Biggest mistake City have ever made?

[Gary James]

Two not mentioned yet and they're not particularly significant ones to the outside world but important enough to damage City's development and worth mentioning -

Early 1900s - allowing Chesters Brewery too much influence. They angered fans when they used their influence to keep City at Hyde Road where the capacity was limited to 40k - fans and other directors wanted to move City to a much bigger and better site from 1900 all the way through to 1923. Had they moved pre-WW1 as planned until Chesters blocked it for their own personal gain then they'd have really capitalised on being the most popular club in the League (yes, City did top the attendance tables at times back then but Hyde Rd's poor facilities actually limited crowds - safety risk!).

Next one - I've written and talked a lot about this in recent years: Helping United to block the development of Manchester Central FC in early 30s. Had City sided with Central instead of Utd then the Blues would have strengthened their position as Manchester's greatest side and the post war transfer in power would not have happened.

If you want to know more about the first - it's covered in "Manchester The City Years" and the second is covered in "Manchester A Football History" - borrow the books from a library: you won't regret it.

 

[TFS]

Is it just an urban myth, or has it now been established as a genuine fact, that, shortly after the 1978 world cup, Ardiles & Villa were actually on a plane, flying into Manchester airport, to complete the formalities, after a deal had already been agreed with Malcolm Allison. when Peter Swales, inexplicably, pulled the plug?

Allison wasn't at City when Ardiles and Villa joined Spurs. Ardiles has said in the past that he thought he was going to join City and I've read before that we did have a deal lined up. However, if I recall correctly, the issue was that the same agent had been instructed by the respective Argentinian clubs to sell both Ardiles and Villa, and he wanted to sell them as a pair. City were offered Villa as well but didn't want him, then Spurs stepped in and were prepared to take both, so they went there instead. We then switched our sights to Kazi Deyna.

Well at least that one never came back to bite us. Don't recall him doing anything remotely noteworthy at Spurs.

 

[petrusha]

Is it just an urban myth, or has it now been established as a genuine fact, that, shortly after the 1978 world cup, Ardiles & Villa were actually on a plane, flying into Manchester airport, to complete the formalities, after a deal had already been agreed with Malcolm Allison. when Peter Swales, inexplicably, pulled the plug?

Allison wasn't at City when Ardiles and Villa joined Spurs. Ardiles has said in the past that he thought he was going to join City and I've read before that we did have a deal lined up. However, if I recall correctly, the issue was that the same agent had been instructed by the respective Argentinian clubs to sell both Ardiles and Villa, and he wanted to sell them as a pair. City were offered Villa as well but didn't want him, then Spurs stepped in and were prepared to take both, so they went there instead. We then switched our sights to Kazi Deyna.

Well at least that one never came back to bite us. Don't recall him doing anything remotely noteworthy at Spurs.

Exactly. Ricky who?? ;)

 

[BrianW]

Giving Swales so much power. He may have meant well, he may even have loved City, but even a Rag who hated the club and wanted to ruin it couldn't have done more damage. It's a miracle we survived. It's even more of a miracle that we've come back to being a successful club again.

 

[The Flash]

The abortion that was the Umbro Stand. Another missed opprtunity.

What's the story there?

The stand was built after the Taylor Report and yet it replaced a stand which was already all seated. In fairness the old Platt Lane Stand was well past its sell-by date and since our promotion in 1985 had been used to house away fans, sometimes with embarrassingly small numbers when the likes of Watford and Wimbledon came to town.

The new stand was poorly conceived for a number of reasons. I am certain it had fewer seats than the old Platt Lane which was ridiculous, given the fact that the Taylor Report clock was ticking with regards to the Kippax and the resulting reduction in capacity that its development would inevitably entail.

I think, before the Platt Lane was rebuilt Maine Road was the only major Premier League ground without any corporate boxes (or any corporate facilities at all for that matter) and that was clearly a big part of the brief to the architects from the club to the detriment of other considerations.

What it meant was an absurd looking construction with far too few seats for regular punters and a series of boxes above them that looked like some sort of timeshare development gone wrong.

It was all too symptomatic of the small time mentality of the club at the time especially as for a relatively modest increase in its budget it could have been far more impressive with many more seats.

As if to underline this folly it was "unveiled" at that fateful FA Cup Quarter Final v Spurs in 1993 and was the source for most of the fans who comically invaded the pitch after Terry Phelan's goal.

Whilst not as definitive as some of the other events mentioned in this thread, it served to underline what had become of our club under Peter Swales' hapless stewardship. Small time wanker that he was.

I only sat in it once, when united beat us 3-2 in '96, the season we got relegated. That was more than enough for me.

When the stand was being re-built, my best mate's brother had just started working for Higgs & Hill, the company who built the stand. On match days, there had to be someone on site from H&H in order to maintain the H&S Certificate. As he was the newbie, the management nominated my mate's brother to perform the task. As a City fan, he was made up.

If you look at various footage from games in the 95/96 season, on the rare occasions we scored at that end, there's just one bloke on his own going mental in the stand. His most notable performance being the 3-3 against the Toon.

 

[jonmcity]

City were England's top side after winning the FA Cup for the first time in 1904, but it was soon revealed that the club had been involved in financial irregularities, which included paying £6 or £7 a week in wages to players when the national wage limit was £4 per week. The authorities were furious and rebuked the club, dismissing five of its directors and banning four of its players from ever turning out for the club again.

The Football Association now carried out a thorough investigation into the financial activities of Manchester City and they came to the conclusion that City had been making additional payments to all their players. Tom Maley, the manager, was suspended from football for life and City was fined £250. Seventeen players were fined and suspended until January 1907 whilst City were forced to sell their players and at an auction at the Queen's Hotel in Manchester. The Manchester United manager, Ernest Mangnall signed the outstandingly gifted, Billy Meredith for only £500. Mangnall also purchased three other talented members of the City side, Herbert Burgess, Sandy Turnbull and Jimmy Bannister. These former City players became the core of the side that won the Football League championship in the 1907-08 season.
Journalists were aware that most clubs in the Football League was making illegitimate payments to its players. Football writers based in Manchester argued that the club, being a northern side, were being made an example of, and thousands of people complained to the Football Association, who refused to reduce the bans and fines. Nevertheless, the unfair ban in some eyes brought a young and very potentially a successful team to an abrupt halt,

 

[jackrussel]

when alan oakes then manager at chester offered city ian rush for 200,000 and peter swales said no was a very poor decision.<br /><br />-- Fri Mar 15, 2013 4:39 pm --<br /><br />

Marsh

good call

 

[I'm no cynic but...]

'Forward with Franny' we all fell hook, line and sinker for that one

Franny was let down by his reputed backers who were quick to disappear once his takeover materialised.

 

[ifiwasarichfan]

when alan oakes then manager at chester offered city ian rush for 200,000 and peter swales said no was a very poor decision.

I have the complete oposite side to the Story. I was told or read that Oakes was in some sort of dispute with City at the time and did his best to persuade Rush to join Liverpool.

In answer to the question of biggest mistake - anything to do with Swales (even though he loved the Club dearly) or Malcolm's return to Maine Road; they seem to be the most used answers in the thread and I would agree.

 

[Бравый Дератизатор]

Garry Cook