Welcome to the December issue of our official digital City Magazine.
On the pitch, November is a month that we can now file away and move forward, and who better to lead us into December than Ruben Dias?
Our Portuguese defender has some stirring words in our feature interview, but would you expect anything less from such an inspirational figure?
Lauren Hemp is another inspiring City star, and, though she is sidelined with injury at present, but she is already looking forward to returning in the New Year to help with the continued push for silverware.
We City fan pride ourselves on a rich and eclectic musical heritage and that is reflected this month in a triple header of features.
Mike Pickering - founder and brains behind M People talks about his days meeting in a Maine Road pub with some of Manchester's finest and most respected musicians - as well as escaping a gang on skinheads at Nottingham Forest!
And how much have Doves been missed over the past few years?
The City-supporting trio behind the epic 'Pounding' and three UK No.1 albums are back, and Andy Williams speaks to City Mag about their upcoming tour - and the Blues, of course.
And there's more...
Kevin Cummins has been there, seen it and pictured it during his enviable career, and his Manchester A to Z lands on Punk this month - check out some of his truly iconic images in his regular column in this month's edition.
We enjoy a regular dose of nostalgia here at the City Magazine, so check out what our Random Match Generator has for you in the pages that follow, as well as Eyal Berkovic's starring role for Portsmouth against City on his Fratton Park debut in Sometimes They Come Back.
Our vintage Q&A features a young Colin Bell, too.
City's talented Academy is the gift that keeps giving, and we have three interviews with rising stars to enjoy, as well as a chat with Steph Houghton and a Technical Area focusing one of our excellent social media team, Conor Shaw.
All the above plus Marc Riley, From the Archives and Demi Stokes and you've pretty much got the bulk of the December City Mag - though, as always, there's plenty more besides.
Enjoy the festive season!
One of City's captains and leaders, Ruben Dias has grown in stature, year on year, and he was absent during a difficult November – but now he’s back, and he is sounding a rallying call…
Interview: David Clayton
City’s November form has garnered many headlines, many negative and out of context with the bigger picture.
It’s easy to forget that prior to our Carabao Cup defeat to Spurs, the Blues were unbeaten in all competitions this season and had lost just once in 47 games (not including a penalty-shoot out defeat to Real Madrid).
Those are incredible statistics.
November saw a list of injuries – up to 10 at one stage – impact the squad dramatically, and as a result, our form suffered.
Ruben Dias didn’t play one minute of our November fixtures as he recovered from a niggling injury, but by the start of December, he was back in training and champing at the bit to get on the pitch and help his team-mates.
And now the Portuguese defender is determined to help make that poor run nothing more than a distant memory.
“It’s never easy to be on the sidelines for any game, whatever reason and in any context,” begins Dias.
“Obviously, that moment was not the best and you want to help your team-mates and be there fighting alongside them.
“Going into the start of December, I am fully fit, though have just returned to training after four weeks out, but feel good.”
Losing so many players with various knocks has drawn little sympathy from the wider world, where the misconception that City have an endless selection of players waiting to step in has never been greater.
Pep Guardiola has always enjoyed working with a tight-knit group, and that has never changed. during his tenure.
The only issue has been a catalogue of injuries to his players that would strike a major blow to any top club.
“We’ve always had the same numbers in all the seasons we’ve had – obviously there are periods that are tough, and you need to get through them, but with all the success we have had in recent years, it has always been like this in terms of squad size,” says Dias.
“Sometimes it’s about timing or who specifically is missing at a certain period – for instance, during October we had a lot of centre-backs out, which was unfortunate.
"But, at the end of the day, it’s about dealing with it and moving forward."
Dias is never far from the action whether playing or not.
He is a strong voice in the dressing room and on the pitch, where his leadership and organisational skills were sorely missed at times.
He looks like a captain, talks like a captain and, of course, he is one of our senior captains when all said and done!
Dias says when the going gets tough, that when it is more important than ever to stand up and be counted.
