Foreign Fans

[Deleted member 77198]

For better or for worse, football at the highest level is a business. It has been for a long time. Leagues and owners have just found new/different ways to make money.

I do see the point you are making. I'm sure when automobiles started to become prevalent early in the last century many did not like them, hated them and wondered what was wrong with using a wagon/coach/buggy. Same with mobile phones. I resisted getting one for some time. When I did get one I rarely turned it on or used it. Why should I? Things change, mate. Even things we like that are perfectly good to begin with change.

I'm not certain it is just Americanisation of English football. It is more globalisation such as is taking place with so many things. I understand where you are coming from here. I'm not much of a globalist, myself.

Ever thought about turning to follow a lower league/non-league club? There are a good number around Manchester and the surrounding area. I know you are City and you can still love them and still be a fan but since you don't like the way things are headed this may be a way to get something back you feel you've lost.

I read recently a story on BBC Football about a small club in Wales that is truly a community club. The club shop is staffed by volunteers, same as the restaurant. The kitman was volunteer until the players decided to pay him a wage from their salary.

I know something smaller wouldn't be the same but it might well give you some happiness again with football. Goodness knows the club would appreciate you spending £ with them and attending matches.

Certainly hope you don't take this as malicious as no malice was meant. Take care, mate.

Not at all mate. It's only a discussion afterall, never take offence to what people say generally neither.

It would be difficult that. I'm a City fan, nothing else. I could go and watch Wythenshawe Town or Altrincham but I have no feelings towards those clubs. I've been singing City songs, wearing City kits and going to games since I was a a little kid. The only other clubs from Manchester Trafford and Salford are the Rags (no fucking chance), Salford City (no fucking chance) and Soccer Club United of Manchester (no fucking chance). And I'm not from Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale or Bury so I wouldn't go and support any of those sides. My family is from Moss Side, Wythenshawe and Timperley and they are all (bar one Uncle on each side of the family) Blues, I was born at St Mary's hospital, I've had family going to watch City since the Hyde Road days and it's in my blood. I am a Mancunian City fan and I will never be anything else.

I don't feel like City need to be this globally concentrating club. I don't feel like Barça give off that vibe like Premier League clubs do. Maybe because they are fan owned, have a production line of Catalan players in their team all the time and are from Catalonia and try and push that Catalan identity because of the militant history of Catalonia:Spain. Barça, to me, come across as a club for their city and region. And that's their selling point to its worldwide fanbase. I feel that with City that's becoming less and less. I feel like City are trying to be a worldwide club to entice a worldwide fanbase when pushing a Mancunian slant on things with the culture of this city, would be a big selling point anyway. If we are to aim to get a global fanbase, that's fine. But I also want the club to push the Mancunianness too. Even little things like having a Blue Moon sound wave on the kit; what's that got to do with Manchester? I don't even like that being our club song (I think it's a fucking dreary chant!). I would rather we had the Manchester skyline stitched into the kit. We seem to push the Moon more than we do Manchester. Over the years we've had Moonchester and Moonbeam, the Blue Moon soundwaves, the Blue Moon lights off thing, a Blue Moon on the centre circle, the Blue Moon lyrics near the bridge outside the stadium. The club are obsessed with this stupid Blue Moon gimmick. We're from Manchester, not the fucking Moon. We need to just have some things Mancunian coming out of the club now. I've had enough of the Moon bollocks, in fact I don't like it at all.

We have done things in the past like:

(This^advertising campaign around Manchester)

(Can't find a pic but when we brought out this^kit in 2009 we had wall art around the City promotion it with the Manchester worker bee on walls - you can see the beehive hexagons in the background of that image)

(This^wall mural of it at the foot of the Mancunian Way/Fairfield Street - "Be Part Of It" just felt like a collective localised message to us all)

(And who can forget this^?)

Whereas in recent years we've had NONE of this sort of stuff [EDIT: We have the Manchester Bee printing this month but would the club have thought of that without the bomb?] Bit with the "City in the City" inviting cockneys to games, with the constant waves of nobodies who would turn up at any Premier League ground with their half'n'half scarves that the club seem to love, with the constantly growing section in our away ends that even have fans of the home team in, with the glass tunnel bollocks kicking fans out from their seats and in some cases not offering seats in other areas of the ground, the things in the big screen with a video of Kompany saying "I'd like to say welcome to our visitors from the Philippines, we hope you enjoy the game", even the "Cityzens" thing isn't aimed at local fans it's aimed at a worldwide fanbase.

