MANCHESTER CITY

GUIDE TO FOOTBALL PROGRAMMES

ISSUE NO 4 - 1949/50

 ISSUE 4 CONCENTRATES ON SEASON 1949/50 - NOT A VERY GOOD SEASON FOR CITY AS THEY WERE RELEGATED. REGARDING CITY'S HOME PROGRAMMES FOR THIS SEASON NOT A LOT CHANGED REALLY, EVEN THE FRONT COVER WAS RETAINED. THE PRICE WAS STILL TWO PENCE AND FEATURES CONSISTED OF NOTES FROM THE EDITOR ON PAGES 2 AND 3 ALONG WITH A FLASHBACK FEATURE FROM THE PREVIOUS SEASONS ENCOUNTER.

THE MIDDLE PAGES AGAIN CONSISTED OF THE TEAM LINEUPS AND NOTES ON THE VISITORS, PAGES 6 & 7 WERE KEPT AS PER THE PREVIOUS SEASON WITH HALF-TIME SCOREBOARD, QUIZ INFO AND CITY'S FIXTURES.

CITY ISSUED 22 FIRST TEAM PROGRAMMES - 21 LEAGUE GAMES PLUS THE FA CUP GAME AGAINST DERBY WHICH CITY LOST 3-5, AGAIN THERE WERE NO POSTPONED MATCHES WHERE A PROGRAMME MIGHT HAVE BEEN PRODUCED, SO NO ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMES ON THAT SCORE. ATTENDANCES WERE QUITE GOOD AT MAINE ROAD CONSIDERING CITY WERE RELEGATED AND MOST OF THE PROGRAMMES ARE FAIRLY EASY TO COME ACROSS AVERAGING £10-£15 ON LISTS. AS WITH PREVIOUS SEASONS THOUGH MOST WOULD BE ON OFFERS LISTS NOT AT SET PRICES ON CATALOGUES. EASILY THE HARDEST HOME PROGRAMME TO OBTAIN IS THE LIVERPOOL GAME - AGAIN AS USUAL THIS WAS PLAYED ON A WEDNESDAY AND WAS ALSO THE LOWEST ATTENDANCE OF THE SEASON - 20,000. OTHER HARDER ONES WOULD BE SOME OF THE OTHER WEDNESDAY GAMES PLAYED EARLIER ON IN THE SEASON AGAINST PORTSMOUTH AND EVERTON.

A SELECTION OF AWAY PROGRAMMES FROM 49/50 SEASON

CITY'S AWAY PROGRAMMES AGAIN IN SOME CASES CAN BE A NIGHTMARE TO GET HOLD OFF - ITS PROBABLY EASIER INFORMING YOU FIRST OF THE EASY ONES.

THE FOLLOWING AWAY'S WOULD BE ON NORMAL LISTS AROUND THE £10 MARK - CHARLTON, CHELSEA, ASTON VILLA, FULHAM AND ARSENAL - ALL MAINLY LONDON CLUBS AND EASIER TO GET DUE TO THE AMOUNT THAT WERE PRODUCED BY LONDON CLUBS IN THOSE DAYS.

THE NEXT LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY IS BURNLEY, DERBY, HUDDERSFIELD, BLACKPOOL AND BIRMINGHAM WHERE YOU ARE APPROACHING MORE £15 EACH OR HIGHER FOR THESE ISSUES WHICH ARE A LITTLE BIT HARDER TO COME ACROSS.

THE REMAINDER ALL HAVE THEIR OWN NIGHTMARE AS REGARDS GETTING HOLD OF THEM AND FOR EACH ONE YOU WOULD EXPECT TO PAY ANYTHING BETWEEN £20 AND £50.

FIRSTLY PORTSMOUTH A WEDNESDAY GAME AWAY!!, MAN.UTD FOR OBVIOUS REASONS, AGAIN ANOTHER EXPENSIVE PROGRAMME. THIS IS FOLLOWED BY THE NORTH-EAST CONNECTION OF NEWCASTLE AND MIDDLESBORO, LIVERPOOL IS ANOTHER WELL COLLECTED CLUB, THEN FOLLOWED BY BOLTON IN THE NEXT AWAY GAME WHICH WAS BERT TRAUTMANN'S FIRST GAME FOR CITY WHICH IS AN ADDITIONAL PROBLEM WITH EVERYTHING THAT COMES WITH THE GREAT MAN.

NEXT COMES DERBY AWAY WHICH RESULTED IN A 0-7 DEFEAT FOR CITY - ONE OF DERBY'S HIGHEST POST WAR WINS. STOKE IS ANOTHER HARD CLUBS PROGRAMME TO COME ACROSS IN THE LATE FORTY'S / FIFTIES ALONG WITH WOLVES AND THEN THE OTHER NORTH EAST CLUB SUNDERLAND - BOTH THESE TWO ARE VERY HARD TO OBTAIN.

FINALLY WE THEN HAVE WEST BROM AND EVERTON. WEST BROM WAS THE LAST ONE I REQUIRED MYSELF AND WAS ALSO THE LOWEST ATTENDANCE HOME OR AWAY THAT SEASON - 16,760. EVERTON'S WAS THE LAST GAME OF THE SEASON.

AGAIN THE 1949/50 SEASON HERALDED A PIRATE PROGRAMME - IN THIS CASE THOUGH IT WAS A HOME PIRATE PROGRAMME FOR UNITED'S VISIT TO MAINE ROAD ON NEW YEARS EVE 1949. AS FAR AS I'M AWARE AND I CAN'T REMEMBER ANY OTHERS IN MY COLLECTION IT IS THE ONLY HOME PIRATE PROGRAMME I HAVE IN MY COLLECTION. LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER HOME PIRATE PROGRAMMES OUT THERE SO IN A FUTURE EDITION WE CAN HAVE A LIST OF THEM. IT WAS PRICED AT 6d AND WAS PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY M.WALKER BASED IN SUTTON. AS PER THE VILLA PIRATE FROM 48/49 IT'S CONTENT AND PICTURES RESEMBLE VIRTUALLY NOTHING TO DO WITH THE 2 TEAMS THAT WERE PLAYING!!! AGAIN ONLY 4 PAGES BUT EXTREMELY RARE AND AS MENTIONED IT COULD BE THE ONLY HOME PIRATE PROGRAMME EVER PRODUCED. I'D EXPECT IT TO DEFINITELY BE ON AN OFFERS LIST IF ONE CAME UP AND COULD QUITE EASILY AMAZINGLY REACH TOWARDS £100.

BELOW IS 49/50'S FRIENDLY AND MINOR CUP GAMES AND IF A PROGRAMME (*) WAS PRODUCED

PICTURED LEFT IS THE PROGRAMME FOR CITY'S FRIENDLY AGAINST BARNSLEY - A NORMAL ISSUE WAS PRODUCED BY BARNSLEY AND AS YOU WOULD EXPECT IS VERY HARD TO OBTAIN - THE PRICE FOR THIS WOULD BE £60 MINIMUM. PICTURED RIGHT IS THE PROGRAMME FOR CITY'S FRIENDLY AGAINST ST HELENS TOWN - A VERY GOOD 8 PAGE PROGRAMME WAS PRODUCED - THE GAME ITSELF WAS SET UP AS PART OF THE DEAL THAT BROUGHT BERT TRAUTMANN TO MAINE ROAD. THIS IS VERY HARD TO GET AND WOULD BE VALUED AT EASILY OVER £100.

CITY'S OTHER FRIENDLY GAMES INVOLVED A PUBLIC PRACTICE MATCH GAME BETWEEN THE 1^ST AND 2^ND TEAMS A WEEK BEFORE THE SEASON STARTED. THERE WAS A PROGRAMME PRODUCED WHICH IS A RESERVE TYPE ISSUE PRICED AT ONE PENCE AND IS 4 PAGES. THE FRONT COVER HAS A PICTURE OF ONE OF THE NEW PLAYERS DAVE "GINGER" EWING!! ANOTHER HARD PROGRAMME AND WOULD FETCH EASILY OVER £50.

CITY'S ONLY OTHER FRIENDLY GAME WAS AGAINST READING AND LIKE THE BARNSLEY GAME WAS ARRANGED DUE TO CITY GOING OUT EARLY FROM THE FA CUP. AGAIN READING'S PROGRAMME WAS A NORMAL ISSUE VERY WELL PRODUCED. THIS PROGRAMME WOULD FETCH MORE AROUND THE £40 MARK ON OFFERS.

THE REMAINDING MATCHES WERE ALL LANCASHIRE SENIOR AND MANCHESTER SENIOR CUP GAMES. AN ISSUE IS KNOWN TO EXIST FOR MAN.UTD AWAY WHICH WOULD GO FOR AN OUTRAGEOUS AMOUNT - EASILY OVER £150. FOR THE MANCHESTER SENIOR CUP GAMES WHICH CITY EVENTUALLY LOST THE FINAL 1-2 THERE ARE NO KNOWN PROGRAMMES THAT EXIST BUT YOU NEVER KNOW!!