“You have to – all of us – especially in times when it is difficult because this is when the personalities come out and you need to face the problems head on and the only way is forward – there is no looking back,” he said.
“You learn from the mistakes, for sure, but there is only a positive mindset for what is coming and the day you lose that, you will not be doing anything good here.
“That’s what we try to cultivate – be positive, believe in ourselves and do the best we’ve ever done – because that’s the only way to get out and move forwards.”
And in manager Guardiola, the players have a leader who will back them without question, praise their efforts and mentality and defend them with his life.
Dias admits the players hear what the boss is saying at press conferences and TV interviews – and it is hugely appreciated.
“It means a lot,” said Dias.
“We are footballers, but we are human beings as well and as such, our connections inside this club are made out of love, doing our job and through our combined passion – but all that doesn’t work without the love and that goes through staff, players and the manager and what we have here is a family – a family who when the times are rough, we get even closer.”
Dias is a huge fan favourite with the City supporters who love his passion and heart – qualities he shows every time he wears a sky blue jersey.
The committed Portuguese defender has followed in the footsteps of the likes of terrace idols Pablo Zabaleta and Vincent Kompany, and he says by being as one, as a Club, anything is achievable.
“I most definitely have a message for all our fans,” says Dias.
“We, as players – and everyone in this building – want to get back to where we normally are as much as anyone else – especially our fans.
“Football is like this – the more you win, the more difficult it is when these moments happen, because you’ve won so much and to keep that mentality, it’s not an easy job – but that is our job and we want to do it as quickly as possible.
“It’s the way to be in this Club and my specific message to our fans is this – more than ever, block out the noise. Protect their house and protect their players.
“Obviously there will always be opinions in football, but always protect your house. Protect your own.
“We can go against the world, if we have to, we are fighting for the same team, same club, the same project and the the same dream.
“As long as we stick together, we will always find a way through because everything turns in the end and the light shines through.”
And remember, Ruben Dias has only ever been a Premier League champion in his first four full seasons at City.
Is he about to give that feeling up without a fight?
“Most definitely not!” he says with a typical look of focused determination and authority.
“We will never give up on anything, I can assure you of that.”
Our esteemed former skipper is taking on a trio of YouTube City vloggers in his predictions feature this season in the shape of MCFC Lads, Esteemed Kompany and Prime Mutton. Taking on Mozzer this time is Esteemed Kompany (AKA Steven McInerney)
LIVERPOOL v City
Sunday 01 December • 16:00 kick-off
Anfield Stadium
Mozzer’s verdict: I think it could be quite an open game and Liverpool will know they have the chance to increase their lead at the top. I think Arne Slot will want to have a good go at us, but I reckon we can leave Anfield with a point, despite our recent run.
Mozzer’s prediction: Liverpool 2-2 City
Vlogger verdict: A tough game, always. Anfield has proven tricky in the past, but Liverpool are a slightly different side under Slot. Still, they’re where they are deservedly. I expect it to be close!
Vlogger prediction: Liverpool 2-2 City
city v forest
Wednesday 04 December • 19:30 kick-off
Etihad Stadium
Mozzer’s verdict: Forest do like to sit in and they've been playing well this season and have counter-attacking players with pace, but I believe we will have too much for them over 90 minutes.
Mozzer’s prediction: City 3-1 Forest
Vlogger verdict: Forest have had an impressive start to the season but it’s hard not to back City at the Etihad, especially with players returning to fitness.
Vlogger prediction: City 3-1 Forest
palace v city
Saturday 07 December • 15:00 kick-off
Selhurst Park Stadium
Mozzer’s verdict: Never an easy venue for us over the years but Palace have lost the momentum they built towards the end of last season and while they have had the ability to be a thorn inside of leading sides over the past few years, they have lost a number of good players and we should win by a couple of goals at least
Mozzer’s prediction: 1-3 City
Vlogger verdict: Crystal Palace have been struggling as of late, and it’s hard not to imagine that this game will be another step too far for them. City to win away.
