THE NUMBERS GAME | Part 2

 

City fans on the Holte End, Villa Park, during extra time of the
1981 FA Cup semi final against Ipswich Town

In Part 1, written back in 2011, as City closed in on their first trophy success (the FA Cup against Stoke) since the League Cup final of 1976, we looked at the 70s and early 80s, bearing witness to the increasingly large attendances at City towards the end of the decade and a distinct fall-off at the beginning of the 80s, as hooliganism, Thatcherism and social decline took a grip on the people and the people's game. What was obvious throughout this period of decay, however, was that City's support - as has been historically the case since the year dot - held up remarkably while those around us dropped away alarmingly, at the same time putting flight to the modern-day myths that the club's following is flaky and never existed in large numbers before the current Time of Plenty. 

Four Into Three Don't Go

City, relegated in 1983 with the 4th highest average home attendance, found themselves struggling in a second tier occupied by fellow crowd-pullers Leeds, Newcastle, Chelsea and a revitalised Sheffield Wednesday, under the rallying leadership of Jack Charlton. Ultimately coming 4th in 1983-84 was no great surprise, given the severe lack of funds. City supporters' loyalty was also no great surprise, although some of the numerical high points were eye-openers (nearly 42,000 against both Newcastle and Wednesday, mid-30,000 gates v Leeds and Oldham, huge away followings to places like Huddersfield, Barnsley and Notts County). Despite the grim times (try explaining that to Manchester United fans), the fans were sticking with City in significant numbers.

As the 80s progressed towards the end-of-decade nightmare scenarios of Hillsborough, Luton, Bradford and Heysel, the scene at most football grounds was a broadly similar one: decrepit, crumbling and dangerous, inhospitable, inadequate and antiquated, populated by violent, disinterested police and anarchic hooligan crews, some now sufficiently organised to be handing out visiting cards and pre-arranging scraps well away from the grounds. Following your side away from home required staying power and nerves of steel.

With two separate two-season hiatuses in the second tier, City could be said to be losing ground at a critical moment. The advent of the Premier League was still a few years off (1992) but the rumblings of the then "Big 5" (Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham, Arsenal and Everton) were loud and clear. That these teams were also more often than not the best supported, cemented their positions of influence. Led by greedily ambitious boards, they were pushing for the type of money-making reorganistion that we now see in full vicious swing. This was the first attempt at a land grab.

UP AND DOWN AND UP AND DOWN

City, rubbing shoulders with Carlisle and Grimsby, Cambridge and Shrewsbury, in the backwaters of Division Two, could only sit and watch as the heavyweights forged on without them. Despite the numbers following the Blues, mid-20,000 gates against the likes of Grimsby and Barnsley were not matching what could be achieved in the higher division.

The fans though were still turning up despite everything in large and boisterous numbers. 47,000 had watched the emotional return to the top division against Charlton in 1985. While the second promotion of the decade, in 1989, brought in a more modest 33,000 for the deciding home match with Bournemouth (which City messed up after being three goals clear). This was merely a mirror of where attendances in general were going.

Let us first of all return to where Part 1 finished, with City registering the 4th best average attendance in the country, despite being in the "wrong" division. Season 85-86 saw the Blues back in the top flight and they immediately posted 4th best ratings again, ahead of the previous year's promoted sides Chelsea, Newcastle and Sheffield Wednesday.:

 

While City slotted straight into 4th place, the two sides that came up ahead of Billy McNeill's side, Oxford and Birmingham City, filled the bottom two places in the average attendance chart for the new season (see above). Across the board, crowds were down, hit savagely by a triple whammy of recession, violence and lack of security. To be a football supporter at this juncture was to risk being labelled a thug, abnormal or a social misfit. There is no understating the situation, although it will be difficult to imagine for those who have only lived in the corporate dining, Can I Have Your Shirt era of the Premier League. 

Interesting to note here that City's average beat those traditional London giants Arsenal, Spurs and West Ham, the top four being made up of the Manchester and Merseyside clubs, with Everton enjoying a resurgence that would see them crowned champions twice in the middle of the decade. City's season high of  48,773 came - predictably enough - in the Manchester derby and was beaten only by United and Everton's best of the season. 

