Maine Road. This was the advert for the book. The protest was in September 1993 and, as you can see from the image, was successfully carried out. The...