i think it was 1946 or7 city played grimsby there goalkeeper was called tweedyi was 10 at the time and we got in at three quotrer time i have followed thm ever since

My dad took me to Maine Road for the first time this year and we played Bury a game which got me hooked not just because City won 4.0 but the whole atmostphere was fantastic I know we have had more lows than highs but I still go back for more,after all thats what being a City fan is all about,

It was either 1945 or 1946 – probably 45 – when I was taken by my dad, who was a strong City supporter, to my first game at Maine Road. We stood on the terrace at the scoreboard end. Frank Swift was in goal. I struggle to remember the names of any other players in the team. Was one of the full-backs called Banks?

We lived in Clayton and travelled to the ground on the special buses laid on by Maynes on Ashton New Road, next to the Carlton cinema.

I was 5 years old.

George Derbyshire
Watford

I was eleven years old,and thrilled that my uncle was taking me to my first football match, and it just happend to be City v United,in those days Maine road was a ground share for both clubs.
It was a bitter cold day and we had travelled by bus from Ashton-under-Lyne,and all the way my uncle was brain washing me,telling me what great team Man united were.
We arrived early,and my uncle got me to sit on the wall behind the Goals,the players came out,everybody is shouting and clapping,so I joined in,this big man came towards me and he was holding a ball in each hand,I said to my uncle “look at that”when he arrived at the goals he through the balls to the other Players,and came and shook my hand,I looked at my uncle in amazement,It was the King himself,the great Frank Swift,I became a blue there and then,even before the game had started.

As a small boy of 6,i was taken to Maine Rd by my uncle Ken,who had just come back from the war.it was the first of many hundreds of games i have watched over the years.And my uncles words of”today you will see the 2 best goalies in the world”,by that he meant Swift and Bartram,are words that have long remained with me. JTW

Sadly, I cannot remember my first visit to Maine Road. I do remember that Frank Swift was in goal and I have a vague recollection of the full backs who were Sproston and Westwood.
One of our neighbours in Withington, John Sole had Company Season tickets and took me if he had a spare. He had a car which was also an attraction. I do remember that United were also using the ground as theirs had bomb damage but whether it was ‘46 or ‘47 is not clear. I was 10.
A few years later I used to walk to the ground
and stand on the popular side (no roof then) and watch Trautmann, Roy Paul, Oakes, Nobby Clarke etc.
I still watch the team regularly but on TV from Cape Town which is now my home.

My first memory of going to see City play was in 1946. O had been asking my father who was a diehard city fan (as was his father before him) to take me with him to see my hero frank Swift play in goal. I think it was April when he agreed to take me, to see City play Leeds United.
We set off from macclesfield station into the then London Road station, then caught a bus from Piccadilly to Maine Road. walking to the ground, queueing up to get in at the Platt Lane end I was mesmerised by the crowd, and the atmosphere was fantastic, but to my utter disappointment the great man did not play. City won either 5-0 or 5-1 and that was it for me, I was City til I die. I did manage to see Frank Swift quite a few times the next season when City won the second division championship.
It is still a family affair, both my daughters and two of my Grandsons are city fans, and long may it continue.

Not sure of exact year but Les put the ball in the city net 3 times !!

I think it is a record that nobody has beaten !!!

Ray (Windsor)

Can’t recall exact details of first match at Maine Road. My Dad had just been demobbed from the Navy after the war. We went on the Hyde supporters bus from outside the Clarendon Hotel. He was secretary of the supporters club.
He worked at the CWS in Balloon St., including Saturday mornings, so it was quite a rush for him to get home, eat and return for the match.
I was perched on the parapet of one of the corner tunnels and all I remember was the huge Frank Swift in a yellow (I think) jersey and the away team in white tops, black shorts.
As a matter of interest dad went to one match at the Hyde Rd ground just before they moved to Maine Rd.He must have supported them for at least 80 years. My son does now of course and we are at long last looking forward to a little taste of fame and fortune!
John Archer

I was taken to Maine Rd by my eldest brother and saw City defeated by 2 goals to one by Blackpool. As he at the time supported City I became a fervent supported too. But the next time I saw City they went down again to Blackpoool, in a war-time cup final in 1944, again 1 – 2. I got used to the idea that my team could lose but my hero was Peter Doherty and I wanted to go just to see him. Further disaster struck when he refused to stay with City and Derby picked him up for a knock-dowm price. Thereafter I got used to the disappointments of following City, with only the (one) league title and two FA cups to lighten the gloom. The future seems brighter now so I hope they don’t let me down again.