Double European champions Forest posted a 16,000 average for the season, just 5 years after their incredible continental feats. Villa too, likewise European champions even more recently in 1981, saw crowds fall even lower, to a paltry 15,237. 

The banter-filled away ends at the Etihad in the modern era are a feature these days, but, for those that witnessed the half-empty grounds and the minimal away followings, today's jibes about loyalty among City fans and size of support can stick in the throat, especially when it is coming from supporters of teams who, during this period, were to a large extent abandoned by their own fans. Those London clubs now pulling in 60,000 crowds every other week on the back of the Premier League's massive popularity and the fact that it is now a tourist must to take in a game, were not crowing so loud in 1986, where Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea regularly clocked sub-20,000 gates at home.

Everton's impending success did not necessarily help them either, as we can see from the graphic below, registering a 17,000 gate just before their historic FA Cup Final v Watford in 1984. The same afternoon, Arsenal were busy taking part in a game watched by 11,164 at St Andrews. 

In the 2nd tier, shorn of four of its crowd pullers, the situation was even grimmer. Sunderland were the best supported on 16,000 averages and future Premier League regulars Crystal Palace were pulling in an average of 6,787. Leeds, top dogs in the 70s, and happy to call themselves elite performers, were struggling by on 13,000 gates. Everywhere you looked the drop-off was drastic. City's 85-86 average of 24,000 was thus quite a feat  

City's second promotion of the decade, in 1989, brought boosted crowd figures again. 40,000 had watched the top of the table clash with Chelsea on a grim, wet day and City had duly crawled in in 2nd place to clinch their place in the top flight just in time for the Gazza Bounce that would come with the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy. City's highs this season were the January 2nd 33,000 gate v Leeds and the promotion six-pointer with Crystal Palace that also pulled in 33,456 for a crucial 1-1 draw. Half a million people had filed through the rotting turnstiles at Maine Road that season. Despite Chelsea running away with the title, it was City's fans who topped the attendance charts for 88-89 with a season average of 23,179 as opposed to champions Chelsea's underwhelming 15,940. 

AWAY DAYS 

Chelsea's travelling support - like City's - could not be faulted, however. They had brought 8,377 to Maine Road for a raucous, rain-swept top of the table clash, while the next best supported in Manchester were Leeds (4,755), Stoke (4,750), Sunderland (3,329) and Palace (2,842). Modern day Premier League Brighton brought a travelling army of 289 to Maine Road that season, according to the club's official figures, printed in the programme for the end of season game with Bournemouth. To put things into perspective, City had taken 12,000 travelling fans to the fixture at Stoke, 10,000-plus to Blackburn and even more to Meadow Lane and were regularly followed by 5/6,000 in smaller grounds. Despite having a sizeable hooligan element to this huge away following, the fact that so many were travelling in good spirit (see Daily Star's report on the inflatables craze) meant a start had been made in combatting the unruly element in football crowds. That it had neither come from the police nor Thatcher's government was hardly surprising.

Before the fiesta of football in Italy, the 89-90 season saw Liverpool home once again, this time ahead of Aston Villa. The latter's crowd fixtures are interesting. Running just behind the leaders, Villa posted a crowd of 21,000 for the late-season visit of Millwall with the title still very much up for grabs. This was the last season before football felt the bump of popular regrowth. Liverpool's attendances - as the pre-eminent force in the country - showed a surprising lack of buoyancy. For a period where the club finished, respectively, 2nd, champions, 2nd, champions and 2nd again (hardly a bad run) the following seasonal averages were posted for Anfield:

In London too, the boom was yet to arrive, with Tottenham v Chelsea attracting little over 16,000 paying customers. Chelsea could only muster 15,000 themselves for the London derby with Charlton Athletic. It is clear that a certain amount of rewriting of this period leading up to Italia '90 has been carried out, in order to paint a picture of loyal hordes following the traditional giants. This was absolutely not the case, with Liverpool's European Cup quarter final with CSKA Sofia attracting 27,388 and a semi final with Dinamo Bucharest only 26,000. Even in Europe, the top dogs were returning embarrassing numbers during their all-conquering 80s spree.

