History Lesson Needed Please.

fbloke

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I was wondering if any of the real history buffs amongst us could answer what may turn out to be more subjective than objective.

Simply then which was City's most successful period?

No doubt a lot of people will say the Mercer years but was the 'Revie plan' era not dominant, if not as trophy laden?
 
the season we scored over 100 for and had over 100 against
the season we went unbeaten at home oh happy days
 
fbloke said:
I was wondering if any of the real history buffs amongst us could answer what may turn out to be more subjective than objective.

Simply then which was City's most successful period?

No doubt a lot of people will say the Mercer years but was the 'Revie plan' era not dominant, if not as trophy laden?

I'd definitely say the Mercer years, followed by the mid 30s - 2 Cup finals and a league title.

2 Cup finals in the 50s but not much in the league in that era.
 
In the 30s us and Arsenal were the dominant teams in the main, although typical City, we still did things the hard way.

There was a season in the 30s when we were in the second division but had the highest average attendance in the whole country! How "City" is that?

But the Mercer years were the most successful.
 
Definitely 1965-1972 (Mercer years), but the Book era (1974-1979 before Allison's return) saw City challenge on a regular basis. Whether this was because of the foundations laid in the 60s/early 70s or not is open to question.

The 1930s were a glorious period but still only brought 2 actual major trophies (League and cup) yet City were perceived as the period's second greatest club (behind Arsenal).

The Tom Maley years (1902-1905) were the beginning of another potentially brilliant era. Maley's side won the 2nd Division, and then narrowly missed out on the double (won the FA Cup and finished 2nd in the League). The following year they missed the title by 2 points but scandal rocked the Club - the football establishment objected to the fact that City were attracting the biggest stars and kept investigating the Blues until they found a way of making the Club suffer (complicated scandal involving illegal payments, alleged bribery and physical attacks on City players). That scandal saw the club smashed to pieces and also forced several star players (including Meredith) transferred to United. Utd's first great era followed with City's former stars. Read "Manchester A Football History" for the full story and how it impacted both Manchester clubs.

So in answer... Mercer's era was by far the most trophy-laden (but will probably be eclipsed in the next few years!), but Maley's era could have brought much, much more had the big-spending Blues not been penalised (sound familiar?).
 
Gary
Am I right in remembering we had the highes average league attendance in the country in the second division throughout this period?
I'm sure that info will be from one of your books originally.
 
Cheers Gary,

I read the thread on Revie and the Hall of Fame and was wondering why we were so focussed on the Mercer years.

Obviously it is more recent with more footage available and the trophies were very important. But in terms of longevity City weren't a force in the way that say Liverpool or United have been.

Also the fact that City were amongst the first (or even the first) to use a player like Revie in such a unique way may me wonder if that period was as important, but for different reasons.

I think its interesting that Maley's era seemed to impact football in many other ways and would seemingly have led to more success but for outside interventions.

At least I am correct in my own mind that its not just about Mercer.

It is indicative of the way a certain generation sings the song -

Bless 'em all, Bless 'em all
Bert Trautmann, Dave Ewing and Paul
Bless Roy Little who blocks out the wing
Bless Jack Dyson the penalty king
And with Leivers and Spurdle so tall
And Johnstone, the Prince of them all
Come on the light blues
It's always the right blue
So cheer up me lads
Bless 'em all

So many great names and all of them celebrated.

That didnt happen with the Mercer boys anywhere near as much, did it?
 
Didsbury Dave said:
Gary
Am I right in remembering we had the highes average league attendance in the country in the second division throughout this period?
I'm sure that info will be from one of your books originally.

Attendances are an area I've focused on a bit because I do think it shows the size of the club during different periods, success or no success.

The stat I think you're thinking of is from 1927-28 when City were the best supported club in the entire League despite being in Div 2. Our average was 37,468. During the 20s, despite no real trophy success, we were a very well attended side. In 1926 we topped the Div 1 charts with c.32,000 despite this being a relegation season. In 1927 we were 3rd best supported side with 30,848 (best in Div 2).

19028-29 we were the best supported side again. 1930 we were second best supported to Arsenal.
 
Late 60's to 1980 in my opinion.

I personally class 'success' as being able to challenge.
City's last trophy may have been in '76 but a year later we missed out on the title by one point, and in the following years we were in the UEFA Cup and reached the Final of the FA Cup.

It was vice versa if we were good in the cup one year and the league the next.
 

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