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First County Visit:	Monday 6th October 1986
Competition:	Littlewoods Challenge Cup – (Round 2 – 2nd Leg)
Result:	Stockport County 0 – 7 Sheffield Wednesday
Attendance:	2,089
Away Trip:	40
Away Day:	134
County Line-up	1 Simon Farnworth; 2 Clive Evans; 3 Ian McKenzie; 4 Ronnie Glavin; 5 Trevor Matthewson; 6 Peter Grant; 7 Andy Hodkinson; 8 Mike Lester; 9 David Wilkes (12 Martin Melvin); 10 Neil Bailey; 11 Levi Edwards
Manager:	Jimmy Melia
County Visits:	4

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A COMMUNITY BASED CLUB THEN … A GLOBAL FRANCHISE NOW

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Yet another nail in the coffin of the English national game.  And nowhere has the pernicious influence of foreign owners been seen to greater effect than at “Manchester City”. I put the name of the Club in inverted commas because whilst the name remains there is absolutely no connection with the Club that existed while I was growing up; the Club that for a brief spell we were the better of on the field; and frankly the Club that was an integral part of the east Manchester community. 

What has happened in the last decade and a bit may have brought silverware beyond comprehension; seen the move to and development of a new ground; acquired some of the greatest players of the modern age.  But it is not Manchester City – it’s little more than a Manchester based branch of a global franchise, and deep down those fans who trudged their way down Claremont Road and onto the Kippax Street terrace all those years ago know it full well.

I don’t debate at this point the provenance of the untold riches that are poured into the Club.  There’s plenty of content all over the web which gives insight into the regime in Abu Dhabi that funds things, no matter how labyrinthine the corporate structure.  It certainly raises eyebrows.  Equally, the decision of UEFA to ban City from the Champions League begs questions about the financing of the operation.  The founding fathers who created Ardwick FC out of the team formed at St Marks Church in West Gorton, (but a mile from where I was brought up), must be spinning in their graves.  The current Manchester City Council panjandrums are in complete thrall to the City Football Group owners.  Yes it’s seen an impressive regeneration of what was the truly grim area of Beswick, but at what cost?  I can see little else but an increasing influence in planning policy, (and the further riches that it brings), by such a close connection with a regime based thousands of miles away.  

I mentioned in the “Rules” for writing that I refuse to acknowledge stadium names that are purely accounting artifices.  Which is why I never ever refer to the City of Manchester Stadium by the name that is currently attributed to it.  Locally it was known when City first occupied it by the name “Eastlands” to reflect the area.  Its current nomenclature is nothing but an accounting device to enable the owners to inject more cash into the Club and in doing so to try and avoid piffling constraints such as Financial Fair Play.  And that’s not just a dig at City – it applies throughout the greedy league and beyond.

I wanted to start my reflections on Maine Road, for which I had a great deal of admiration as a stadium, by considering where things have moved to.   I came across a tweet as I started these thoughts which sums up my feelings totally.  It’s from Barry Glendenning who writes for the Guardian.  A Newcastle fan, (clearly wondering what the future holds with the proposed Saudi Arabian takeover), had asked, “Would you describe the last decade of Manchester City’s history as a demise?”.  Glendenning replied;

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“If I was a City fan, absolutely.  You can raze a Club to the ground, rebuild it and stick the same old badge over the gate, but don’t try and delude yourself into thinking it’s in any way, shape or form still Manchester  City”

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So returning to normality.  Where to start with Maine Road?  Manchester City have, I suppose, been somewhere near the forefront of my consciousness for virtually the whole of my life.  My godfather, a lifelong Blue, took me to my first ever Division 1 game in 1962.  It was a Manchester derby.  My brother has been a City fan for well over 50 years.  The Manchester Grammar School, which I attended from 1965-1972, was as good as standing in the shadows of the Maine Road floodlights.  I’d seen games at Maine Road with crowds of 60,000+. 

I’d also seen games with far less.  Manchester City recorded a record low crowd in January 1965.  A meagre 8,015 were sprinkled around Maine Road that day.  I wasn’t there, unlike the 70,000 City fans who now claim to have been.  But I did go a few weeks later with a school-friend.  They played Plymouth, won 2-1, and 10,929 thronged the terraces … not. 