Vlogger prediction: Palace 0-3 City
JUVENTUS V CITY
Wednesday 11 December• 20:00 kick-off
Allianz Stadium
Mozzer’s verdict: I guess I wouldn't have predicted the results I did had I known the injuries we had last month, but I have to be hopeful we will have the majority of our squad back for this. It's good to be facing Juventus again and while it won't be easy, we should return home with three more Champions League points. Not quite a must-win game but the Feyenoord result has made it a must not lose.
Mozzer’s prediction: Juventus 1-2 City
Vlogger verdict: City need a win here, and usually when that’s the case we step up. It’ll be a tough, tactical game but I’m feeling confident that we’ll manage a memorable win.
Vlogger prediction: 1-2 City
CITY v UNITED
Sunday 15 December • 16:30 kick-off
Etihad Stadium
Mozzer’s verdict: Usually I'd be a bit more bullish about this and, of course, it depends on what are injury list is looking like. They're under new management and he'll have had a month in charge by the time we play this. It is a Manchester derby, but I see us edging a close game.
Mozzer’s prediction: City 2-1 Man United
Vlogger verdict: The first game we look for when the fixtures come out. Thankfully it’s been an awful lot of fun during derbies at the Etihad for some time now, hopefully it’ll continue.
Vlogger prediction: City 3-2 Man United
villa v city
Saturday 21 December • 12:30 kick-off
Villa Park Stadium
Mozzer’s verdict: If we have a clean bill of health, I'm going to be positive and say we will go to Villa Park and claim all three points. It was probably our worst performance of last season and I think we'll be keen to put that right.
Mozzer’s prediction: Villa 0-2 City
Vlogger verdict: Villa away last season was a low point for City, and even though they’ve not been sparkling to the same degree so far this season I expect it’ll still prove difficult.
Vlogger prediction: Villa 1-1 City
city v everton
Thursday 26 December • 12:30 kick-off
Etihad Stadium
Mozzer’s verdict: I don't think this will be a game for the purist and I expect them to play with a deep block throughout, but I'm expecting a happy Boxing Day and three more points for the Blues.
Mozzer’s prediction: City 4-1 Everton
Vlogger verdict: Hard not to see a comfortable home victory here and hopefully a few goals for Erling Haaland.
Vlogger prediction: City 3-0 Everton
LEICESTER v CITY
Sunday 29 December • 14:30 kick-off
King Power Stadium
Mozzer’s verdict: Leicester are struggling and though they have given the odd, surprising performance here and there, I'd expect us to pick them off over 90 minutes so I'm hoping we end 2024 in style and go into the New Year just a point or two off the summit. They're another side under new management, but that bounce might have gone by this time.
Mozzer’s prediction: 1-3 City
Vlogger verdict: I expect City to end the year in style and show Leicester just why we’ve won four leagues in a row.
Vlogger prediction: 1-3 City
NOVEMBER RESULTS
* point for result, 3 for a correct score
Mozzer: 0- 0 MCFC Lads
For the first time, not only were their no correct score predictions, there were no correct results - but who could have predicted November's run? There for, as Liam Gallagher might say, it's as you were...
Overall scoreboard after 21 games:
Mozzer 11pts Vloggers 13pts
At the heart of the Manchester music scene for more than 40 years, M People creator and former Hacienda DJ discusses his lifelong passion – Manchester City…
Interview: David Clayton/Pictures: Kevin Cummins
Talk about a life less ordinary. Mike Pickering is something close to Mancunian music royalty.
At the heart of a seismic movement in the city during the 1970s, he progressed to deejaying at our most iconic club, The Hacienda, during its heyday and knows just about everyone and anyone connected with the Madchester era before creating his own collective M People, who would go on to sell millions of records around the world.
Despite his friends and memories that will soon fill a much-awaited authorised biography, Pickering’s love of City outshines almost everything outside of his family.
He’s been there at some of the Club’s most pivotal and memorable moments – good and bad – and was only too happy to share them with City Magazine…
City Magazine: What’s your City story, Mike?