I just feel like we're losing our Mancunian identity. The club are forgetting about its local fans.

Fair enough, aim high and wide but keep pushing the Mancunian element. This city is special. It's people are great. I've been to London, it's a shithole full of wankers. Manchester is something to be proud of, we are the club of this city and we should push it far more than we do. That might go some way to getting a bit of a vibe back to the local fans.

I know people on here don't seem to mind the worldwide fanbase but I know my mates and I, and other fans like us, resent the worldwide fans simply because the club seem only to be bothered with them. Maybe that might explain why the atmosphere is often so flat in the ground. City have managed to quash the buzz from our fanbase. Which isn't helped with the Premier League as a whole being be same. Pandering to nobodies from nowhere. English football culture needs an injection of traditionalism. Give us our fucking football back! The culture of football in England is not like NFL or NBA fan culture and we shouldn't be trying to make it that way. European and South American football fan culture is special and on another level to any other sports fans culture and we should be pushing that!

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

Not at all mate. It's only a discussion afterall, never take offence to what people say generally neither.

It would be difficult that. I'm a City fan, nothing else. I could go and watch Wythenshawe Town or Altrincham but I have no feelings towards those clubs. I've been singing City songs, wearing City kits and going to games since I was a a little kid. The only other clubs from Manchester Trafford and Salford are the Rags (no fucking chance), Salford City (no fucking chance) and Soccer Club United of Manchester (no fucking chance). And I'm not from Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale or Bury so I wouldn't go and support any of those sides. My family is from Moss Side, Wythenshawe and Timperley and they are all (bar one Uncle on each side of the family) Blues, I was born at St Mary's hospital, I've had family going to watch City since the Hyde Road days and it's in my blood. I am a Mancunian City fan and I will never be anything else.

I don't feel like City need to be this globally concentrating club. I don't feel like Barça give off that vibe like Premier League clubs do. Maybe because they are fan owned, have a production line of Catalan players in their team all the time and are from Catalonia and try and push that Catalan identity because of the militant history of Catalonia:Spain. Barça, to me, come across as a club for their city and region. And that's their selling point to its worldwide fanbase. I feel that with City that's becoming less and less. I feel like City are trying to be a worldwide club to entice a worldwide fanbase when pushing a Mancunian slant on things with the culture of this city, would be a big selling point anyway. If we are to aim to get a global fanbase, that's fine. But I also want the club to push the Mancunianness too. Even little things like having a Blue Moon sound wave on the kit; what's that got to do with Manchester? I don't even like that being our club song (I think it's a fucking dreary chant!). I would rather we had the Manchester skyline stitched into the kit. We seem to push the Moon more than we do Manchester. Over the years we've had Moonchester and Moonbeam, the Blue Moon soundwaves, the Blue Moon lights off thing, a Blue Moon on the centre circle, the Blue Moon lyrics near the bridge outside the stadium. The club are obsessed with this stupid Blue Moon gimmick. We're from Manchester, not the fucking Moon. We need to just have some things Mancunian coming out of the club now. I've had enough of the Moon bollocks, in fact I don't like it at all.

We have done things in the past like:

(This^advertising campaign around Manchester)

(Can't find a pic but when we brought out this^kit in 2009 we had wall art around the City promotion it with the Manchester worker bee on walls - you can see the beehive hexagons in the background of that image)

(This^wall mural of it at the foot of the Mancunian Way/Fairfield Street - "Be Part Of It" just felt like a collective localised message to us all)

(And who can forget this^?)

Whereas in recent years we've had NONE of this sort of stuff [EDIT: We have the Manchester Bee printing this month but would the club have thought of that without the bomb?] Bit with the "City in the City" inviting cockneys to games, with the constant waves of nobodies who would turn up at any Premier League ground with their half'n'half scarves that the club seem to love, with the constantly growing section in our away ends that even have fans of the home team in, with the glass tunnel bollocks kicking fans out from their seats and in some cases not offering seats in other areas of the ground, the things in the big screen with a video of Kompany saying "I'd like to say welcome to our visitors from the Philippines, we hope you enjoy the game", even the "Cityzens" thing isn't aimed at local fans it's aimed at a worldwide fanbase.

I just feel like we're losing our Mancunian identity. The club are forgetting about its local fans.

Fair enough, aim high and wide but keep pushing the Mancunian element. This city is special. It's people are great. I've been to London, it's a shithole full of wankers. Manchester is something to be proud of, we are the club of this city and we should push it far more than we do. That might go some way to getting a bit of a vibe back to the local fans.

I know people on here don't seem to mind the worldwide fanbase but I know my mates and I, and other fans like us, resent the worldwide fans simply because the club seem only to be bothered with them. Maybe that might explain why the atmosphere is often so flat in the ground. City have managed to quash the buzz from our fanbase. Which isn't helped with the Premier League as a whole being be same. Pandering to nobodies from nowhere. English football culture needs an injection of traditionalism. Give us our fucking football back! The culture of football in England is not like NFL or NBA fan culture and we shouldn't be trying to make it that way. European and South American football fan culture is special and on another level to any other sports fans culture and we should be pushing that!

Okay, I get it. I enjoyed reading this, and I see your point. If one grew up in Moss Side especially. The irony is that the primary reason I as an American became a City fan is that I love Manchester, at least what I know and have seen of it, or my concept of it. I love the industrial history, the people, the music, the trains, the grit, the defiance and pride, even the crap weather (which always seems to be better than advertised when I'm there for some reason) and the fact that it isn't London (though I like London too). I think I've been out a dozen times or so now, and I enjoyed the matches I went to in the mid-2000s when I first started more for the atmosphere than the results; now it's the reverse. I never considered that City might be successful on the pitch one day. But I'm lucky I can get out once a year, and I am definitely in the minority with why I follow the club and how as a foreigner.

 

[Carver]

Rainfall, it's a myth. Manchester is not as rainy as you would think and came 8th in a survey of annual rainfall in U.K. 'Cities' (though I don't know when or if Blackpool and Huddersfield became cities).

What probably sets manchester apart is the drizzle.

 

[idahoblues]

Rainfall, it's a myth. Manchester is not as rainy as you would think and came 8th in a survey of annual rainfall in U.K. 'Cities' (though I don't know when or if Blackpool and Huddersfield became cities).

What probably sets manchester apart is the drizzle.

It sure as fuck proved it can rain last year as my first visit to the etihad was a Tuesday night for Borrussia.....that was a crazy fucking storm

 

[p.taker]

I grew up playing football (soccer :)), but where I'm from (North Dakota) it's just an entirely different world. I played two months of the year and quit by the time I was 11 or 12 as my friends didn't want to play anymore. I would become what I suppose you could call a "World Cup fan" and I assume that started in '94. I got into FIFA on the 32/64 bit consoles and perhaps there was some foreshadowing into my future love of the sport when I purchased Ultimate Soccer Manager in the late 90's. I played a lot of the football simulations in the late 90's/early 2000s, but finally ran across Championship Manager/FM in 2004. Initially it was a bit overwhelming for me, but I became absolutely addicted to the game in 2006 and I've purchased every iteration since.

I'm a more than casual fan of many sports and I follow pretty much all of the local Minnesota/Minneapolis teams in some capacity. When I decided to adopt a Premier League club there was nothing even comparable around me - I'm literally hundreds of miles away from the nearest big city and Minneapolis only had a 2nd division club that didn't televise matches and I can only assume had a very speculative online presence. A struggling student that wants to start following footie does not then decide to drive 500 miles roundtrip to follow a club that was most likely going to plunder. Instead, he buys a cable TV package for the first time to take advantage of Fox Soccer Channel. That would allow me to watch at least a handful of matches of the same club (omg wow!!1) over the course of a season.