City posted averages around the 28,000-mark for this last season of the decade, making them - immediately after promotion from the second division - the country's fourth-best supported club, ahead of outgoing champions Everton (26,281), Gascoigne-and-Lineker-boosted Tottenham (26,831), Chelsea (21,531) and title-challenging Aston Villa (25,544). The 19% increase in gates this represented was the only increase of this size posted amongst the top seven that season. The 43,246 that witnessed the derby mauling of United in September represented City's biggest home gate of the season, down from previous highs owing to growing capacity restrictions in the wake of the multiple disasters that had befallen the game.

 

The World Cup in Italy in the summer of 1990 had a galvanising effect on the football industry in England. Paul Gascoigne would become the modern game's first generational pop star, crowds were about to surge and football would start a long journey of rehabilitation in the eyes of the authorities. Within two years the Premier League and Champions League would be inaugurated. Crowds were beginning to climb on the back of this new-found popularity. 

Leaving the terrible tragedies of Heysel and Hillsborough behind, along with rioting by Millwall fans at Kenilworth Road and the fire at a dilapidated Valley Parade was essential, but not without first learning lessons and improving facilities. A government clampdown meant standing on terraces, a staple for so many of us, and a sure-fire way of cramming in large excited crowds, was a football habit on borrowed time. Soon the Taylor Report would have us all seated in grounds that were taking new shape under the developers. The football, febrile and close to the edge, that we had experienced in the 70s and 80s was about to be replaced by a family-friendly version bathed in the sunshine of the new Sky TV deal and shiny new replica kits. Crowds would surge, but capacities would be reduced, as we will see in Part 3.

10,000 City fans cheered the side to victory at Ewood Park in Division Two 1984-85.

  

     

MIRROR IMAGE | BLONDIE CLIPPING IN FOR 2-0 AT FOREST

Nottingham Forest 0-2 Manchester City  |  Nottingham Forest 0-2 Manchester City

Sunday 28th April 2024  |  Saturday 27th February 1993

✅ 👱 BLONDIE NICKS THE SECOND | Floppy blond-haired lad clips in late second goal to secure vital win at the City Ground? Yes, it has happened before. 87th minute of the league game in 1992-93, City winning 1-0 thanks to David White's goal. Gary Flitcroft, blond hair bobbing in the breeze steps in to beat goalkeeper Mark Crossley to the ball and clip the clinching goal into the Forest net. Fast forward to 2024, the blond hair belongs to Erling Haaland, whose close range finish after 71 minutes clinches City's vital 2-0 win. 

✅ 💣 POSSIBLY EXPLOSIVE CONSEQUENCES | The defeat meant Forest were staring at the bottom of the table. By May they would be relegated. In 2024, they end the season with a potentially winner takes all game with Burnley, relegation the fate for the loser.

✅ 🔥 OH NO, NOT SPURS! |  The 1992-93 game set City up for a vital game with Tottenham, in the FA Cup 6th round, with the promise of a first FA Cup semi-final since 1981. What transpired was chaotic in the extreme... In 2024 Spurs also await City, with the points essential in the fight to haul in Arsenal before the games run out. 

✅ 🥩⛨ MEAT SHIELD AND MEAT SHIELD SENIOR BY THE TRENT | Erling Haaland scores on the ground where, a year after the Flitcroft Game, his father Alf Inge would play for Forest, before moving on to play for Leeds and City.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

ON THE WINGS OF DESIRE

City's total domination of English football continues.

Those that decried the self-styled one-sided end of football, this morning whoop a three-horse title race, alive and kicking with possibilities and interest as we stagger into the final furlong.

The Manchester City juggernaut ruining football evidently has a slow puncture. There are other clubs in the Premier League after all. Join the queue of Artetulated trucks, City.

Perhaps becoming immortal wasn't all that it was fluffed up to be. City, down from the skies, want to feel what it's like to be fallible, sense the closeness of danger, breathe the fear. In Wim Wenders' seminal film The Wings of Desire, the theme of the epic of peace is developed. The shedding of immortality allows angels to feel the everyday stuff we feel: fear, longing, loneliness, self-doubt. In exploring limits, we find out about ourselves.   

