1952/53 SEASON REVIEW
City announced that they had taken record gate receipts last season of £102,856 which meant they made a healthy profit of £3,960
The season started on a bad note with two defeats, 2-1 to Stoke at The Victoria Ground and 1-0 to Tottenham at Maine Road.
However City then gained their first post war win over Manchester United beating them 2-1 at Maine Road.
The Blues couldn’t build on the win against United as they then drew 3-3 at Tottenham, lost 2-0 at home to Liverpool and 2-1 against Burnley at Turf Moor. After six games the league table showed City second from bottom of division 1 on just three points.
Things were to get worse as The Blues were beaten 5-4 at Middlesbrough
On the eve of City’s second game of the season against Burnley Les McDowall surprisingly sold City’s new star forward Fred Smith to Grimsby having only played two games for the Blues since he was bought from Sheffield United in May. City’s remaining forwards failed to score against Burnley in a 0-0 draw at Maine Road, the fans were both unhappy with the lack of goals and also with the introduction of a new tax on admission prices, their patience was tested further as City failed to score again in a a 1-0 home defeat to West Brom and a 2-0 defeat at Newcastle.
City were now firmly cemented at the bottom of the league a point in a 2-2 draw against Cardiff at Maine Road wasn’t enough to change that position.
A further two defeats followed, 2-1 at Portsmouth and 2-1 at home Bolton and then the last game in October ended in a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa , and so with a third of the season gone City were still rock bottom of the league with just one win from 14 games.
November started even worse for the Blues as they lost 5-2 at home to Sunderland and then lost 7-3 at Wolves to go 13 games on the trot without a win.
City finally won their first game since August with a thrilling 5-1 win at Maine Road over title chasing Charlton . And although they then lost 3-1 at Arsenal , another win followed, 1-0 at home to fellow strugglers Derby. After 19 games The blues were still bottom on 10 points but were now only two points behind the Rams who were third from bottom.
Bert Trautmann, who had performed magnificently all season despite the bad results so far, had stated that he would like to move back to Germany to play there, however City fans hopes of keeping the popular keeper in Manchester were boosted when it seemed that Gelsenkirchan would be unable to raise the funds for a fee of around £20,000, the Germans were unhappy at the fee being quoted as transfer fees did not exist in domestic German football at the time.
With Trautmann’s future undecided he carried on between the sticks as City lost 4-1 at Blackpool , however two wins at Maine Road, 4-0 against Chelsea and 2-1 against Stoke saw City move off the foot of the table.
The City players had Christmas Day off, and maybe had too much Turkey, as they were well beaten 6-2 by Preston at Deepdale on Boxing Day, City then slipped back to the bottom of the table as their last game of 1952 was postponed due to fog and Stoke picked up a point at Chelsea.
1953 started well for Les McDowell’s team as they were unbeaten in January. They drew 1-1 at Manchester United then in the FA Cup 3rd Round at Maine Road they swept aside Swindon in an emphatic 7-0 victory.
Back to the league and two further victories 1-0 against Liverpool at Anfield and 5-1 against Middlesbrough at Maine Road, and then in the 4th round of the FA Cup they drew 1-1 against Luton in Moss Side.
Moving into February City were put to the sword by Luton in the FA Cup replay, the Hatters winning 5-1.
In the league City then lost 2-1 at West Brom and even thought they then beat Newcastle 2-1 the Blues were still bottom of the league on 21 points with three clubs above them on 22 points. City then visited one of those three clubs, Cardiff , who hadn’t scored in the last seven games, typically they beat City 6-0!
A good 2-1 win against Portsmouth was followed by another defeat, 1-0 at Bolton , a game which saw the debut of Harry Anders a winger City bought from Preston a few days earlier.
City had also brought in another striker in an attempt to find the goals to stave off relegation, they paid Wolves £13,000 for the services of Ken Whitfield, and he played his second game in 4-1 win at home to Aston Villa .
The Blues then drew 3-3 at Sunderland and now were third from bottom of Division 1.
Three wins on the trot enhanced the Blues’ chances of first division safety as they beat Wolves and Sheffield Wednesday both by 3-1 at Maine Road and Championship contenders Charlton 2-1 at The Valley.
City had now moved seventh from bottom of division 1 and were three points above the relegation zone.
A good point in a 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday left City in a good position to escape relegation with just five games left, however they then lost the next three, 4-2 at home to Arsenal , 5-0 at bottom of the table Derby and 2-0 at home to Preston , they had now slipped back to second from bottom of the league on equal points with Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday, who both had better goal average.
City escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth as they beat Blackpool 5-0 at Maine Road and although they lost at fellow strugglers Chelsea on the last day of the season they finished, third from bottom just one point above the relegated sides.
