Talk:History of Manchester City F.C.

According to this page, City started off as St. Marks of West Gorton and were also called Gorton. Is this correct, because if it is it should be added to this page.--GingerM 18:10, 1 February 2006 (UTC)
 * The book I used was Manchester: The Greatest City by Gary James, which IIRC uses West Gorton (St. Marks) for everything prior to 1887. It's the closest any book has been to being an "official" history of the club. I was going to get the book out of my local library tomorrow when it was due back from the current borrower (to sort some issues arising following the peer review of Manchester City F.C.), but looking at the online catalogue is seems to have been renewed. I'll take a look when the book is next available. Oldelpaso 18:28, 1 February 2006 (UTC)
 * I also found this page which says "Manchester City's original incarnation came about as Gorton Athletic in 1880. In 1887 they amalgamated with West Gorton to become Ardwick FC. 1894 saw the final change to Manchester City." It's frustrating with all the different versions of history, they can't all be accurate! I've searched online a bit more and that seems to be the "history" on many sites so I think it's probably the more accurate one. GingerM 15:36, 2 February 2006 (UTC)
 * A team was definitely formed in 1880 by St. Marks church in West Gorton, the exact name varies in different sources. This is the West Gorton referred to by the 4thegame page. Gorton Athletic is more unclear, online sources generally state formation in either 1880 or 1884, but nothing more. Something happened in 1884. The book Everything Under the Blue Moon by David Clayton states that West Gorton and Gorton Athletic joined in 1883-84 to form Gorton AFC, which seems the most likely. It has something about the formation of West Gorton which agrees with that in Manchester: The Greatest City, but nothing on the formation of Gorton Athletic. The Manchester City F.C. Official Handbook 1997/98 quotes the year formed as 1887, as Ardwick, but in a "Previous Grounds" list it has

West Gorton (St. Marks) played at Clowes Street, I've seen that in more than one independent source. I'm getting into the realms of original research here though. Since Manchester: The Greatest City is by far the most comprehensive publication about the club I'll go with what that says once I get my hands on a copy, with a note that some sources differ. Oldelpaso 19:07, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
 * 1880-81 Clowes Street
 * 1881-82 Kirkmanshulme Cricket Ground
 * 1882-84 Queens Road
 * 1884-87 Pink Bank Lane
 * Finally found what Manchester: The Greatest City says on the subject. The explanation given seems the most likely, I've inserted it into the article. Oldelpaso 19:42, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

I have recently found a newspaper report in the Sheffield Evening Telegraph (26 April 1894) that states: I notice that the prospectus of the Manchester City Football Club is out. From one which I received yesterday, I find rather a significant sentence:- "The management of this company is in the hands of directors who have not been officially connected with the Ardwick Football Club." Also, The Manchester City Football Club Limited was incorporated on 16 April 1894. Ardwick were still in existence at this time and played games at the same time that Manchester City existed. Manchester City and Ardwick are two completely different teams so any reference before April 1894 should be disregarded anyway.Goonerak (talk) 19:27, 22 July 2023 (UTC)

Subsections
A few edits have created several subsections consisting of one paragraph each. Such short sections are generally frowned upon, so I've merged them. Oldelpaso 18:33, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Manchester - The Greatest City & City Bibliography
I noticed the reference to City books on here (and on other MCFC related sections) and thought I had something to add.

"Manchester - The Greatest City" was in fact the official history of Manchester City, although the author and publishers preferred to subtitle it the Complete History (they felt that using 'official' would put some readers off, thinking it was a sanitised version of the Club's history). It originally came out in 1997 and was revised in 2002 (some sections such as a full breakdown of Hyde Road was removed and new sections added). It was acclaimed as the best football club history ever produced in The Times. The publishers have since gone out of business.

Much of the early history of the Club was documented for the first time in that book, but according to later works by the author, further research is identifying new information on that period. "Manchester - A Football History" contains the latest evidence on the influence of William Beastow & Anna Connell. When I get chance I'll provide a full bibliography of City related books that may be of interest, but in the meantime, this is a list of the main City works. These are the most reliable and factually accurate. The Manchester City Football Books, Peter Gardner, 1969-1979; The Manchester City Story, Andrew Ward, 1984; Manchester City The Complete Record, Ray Goble & Andrew Ward, 1987 & 1993; From Maine Men to Banana Citizens, Gary James and Keith Mellor, 1989; The Battle For Manchester City, Alec Johnson, 1994; Manchester The Greatest City, Gary James, 1997 & 2002; Manchester City The Complete Record, Gary James, 2006; Manchester City – 125 Years Of Football, Gary James, 2006; Century City, David Wallace, 2007; Kicked Into Touch, Fred Eyre, 1981 & 2006; Football Wizard: The Story Of Billy Meredith, John Harding, 1985; Football With A Smile: The Authorised Biography Of Joe Mercer OBE, Gary James, 1993; What A Game, Fred Eyre & Roy Cavanagh, 1983; The Pride Of Manchester, Steve Cawley and Gary James, 1991; Farewell To Maine Rd, Gary James, 2003; Manchester - A Football History, Gary James, 2008

Earlier histories worth looking at:

Manchester City Football Club: Souvenir History, Fred Johnson, 1930; Manchester City, David Williams, 1947; Manchester City: Meredith to Mercer and the F.A. Cup, Eric Thornton, 1969

Beanoboggs (talk) 07:46, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

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