Mike Pickering: My family were Irish immigrants so, where we lived in North Manchester, it was all United. My grandad was really awkward, however, and he wanted to follow City, which he did. He started taking me from a really early age and the first game I can really remember was Bert Trautmann’s testimonial in 1964. There must have been more than 50,000 there that day and I was in the Platt Lane. I think it was a combined City and United XI versus England, if memory serves, and Bert’s team won 5-3. I was also going during the period somewhere between Les McDowall and George Poyser and was there for the infamous Swindon Town home game when our support voted with its feet! I vividly remember my dad taking me to our usual spot in the open corner of the Kippax next to what became the North Stand, and we were walking around the Scoreboard End going ‘ where is everybody?’ Poyser was sacked shortly after, and Joe Mercer took over and those are my earliest City memories.
You must have great memories of the Mercer-Allison era?
I do and it’s when I really came into my own and started following City home and away, taking the ‘football specials’ to games around the country and I’ve been fanatical ever since. It’s like a disease!
Who did you want to be in the street knockabouts?
Mike Summerbee! I thought he was amazing and funnily enough, I had a second cousin who lived in Witney in Oxfordshire and on one occasion, we went to a pre-season friendly between Oxford United and Swindon Town and me and my dad were saying, ‘this winger is great’ – and it was Mike Summerbee. He scored direct from a corner that night. I loved his haircut, his swagger and his sense of humour – fans used to chant, ‘His nose is offside!’ and he took it all in great fun. And he was great mates with George Best – wow, what a duo – and remains the only person who had a record player in the front of his car! He told me it was a Saab, but added he could never play a record because every time you went over a bump, the record would jump. He was my idol, back then and it’s great to be able to see him and know him so well from so many trips abroad with the club.
The 1970s was an edgy place for football fans – did you ever experience anything?
Yeah, I was on the end of a few scrapes. You’d get the football special and then get walk to the ground – wherever it was – and you knew it was coming. There’d be pockets or gangs waiting in side streets and it got a bit hairy on one or two occasions. I remember walking from Liverpool Lime Street to Anfield or Goodison and you’d walk up Scotland Road and we’d get things thrown at us from balconies – all sorts – and that was just the women! Stoke City wasn’t good and at Nottingham Forest, we got chased by a gang of skinheads – and it was in that last run for safety that I met Rob Gretton who would be a pivotal figure in my future life because of his connections with the Hacienda and Factory Records. Me and Rob got separated from the main group of City fans and we ended up running through a pub and through gardens trying to escape and they were right on our tails. We hid in a privet hedge and could see their Doc Marten boots and hear them saying ‘they must be here somewhere!’ Rob introduced himself and we remained close friends thereafter, right up until his death in 1999.
We had some amazing musicians/future stars following us in the 1970s and 1980s, didn’t we?
We did and they were almost all City fans. We used to all go in The Gardeners Arms in Rusholme before the game and what a mad pub that was! On one occasion in the mid-1990s, there was me, Rob Gretton, Johnny Marr, Mark E Smith, Paul and (maybe) Liam Gallagher and we were all involved in music. It beats Mick Hucknall, doesn’t it?!
So, when and where did music come into your life?
It’s always been a passion, but I wasn’t trained in a specific area or anything. It was Punk that got me started – it was like, if you can play three chords, you can do what you like and anyone can do it, so I had a go at it. Because I’d met Rob, I started hanging out at Punk venues and was watching bands like Joy Division and stuff like that. A lot of them were fairly short-lived. I started managing and promoting – the first one was a band called Fireplace and I started a fanzine with Martin Fry, who later became the singer for ABC, and I did the first Joy Division review for a gig in Oldham – I think.
Tell us about the legend that is The Hacienda…
I deejayed there for about 11 years in total and started there before it opened when it was still a yacht club, believe it or not! You couldn’t make it up. I used to book all the acts including things like Madonna’s first UK gig, DJs, bands, acts and everything that was out front in the club and there was a big group of us who would go to Maine Road at the weekend. The ticket guys, like Mikey Williams, would come into the club and he’d sort us out on matchdays, and we always ended up in the H block in the Main Stand. There wasn’t much to watch on the pitch back then and there were times we’d go down for a drink and all the lads from the Parkside pub would be at the bar watching and afternoon movie on the TV in the concourse! I’d sometimes get to go in the players’ lounge under the Main Stand. We certainly went through it, didn’t we? The Cool Cats were a City-supporting group of lads who all used to do breakdancing at The Hacienda, turning into a dance crew called Broken Glass. They used to support one of my bands, Quando Quango, on tour and I still see them today at games.
It sounds like you need a book to share all these memories…
Funnily enough, I am doing one at the moment with Paul Morley. He interviews me for hours and hours on end and he keeps saying things like, ‘Bloody hell – you’ve done a lot, haven’t you?’ It’s tentatively called Citizen of Sound and I’m quite pleased I’ve got a publishing deal because mixing music and football is quite tough. I didn’t even know Paul was a big City fan until I started seeing him on the train home and found out he used to stand in the same place I used to stand as a kid around the same time. It’s all about my musical journey through Punk, Glam, Bowie, Acid House and Britpop – everything really!
You’ve known the Gallaghers a long time, too…
Yeah, I know Noel better than Liam. He used to be a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets and was a Hacienda regular, so he was around all the time. I wasn’t that aware of Oasis at the beginning because by that time M People were in full swing and we were touring all the time, but it was a case of, ‘hey up – more City fans!
And then you began M People…
Yeah and because of all the things I’d been involved with over the previous 10-15 years, I was ready for it. I could do everything from promoting to production and served my apprenticeship. We started in 1991, and I guess I never really did it with success in mind. I wrote all the songs and produced them, but I never wrote something and thought, ‘this will be a smash’ – it was just what I wanted to do at the time. Up to that point in my life, if I did what I believed in, it worked, so that’s what I did. We didn’t want proper jobs, just to do what we enjoyed.
So, who played you in the movie 24 Hour Party People?
It’s funny because there were two guys playing Rob Gretton and I, so they filmed a match at Maine Road on a Saturday. Rob and I were there that day and asked what these actors would be wearing ? When they told us, we were like, ‘Nah, we’re not having that! We would have never worn that!’ As it was, that scene was edited out and I just a did a cameo near the end. Steve Coogan was really good as Tony Wilson, and he was tailormade to play that role. In fact, the first time I saw Alan Partridge I was like, ‘that’s Tony’ – particularly in his Granada Reports mode. It was a long way from the truth, but great fun.
You were at the playoff final, weren’t you?
Yeah, it was actually not long after Rob had suddenly died. We’d all been waiting in the pub to travel to the playoff semi against Wigan Athletic at Springfield Park and Rob didn’t turn up. We were all still shellshocked at the time of the final against Gillingham, but I took Rob’s son Benedict, and I think we were in the Olympic Gallery. Noel was in there and some people walked out before the end, and I’ll never forgive them for that – you know who you are! I’ve never left early – it’s one of my bugbears. I know people who missed Sergio’s goal against QPR. I don’t get it because how often do we play at home? I want people in their seat before, during and after to support the lads – don’t leave early to watch X-Factor! Stay the end, applaud the lads and then go – that’s just how I feel.
How is your fandom today? Stronger than ever?
It is. I used to look at other clubs and their fans travelling all over Europe – before we were in those competitions – and I thought about how much I’d love to do that as well – so now I do follow us whenever and wherever I can. It started with the Europa games against clubs like Lokeren, which I really enjoyed, and then progressed to the Champions League, starting at Bayern Munich where Uwe Rosler introduced us to the Oktoberfest – my god, that was the worst hangover I’ve ever had -and ever since then, there’s very few European games I miss, and we’ve had some great times. Long may it continue.
After decades of relentless hard work and commitment to football, retirement can seem a daunting proposition for any player.
Going from the consistent dressing room camaraderie and a regimented routine to free-time freedom in a blink of an eye, understandably, takes time to adapt to.
