Newsletter #1880

Well this is a small gastronomic gem of an issue!

First on the menu is an aperitif from the Bell Waldron Restaurant, followed by an amuse bouche of a lovely moment on BBC 24 News.

A main course of revisiting our fortunes around the last time we won in the League away to Arsenal with a side-dish of requests for QPR tickets.

We complete the meal with a dessert by the first person to ‘score’ two consecutive ‘And Finally’ articles – our signature chef Dave Smith. You can finish off by relaxing with the liqueur of the league table and wondering what it will look like in 16 games’ time! Fellow diners, feast on this beano…

RESPONSE: THE BELL-WALDRON RESTAURANT

Just a note on David Smith’s memories.

The ‘Bell-Waldron’ restaurant was actually in Whitefield and not Prestwich.

Went there on a number of occasions to catch a glimpse of my idol but never saw him! Did meet him, however, in later years at the start of the Manchester marathon!

ARTICLE: BLUE JOURNO’S

Clive Mylie, the BBC News Presenter was doing the “Shift” on BBC24News at the exact time the VK news came in on Tuesday afternoon last.

Clive is both a Manc and a City nut and proved it once again.

He was reading his prompt and interrupted his co-presenter Emily Maitland (serious girl / Newsnight presenter) with this: “We have breaking news that VK’s red card has been rescinded”.

At the same time he elevated himself from his seat and gave out a yelp.

Emily gave him a look that could kill, so he quickly composed himself and said “confirmation in the next Sports Report”.

Emily then gave a giggle and said “I was warned about your Man City antics” and carried on reading the news.

Lovely moment and of course I was delighted also with the unexpected positive result. I was sure he’d get a four game ban for contesting it.

ARTICLE: EDITOR’S MIND IS SOUND

Yes Phil, City did play in black shorts in that fixture and Asa Hartford’s opener for us was the first “away league goal” scored by us following six and half hours of play.

I was 19 at the time.

To put a little more “meat on the bone” as they say, that early season was awful away from home in the League. We had not won or scored in an away League match till that Arsenal match.

The losses were:

• Coventry 2-0
• Aston Villa 1-0
• West Ham United 1-0
• Derby County 1-0

However, we drew in the League Cup 2nd round, 1-1 at Norwich, eventually beating them in the 2nd replay 6-1 (at Stamford Bridge in front of a 6,238 crowd) after the first replay was drawn 2-2 at Maine Road.

And there’s more… after beating Arsenal, later in that season we were drawn away to Stoke in the FA Cup 4th round, losing 1-0; hope that is not an omen for our forthcoming visit!

REQUEST: QPR GAME

Does anyone have a spare ticket for the QPR match? If so please contact me at <st.john.cox(at)gmail.com>.

REQUEST: QPR GAME

I am visiting UK and will be in London 29th. Love to see the QPR game with my son Matthew.

Anyone have two tickets to sell? Please get back ASAP.

AND FINALLY… ARE REDS MORE POPULAR THAN BLUES?

I posted an article on MCIVTA recently about my experiences meeting Cityplayers in person and it prompted a friend to ask a question about thedifferent numbers of Reds and Blues supporters.

Growing up in Manchester in the 60’s and 70’s it was a lonely life in Prestwich, as all my buddies were Reds and I was the lone Blue. Manchester generally was Red-centric and Blues were relatively few and far between.

Some attribute the difference to the Munich air disaster of 1958, where 23 people died in the crash, including Manchester United players.

Ever since, some say, Reds have been more popular worldwide. Is that true?

I thought I knew the answer – it was largely because of the Munich air disaster. Perhaps the more senior followers of this e-newsletter might be able to confirm my understanding?

How was the Red/Blue popularity split before the Munich disaster, or am I just whistling Dixie?

RESULTS AND TABLE

League table as at 18 January 2013

                    P  GD Pts
 1 Manchester Utd  22  27  55
 2 Manchester City 22  24  48
 3 Chelsea         22  24  42
 4 Tottenham H.    22  12  40
-----------------------------
 5 Everton         22   9  37
-----------------------------
 6 Arsenal         21  16  34
 7 West Brom A.    22   1  33
 8 Liverpool       22   7  31
 9 Swansea City    22   5  30
10 Stoke City      22  -3  29
11 West Ham Utd    21  -3  26
12 Norwich City    22 -10  26
13 Fulham          22  -5  25
14 Sunderland      22  -5  25
15 Southampton     22 -10  22
16 Newcastle Utd   22 -12  21
17 Wigan Athletic  22 -17  19
-----------------------------
18 Aston Villa     22 -25  19
19 Reading         22 -16  16
20 QPR             22 -19  14

MCIVTA FAQ [v1112.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Philip Alcock)         : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org
News/rumour                      : 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 by email. Unfortunately we cannot accept email attachments.

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

http://www.mcivta.com/ 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. You can also follow on www.twitter.com/mcivta to get the latest updates.

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

The official club web site can be found at http://www.mcfc.co.uk/ and the official club Twitter page at www.twitter.com/mcfc. The club also has a facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/mcfcofficial

[5] What supporters’ clubs are there?

The Official Supporters’ Club and the Centenary Supporters’ Association have merged to become the Manchester City Supporters’ Club (http://www.mcfcsupportersclub.com/). The club also recognise the Manchester City Disabled Supporters’ Association (http://www.mcdsa.co.uk/).

[6] Where can I find out about Points of Blue?

The committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. Points of Blue appears on the club website under the “Fans” heading (http://www.mcfc.co.uk/Fans).

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

Live match commentary can be found on the club website. The Radio Manchester pre- and post-match phone-in is available on the web at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/england/manchester/.

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

http://www.satfootball.com/ provides a listing of Premier League games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels. A useful site for North American viewers is http://msn.foxsports.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://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/Usenet

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

There are a number available and direct links can be found at http://www.mcivta.com/players/

[11] Do any squad members have their own Twitter accounts?

A list of genuine player accounts is maintained at http://twitter.com/#!/MCFC/players

[12] Where can I find match statistics?

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

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.

Philip Alcock, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: