Newsletter #1163

A short edition tonight. We have opinion on the early kick-off time vs. Everton, Helen Turner and Stephen Ireland. Also a request for spare Arsenal tickets and a request from a Bulgarian City fan!

Heidi is on her well-earned hols, but keep your articles coming to the usual address of <editor(at)mcivta.city-fan.org>.

OPINION: EARLY KICK-OFF AGAINST EVERTON

I confirm the early kick-off had nothing with the Chinese audience. 6.15pm here in Beijing is the worst possible kick off time since most Chinese worth their rice are tucking into course 5 of a 24 course Sunday dinner at that time.

I watched the game down the Pommegranite, an out of town bar run by fellow Blue ‘Daft’ Mike Hall. We were joined for the viewing by a lone Evertonian who for some reason made one of those HARP exits at the end of the game whilst I was emptying my bladder. Where did he go Mike? Can he bring along a Swamp fan on January 14th?

Stephen Ireland – the new Liam Brady.

If anybody is ever in Beijing and wants to know where to view the footie send me an e-mail. Mike’s bar picks up South African TV coverage and gets a wider selection of games than ESPN coverage but I would refer you to him for directions!

OPINION: REMEMBERING HELEN TURNER

I read, with sadness, in recent editions of MCIVTA of the passing of City’s number one supporter. Helen was a City legend in her own lifetime and I think that, quite apart from offering condolences, something should be done to perpetuate her memory. I have two suggestions.

First, that “the bell”, together with a brief history of Helen and her years as a City supporter through thick and thin, should form a small part of the City Museum. After all, the game is not just about players and trophies, but about people who have loved the game and, in this instance, a lady who loved our club in particular. I wonder if those in authority at CoMS are considering such a course of action? Could this suggestion, if it receives any support, be taken up and raised by some of the supporters’ clubs?

Secondly, what a pity that this particular part of the of the club’s history should cease to exist in the future. Is it possible to find another supporter, preferably a lady, to carry on the tradition of “the bell”? I feel sure that the latter suggestion at least would have met with Helen’s approval.

OPINION: A PLEASE KEEP QUIET ABOUT MR IRELAND PLEA

I have this worry: young Ireland is catching the eye, so we all talk about how good he is; the board hear about this and start saying the same thing and how he is bound to move one day to a big club but that they hope he will first contribute to City; Chelsea hear of this and decide to have him on their bench rather than playing against them; City sell and the board use the money to bring down the debt whilst giving the manager a few quid to bring in a loan player… etc.

I think we should talk the approach Malcolm Allison took when watching Colin Bell play for Bury. Allison knew how good Bell was but he didn’t say it in public… quite the reverse.

I also have this nice thought that one day soon City will start a game with Barton, Croft, Ireland, Jordan, Wright-Phillips and Onuoha playing. Almost a home grown team.

OPINION: ALL TIME TOP TABLE

On Tuesday, 5th October, the Independent newspaper published a league table of the top twenty league clubs, based on the years that they have spent in the First Division/Premiership since 1888 and the points that they have gained. It makes interesting reading and I have taken the trouble to reproduce it below, as a possible source of discussion for Blues supporters.

The All-Time Top Table (1888-2005)

 Club.         Yrs.     P      W     D      L       F       A        Pts.
 1 Liverpool     91    3608  1648   902   1058    5909     4489      4692
 2 Arsenal       89    3609  1594   937   1078    5873     4631      4610
 3 Everton      103    3993  1624   977   1392    6288     5643      4596
 4 St.R.Sox      81    3253  1480   824    949    5518     4335      4306
 5 Aston V.      95    3660  1521   842   1297    6125     5482      4220
 6 Newcastle     76    3016  1194   734   1088    4674     4345      3388
 7 Spurs         71    2870  1145   698   1027    4484     4140      3361
 8 CITY          67    3096  1155   776   1165    4696     4682      3276
 9 Chelski       71    2874  1068   762   1044    4233     4290      3240
10 S'derland     76    2930  1163   672   1095    4725     4494      3106
11 Sheff Wed     66    2582   986   612    910    3976     4020      2781
12 WBA           71    2736  1001   663   1072    4206     4365      2738
13 B'Burn R.     66    2462   929   588    945    3985     3961      2620
14 Bolton W.     67    2544   937   581   1025    3852     4073      2527
15 Derby C.      64    2430   905   517    948    3744     3821      2499
16 Leeds U.      50    2060   846   523    691    3079     2784      2455
17 Notts. F  .   56    2178   800   549    829    3069     3171      2404
18 Wolves        60    2308   918   518    872    3912     3748      2377
19 Sheff U.      59    2318   861   552    905    3499     3707      2325
20 M'bro         57    2256   775   561    920    3245     3507      2247

* A win was worth 2 points until season 1981-1982, when 3 points were awarded.

Typical of City, in that we have scored more goals than either Spurs or Newcastle, even though we have spent four and nine seasons less in the top division. However, we have conceded more than either of these teams during our shorter stay in the top flight. Games at Hyde Road and Maine Road must have been interesting!

REQUEST: BULGARIAN PEN-PAL

Hello friends,

My name is Crasen Canev and I live in Bulgaria.

From my early ages I am interested in football and practicing this sport.

Since I was 3 I am interested in your team. I always visit your Internet site and read every thing about the team. I`m very excited and happy every time when the team wins. In my opinion the club has a great potential to win prizes.

I read everything about the team and I`m very happy when you win. I collect souvenirs from the club. I have 10 posters and photos of the players.

Some day I want to travel to your country and there I shall go in the stadium of the club, the football museum, of the football legends.

In my town I haven`t found any souvenirs of your team and for this reason I was wondering from you if anyone can send to me some souvenirs and player cards.

Thank you friends!

I wish good luck to the team and players.

I send my post address and hope to get answer.

My postal address:
CRASEN CANEV
str.Hr.botev.10 ap.15
BG-SEVLIEVO-5401
BULGARIA

REQUEST: MADRID BLUES VIEWING – RESPONSE

There is an Irish pub just on the corner of Puerta Del Sol (Plaza Santa Ana side of Sol), which may well show Sky football. I believe it’s an O’Neills or one of the well known chains.

Alternatively, take a look at the satellite TV resource at the bottom of MCIVTA, which is a really useful resource. Then do a search on pubs with that particular channel in Madrid.

Having said that, you might not have time to fly back to Liverpool for the Chelski game if you’re running about Madrid looking for pubs with Sky!

REQUEST: ARSENAL TICKETS

Does anyone have one or two spare tickets for Arsenal? Regrettably it does not look like it will be going to CityCard holders this year so I am in danger of missing my first game at Arsenal in years. Please call Sefton on 07774 927 555 or email me at the address below.

REQUEST: PREMIERSHIP STATS

Just notification that an up-to-date results and fixtures file has just been uploaded (up to and including the 2nd October) for the 2005-6 season version of the “Excel” spreadsheet file; “The-BIGGER-One”.

The all Premiership team-progress file is now ready and available as a free download at: http://www.freewebs.com/vincents-odds-n-sods/thebiggerone.htm

Please visit the website to read the full list of the file’s features. Basically, all you need to do is type in the scores (or your predictions) and all the statistical tables and graphs are instantly revised. It is already filled in with all the provisional dates for every Premiership fixture for the season. Also available is a completed statistical version for last season.

The website has been checked-out, and has a priority listing with http://www.soccerlinks.co.uk/ (under the miscellaneous:other, listings).

If you have any problems with the file, please feel free to drop me a line (an occasional problem is slow download rates from the web-hosts: apologies if you experience this).

If you like the sheets, please tell your mates.

RESULTS

League table to 08 October 2005 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Chelsea          8  4  0  0  9  1  4  0  0  9  1  8  0  0  18   2  16  24
 2 Charlton Ath.    7  1  0  2  3  5  4  0  0  9  2  5  0  2  12   7   5  15
 3 Tottenham H.     8  2  1  1  3  2  2  2  0  6  3  4  3  1   9   5   4  15
 4 Manchester Utd   7  1  1  1  3  3  3  1  0  7  2  4  2  1  10   5   5  14
 5 Bolton Wndrs     8  2  1  1  3  1  2  1  1  6  5  4  2  2   9   6   3  14
 6 Manchester City  8  2  1  1  4  2  2  1  1  5  4  4  2  2   9   6   3  14
 7 Arsenal          7  4  0  0  9  1  0  1  2  1  3  4  1  2  10   4   6  13
 8 Wigan Athletic   7  2  1  1  4  3  2  0  1  3  2  4  1  2   7   5   2  13
 9 West Ham United  7  2  1  1  8  3  1  2  0  3  2  3  3  1  11   5   6  12
10 Middlesbrough    8  1  1  2  2  6  2  1  1  7  5  3  2  3   9  11  -2  11
11 Blackburn R.     8  2  1  1  4  4  1  1  2  3  5  3  2  3   7   9  -2  11
12 Newcastle Utd    8  1  2  1  2  3  1  1  2  3  4  2  3  3   5   7  -2   9
13 Liverpool        6  1  1  1  2  4  0  3  0  2  2  1  4  1   4   6  -2   7
14 Portsmouth       8  0  3  1  2  4  1  0  3  3  5  1  3  4   5   9  -4   6
15 Birmingham City  8  0  1  3  3  8  1  2  1  4  4  1  3  4   7  12  -5   6
16 Aston Villa      8  1  2  1  6  6  0  1  3  2  8  1  3  4   8  14  -6   6
17 Sunderland       8  0  2  2  4  7  1  0  3  2  4  1  2  5   6  11  -5   5
18 Fulham           8  1  1  2  4  5  0  1  3  3  8  1  2  5   7  13  -6   5
19 West Brom A.     8  1  0  3  6  8  0  2  2  1  7  1  2  5   7  15  -8   5
20 Everton          7  0  0  3  0  4  1  0  3  1  5  1  0  6   1   9  -8   3

MCIVTA FAQ [v0506.02]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Heidi Pickup)          : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org
News/rumour (Don Barrie)         : news@mcivta.city-fan.org
Subscriptions (Madeleine Hawkins): subscriptions@mcivta.city-fan.org
Technical problems (Paul)        : paul@city-fan.org
FAQ (David Warburton)            : faq@mcivta.city-fan.org

[2] What are MCIVTA’s publishing deadlines?

Deadlines for issues are nominally 6pm, Monday and Thursday evenings bu email. Unfortunately we cannot accept email attachments.

[3] MCIVTA Back Issues and Manchester City Supporters’ home page

http://www.uit.no/mancity/ is the unofficial Manchester City Supporters’ home page. Created in 1994, it is the longest running of the Manchester City related web sites. Back issues of MCIVTA are also hosted on the site.

[4] What is the club’s official web site?

The official club web site can be found at http://www.mcfc.co.uk/

[5] What supporters’ clubs are there?

Manchester City FC recognises three supporters’ clubs: The “Official Supporters Club” (http://www.mcfcosc.com/); the “Centenary Supporters’ Association” (http://www.reddishblues.com/CSAWebsite/CSA.htm) and “The International Supporters’ Club”.

[6] Where can I find out about the fans’ committee?

The Fans’ Committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. The Fans’ Committee has been relaunched as “Points of Blue”. It has appeared on the club website as a minor entry under “Fans Zone”.

[7] What match day broadcasts are available on the web?

The GMR pre and post match phone-in is available on the web at http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/gmr/sport_intro.shtml.

Live match commentaries and archives of games, reports and interviews can be found at http://mcfc.videoloungetv.com/do/preLogin?clubSiteCode=MCFC&CMP=AFC-003.

[8] Where can I find out if City are live on satellite TV?

http://www.satfootball.com/pl.html provides a listing of Premiership games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels. Useful sites for North American viewers are http://www.foxsportsworld.com/named/FSW/Index/Soccer, http://www.soccertv.com/, and http://www.livesoccertv.com/.

[9] Do we have a Usenet newsgroup?

Yes we do: uk.sport.football.clubs.man-city is our home on usenet. If you are not familiar with usenet, a basic explanation is available here: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci213262,00.html

[10] Do any squad members have their own web pages?

There are a number available and direct links can be found at http://www.uit.no/mancity/players/

[11] Can I buy shares in the club?

Yes you can: Shares in Manchester City PLC are traded on OFEX. The latest prices can be on found the OFEX web site http://www.ofex.com/ (registration required) or in the business section of the Manchester Evening News.

[12] Where can I find match statistics?

Statistics for the current season are available from the club site, but for a more in-depth analysis try http://www.mcfcstats.com/.

[13] Where can I find a list of City-related websites?

Try Wookie’s Lair: http://www.wookieslair.com/modules.php?name=Web_Links

DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in MCIVTA are entirely those of the subscribersand there is no intention to represent these opinions as being thoseof Manchester City Football Club, nor of any of the companies anduniversities by whom the subscribers are employed. It is not inany way whatsoever connected to the club or any other relatedorganisation and is simply a group of supporters using this mediumas a means of disseminating news and exchanging opinions.

Madeline Hawkins, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: