World Book Day - favourite City book

[Gary James]

Only one for me and i cant even remember its name. I had it in the 80's i think and it had every single city game in stats since they were created. I loved that book and probably spent more time looking through that than any other i have ever read. Showed the attendances, scorers, line up of pretty much every single game in the league and cup. Oh how id love that book again.

It is Manchester City - A Complete Record 1887 - 1987, by Ray Goble, published by Breedon Books.

It came out in 1987 and was advertised in the matchday programme for £14.95 for weeks before.

The advert said the first subscribers would get their names listed in the book.

My dad sent off for two, one for me, and our names are near the top of the list of subscribers at the back of the book.

My copy has always been well used right up to the present day and is a bit dog eared now.

The dust jacket front has photos of Eric Brook, Bert Trautmann and Alan Oakes over a picture of the 1904 FA Cup winning team.

The dust jacket rear has photos of the two championship winning teams from 37 and 68.

I'm a subscriber to the 1987 edition (number 37 I think) and a second edition came out in 1993. Both versions were by ray Goble with Andy Ward writing the text. In 2006 I brought out the 3rd edition of the book (with Ray's approval and full support ) and that's the one with the check shirts on the back.

 

[urmston]

Only one for me and i cant even remember its name. I had it in the 80's i think and it had every single city game in stats since they were created. I loved that book and probably spent more time looking through that than any other i have ever read. Showed the attendances, scorers, line up of pretty much every single game in the league and cup. Oh how id love that book again.

It is Manchester City - A Complete Record 1887 - 1987, by Ray Goble, published by Breedon Books.

It came out in 1987 and was advertised in the matchday programme for £14.95 for weeks before.

The advert said the first subscribers would get their names listed in the book.

My dad sent off for two, one for me, and our names are near the top of the list of subscribers at the back of the book.

My copy has always been well used right up to the present day and is a bit dog eared now.

The dust jacket front has photos of Eric Brook, Bert Trautmann and Alan Oakes over a picture of the 1904 FA Cup winning team.

The dust jacket rear has photos of the two championship winning teams from 37 and 68.

I'm a subscriber to the 1987 edition (number 37 I think) and a second edition came out in 1993. Both versions were by ray Goble with Andy Ward writing the text. In 2006 I brought out the 3rd edition of the book (with Ray's approval and full support ) and that's the one with the check shirts on the back.

Gary, you are indeed subscriber 37 in my edition of the book.

Joe Mercer OBE was last in the list at 578, and the great Ernie Toseland, winner of a '37 championship medal was at 513.

Somebody called John Motson made it on to page 2 at 179.

 

[kippaxkid74]

Like most of you i have what seems like a billion books on city.. but if pushed to pick a fave it would be these 2

Down with the dead men

and,

Farwell to Maine Road
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though i'm prob a bit biased with the last one, some great pictures in there.. ;)



honourable mention should go to the first city book i ever owned so therefore read it over and over and over as a kid - not got it to hand but i think it was called simply "The Manchester City Story", early 80s, still have it somwhere. Bought mine mail order from the club and was amazed when it came signed by the team, i was only 10 ;)

 

[Gary James]

Like most of you i have what seems like a billion books on city.. but if pushed to pick a fave it would be these 2

Down with the dead men

and,

Farwell to Maine Road

though i'm prob a bit biased with the last one, some great pictures in there.. ;)



honourable mention should go to the first city book i ever owned so therefore read it over and over and over as a kid - not got it to hand but i think it was called simply "The Manchester City Story", early 80s, still have it somwhere. Bought mine mail order from the club and was amazed when it came signed by the team, i was only 10 ;)

Glad you've mentioned Andy Ward's Manchester City Story. Often forgotten but it was the first history that gave us a season by season account of the club. Andy's a great guy and helped me a lot when I first started writing. He edited "Football With A Smile: The Authorised Biography of Joe Mercer" for me and really encouraged me to write. He's the son of the former Derby County manager Tim Ward and one of those guys who you meet in life who just inspires you. His support and knowledge pushed me to consider taking my research into much deeper levels and I owe him a great deal (as I do Julian Baskcomb, my publisher for several significant books, and Keith Mellor who gave me the opportunity to write my first book). Really pleased someone else shares my view on Andy's MCFC book. Nice.

 

[worsleyweb]

Just bought a mint condition copy of farewell to Maine road for 8 quid from a collectors fair in urmston. Looking forward to reading.

 

[Kevlakevla]

There's still a great book to be written about the following ten years, including the move to the new stadium, the ousting of Bernstein, the Pearce era, Shinawatra and the descent into financial chaos, the ADUG takeover and Garry Cook's demise and I know Gary has all or most of the material.

Written over 100,000 words on it and it was almost published but then... best not to get into it here, but one day it will appear. It was based on 100s of hours of interviews performed with all the key figures as it was all happening between 2007 through to 2011 FAC success. It will appear one day, but the time has to be right. But if I die before the time's right then there are instructions to release it anyway!

Loved ....Balti Pies, enjoyed down amongst...and just read Andy Morisson's- a terrific read. However Lakey's is one of my favourite books ever so it has to be his.

Gary I would be first in the queue for this- and an extra chapter on why it has not been published would be fascinating too!

 

[baildon blue]

Balti Pies is my favourite City book .
Steve Mingle tells the story of a true blue
.
He even goes into a surreal world in the book .
Great book and any blue who needs a laugh get it .
I even enjoyed the follow up Balti pies to the greatest prize .

 

[880125]

Would agree with Gary James, Andrew Ward's Manchester City Story deserves a mention, it being one of the first books I obtained that recorded City's history. An even older one is Meredith to Mercer by Eric Thornton which goes up to 1969,and is well worth a read. But my favourite City books are Billy Merediths biography, Gary James book on Joe Mercer and Trautmann's Journey by Catrine Clay.

 

[spike144]

Colours of my Life Malcolm Allison

 

[pardoeofftomexico]

There was also the Malcolm Allison book 'Soccer for Thinkers'. This was a serious book that was highly regarded at the time and concerned his training methods. It was interesting to me because it was his work with City players that were used as examples.