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Thanks for the comment. Personally, I'd have loved to write Franny's biography but I would never ghost write an autobiography. My preference is to research a life, interview the person the book is about, interview others and try to present evidence to back up any claims including contradictory...

"Bernard, Bernard... get your felt tip pens out and change this 13p printed on the Wagon Wheel packet to 18p. Also, that Best Before Date... Can you make 1974 say 1984?"

I think they were Calypso but looked something like this:

Weren't Chipmunk crisps sold there? I also remember XL crisps but that may have been a little later. I used to sit in Platt Lane in early/mid 70s with my Dad and brother and if Dad had a few pence spare that week we'd get a jaffa cake pack (3 in a pack?) and/or a wagon wheel between us. I'm...

It's in the North West Film Archive collection but I don't think this one is online yet. We played it in the film shows I did at Dancehouse and Cornerhouse a few years back but it's BBC footage that the NWFA rescued and I think online rights are an issue. Maybe Will McTaggart & I should do the...

A truly important figure in Manchester City (and football in general) history. Prior to Kompany our most decorated captain. He deserves to be celebrated over and over again, plus he's a nice man too. He's probably also had more spells as caretaker manager than anyone else and, if Pep leaves...

True. One area they often overlook is the Utd angle in 1958. Gene Vincent released a really popular version late 1957 and, in the days before one formal chart dominated, this was played a lot. By the time of the disaster it was in the public consciousness as much as it was years later when Gerry...

Totally agree about the singing it without the speeded up version. The singing they played from 20 minutes after Maine Rd's last game is a perfect example. If I remember correctly that was spontaneous, no prompting, we just did it as we waited for Badly Drawn Boy or whoever. The on pitch formal...

Yesterday I was on Colin Murray's show (BBC Radio 5 Live) discussing the origins of Blue Moon with Colin and Pat Nevin. The main feature was on after about 33 minutes and they were extremely positive about the song. There's a powerful rendition played from the last day at Maine Road. You can...

Yep. Interviews I did with elderly fans in 1990s talked of the early 30s when they looked bedraggled. The stuff about City lending Utd kits and all of that is a relatively modern story that doesn’t add up. All football clubs made their kits last several seasons and Utd fans used the term first...

Yes. He remained puzzled why he was sacked. I met Sven a couple of times and the first time he just oozed charisma. It was really odd meeting him that first time at City as I didn’t expect to immediately like him, but his charisma shone through. A really nice guy.

The interview I did with Sven back in 2011 talking about his time at MCFC is free to read here: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2024/08/30/talking-city-sven-goran-eriksson/ Enjoy!

It seems an appropriate time to repost the interview I did with Noel in the week or so before the 2021 CL final. It’s about 1 hour and you can listen to it hear: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2024/08/27/the-noel-gallagher-interview/ Enjoy!

Lee Jackson has been a wonderful groundsman for City and I'm certain he's our most successful groundsman ever (I've not checked the stats but think this must be true). I mean successful in terms of pitch awards ('best pitch' style awards not trophies won on that pitch) and his playing surface...

Here's part of what David Elleray at IFAB emailed to me in November 2017: As you correctly state, kicks from the penalty mark are a method of determining the winner of a match ( or tie) when the scores are level. QED if any team plays any match which required KFPM and they win that 'event' they...

Oh, it's a pet hate of mine. Nowadays it does go down as a draw but before OPTA started compiling stats it used to show as a 'win on penalties etc.' There was a whole discussion on this a few years back when one of City's sequence records was made and a journalist quoted someone at Opta and the...

Ian Niven was the key voice in downgrading Mercer and giving Allison the job (as he was when Allison returned too). Eric Alexander was actually the chairman when Mercer left but his hands were tied by the new directors. It's only available for subscribers to my site but I've a detailed article...

Thanks for that. It was my favourite book to research and write too. It was my 3rd book and I’ve never bettered it. Throughout my research and writing I felt this overwhelming need to get it right and make it a worthy tribute.

The shameful day when Joe left City: https://gjfootballarchive.com/2024/06/15/a-shameful-day/

He spoke with a Cheshire accent in the days when Ellesmere Port wasn’t viewed as a part of Merseyside. Proudly from Cheshire and the Wirral. Tranmere his club. His wife Norah was from Liverpool, but Joe was not and didn’t regard himself as one.