# 1965–66 Manchester City F.C. season

The 1965–66 season was Manchester City F.C.'s seventy-fourth season of league football, and second consecutive season back in the Football League Second Division. The three-season stay in the Second Division was City's longest run of seasons outside the top flight since the 1890s, which would not be broken again until their four-season run from 1996 to 2000.
This season is widely believed to have been the start of Manchester City's golden era, a period largely concurrent with the reign of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison as managers at the club, and then of the aftermath of the break-up of the partnership. This season began City's highest concentration of silverware to seasons played - winning the Second Division for a record sixth time in this season, the club would claim the Football League First Division title, the FA Cup, the Football League Cup twice, the Charity Shield twice, and in European competition the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup all within the space of the ten seasons following.
This season also saw the club sign several players who would become iconic figures in Manchester City's history - Mike Summerbee, George Heslop, and Colin Bell were all signed near the start of the season. Not coincidentally, the season and the seasons following also saw the presence of some of the club's longest-serving players. Four of the club's ten players with the most appearances for the club played during this season - Bell, Summerbee, Alan Oakes, and Mike Doyle - and a further three of those ten - Joe Corrigan, Tommy Booth and Willie Donachie - would join within the following three seasons.

## Football League Second Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Manchester City (C, P) | 42 | 22 | 15 | 5 | 76 | 44 | 1.727 | 59 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 2 | Southampton (P) | 42 | 22 | 10 | 10 | 85 | 56 | 1.518 | 54 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 3 | Coventry City | 42 | 20 | 13 | 9 | 73 | 53 | 1.377 | 53 | |
| 4 | Huddersfield Town | 42 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 62 | 36 | 1.722 | 51 | |
| 5 | Bristol City | 42 | 17 | 17 | 8 | 63 | 48 | 1.313 | 51 | |

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 42 | 22 | 15 | 5 | 76 | 44 | 1.727 | 59 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 40 | 14 | 35 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 36 | 30 | 24 |
Source: rsssf.com

### Reports

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Venue | Result F – A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 21 August 1965 | Middlesbrough | A | Ayresome Park | 1 – 1 | Murray | 17,982 |
| 25 August 1965 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | Maine Road | 2 – 1 | ? (o.g.) (2) | 25,572 |
| 28 August 1965 | Bristol City | H | Maine Road | 2 – 2 | Brand, ? (o.g.) | 19,349 |
| 30 August 1965 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | Molineux | 4 – 2 | Doyle, Crossan, Murray, ? (o.g.) | 22,799 |
| 4 September 1965 | Coventry City | A | Highfield Road | 3 – 3 | Young (2), Murray | 29,403 |
| 8 September 1965 | Norwich City | H | Maine Road | Abandoned at half-time due to flooding 1 – 1 | Young | 13,235 |
| 11 September 1965 | Carlisle United | H | Maine Road | 2 – 1 | Pardoe (2) | 22,891 |
| 15 September 1965 | Norwich City | A | Carrow Road | 3 – 3 | Pardoe (2), Crossan | 16,381 |
| 18 September 1965 | Cardiff City | A | Ninian Park | 3 – 4 | Murray, Pardoe, Gray | 11,520 |
| 25 September 1965 | Derby County | H | Maine Road | 1 – 0 | Murray | 20,834 |
| 2 October 1965 | Southampton | A | The Dell | 1 – 0 | Young | 21,504 |
| 9 October 1965 | Huddersfield Town | A | Leeds Road | 0 – 0 | | 31,876 |
| 16 October 1965 | Crystal Palace | H | Maine Road | 3 – 1 | Pardoe (2), Young | 24,765 |
| 23 October 1965 | Preston North End | A | Deepdale | 3 – 0 | Young (2), Brand | 25,117 |
| 27 October 1965 | Norwich City | H | Maine Road | 0 – 0 | | 34,091 |
| 30 October 1965 | Charlton Athletic | H | Maine Road | 0 – 0 | | 23,102 |
| 6 November 1965 | Plymouth Argyle | A | Home Park | 0 – 1 | | 15,954 |
| 13 November 1965 | Portsmouth | H | Maine Road | 3 – 1 | Murray (2), Pardoe | 22,106 |
| 20 November 1965 | Bolton Wanderers | A | Burnden Park | 0 – 1 | | 22,968 |
| 27 November 1965 | Ipswich Town | H | Maine Road | 2 – 1 | Crossan (2) | 19,416 |
| 4 December 1965 | Birmingham City | A | St Andrews | 1 – 3 | Summerbee | 10,442 |
| 11 December 1965 | Leyton Orient | H | Maine Road | 5 – 0 | Young (3), Summerbee, Crossan | 16,202 |
| 18 December 1965 | Crystal Palace | A | Selhurst Park | 2 – 0 | Doyle (2) | 12,847 |
| 1 January 1966 | Huddersfield Town | H | Maine Road | 2 – 0 | Doyle, Crossan | 47,171 |
| 8 January 1966 | Portsmouth | A | Fratton Park | 2 – 2 | Doyle, Summerbee | 17,352 |
| 12 January 1966 | Rotherham United | H | Maine Road | 3 – 1 | Doyle (2), Crossan | 25,526 |
| 15 January 1966 | Preston North End | H | Maine Road | 0 – 0 | | 26,668 |
| 29 January 1966 | Middlesbrough | H | Maine Road | 3 – 1 | Summerbee (2), Young | 25,278 |
| 5 February 1966 | Bristol City | A | Ashton Gate | 1 – 1 | Young | 25,273 |
| 19 February 1966 | Coventry City | H | Maine Road | 1 – 0 | Crossan | 40,190 |
| 26 February 1966 | Carlisle United | A | Brunton Park | 2 – 1 | Summerbee, Pardoe | 9,000 |
| 12 March 1966 | Cardiff City | H | Maine Road | 2 – 2 | Connor, Young | 29,642 |
| 19 March 1966 | Derby County | A | Baseball Ground | 2 – 1 | Bell, Young | 22,533 |
| 2 April 1966 | Plymouth Argyle | H | Maine Road | 1 – 1 | Crossan | 24,087 |
| 8 April 1966 | Bury | H | Maine Road | 1 – 0 | Summerbee | 43,104 |
| 12 April 1966 | Bury | A | Gigg Lane | 1 – 2 | Summerbee | 21,437 |
| 16 April 1966 | Bolton Wanderers | H | Maine Road | 4 – 1 | Kennedy, Sear, Crossan, Connor | 29,459 |
| 23 April 1966 | Ipswich Town | A | Portman Road | 1 – 1 | Crossan | 15,995 |
| 30 April 1966 | Birmingham City | H | Maine Road | 3 – 1 | Bell, Young, Crossan | 28,409 |
| 4 May 1966 | Rotherham United | A | Millmoor | 1 – 0 | Bell | 11,376 |
| 7 May 1966 | Leyton Orient | A | Brisbane Road | 2 – 2 | Bell, ? (o.g.) | 6,109 |
| 13 May 1966 | Charlton Athletic | A | The Valley | 3 – 2 | Oakes, Crossan, Connor | 13,687 |
| 18 May 1966 | Southampton | H | Maine Road | 0 – 0 | | 34,653 |

## FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Venue | Result F – A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 22 January 1966 | Third round | Blackpool | A | Bloomfield Road | 1 – 1 | Crossan | 23,937 |
| 24 January 1966 | Third round replay | Blackpool | H | Maine Road | 3 – 1 | Summerbee, Doyle, Crossan | 52,661 |
| 12 February 1966 | Fourth round | Grimsby Town | H | Maine Road | 2 – 0 | Summerbee, ? (o.g.) | 37,918 |
| 5 March 1966 | Fifth round | Leicester City | H | Maine Road | 2 – 2 | Young (2) | 56,787 |
| 9 March 1966 | Fifth round replay | Leicester City | A | Filbert Street | 1 – 0 | Young | 41,872 |
| 26 March 1966 | Sixth round | Everton | H | Maine Road | 0 – 0 | | 63,034 |
| 29 March 1966 | Sixth round replay | Everton | A | Goodison Park | 0 – 0 | | 60,349 |
| 4 April 1966 | Sixth round second replay | Everton | N | Molineux | 0 – 2 | | 27,948 |

## League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Venue | Result F – A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 22 September 1965 | Second round | Leicester City | H | Maine Road | 3 – 1 | Murray, Pardoe, ? (o.g.) | 13,246 |
| 13 October 1965 | Third round | Coventry City | H | Maine Road | 2 – 3 | Crossan, Pardoe | 18,213 |

## Squad statistics
### Squad

Appearances for competitive matches only
| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Harry Dowd | 38 (0) | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 47 (0) | 0 |
| GK | Alan Ogley | 04 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 05 (0) | 0 |
| DF | Dave Bacuzzi | 15 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 (1) | 0 |
| DF | David Connor | 29 (1) | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 (1) | 4 |
| DF | Mike Doyle | 19 (1) | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 (1) | 8 |
| DF | George Heslop | 34 (0) | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 (0) | 0 |
| DF | Glyn Pardoe | 41 (1) | 9 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 51 (1) | 11 |
| DF | Cliff Sear | 19 (0) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 (0) | 1 |
| MF | Colin Bell | 11 (0) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 (0) | 4 |
| MF | Roy Cheetham | 12 (3) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 (3) | 0 |
| MF | Stan Horne | 15 (0) | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 (0) | 0 |
| MF | Bobby Kennedy | 35 (0) | 1 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 45 (0) | 1 |
| MF | Alan Oakes | 41 (0) | 1 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 51 (0) | 1 |
| FW | Ralph Brand | 17 (0) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 (0) | 2 |
| FW | Johnny Crossan | 40 (0) | 12 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 49 (0) | 15 |
| FW | Matt Gray | 03 (3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 04 (3) | 1 |
| FW | Jimmy Murray | 11 (0) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 (0) | 8 |
| FW | Mike Summerbee | 42 (0) | 8 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 52 (0) | 10 |
| FW | Alf Wood | 01 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 02 (1) | 0 |
| FW | Neil Young | 35 (0) | 14 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 44 (0) | 17 |
| -- | Vic Gomersall | 01 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 01 (0) | 0 |