My join date will always make me feel a bit uncomfortable, but it is when I started following the club. However, I didn't choose City because they were recently bought by the Sheikh and were destined for glory. I didn't know anything about the takeover before my decision was made, I didn't know about Robinho, and I sure as hell didn't know City were going to become one of the largest clubs in the world. I don't consider myself a glory hunter at all, that's just not what happened. The number one factor in my decision to follow the club was because by default I was supposed to choose United and I decided to do the opposite. The rags are the New York Yankees equivalent and I fucking hate the Yankees. I also loved the sky blue of city's kits. That's really how it started and I will not be apologizing for it going down that way anytime soon. :)

Fast forward a bit and I have to believe I'm one of the biggest American superfans of the club. I will do whatever it takes to catch any City match. I once spent 10 dollars so I could download our preseason match against AC Millan from a file sharing site and over the years I have spent thousands on satellite TV. Before CityWatch was around I followed 'The Lonesome Death of Roy Carroll' blog by Jack Pitt-Brooke. Speaking of CityWatch, it caused me to sign up for Twitter, which is something I thought I would never do. And it's the only account I follow. I have to avoid spoilers like you wouldn't believe, we all have to over here. I work a regular hours job and avoiding the European results is especially treacherous. I'm a single dad of a young one and often have to watch our league matches late at night after she has gone to bed. Doing these kinds of things involves me having to turn off Twitter notifications, avoid Blue Moon, and not click on half of my Chrome favorites.

I've only met one person that I can talk about football with face to face - imagine that! He's a recent co-worker of mine and lucky for me he's an Arsenal fan. I have been giving him grief over Sanchez even before his interest became apparent. I streamed the Vodacom Challenge, I've listened to many FA cup matches on BBC Radio, and I've paid hundreds of dollars in shipping-only to get apparel from the official City store.

I wouldn't ask the longtime local fans to take me in as their own, but to only accept me for what I am and know what the club means to me. I didn't grow up with it, but it's become a gigantic part of my life and who I am now. And unless my internet is choked off there is nothing that will change that - CTID. If my poor ass ever makes it over there I hope I can shake hands with many of you.

 

[Chris Holmes]

Rainfall, it's a myth. Manchester is not as rainy as you would think and came 8th in a survey of annual rainfall in U.K. 'Cities' (though I don't know when or if Blackpool and Huddersfield became cities).

What probably sets manchester apart is the drizzle.

Analysis of Met Office climate records going back to 1981 show Manchester has averaged just 86.7cms of rain every year, compared to 115cms in Cardiff, Britain's wettest city.

Manchester may be known as 'the Rainy City' - but when it comes to Britain's wettest towns and cities, it barely makes the top 10.
Analysis of Met Office climate records going back to 1981 show Manchester has averaged just 86.7cms of rain every year.
That pales in comparison to the 115cms of rain racked up by Cardiff - the wettest city in Britain.
Glasgow (112cms) is second, Preston (103.4cms) third, and Huddersfield (102.8cms) fourth.
Manchester comes in eighth - behind Plymouth and Blackpool, too.

The Trinity Mirror Data Unit analysed climate figures for dozens of the largest cities and towns across Britain.
We looked at data for the Met Office monitoring station nearest to the centre of each place.
While Manchester's 'rainy' reputation might be somewhat overstated, it is still considerably wetter than cities in the south and east.
London - the driest place in the country - gets just 56cms a rain each year, with Ipswich, Cambridge and Middlesbrough not far behind.
There is more gloomy news, too - while Manchester may be only eighth in terms of total rain, it does get more rainy days than most.
The data shows it rains at least a little bit on 151.7 days a year, on average. Only Glasgow (170.3 days), Huddersfield (154.4 days), and Preston (153.2 days) fare worse.

 

[CC1]

I grew up playing football (soccer :)), but where I'm from (North Dakota) it's just an entirely different world. I played two months of the year and quit by the time I was 11 or 12 as my friends didn't want to play anymore. I would become what I suppose you could call a "World Cup fan" and I assume that started in '94. I got into FIFA on the 32/64 bit consoles and perhaps there was some foreshadowing into my future love of the sport when I purchased Ultimate Soccer Manager in the late 90's. I played a lot of the football simulations in the late 90's/early 2000s, but finally ran across Championship Manager/FM in 2004. Initially it was a bit overwhelming for me, but I became absolutely addicted to the game in 2006 and I've purchased every iteration since.