For Club legend Steph Houghton, though, she’s transferred her tireless productivity into life away from the field after hanging up her boots at the end of the 2023/24 season.
A member of the Blues’ maiden professional squad in 2014, our former captain made 242 total appearances for the Blues and guided us to eight major honours.
But since stepping away from the pitch, Houghton has maintained her passion for football and sport by staying at the forefront of the Barclays Women’s Super League conversation and also pushing herself to the physical limit.
Already this term, she has provided television punditry for top-flight matches and ran the Great North Run in support of the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation.
What’s more, she’s also returned to the Club as a Project Officer and our first-ever female Ambassador.
“For me, punditry really helps," she explained.
“I absolutely love football, so whether I’m watching our girls play, the lads play or any other teams – for me – I’m a massive football fan.
“I like to think I know the game a bit, but I’m always learning and trying to make my way in that industry.
“I did [the Great North Run] for Stephen’s charity and to try to raise as much money for the Darby Rimmer Foundation, but on a personal level I don’t know whether I’ll do one again, that’s for certain!
“The training’s really intense and for me, it’s not like I can just run round and enjoy the run. I had to be competitive with myself and try to get under a certain time.
“From that aspect, I don’t know whether I’ll do it again, but it was an amazing experience. To say I’ve done it and to do it with my family and the cause I did. I was proud of myself for doing it.
“But I’ve not ran for maybe six or seven weeks which is probably the longest time ever I’ve had off. I’m not doing any training, but I’ve enjoyed it.”
As well as providing insight on television and running the 13.1 mile race, Houghton recently released her autobiography ‘Leading from the Back’ which details her career to the top of the women’s game.
In the publication, she reflects on her move to City in 2014, conversations with Pep Guardiola, how she moulded her leadership style and much more.
For our former defender, the opportunity to re-live key moments from her career soon after retirement helped her find closure after calling time on her playing career.
She added: “It was a bit surreal to be honest [opening the first box of autobiographies].
“I was quite emotional I think because you put so much work into it and all I used to do was read autobiographies, but there weren’t many female ones.
“For me, that was always my idea to be able to tell my story to the world from when I was a young girl to where I’ve got to now.
“Once you open it and I’m looking at my little godsons and they’re saying ‘that’s aunty Stephy’.
“It meant a lot and just to have it in your hands it’s so different to seeing it on a screen and recording audio books as well. For me it was perfect timing.
“It was quite nice to reassure myself that retiring was the right decision and I can actually look back and say ‘I’ve had some unbelievable moments’ in my career and I’ve been so fortunate to work with so many amazing team-mates and staff as well and to share those memories with them as well.
“It came at the right time.”
An icon on the domestic and international stage, the Lionesses paid tribute and thanked Houghton for her service in England’s recent meeting with Germany at Wembley Stadium.
As Sarina Wiegman’s side narrowly lost 4-3 on the night, the result didn’t dampen Steph or her family’s spirits as she was presented with her 100th cap and was handed the opportunity to lead out the team.
“It was an amazing night. I didn’t really know what to expect or how I’d feel,” she admitted.
“But for me, I was speaking to my family about it, they all came down and we got so spoilt. We had our own box, I got my 100thcap, I got my legacy cap, I got to lead the team out for a game for the final time.
“So, I think for me now, there’s closure on that situation. Playing over 100 times and captaining my country - it is the greatest honour you can have.
“It was so nice to see the girls in that environment. Just to be back at Wembley as well, when you go through your career, you never envision yourself being back at Wembley Stadium.
“To be able to do that and kind of close that chapter there was a very special moment.”
Feature: George Kelsey
It was a momentous occasion in Fredrikstad, Norway, last month.
The Official Fredrikstad Manchester City Supporters’ Club celebrated its 50th anniversary recently, having been founded in 1974 by Nils Martinsen.
The Fredrikstad OSC was the first supporters' club outside the UK – a notable and proud achievement for our Norwegian followers – and a huge party was held at the aptly named City Hotel - the same place where City stayed in 1978 when the Blues played a friendly in the mid-western Norwegian city back in 1978.