But whatever the case, Maine Road was a proper football ground for me.  It had held in excess of 80,000 in its heyday.  Indeed my Dad told me that he had watched Manchester United play Arsenal there in a league game in 1948..  There were 83,260 there that day, so the record books tell me. 

My first County visit was strangely enough not to watch us play City.  In autumn 1986 we had been drawn against Sheffield Wednesday in a two legged League Cup 2^nd round tie.  The first leg had been lost 3-0 so the return leg was no more than academic.  The powers that be, and I suspect the local constabulary had more than a fair share of say, determined that EP could not hold the game.  Whatever the reason – potential hooliganism; crowd control; inadequacy of EP – the game was switched to Maine Road.  It was a grim night, but still provided the opportunity to see my team at an old fashioned, traditional; and atmospheric, (albeit not that night!), stadium.

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That night the County contingent was stationed in the corner bit of terracing between the Kippax Street and Platt Lane stands.  The Kippax Street covered terrace, (left), was magnificent.  When it finally fell victim to the bulldozers in the early 1990’s the capacity was 18,000.  It’s a fair bet that in its halcyon days more than double that would have squeezed in.  It was redolent of a similar covered terrace at Leeds Road, (described in Away Trip 12).  Dark and gloomy when inside, the covering provided the acoustics for a real football atmosphere when there a decent crowd gathered.  Wednesday’s travelling band were stationed under there, but hardly tested the facilities.

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To our left that night was the Platt Lane stand.  Originally a terrace, it had been converted to bench seating, and was sufficiently large to mean that Maine Road had the largest seated capacity of any other League ground in the 1960’s.  It was there that I sat when I watched them play Plymouth back in 1965.  (Platt Lane picture).  It remained unoccupied that night

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At the far end was the North Stand.  It was fairly new when we went there, having replaced an open terrace on which I had stood many times previously.  It was an eerie sight that October evening – not a soul was in it.

The Main Stand, (below), had a few hardy occupants.  It was much changed from the structure that I had first seen over 20 years previously.  Prior to a reroofing it was a strange affair with the roof being at three different heights. It can be seen in this video from 1979. The replacement was clearly an architects vision, involving what looked like a series of cylinders cut in half.

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All in all, and to repeat myself – a proper football ground.  Just a pity there wasn’t much football that evening.  It was in the Melia era, and County came into the game with the less than proud record of 2 wins in 11 games, one of which against Tranmere had gained us a place in the 2^nd round of the League Cup.  We had already seen 20 players don the shirt, and we were introduced to Martin Melvin who made his one and only County appearance coming on as a sub. 

It was a complete debacle.  7 goals without reply, and to be brutally honest not even the briefest glimpse of a chance.  It made for two defeats in 72 hours, and 12 goals conceded after a 5-0 thumping at the Abbey Stadium on the Friday.  But the most absurd fact of the night was that the imposition of moving the game because EP wasn’t capable of containing a crowd was shown to be ridiculous.  2,089 hardy souls rattled around Maine Road.  It was to be my last footballing visit for nearly 12 years. 

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Other than Van Morrison the ageing rockers are still my favourite listens.  And 4 years after the Wednesday fiasco Julie and I went to see them.  It was at Maine Road.  There were 3 notable differences from my previous visit.  A bigger crowd, (I suppose there must have been 50,000+); substantially warmer, (it was in the middle of a heatwave), and the fare on offer was true entertainment!!

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Wind the clock on to the end of the 1990’s.  City’s fall from grace was well catalogued, and our rise was reaching its zenith.  There were 6 league games against them in the five seasons, (of course City fell so far from grace that they were a Division below us in 1998/99).  They were magnificent times for us.  6 games; 3 wins; 2 draws and but a single loss.  They are well catalogued in this piece of video “City City What’s The Score” (It also includes a comprehensive win in a friendly during that period for good measure). There’s a fuller compilation HERE

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So let’s cast our mind back to the first visit to Maine Road to play the landlords.  It was in April 1998.  We had destroyed them in the reverse fixture at EP 5 months earlier.  It left the City faithful screaming, “You’re not fit to wear the shirt”, and from what I had observed they were spot on.  We came into the game at Maine Road comfortable in upper mid-table.  Not so the hosts, who were in the relegation zone.  The 4-1 win didn’t do them much good, as they tumbled out of the Division 5 weeks later.  The game saw an  “appearance”, (and that word is stretching things a fair degree), for County in the person of Eddie McGoldrick. It was a display borne in infamy.  He was on loan from City, not having featured for them since they were whipped at EP.  Strange that he should be allowed to play against his “parent” club.  Or maybe not.  We played in back and white quarters in that game, but he may as well have had the sky blue on.  It was a performance so abject as to defy reasonable belief.  It left the County fans, tucked into the North Stand that day, aghast at its ineptitude. Which was further compounded at the end of the game when his applause was directed towards the City fans.