The season started on a bad note with two defeats, 2-1 to Stoke at The Victoria Ground and 1-0 to Tottenham at Maine Road.
However City then gained their first post war win over Manchester United beating them 2-1 at Maine Road.
The Blues couldn’t build on the win against United as they then drew 3-3 at Tottenham, lost 2-0 at home to Liverpool and 2-1 against Burnley at Turf Moor. After six games the league table showed City second from bottom of division 1 on just three points.
Things were to get worse as The Blues were beaten 5-4 at Middlesbrough
On the eve of City’s second game of the season against Burnley Les McDowall surprisingly sold City’s new star forward Fred Smith to Grimsby having only played two games for the Blues since he was bought from Sheffield United in May. City’s remaining forwards failed to score against Burnley in a 0-0 draw at Maine Road, the fans were both unhappy with the lack of goals and also with the introduction of a new tax on admission prices, their patience was tested further as City failed to score again in a a 1-0 home defeat to West Brom and a 2-0 defeat at Newcastle.
City were now firmly cemented at the bottom of the league a point in a 2-2 draw against Cardiff at Maine Road wasn’t enough to change that position.
A further two defeats followed, 2-1 at Portsmouth and 2-1 at home Bolton and then the last game in October ended in a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa , and so with a third of the season gone City were still rock bottom of the league with just one win from 14 games.
November started even worse for the Blues as they lost 5-2 at home to Sunderland and then lost 7-3 at Wolves to go 13 games on the trot without a win.
City finally won their first game since August with a thrilling 5-1 win at Maine Road over title chasing Charlton . And although they then lost 3-1 at Arsenal , another win followed, 1-0 at home to fellow strugglers Derby. After 19 games The blues were still bottom on 10 points but were now only two points behind the Rams who were third from bottom.
Bert Trautmann, who had performed magnificently all season despite the bad results so far, had stated that he would like to move back to Germany to play there, however City fans hopes of keeping the popular keeper in Manchester were boosted when it seemed that Gelsenkirchan would be unable to raise the funds for a fee of around £20,000, the Germans were unhappy at the fee being quoted as transfer fees did not exist in domestic German football at the time.
With Trautmann’s future undecided he carried on between the sticks as City lost 4-1 at Blackpool , however two wins at Maine Road, 4-0 against Chelsea and 2-1 against Stoke saw City move off the foot of the table.
The City players had Christmas Day off, and maybe had too much Turkey, as they were well beaten 6-2 by Preston at Deepdale on Boxing Day, City then slipped back to the bottom of the table as their last game of 1952 was postponed due to fog and Stoke picked up a point at Chelsea.
1953 started well for Les McDowell’s team as they were unbeaten in January. They drew 1-1 at Manchester United then in the FA Cup 3rd Round at Maine Road they swept aside Swindon in an emphatic 7-0 victory.
Back to the league and two further victories 1-0 against Liverpool at Anfield and 5-1 against Middlesbrough at Maine Road, and then in the 4th round of the FA Cup they drew 1-1 against Luton in Moss Side.
Moving into February City were put to the sword by Luton in the FA Cup replay, the Hatters winning 5-1.
In the league City then lost 2-1 at West Brom and even thought they then beat Newcastle 2-1 the Blues were still bottom of the league on 21 points with three clubs above them on 22 points. City then visited one of those three clubs, Cardiff , who hadn’t scored in the last seven games, typically they beat City 6-0!
A good 2-1 win against Portsmouth was followed by another defeat, 1-0 at Bolton , a game which saw the debut of Harry Anders a winger City bought from Preston a few days earlier.
City had also brought in another striker in an attempt to find the goals to stave off relegation, they paid Wolves £13,000 for the services of Ken Whitfield, and he played his second game in 4-1 win at home to Aston Villa .
The Blues then drew 3-3 at Sunderland and now were third from bottom of Division 1.
Three wins on the trot enhanced the Blues’ chances of first division safety as they beat Wolves and Sheffield Wednesday both by 3-1 at Maine Road and Championship contenders Charlton 2-1 at The Valley.
City had now moved seventh from bottom of division 1 and were three points above the relegation zone.
A good point in a 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday left City in a good position to escape relegation with just five games left, however they then lost the next three, 4-2 at home to Arsenal , 5-0 at bottom of the table Derby and 2-0 at home to Preston , they had now slipped back to second from bottom of the league on equal points with Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday, who both had better goal average.
City escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth as they beat Blackpool 5-0 at Maine Road and although they lost at fellow strugglers Chelsea on the last day of the season they finished, third from bottom just one point above the relegated sides.