1970's MCFC

[Mike N]

Went to secondary school in Victoria Park, St Pius. Used to pass a barbers on Wilbraham Road with a picture of Kenny Clements in the window.

 

[The Light Was Yellow Sir]

My fondest memories of following home and away were the 70's.

The old Kippax, the kit/scarf colours, transit vans and specials. Dog shit alley, windy corner, stinking bogs, infiltrating the away section and escorts, waiting at Piccadilly or the Brunswick.
All the old characters.

As I get older I find myself thinking about them a lot (blue tinted specs) Big fat football hooligan, Trumans for steel, Freddie Pye, all the boozers.

Loads of youtube vids of matches I'm watching from then.

Shirts tucked in your shorts and a firm manly handshake after scoring a goal. Proper football..

 

[Bentheblue]

Never forget League cup semi in 76 the atmosphere on the Kippax was the best I can ever remember. One down from the first , two up at half time, just got back in with a couple of pints after half time when we scored again, beer went everywhere whole place going f**king mental. Whatever we achieve now don't think we'll ever top the feeling of that four nil win over Boro. Mind you then I was young and crazy now I am old and dull, think my generation had the best of it.

Didn’t we have a few important first teamers missing for that game?

 

[Lavinda Past]

Burnage, Ardwick, Hattersley, West Didsbury, Withington, Levenshulme, Gorton

so all over the shop....we knew loads .....

We're the lads who live in Burnage
We will always have a go
If you think you'd take the Albion,
Come along and have a go
Burnage, Burnage, Burnage...

At this point, the Langley and Wythenshawe lads usually gave us a cheery wave of respect, involving two fingers.

Late 60s, early 70s were great days - the atmosphere was 1000 times better than nowadays at every match. The coaches to away games were absolutely mental sometimes. Things picked up again in the 80s.

A few of us used to pay to go in the home end at every away game (except all-ticket matches and West Ham obviously). If it got a bit too hairy - which it usually did at shitty places like Derby or Stoke - we'd plead ignorance, say we'd gone into the wrong end by accident and get the coppers to escort us along the side of the pitch to the City section.

You'd always see the same faces around. Never knew many of the names, just passing nods and such, but if there was ever any bother, you knew that they would be right with you (and vice versa) if you needed help.

All-seaters and having to have tickets killed everything that made going to the match special, particularly away days. If we could transport our 70s selves to the current day, 90% of us would try (and probably manage) to get in without paying - We certainly wouldn't take this new NFC shit lying down.

When I hear anyone at City talking about the matchday 'experience' nowadays, a little piece of me dies inside. The 'fan experience' is sterile and boring compared to pre-1990s, and that's no doubt the same at every club.

Kids today don't know what they missed - Imagine what they'd be like now if they were faced with a huge pile of 'temporarily confiscated' bovver boots piled up outside the away exits at Highfield Road with hundreds of Coventry City fans running towards us! Ha ha ha... Happy days.

 

[Lavinda Past]

Didn’t we have a few important first teasers missing for that game?

Someone might have lost some Malteasers on the way to the ground... ;-)

 

[Blue Boy 63]

Never forget League cup semi in 76 the atmosphere on the Kippax was the best I can ever remember. One down from the first , two up at half time, just got back in with a couple of pints after half time when we scored again, beer went everywhere whole place going f**king mental. Whatever we achieve now don't think we'll ever top the feeling of that four nil win over Boro. Mind you then I was young and crazy now I am old and dull, think my generation had the bhe

Never forget League cup semi in 76 the atmosphere on the Kippax was the best I can ever remember. One down from the first , two up at half time, just got back in with a couple of pints after half time when we scored again, beer went everywhere whole place going f**king mental. Whatever we achieve now don't think we'll ever top the feeling of that four nil win over Boro. Mind you then I was young and crazy now I am old and dull, think my generation had the best of it.

The crowd that night was given at 44,000 . Yeah right ! The Kippax that evening was absolutely rammed .

 

[Blue Boy 63]

My first ever away game was Leeds 77, December, with my brother and his mate Bob. I was 12 and really excited but a bit nervous.

We lost 2-0 and I was really disappointed by the time we got back to the Finglands coach. Halfway back to Manchester they did the 3rd round draw on BBC radio. Leeds away!

I remember that league game well . Couple of us went on the service train early morning . On arrival the old bill were waiting for us and held us there till the special turned up a few hours later . Mayhem getting back to the station that frost evening . Couldn`t have been more than a couple of hundred city fans at the very most being escorted back by about 10 coppers . We were surrounded by that many of Leeds finest that it was like a scene from Zulu ! Remember the motorway that runs past Elland Rd was just being built at the time and the rest of the surrounding area was just fields back in those days . When we finally managed to get to the station and on the train it was time for everyone to take cover as we prepared for the usual bricking all the way back as far as Hebden Bridge . Getting home that evening i remember my father saying we`d drawn Leeds in the cup f`Christ`s sake !

 

[hateutd]

 

[radcliffe1309]

Even with all the success and amazing football we are able to witness today, there is absolutely nothing like reminiscing and being able to look back on harder times and in particular what we have gone through as custodians and supporters of this great club.

My memories of city especially growing up as a teen through the 70’s is just so so special. Many on here may know me dad Vinny in his blue inva noddy three wheeler car going into the Platt Lane via the sliding door entrance on a match day with me and about another 3 kids or adults hidden under a blanket or coat, whom he had taken to the game in a vehicle only allowed to have the driver in!

In the late 60’s early 70’s he could park the noddy on pitch side and we used to sit in the noddy watching the match, with the ball occasionally hitting the invacar. Me dad took many kids off the streets to the game and they became lifelong blues, imagine him doing that now he’d be nicked for kidnapping! So many memories of me and me dad going to games, he passed in 2002, but he was with me at 93.20 in spirit and we all lived for that moment especially, but our making as blues had been kindled in us years before through those times mentioned here. Check out the photo below that shows the noddys next to the pitch!View attachment 25518

Great photo I knew your Dad and actually played a few games for him ....proper character with a fantastic sense of humour and a lovely man

 

[radcliffe1309]

The crowd that night was given at 44,000 . Yeah right ! The Kippax that evening was absolutely rammed .

I was right in the thick of it in the Kippax and struggled to move, 15 years old at the time and loved those experiences sadly never to return