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He was the first product of County’s youth set up to make the first team for a fair while.  He went onto become a fixture through to 2004, making 172 appearances, (inc sub) and scoring 35 times.  I always thought that he was unjustly criticised by some of the EP faithful. 

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He’s certainly gone on to have an outstanding career.  He made his debut that day back in 1998, and as I write is still playing, with his last appearance, (pre Covid), being for Rochdale on 7^th March this year for Rochdale against Rotherham.  It been a 22 year career; he’s now 40; he’s been at 10 English league clubs; has played in the Premiership; and has featured in well over 600 senior games.  So much for the critics!!  It took him just 8 minutes of his full debut at Maine Road to get on the score sheet, as he swept in a cross from Colin Woodthorpe past Martyn Margetson in the City goal.

It was our only defeat against City at Maine Road.  20 months later we went there for a Tuesday night game on a freezing December night. City had climbed back from Division 2 at the first time of asking, had set off at a pace, and stood 2^nd in the table.  We were 10^th, by this time under the tutelage of Andy Kilner, who had replaced Megson some months earlier.  With only 2 wins in the previous 10 games, and City, having been beaten on their previous 2 outings, were having a blip.  It was a night writ large in the County annals.  The highlights, (and whilst that is a term widely used, it is more than true in this case), can be seen by clicking on the link in the table below. 

I wrote in the piece about Gigg Lane, (Away Trip 23),  that the atmosphere when Liam Dickinson scored the winner in March 2006 was the best I have ever been in.  But, fair to say, that moment when Tony Dinning wheeled away, (mimicking Weaver’s antics at Wembley a few months earlier), after hitting the winning penalty runs it very close.  It was pandemonium in that bit of the North Stand that we were allocated.  The patrons of the temporary stand next to us, were much exercised, with contorted faces and shouting vitriolic abuse at the Hatters following.  Fortunately the two parties were kept apart.  We rejoiced long after the final whistle.  All eleven plus the two subs were real heroes that night, and Alan Bailey, (whose EP career stretched to only a handful of games), who got the first goal will always be fondly remembered for it!

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It was a hairy departure that evening.  Pulling the collar up tight, hiding the scarf away, it was difficult to keep a grin of our faces, (I had gone with Jeff Lawrenson).  The exit down the myriad of back entries, onto Platt Lane and then up to Wilmslow Road where I had left the car was one of constant observation and avoiding the outbreaks of aggression.  Back in the car we both shouted “Yes!!”.  It was a great night – one of those that football followers nationwide will recognise, and one that is still savoured 20+ years later.

We made a 3^rd visit to Maine Road in 2001.  It was a 2-2 draw – one of the few results that season that gave much satisfaction.  The main one of course was 6 months or so later – it was Hardiker’s game, and is reflected on in my recollections of the home games in 2002.

So, Maine Road – a great football stadium.  It is no more, and now covered by housing.  Its landlords have gone onto greater things.  But at what cost to the tradition of Manchester City, and more importantly to the place of football in our national identity and sense of community?

April 2020

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VISITS

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Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Away Day
Mon	06/10/86	Littlewoods Challenge Cup	Round 2 – 2nd Leg	Sheffield Wednesday	L	0	7	2,089	134
Sat	04/04/98 (Highlights)	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Manchester City	L	1	4	31,855	383
Tues	07/12/99 (Highlights)	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Manchester City	W	2	1	32,686	416
Sat	13/10/01 (Highlights)	Nationwide Football League – Division 1	Tier 2	Manchester City	D	2	2	34,214	453

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ON MY JOURNEY WITH COUNTY AROUND 180 GROUNDS

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Previously – ABBEY STADIUM Next stop – THE OVAL