Forward with Franny 1993

I can remember diving into the protests full on.

I believed in Franny, and the change that i thought would be great for the club.City were a terrible side around that time.i got completely swept along with the terrace revolt..,the kippax was a vociferous rebellious mass at the time ..I got the "Forward with Franny" badge,joined in the protests outside the Main Stand and enjoyed the sit down protest on the kippax terrace,which only ended for many Blues when word reached us that " it's kicking off outside Main Stand" ..,cue loads darting off round the front...then eventually,when your voice was hoarse and you thought you,d done enough,retiring to the Osborne and then my favourite The Sherwood ,before the drunken stagger ,through the back streets to The Albert....heady days.

I remember a trip to Leeds around this time,in the City seats in the corner section next to South stand away terrace..I'd had a drink beforehand.... and was full of myself as I took my seat next to an older Blue who I didn't know.

As the first loud chants of Swales Out/ Franny in etc took off the older Blue said to me " why do you think it,'ll be any better under Francis Lee?"

I came out with all the spiel I'd picked up over the past few months and we argued/debated the finer points all the way through the 1st half(both stopping only to go bonkers as City took the lead)all the way down the steps to the bogs at half time,all thru the half time break,back up the steps and most of the 2nd half, where,as usual City collapsed and we got beat..

We shook hands at the end ,it had been a non hostile ,fair debate...

I was completely wrong it turned out and it taught me a valuable lesson..
Listen to older Blues who've seen it all before!!

Fun days tho!
 
LongsightM13 said:
He was definitely an interesting character in our history
***assuming you’re talking about Dante and not the mad vicar
I remember his ‘Free the Moss Side 30,000’ campaign.
Something to do with Blueprint fanzine?
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No.
Dante did his own fanzine The Fight Back.

It was free The Manchester 30,000 I think.
 
The only early leavers back in the day was to get in front of the barriers outside the mainstand , total Fred Carnoes but it was our circus at the time . Mad days but maybe just maybe we wouldn’t be where we are now without the resolve and blind loyalty.I honestly think it’s the like the above what got us where we are now . Different days different times but the resolve we shown was definitely a part of why we got an owner a world away from what we had or ever dreamed of.,
 
LongsightM13 said:
Very likely Gary, not mine.
I’m a subscriber to your site and may have even nicked them off there!
I have a file marked ‘Bert pics’ which also includes some deflated “Swales Out” balloons of the era
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Yes, it is. Here’s the page from my 1997 book Manchester The Greatest City. My caption didn’t go far enough back then… instead of saying ‘for once….’ I should have made reference to jumping on the bandwagon.

I still have the sticker in a box of stuff from that season. Cheers.
 

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BrianW said:
Maybe we should bring this back, to stop people moaning about early leavers.

Have a sit-in to protest about the PL and biased refs.
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This 100%.....and at every ground on a rolling basis for live tv games

Something has to be done......a million fans every week doing nothing about corruption,bias,incompetence and inconsistency.
 
Stephen230 said:
Don’t have any recollection of this sit in. Was it a success? How many sat in?
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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 photo is Emma’s copyright.
 

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Gary James said:
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 photo is Emma’s copyright.
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Thanks. Suppose in pre internet and social media days, it’s possible that something like this could completely pass you by.

Although probably more likely that I knew all about it at the time and 30 years of subsequent alcohol abuse has wiped it from my memory.
 
LongsightM13 said:
The Mirror tried to make him the face of the protest, ‘God vs evil’ and all that as @Mad Eyed Screamer has said
As I remember the somewhat controversial Dante Friend led a lot of it. A Marmite character but personally couldn’t fault him
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I’ve dug out a page from the Mirror with the Blue Vicar as he was often dubbed on it and posted it here:

gjfootballarchive.com

Sit Down Protest

I was reminded earlier about the sit down protest against chairman Peter Swales by Manchester City fans in September 1993. Back then we used to protest a lot against Swales - in fact some of my recent research has shown that the earliest Swales Out demonstration I've found so far took place in...
gjfootballarchive.com gjfootballarchive.com

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 concerns a certain Mr Charlton & tickets). Another interesting reminder!

Maybe @Mad Eyed Screamer can remember because I’m sure he played a major part (I’ll have it in my collection somewhere) but was the sit down protest actually against Swales or was it against all-seater stadia? Emma’s photo is dated 11/9/93 so that fits with Swales Out and the QPR game but I’m sure I have a leaflet using the James ‘Sit Down’ style/wording encouraging us to sit down to protest against all seater.

When I get chance I’ll investigate further but if anyone can remember please let us know. Ta!
 
Gary James said:
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 photo is Emma’s copyright.
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Gary, is Farewell to Maine Road still in print or available to buy?
I've only found used copies available for £45. Cheers
 
guy debord said:
Gary, is Farewell to Maine Road still in print or available to buy?
I've only found used copies available for £45. Cheers
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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 for myself.
 
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