I've just finished reading this book and am impressed by how much I've learned about the period. The author has adopted a similar approach to Paul Toovey in that he has amassed a huge amount of primary source material and arranged it in chronological order. To put his work into perspective, only around 50,000 words had previously been written about City in the 1930s (mostly from the autobiographies of Frank Swift and Peter Doherty), so this book triples the word-count.
In the process Phil has dug up several gems. For instance, the book reveals that Frank Swift was offered a bribe worth three times his annual wage to throw a match during our title-winning season, and there's also details of how City were invited to open the River Plate stadium in Argentina (the prospect of violence meant they had to decline). The author has also discovered an obit of the mysterious figure of Albert Hughes (chairman from 1928/29 to 1935), which suggests he may have been hugely influential in the club's growth.
I was also struck with the similarities between football in the 1930s and the present day. It seems that back in 1936-37 fans were complaining about the same things season as they are now: poor refereeing, international fixtures interfering with domestic games, pampered players etc.
But what I loved most were the details of the intense rivalry between City and United fans back then. For instance, at a home match against West Brom in Sept 1936 some United fans in the Maine Road crowd had started cheering following a half-time announcement United were winning 4-1 at Derby. This led to fighting breaking out that was only broken up after baton-wielding police officers went into the crowd and administered “a swift whack or two”.
My favourite bit of the book, though, is a letter to the
Manchester Chronicle from a group of fans calling themselves 'the Hyde Roaders', which wouldn't be out of place on Bluemoon today. It was complaining about the way the club had killed the atmosphere in the derby at Maine Road by having the City and United players to run out side by side, and included this great quote:
'All that was needed was a few flowers and two minutes' silence'....We came to see a real 'do'..and we get a 'take your partners'
I think what I'm trying to say is that if you want a fascinating insight into the club during one of its glorious periods then
Who Said City Couldn't Play! is an essential read.