Manchester City In 1930s, 1960s and 1980s: Friday Flashback Videos

I’m starting a new column each and every Friday entitled Friday Flashback Videos. If you’re a regular reader of EPL Talk, you’ll know that we quite often spring a surprise by finding a classic old video from yesteryear which helps give us perspective on how much English football has changed compared to today’s Premier League.

While I’ll continue to spring surprises and post videos any time or day of the week, I’ll also be making a conscious effort to post this regular column on Fridays, which is typically a slower day in the world of football so you and I have more time to relax and watch the videos.

I’m going to try to theme the Friday Flashback Videos either to focus on a specific team or a specific period in history.

Today, for the first installment, we take a look at Manchester City, a club whose fans undoubtedly have one of the best senses of humor in the Premier League. The first video, above, takes a look at the City side from the 1930’s. In the 30’s, City reached two consecutive FA Cup finals, losing to Everton in 1933, before claiming the Cup by beating Portsmouth in 1934. It’s incredible to consider how much the City side of the 1930s (and Maine Road) has changed so much to the club now and the City of Manchester Stadium.

The next video takes a look at the Manchester City side of 1969 (see video below). In 1967–68, Manchester City claimed the League Championship for the second time, clinching the title on the final day of the season with a 4–3 win at Newcastle United and beating their close neighbours Manchester United into second place. Further trophies followed: City won the FA Cup in 1969, before achieving European success by winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1970, beating Górnik Zabrze 2–1 in Vienna. City also won the League Cup that season, becoming the second English team to win a European trophy and a domestic trophy in the same season.

In the next series of Manchester City videos, you’re not going to believe me (if you don’t know about the story) until you see the videos in person…

Back in the late 1980s, Manchester City had a player named Imre Varadi. The story goes that the supporters from the terraces were chanting his name, to come on as a substitute. But the muffled noise from the crowd made Varadi’s surname sound like ‘Banana.’ And then thereafter, City fans started bringing inflatable bananas to matches and the trend caught on.

Watch the following videos to see it with your own eyes and to see how the fad caught on: