God and games helped form Manchester City
God and games Like Everton, Manchester City owes its origins to a Church, in this case St Mark’s Church of West Gorton, an increasingly densely populated suburb that had been constructed on rural land from 1800 onwards. From the moment it was consecrated in 1865 Church organisers set out to develop a community spirit amongst local residents, many of whom were recent work seeking immigrants from rural England, Scotland, Ireland and the Continent, especially Italy and Germany. With little to do or places to meet after finishing work local youth were drawn to the thrill of bare knuckle fighting and Scuttling involving mass battles with rival gangs from Bradford or Miles Platting in which belts, slings, sticks and stones would be employed as weapons. Both sides would scatter if the police came on the scene only to reemerge at a later date. With West Gorton also beset with problems caused by alcohol the Church sought to develop alternative activities and Rector Arthur Connell en...