Seen through the prism of another white hot skirmish with history, self-doubt and hoodoo at Anfield, a point for City was not at all bad, despite the lesson in current limits it may have given us. How it came about provided us with different angles. Deservedly ahead at half time after managing to control Liverpool's occasional forays, it became clear after the break, that either side could win it once Nathan Ake's impoverished back pass and Ederson's jerky reaction to the imminent danger had brought Liverpool level. 

City were at turns lucky to stay level and unlucky not to snatch a late winner, finding both bar and post in the way of Foden's involuntary attempt and Doku's precise left footer.

City have seldom hit the heights this season, at times cruising, at others obviously saving energy, but the rocket-shaped annihilations have been conspicuous by their absence and the big game trampling of rivals has not occurred. With Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland having been absent and now obviously still finding their rhythm, the side has not always performed to the best of is abilities. Yesterday, with Rodri being hurried out of his stride, it took the introduction of the willing Mateo Kovacic to stem the tide and start City rolling towards the Kop. Doku too gave Liverpool's right flank something to think about late on.

While De Bruyne's passing range has temporarily deserted him and Haaland's instinctive finishing has lost its instinct, others are stepping in. Foden, although chased out of his rhythm yesterday, has been magnificent for most of the season. Walker has chased up and down with a fervour only someone trying to forget about things could manage. 

With Klopp's announcement of a summer departure has come a renewed wave of effort from his players, intent on marking the end of his Anfield reign with something special. Against this kind of onslaught, City held firm, if at times with a lack of control that has become customary in many games this season. That City's levels of excellence are down on last season is hardly a surprise. How do you follow winning the Treble? How does one better being World Club Champions? The quality remains, the shapes and passing lines are still in tact, but there is at times a slight loss of intensity, of hunger and that is only to be expected.

Arsenal have that hunger. Only being on the outside looking in can foster the kind of frenzy you feel watching games at the Emirates this season. Sometimes it feels counterproductive, as if they might overexcite themselves into a jelly-like state, as happened last season. Liverpool have been given hunger by the whiff of End of Empire. 

Against those two fundamentals, City must carry the fight to the end of the season. It is perhaps an even greater test than last season when all was unfolding before them. Now they must find the fight and the focus to merely hold on to what they already have.     

"Imagine how angels would look at us..."

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY: MAN UTD 1979

📸  Season 1978-79

📆  Saturday 10th February 1979

🏟  Maine Road

United winger Steve Coppell beats Paul Power to the ball to loft a daring right foot lob over Joe Corrigan at Maine Road on February 10th 1979. On a treacherous pitch, United had the better of the exchanges, winning 3-0 thanks to two goals from Coppell and one from Andy Ritchie. 

On this occasion, nothing went right for the Blues, in the middle of a Malcolm Allison-inspired slump towards the lower reaches of the First Division. Ironically, the only thing that did function properly on this afternoon was the notoriously fickle North Stand scoreboard, which was still proclaiming -clearly and accurately for once- the time of the previous United goal when this shot was taken of coppell making it 2-0.

In the defeated City side on this occasion were Brian Kidd, ex-United, and Peter Barnes, future United player in 1985, while United's Sammy McIlroy would turn out briefly and unsuccessfully for City in 1986.  

Coppell would later manage disastrously at City for less time than it took to replace the scoreboard. 

DESERT DISPATCH

Mike Hammond has followed City home and away since the early 80s and made it to Jeddah to see history made. Here are his impressions of five days in the Desert Kingdom:

I understand that we all live in our own bubble and our reality is our reality alone so this can only be my observations of Saudi Arabia. 

My reality ahead of this journey was one of utter ignorance. Obviously, like most people in the UK, I had read and heard about life in the Kingdom. The brutal Kashoggi murder, the Newcastle/sportswashing articles, the Jordan Henderson scorn and the awarding of the World Cup. 

It’s hard to know how balanced those articles have been as I had no reality to cross check & there are very few pro-Saudi articles in the British media. Having said all that I think I broadly took the view as presented. 

If I could sum it all up it would be along the lines of the DM sent to me after last night's final that this country is a brutal dictatorship with appalling human rights suppressions. 

So how does one tally all of that with the experience as an individual traveller? 

You can’t. I’m a privileged westerner, with all the associated rights and freedoms that go along with that luxury, and I’m not a threat to the state. So, in essence, I’m free to do whatever I want. 