There were 115 guests in attendance, including former City stars David White, Ian Brightwell, Kenny Clements and branch president Peter Barnes.
Here is a snapshot of the day...
Main Pic: (above) Nils Martinsen with the original paper that the supporters' club was founded on, August 1974.
1. From left to right - Kenny Clements, Peter Barnes and Ian Brightwell.
2. The founder - Nils Martinsen.
3. Top journalist Knut Espen Svegaarden and Peter Barnes.
4. From left to right: Peter Barnes, Geir Martinsen (son of the founder), David White, Kenny Clements and Ian Brightwell.
5. Kenny Clements and Peter Barnes.
6. Team group shot at the City Hotel.
In the latest instalment of our regular feature looking at the players adored at City without getting the love elsewhere, we reflect on Demi Stokes’ incredible career in Manchester.
It’s up to some players to set the standard for everyone else to follow. Demi Stokes was undoubtedly one of those throughout her nine-year stay at City.
The left-back arrived at the club in January 2015 as a 23-year-old and would stay until the end of the 2023/24 term, becoming just the third player to represent our women’s side on more than 200 occasions.
A gloriously unfussy and unflustered defender in the face of any opponent, Stokes was the perfect foundation on which to build a solid defence.
Coming into a City team that had finished fifth in its first term in the Women’s Super League, Stokes saw the ambition of Nick Cushing and the club’s directors and wanted to help us to our first title.
Raised in Sunderland’s academy, Stokes found a slice of home waiting for her at City with fellow former Mackems and England internationals Steph Houghton and Jill Scott already on board with City’s revolution.
Little could anyone know just how pivotal the trio would be in establishing City at the top table of the women’s game for years to come.
A second-place finish followed in the 2015 campaign, with just 11 goals conceded in 14 matches.
That seemed something like a porous defence when the next season was done, with just four goals scored against us as we won an historic title in 2016.
Cushing’s team won 13 times and drew on three occasions that season, scoring 36 times in total.
Stokes played all but one game in the league that year, forming an incredible back five with goalkeeper Karen Bardsley, right-back Lucy Bronze and Scotland international Jen Beattie next to Houghton in the middle.
Being defensively solid was always Stokes’ primary aim, but fans at the Joie Stadium will vividly remember the energy she had to get up and down the pitch.
While final third contributions often involved being part of a move that resulted in chances, Stokes did make it on the scoresheet once that year.
She reserved it for just about the biggest challenge possible too, netting the first in the away win at perennial challengers and oftentimes victors, Chelsea.
Stokes remained an imperious defender in the years that followed, being twice named in the PFA WSL Team of the Year, making the squad in successive seasons between 2017 and 2019.
Having been a key part of the England setup since 2014, Stokes’ busiest year for the Lionesses came in 2017.
She played 16 games for England that year, with her career totalling 74 international caps.
As she had done at City, Stokes’ Lionesses career saw her set the standards that would take the team to new heights.
Although not a mainstay on the pitch by this point, she was part of the 2022 squad that won the European Championships on home soil and grabbed the nation’s attention in the most dramatic way possible.
2022 also saw Stokes celebrate the arrival of her son, with the defender proving eloquent in discussing the all that life entails when a professional athlete introduces a newborn into the world.
Illness and injury heavily restricted her appearances in her final two seasons at City but just like her great mate Houghton, she remained a key, respected figure in the dressing room.
As the 2023/24 season ended, she was one of several players to wave goodbye as Gareth Taylor freshened up his pack for another tilt at success.
That Houghton and goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck were amongst them meant fans, who attended in great numbers at Villa Park that day, were conflicted as to who to celebrate, praise and thank most of all.
Now at Newcastle United back in the north east, Stokes can be in no doubt she has a home and is welcomed at the Joie Stadium whenever she wishes to visit.
"I was looking for a job and then, I found a job..."
