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TYPICAL
CITY!
Supporting Manchester City is like a rollercoaster ride with massive ups
and downs. Throughout the history of the club, City have performed
wondrous feats only to let us all down again, often during the next game!
Here are a few examples of the inconsistency that is Manchester City FC.
- In 1957-58, Manchester City scored 104 goals and conceded 100 in Division 1,
the only occasion that a club has both scored and conceded 100 goals in a league season.
- The tightest finish in a promotion race was in Division 2 in 1926-27 when Portsmouth
and City both finished on Saturday 7th May 1927 with 54 points, contesting the second
promotion place. City beat Bradford City 8-0 at Maine Road that day, but Portsmouth
had kicked off 15 minutes later at Fratton Park and were leading 4-1 when the news of
City's win came through. If the score had remained at 4-1, City would have been
promoted, but Portsmouth scored once more in the last few minutes and went up. The
goal averages were 1.7755 and 1.77049. City gained revenge nearly 60 years later
when their 5-1 victory over Charton Athletic at Maine Road on Saturday 11th May 1985
gave them promotion ahead of Portsmouth on goal difference.
- City were remarkably unlucky in inter-war promotion and relegation situations.
They had scored 108 goals in 1926-27 and the previous year had been relegated
having scored more goals (89) than any other relegated club in history. In the
last game, which they lost 3-2 to Newcastle, they missed a penalty. They
also scored 31 goals in 5 rounds of the FA Cup, losing 1-0 to Bolton in the Final.
In 1937-38, they also managed to become the only club ever to be relegated with
a positive goal difference (80-77). On 30th April 1938, one week before the end
of that season, City were 16th, but 6 teams had 36 points and the two sides that
were bottom on 30th April, Coventry City and Huddersfield Town, both escaped
relegation. City's 80 goals that year were the most scored by any of the first
division clubs. Everton, who scored the second highest with 79 only came 14th
and West Bromwich, who scored the fourth highest total with 74 finished bottom!
City had won the Championship in 1936-37 and became the only reigning champions
ever to be relegated.
- Denis Law had scored all 6 of City's goals against Luton Town in a 4th Round
FA Cup tie at Kenilworth Road on 28th January 1961 when the match was abandoned at 6-2.
He also scored in the replay but City lost 3-1.
Some other miscellaneous facts:
- City's six second division championships is a record (shared with Leicester City).
- City's Sam Ashworth is one of only 3 amateurs to have won an FA Cup winner's medal
(in 1904) after professionalism was legalised in 1885.
- Former City 'keeper Tony Coton
saved a penalty for Birmingham City with his very first
touch of the ball in first class football after just 80 seconds of a Division 1 game
against Sunderland at St.Andrews on 27th December 1980. John Hawley took the kick
and Birmingham won 3-2.
- Former City 'keeper Paul Cooper saved 8 out of 10 penalties taken against him for
Ipswich Town in Division 1 games in 1979-80.
- On 1 September 1906, City finished their Division 1 home game against Arsenal with
just 6 men; the other 5 had gone off with heat exhaustion. City lost the game 4-1
on what is thought to be the hottest day a League programme has ever been completed.
The temperature was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
- The 14 goals scored in City's 11-3 victory over Lincoln City on 23rd March 1895 is
the highest number of goals ever scored in any Football League Division 2 match.
- Spurs' record run of 11 straight wins from the start of a season in 1960-61 was
ended by a 1-1 draw against City at White Hart Lane on Monday 10th October 1960.
- Burnley's record run of 30 league games undefeated in a single season was
ended by City, who won 3-0 at Hyde Road on 26th March 1921. Burnley had during
the course of this run been knocked out of the FA Cup by second division Hull City.
- Francis Lee was the top scorer in Division 1 in 1971-72 with 33 league goals, which
included 13 penalties, the most penalties ever scored by a player in a league season.
He had equalled the previous record of 11 as early as 12th February but only scored
two more after that date. Lee had quite a reputation for diving to acquire these
penalties, but most people are unaware that only two of them were actually awarded
for fouls on Lee himself.
- The first match in which players were officially numbered was the 1933 FA Cup Final
on 29 April when Everton wore 1-11 and City wore 12-22.
- Bert Sproston was listed in the City programme for the game on 5th November 1938 against
Spurs as a Tottenham player. Before the game he was transferred to City and made his
début the same day.
- On 20th April 1991, Niall Quinn
scored a goal against Derby County and went on to save a penalty in the same match. This is thought to
be a unique achievement. In case you're wondering, City's goalkeeper that day was
Tony Coton; he was
sent off for a professional foul on Dean Saunders and Quinn saved Saunders' resulting penalty.
- In 1981, City's Tommy Hutchinson became only the second player ever to score for both
sides in an F.A. Cup Final when he scored both goals in the 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur.
Even though City have failed to win a major trophy since 1976, Tommy is still remembered mainly
for the positive aspects of his career by City fans rather than his unfortunate own goal.
Incidentally, the first player to score for both sides in a Cup final was Bert Turner, who
scored for both Charlton Athletic and Derby County in the 1946 final.
Paul Howarth, paul@city-fan.org
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