First impressions are, of course, the airport, which is hugely impressive and efficient, in stark contrast to any in the UK. The immigration process was stress-free and we were welcomed from the start. I’ll be honest: there’s almost nothing to do here. It’s not a tourist city. The number 3 thing to do on TripAdvisor is a walk down a path & number 4 is to look at a flag pole. 

I should say that they DO have an indoor zoo which is drawing some admiring glances on the tourist trail. Amongst its attractions are lemurs, monkeys and dogs. Dogs. In a zoo. 

It’s also in a state of mass rebuilding. In the day it is, to be kind, a total shithole. But at night it’s like you’ve been transported to a magical place. It looks AMAZING! You can’t see the crap and the derelict buildings and everything is beautifully spot-lit & looks shiny and new. 

Luckily for my travelling mates and me, our body clock was skewed heavily to the night. Plus, there’s no reason to wake up early unless you want to watch some PrimeMutton videos - which luckily I did. 

Normally on a ‘City away’ quite a lot of time is spent boozing. And I won’t lie, some of the great cafes we went too over here would have been mega with a gin and tonic or a pint. But it wasn’t an option so our drink of choice was an Oreo Milkshake. You can drink a surprising amount of these it turns out. 

The best thing about Jeddah, though, is the people. You’ll never meet a friendlier, more inquisitive, more accommodating group of people anywhere in the world. It’s truly astonishing how friendly they are. Every single person, even people you walk past in the street. 

The second best is the food. Saudi is a nation of immigration and you can get food from all over the world. Our highlight was a Bangladeshi cafe that produced the best curry I’ve ever had. We were treated like kings & after a huge lunch the bill for 5 of us was about £25 in total. 

So what else? Well when we checked in at our hotel, the concierge took one look at Liam and I and asked would we want to share one big bed or a twin room. I was genuinely flabbergasted that this was even suggested. What a few days away! 

Public transport is non-existent so all travel is by car. Even relatively short journeys. UBERs are plentiful and cheap, which is great because it’s impossible to cross the roads here. They’re all 4 lanes each way and the driving is a joke. It made Istanbul look disciplined. 

Clothing? We were happily wandering about in shorts and t-shirts. And if you’re by the pool swimwear is, of course, fine. Bikinis absolutely fine for women as well. Again, not what I was led to believe. 

So, a World Cup in a decade. The locals were pretty sure that well before then alcohol will be allowed in the kingdom. My assumption is public transport to and from the stadiums will all be in place by then too. The stadium itself was magnificent. Beautiful on the outside and amazing on the inside. Great atmosphere, comfortable and loads of concession stands etc. and again, the people. They are football mad. Boys, girls, men and women all watching. All going mental. 

Arriving in Jeddah, I’m embarrassed to say, I genuinely thought it would be like something from the dark ages. The reality, my reality, is of a friendly country, modernising at an incredible rate. And by modernising I don’t necessarily mean Westernising (although places like Maccies AKA ‘the office’ and Nando’s are all over), they are proud of their religion, culture and history. 

And why shouldn’t they be?

RUNNERS AND RIDERS

City go into Monday's Champions League knockout round draw with the following possible opponents (in bold via Mancity.com):

Of these sides, City have played PSG the most, 7 times in all, followed by 4 each against Napoli, Porto and FC Copenhagen. 

City's first encounter with the Parisiens dates back to 2008, a meandering odyssey of a European campaign that took in the Faroe Islands, Denmark three times and a weird lop-sided 5-team group format that saw some teams played at home only, others away only. PSG were only played in Manchester that season, hence the uneven total of games played against the French champions (7). An uninspiring 0-0 draw was perhaps predictable with City's attack featuring Jo, Darius Vassell and Daniel Sturridge. PSG hit back with their own non-scoring attack of Chelsea failure Mateja Kežman, with another ageing ex-Pensioner Claude Makélélé prompting in midfield.

The inevitable Jo

Since then, City's record against the French is good (4 wins, a draw and a defeat) and there is nothing to see from this season's PSG side that would offer reasons for fear if drawn against them at this stage. They came through a tough group featuring Newcastle, Milan and Dortmund, but escaped by the skin of their teeth in a tight finish.

A tie against Napoli would have been unwanted last season, but this year's form has been soft and Inter would now provide a sterner challenge and a repeat of last year's final. Napoli were City's first-ever Champions League opponents in 2011 and the record against them is Played 4, Won 2 Drawn 1 Lost 1.

It was during the superb 4-2 win at the San Paolo in 2017 that Sergio Aguero broke the City scoring record. 

Aguero celebrates in the San Paolo

Last year's final is the only time City have played Inter, while the other possible Italian opponents, Lazio, have never been faced in European competition. They did provide City's opposition for the annual Thomas Cook preseason trophy match in August 2004, however, being well beaten 3-1 by a City side for whom Nicolas Anelka scored after 30 seconds.

Anelka nets the early opener against Lazio in 2004

City have played Porto and Copenhagen four times each in Europe, meaning neither opponent would be an unknown quantity and neither venue a new one for travelling fans. The first trip to Porto for the 2011 Europa League round of 32 match was a memorable one for many Blues fans, taking in a wonderful sunny day by the banks of the River Douro, followed by a great City win at the Dragao. A 4-0 tonking in the return game, coupled with more recent Champions League encounters means City's balance against the Portuguese is also a positive one: Played 4, won 3, drawn 1.

City fans gather at the Cais da Ribeira in Porto on the day of the 2011 match (2-1)

Copenhagen provided City's opposition last season in the group stages (5-0 and 0-0) and in the same Europa League campaign that saw City face PSG for the first time (2-1 and 2-2) meaning they are one of the most scored-against City opponents in European football with a total of 9 conceded in the four matches played so far. Their manager Stale Solbakken has also gone down in history as the first to start bleating about City's finances and the club's standing in what he considered the Greater Scheme of Things. (see below) 

Extract from City in Europe

Which leaves us with PSV Eindhoven, possibly the favourite choice amongst travelling fans, as it would be easy to get to and also represents a potential first-time opponent. PSV provided City with summer opposition during the infamous Sittard Tournament of 1993, when the Blues faced local side Fortuna, Bobby Robson's Sporting and PSV in a four-team group. The match with PSV ended 1-1 and was won by City on penalties. This correspondent missed the goal by Gary Flitcroft as the queue for chips was long and slow. 

A rainy night against Copenhagen. Richard Dunne is first to the ball.

You can read in detail about all of these games in City in Europe, From Allison to Guardiola, in all good bookshops now! City in Europe: From Allison to Guardiola:... by Curtis, Simon (amazon.co.uk)

THE WAY WE WERE: LUTON TOWN AWAY

Danny Wilson's penalty sails past Andy Dibble at Kenilworth Road

It is the 1989-90 season and things, as was the custom in those days, are in a considerable state of flux.

Luton, with their away-fans ban and irretrievably bouncy artificial pitch are the most hated team in the league, while City, with 40 consecutive away games under the belt without a single win, are by far the league's most popular visitors. 

How times change.

Two weeks after handing Nottingham Forest a win in his infamous "loss of concentration" (The Gary Crosby Moment, as it would go down in history), occasionally lunatic 'keeper Andy Dibble was again up to his old tricks, giving away the penalty that put the hosts 1-up.

That City also scored from the spot evened things up neatly, Clive Allen slotting a late equaliser with his accustomed sangfroid.

Allen by this time was persona non grata at Maine Road, new manager Howard Kendall seemingly unprepared to put up with any players who did not have the word "Everton" stamped on their passports. The Merseyfication of the side (Megson, Heath, Ward, Reid, Pointon, Harper, Clarke would all, as ex-Toffees, ship up during Kendall's short reign) grated with many City supporters but saw the club clear of relegation that season.

Kendall's arrival had brought another parallel with Luton, who had Jim Ryan in fresh charge for this game. Both clubs had recently ditched the previous incumbents of the itchy managers' chairs with utterly ridiculous excuses.

The old axe-swinger Peter Swales had shown Mel Machin the door on the grounds of having no "repartee" (sic) with the fans, while Luton had got rid of Ray Harford on the premise that he "didn't smile enough". Within six years both sides would be languishing in lower leagues, perhaps as reward for such short-sighted management.