This season I’m taking you on an A-to-Z tour of Manchester and possibly taking a few liberties with the alphabet. Expect lots of musicians, an occasional session with a footballer and whatever else I can find in my archive.
This issue we’re up to the letter P and where better to start than with Punk; arguably the birth of the Manchester Music Scene.
Punk happened in Manchester as I graduated. Along with 50 others, I had my epiphany on 4 June 1976 at the Sex Pistols concert at the Lesser Free Trade Hall. Except I didn’t, really.
Yes, I was there, but although it was interesting, I didn’t feel it was seismic. Much more important, to me and many others, was the Iggy Pop gig at Manchester Apollo on 3 March 1977 with David Bowie on keyboards. Yes, Bowie, playing keyboards for Iggy.
We’d gone because Bowie was playing but the power of Iggy’s performance that evening was like nothing I’d ever seen before. It felt dangerous and completely out of control. In fact, Ian Curtis, who was also there, was similarly blown away by it and was soon to copy Iggy’s dislocated dance...
I grew up adoring Bowie. I took my first proper gig photographs of Bowie at the Hardrock in Stretford, Manchester in December 1972 when I was a 19-year-old student, but I hadn’t yet learned how to shoot under stage-lighting.
I finally took a series of Bowie photos in June 1973 during the Ziggy tour that led me to thinking I could shoot rock ’n’ roll for a living.
Punk in Manchester came out of the working-class nightclubs Pips and Placemate, which both catered for marginal taste as well as mainstream disco.
At both clubs we could retreat to our safe haven, the Bowie and Roxy rooms, where we could listen (and dance) to the music of not just Bowie and Roxy Music, but Cockney Rebel, Marc Bolan, Iggy Pop, Sparks and the New York Dolls.
As well as the bands who took their first faltering steps in early ‘77, there was a whole support network of people who were as excited as I was by this new movement to want to be involved, using their own specialist skills: Paul Morley, Richard Boon, Tony Wilson, Malcolm Garratt, Peter Saville, Steven Morrissey and many more.
Paul and I fed stories to the NME every week. If nothing was happening, we made it up.
When Howard Devoto left Buzzcocks, Paul wrote a piece for NME proclaiming Howard was putting the words of Samuel Beckett to music. A portentous photo of Howard accompanied this piece. The picture editor, of course, cropped Devoto’s then girlfriend, Linder Sterling, out of my shot.
We invented our own band, The Negatives, to fill in other fallow weeks. I shot several photo sessions for our mythical band, and we were sufficiently enthused/deluded to actually play several gigs. It was fun; it was pretentious; it was tuneless. We said it was Avant-Garde. But it was where I learned the art of mythmaking.
The music press lapped it up. They had little interest in travelling outside London to find out if any of this was true but of course it was true because Paul would tell them it was and there was always a photo to validate the words. There was also the weekly letter to the NME from Steven Morrissey to support the notion that everything (or nothing) was happening in Manchester.
I photographed Buzzcocks almost every day and documented just about every move they made. We’d go to gigs every night. It was exhausting and it was great fun.
The photos here capture some of that anarchic excess. I hadn’t realised how much I’d shot until I came to edit my book about Manchester: Looking for the Light Through the Pouring Rain (Faber and Faber/2009).
I realised then that I had an amazing archive of work. Only one or two photos from each session had ever been seen in the NME, usually in the week following the shoot and then filed away. Most of the photos were taken in the first few years after I graduated. I was still learning my trade, as were the bands. I tried to do something a little different with posed sessions rather than the standard snarling punks spraying beer into camera shots, hopefully you’ll agree that I succeeded.
Rare support from the media came from Anthony H. Wilson, a local TV presenter on Granada Reports. Tony (who died on 10 August 2007) will always be inextricably associated with the city of Manchester, despite being a Salford lad. His enthusiastic support for the city and its bands, with Factory Records and the Hacienda, helped the regeneration of the city and gave it worldwide acclaim.
But none of this would have happened without Iggy coming to town in March 77.
Kevin Cummins