I'm a more than casual fan of many sports and I follow pretty much all of the local Minnesota/Minneapolis teams in some capacity. When I decided to adopt a Premier League club there was nothing even comparable around me - I'm literally hundreds of miles away from the nearest big city and Minneapolis only had a 2nd division club that didn't televise matches and I can only assume had a very speculative online presence. A struggling student that wants to start following footie does not then decide to drive 500 miles roundtrip to follow a club that was most likely going to plunder. Instead, he buys a cable TV package for the first time to take advantage of Fox Soccer Channel. That would allow me to watch at least a handful of matches of the same club (omg wow!!1) over the course of a season.

My join date will always make me feel a bit uncomfortable, but it is when I started following the club. However, I didn't choose City because they were recently bought by the Sheikh and were destined for glory. I didn't know anything about the takeover before my decision was made, I didn't know about Robinho, and I sure as hell didn't know City were going to become one of the largest clubs in the world. I don't consider myself a glory hunter at all, that's just not what happened. The number one factor in my decision to follow the club was because by default I was supposed to choose United and I decided to do the opposite. The rags are the New York Yankees equivalent and I fucking hate the Yankees. I also loved the sky blue of city's kits. That's really how it started and I will not be apologizing for it going down that way anytime soon. :)

Fast forward a bit and I have to believe I'm one of the biggest American superfans of the club. I will do whatever it takes to catch any City match. I once spent 10 dollars so I could download our preseason match against AC Millan from a file sharing site and over the years I have spent thousands on satellite TV. Before CityWatch was around I followed 'The Lonesome Death of Roy Carroll' blog by Jack Pitt-Brooke. Speaking of CityWatch, it caused me to sign up for Twitter, which is something I thought I would never do. And it's the only account I follow. I have to avoid spoilers like you wouldn't believe, we all have to over here. I work a regular hours job and avoiding the European results is especially treacherous. I'm a single dad of a young one and often have to watch our league matches late at night after she has gone to bed. Doing these kinds of things involves me having to turn off Twitter notifications, avoid Blue Moon, and not click on half of my Chrome favorites.

I've only met one person that I can talk about football with face to face - imagine that! He's a recent co-worker of mine and lucky for me he's an Arsenal fan. I have been giving him grief over Sanchez even before his interest became apparent. I streamed the Vodacom Challenge, I've listened to many FA cup matches on BBC Radio, and I've paid hundreds of dollars in shipping-only to get apparel from the official City store.

I wouldn't ask the longtime local fans to take me in as their own, but to only accept me for what I am and know what the club means to me. I didn't grow up with it, but it's become a gigantic part of my life and who I am now. And unless my internet is choked off there is nothing that will change that - CTID. If my poor ass ever makes it over there I hope I can shake hands with many of you.

Not sure what's been posted previously - I can't be bothered to read it as I don't understand what the problem is. As far as I'm concerned you are very very welcome pal and hope you get over here to watch YOUR team. We want to have as many fans as possible and you don't seem to be a short term glory supporter

 

[roj]

Not sure what's been posted previously - I can't be bothered to read it as I don't understand what the problem is. As far as I'm concerned you are very very welcome pal and hope you get over here to watch YOUR team. We want to have as many fans as possible and you don't seem to be a short term glory supporter

When you've some time to kill, go back and read some of the other stories. It's a good thread (imo).

 

[CC1]

When you've some time to kill, go back and read some of the other stories. It's a good thread (imo).[/QUOTE


Ah. Ok, sorry if misunderstood the situation. It's just that I read criticism so often about so called 'plastic' fans, I thought it was a glory hunter persecution thread.

I was thrilled to see so many foreign fans at the USA games. It's great to know our team is now appreciated and loved world wide.

 

[GX Blue]

It sure as fuck proved it can rain last year as my first visit to the etihad was a Tuesday night for Borrussia.....that was a crazy fucking storm

Haha if that was your first trip to the Etihad and you'd heard Manchester was known for its rainfall then that's a really funny story. I've lived in Manchester all my 35 years and I've never seen rain like that night. It was incredible. That was a one off. Tends to just drizzle a lot more than that torrential downpour you witnessed.

Minnesota blue - Another amazing story. You are just as much a blue as the rest of us.