Rain stopped play. No not a tennis match but the score by which City led in a 4th round F A Cup match. My older brother took me to my first City match as a birthday treat and what an experience!
I saw Denis Law score all 6 City goals before a torrential storm and waterlogged pitch stopped the game with only 21 minutes remaining. In (then!) typical City fashion, we lost the replayed game 3-1 (with Law scoring again). It was something of a mixed blessing that having to attend school prevented me from attending the second game…….

I suppose it is quite unusual for a fan’s first City match to be away from home. However, for me, that was the case. As it happened I witnessed, what I believe to be, the greatest individual performance ever by any City player.
It was January 1961 and City had drawn Luton Town in the 4th round of the FA Cup. Luton were a decent team in those days and had made it through to the final a couple of years earlier where they were beaten by Nottingham Forest. In those days the FA Cup was really special, and my Dad, a lifelong City fan, asked if I would like to go with him on the train. I didn’t need asking twice.
Earlier that season??? City had signed a skinny 20 year old inside forward from Huddersfield Town for what was then a British record transfer fee of £55,000. His name was Denis Law.
When the day of the game came we set off from our shop on City Road, Hulme to walk to Central Station (now G-Mex). I don’t remember when it started raining but I do remember incessant rain when we arrived in Luton. I recall queuing for ages to get into the ground (this was still in the days when you simply turned up and paid at the turnstile). We had to wait that long that when we eventually got into the ground we were just in time to see Luton score their second goal to take an early 2-0 lead. I remember some of the locals “taking the mickey” and asking us where this Denis Law was.
The rain continued throughout the game, that is until approximately twenty minutes from time when the referee decided to call it off. No, the ref didn’t do us a favour, far from it, because by that time Denis had scored all City’s six goals to leave us cruising at 6-2. I clearly recall Bill Leivers City’s tough tackling full back of that era picking up a handful of mud and hurling it at the ref, so disgusted was he that the match had been abandoned.
Nearly 50 years later it doesn’t matter that the result didn’t stand or even that City went on to lose the replayed match 3-1, with Denis of course scoring our goal. What did matter was that I had seen one of our greatest ever players and from that day on what there was only one team for me.
I live in Perth, Scotland now and cannot get down to as many matches as I would like. I have a son, Calum, who was born and brought up in Scotland. I distinctly recall Calum’s first match – it was the Alan Ball relegation match against Liverpool in May 1996. Calum was just 6 then. He is now 20 and we go to matches whenever we can, we watch live matches in the pub together and chat about the blues every day.
Bill Shankly’s oft quoted comment about football “not being a matter of life and death – but much more important than that” is, of course complete nonsense. Allegiance to a club is however something that transcends generations and helps to form lifelong bonds.

I can remember my first game, my dad used to cycle from Salford to Maine Road this one particular day he sat me on his bicycle crossbar and off we went,we got to the ground and i can remember him leaving his bike in a backyard at the rear of the Kippax Street, i was lifted over the turnstile to gain entrance and i remember being passed over peoples heads to get to the front where i was sat on the wall behind the goal in the scoreboard end. I couldn’t beleive how the big blonde goalkeeper could pick the ball up with one hand and i also recall the strong smell of liniment coming from the players ,at the start of the second half the big blonde goalkeeper gave myself and several other children some sweets – fantastic, my hero Bert Trautman.

My first game Dad took me for my 10th birthday.
We got beat 2-1 by West Brom, Derek Kevan scored one for west Brom & Denis Law scored for us.
We sat in the main stand & i was absolutely in awe of everything that went on that day, the crowd, the ground, the game, the atmosphere. Typical City we got beat but i was hooked !

Nine years old and me and my dad were going to Sheffield Wwednesday to watch City play…This was my first ever match. When we arrived we sat in the main stand all the seats had blue plastic mats on them.Can’t remember if we won or lost ut the following week my Dad took me to Maine Road we went in Platt Lane stood up all the match!!!! What a shock!!! Never looked back

I first went to watch City in 1961, I think the Manager then was Les McDowall but I am sure someone will put me right if this isn’;t correct. We used to go to the matches on our motorbike and park it in the backyeard of a house on Claremont road, the lady of the house charged us half-a-crown (about 12p) to look after the bike and she always had a hot drink and a biscuit waiting for us after the match. I seem to remember that we had a Brass Band that played at half-time, the same band played at Man.U as well the weeks they wern’t at City, they wore a blue uniform (naturally) at Maine rd and a red uniform at the other place. I think it was Beswick Prize Band. My one and only trip to Wembley was in 1969 when we played Leicester and Neil Young scored the winning goal. I am still a season ticket holder at Eastlands and all my family are City supporters, grandchildren too, the youngest is a Junior Blue ….what else?

My first City match at Maine road was in 1961. We travelled to the ground on our motorbike and parked it in a backyard of a house on Claremont road where the lady of the house looked after it, when we returned after the match she always had a hot drink and a biscuit waiting for us, she charged us half-a-crown for this (about 12p). It was money well spent. I think the Manager then was Les McDowall, but if I am wrong I am sure someone will correct me.There used to be a brass band that played at half time, they wore, of course, a blue uniform, I think it was Beswick Prize Band, the alternative week they played at Man.U ground (wearing red uniforms. My first, and only trip to Wembley, was to watch the Blues play Leicester and I think it was Neil; Young who scored the only, and winning goal. My children and grandchildren are all Man.City supporters and my youngest is, of course, a Junior Blue.I and my family are season ticket holders, I love the atmosphere and we sit near the same families at matches who have become friends.

My first ever City game was Feb 25th 1961. I was 10 and my Mum let me go Maine Road with the “big kids” off the street ( they must have been all of 13!).
The game was against Spurs who that year were to win the first post war double. City lost one nil.
My overiding memory of the game was we were behind the goals in the old scoreboard end when two teenage girls climbed over the wall and onto the pitch to give Denis Law a large silver key for his 21st birthday.This match was just a few weeks after the 20 year old Law had famously scored 6 goals in the abandoned cup tie against Luton.
The City team that day included Steve Fleet in goal, Jackie Plenderleith and Clive Colbridge. I wonder how they remember playing with Law against the double winners!

It was City v Aston Villa in 1961, City won 4-1, Denis Law scored 2 goals, I was in the Platt Lane Stand, it standing then.