City and Religion

We all know about football and religion coming from Belfast. I was a mad Rangers supporter growing up as a kid,but that was all you knew,and it was bred into you. But eventually grew out of that and city was my main team in the early 90,s. I didn't know anyone apart from one guy in work who supported city. Was all rags and pool fans. Travelling over to the games,and meeting other city fans from northern Ireland, most seemed to be from protestant area,s. But religion was never talked about. Only our love for city! It's great seeing more kids over here supporting city now,that's what success brings. I could hardly name a rangers player now, Scottish football is so poor
 
Belfastblue90 said:
We all know about football and religion coming from Belfast. I was a mad Rangers supporter growing up as a kid,but that was all you knew,and it was bred into you. But eventually grew out of that and city was my main team in the early 90,s. I didn't know anyone apart from one guy in work who supported city. Was all rags and pool fans. Travelling over to the games,and meeting other city fans from northern Ireland, most seemed to be from protestant area,s. But religion was never talked about. Only our love for city! It's great seeing more kids over here supporting city now,that's what success brings. I could hardly name a rangers player now, Scottish football is so poor
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Also a few northern Ireland players during my time.
Whitley brothers
Kevin Horlick
Steve Lomas
Michael Huges
 
Tim of the Oak said:
There were Rangers fans sat in front of me who celebrated wildly when Wigan scored the winner against us in the FA Cup Final.
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Yeah, definitely a fact that not all Rangers fans have that old fan link between the two set of fans (or City the other way).

Obviously, from our side, many lost that link after the 2008 riot in Manchester and there was also a bit of animosity at the friendly at Ibrox in 2009 with some Rangers fans singing songs at us about our takeover, ‘losing your soul’ or something, especially younger Rangers fans who unfurled some banner about it - despite other City and Rangers fans drinking together earlier in the day.

Some have an attitude of ‘Dirty Oil Money’ towards us and don’t like us. Yet other Rangers fans have flags like this:

IMG_8389.jpeg

Then there are others with more fan links to Chelsea, and others to Hamburg.

It’s like Feyenoord the other night - I remember seeing Feyenoord fans in the pub as they’d come down to support City for a PL game in about 2004. Yet, last week, they were quite twattish towards us and singing ‘Arne Slot na na na na na na’ at us in Town.

I’ve never been able to get ‘with’ the Rangers or Celtic thing though. I never minded Rangers fans being City fans too but I never felt I could reciprocate it. I’ve never liked the Old Firm’s fan cultures, the sectarian nature of it just completely makes me feel I don’t want anything to do with it.

I realise this has nowt to do with religion, mind…
 
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Big suppoprt too from the Jewish community - with Spurs and Arsenal poissibly with the largest support - City next, way above the Rags from my experiance. Trautmann was famously suppported very vocally by Rabbi Altmann when he arrived. And obvioulsy the excitement levels went sky high when Eyal Berkovic sigined.
 
M23 Citizen said:
Yeah, definitely a fact that not all Rangers fans have that old fan link between the two set of fans (or City the other way).

Obviously, from our side, many lost that link after the 2008 riot in Manchester and there was also a bit of animosity at the friendly at Ibrox in 2009 with some Rangers fans singing songs at us about our takeover, ‘losing your soul’ or something, especially younger Rangers fans who unfurled some banner about it - despite other City and Rangers fans drinking together earlier in the day.

Some have an attitude of ‘Dirty Oil Money’ towards us and don’t like us. Yet other Rangers fans have flags like this:

View attachment 139390

Then there are others with more fan links to Chelsea, and others to Hamburg.

It’s like Feyenoord the other night - I remember seeing Feyenoord fans in the pub as they’d come down to support City for a PL game in about 2004. Yet, last week, they were quite twattish towards us and singing ‘Arne Slot na na na na na na’ at us in Town.

I realise this has nowt to do with religion, mind…

I’ve never been able to get ‘with’ the Rangers or Celtic thing though. I never minded Rangers fans being City fans too but I never felt I could reciprocate it. I’ve never liked the Old Firm’s fan cultures, the sectarian nature of it just completely makes me feel I don’t want anything to do with it.

I’m glad that any original or old City religious connections disappeared early doors with our club and fan culture.
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Yes it’s interesting how different elements of the same fanbase can be polar opposites with regards to us. The OSC Branch that I run, Harrogate, was formed by two avid Rangers fans with a healthy slice of good luck. They and thousands of other Rangers fans had gone to Blackpool for a bank holiday game that had been advertised as against the rags. There was a misprint and the opponents were City. Lewis and Tracey fell in love with City and shared their allegiances with Rangers.

On Tuesday, I and some mates met up with the Feyenord Supporters Club for several beers in town. We have met them a few times and get on like a house on fire. I know away fans see it as their duty to wind up the home fans though YNWA felt a step too far.
 
Tim of the Oak said:
Yes it’s interesting how different elements of the same fanbase can be polar opposites with regards to us. The OSC Branch that I run, Harrogate, was formed by two avid Rangers fans with a healthy slice of good luck. They and thousands of other Rangers fans had gone to Blackpool for a bank holiday game that had been advertised as against the rags. There was a misprint and the opponents were City. Lewis and Tracey fell in love with City and shared their allegiances with Rangers.

On Tuesday, I and some mates met up with the Feyenord Supporters Club for several beers in town. We have met them a few times and get on like a house on fire. I know away fans see it as their duty to wind up the home fans though YNWA felt a step too far.
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Only thing I like really about Rangers is their Great Britain iconography. I think the Union Flag is proper cool. Got socks I wear for work, the underside of my umbrella and a cushion at home all in the Union Flag.

I always supported Great Britain rugby league when they were big when I was a kid and Great Britain at the Olympics so always liked the Great Britain teams in sport.

Again, I realise this has nowt to do with religion.
 
More to do with religion…

I’m glad that any original or old City religious connections disappeared early doors with our club and fan culture. Especially as I’m someone who doesn’t believe in any gods.

Always hated this banner:

IMG_8392.jpeg

And when City fans refer to City as ‘God’s own club’……… sling it!
 
I’m an older City fan and have np been watching the blues since the mid 70s. My mum and that side of my family are Glaswegian and Protestants. They are therefore on the Rangers side. I was brought up to understand that City were mainly Protestant and Utd catholic. It’s something that has remained with me, and whilst I do still believe it’s true, it’s far less obvious than the
Protestant/ Catholic divide that exists in Glasgow.
 
I've said it before, I honestly think City's protestant, queen and country tradition was a factor in keeping so much of our fan base loyal in the dark days of the 90s. I had an Irish mum and all my nominally Catholic in Dublin are rags. In Ireland the rags and dippers have massive support probably Arsenal next. Maybe different now but never met a blue in Dublin , got a kicking there for wearing my City shirt to a friendly against Celtic in the early 90s, deserved it for naivety.
 
I'd always heard this chestnut. But I've seen very, very little concrete evidence of it over the years. I think there's some truth in the United/Irish/Catholic connection. By the way, didn't Best come from a Protestant family, incidentally? I'm pretty sure Whiteside did.
Never heard any chant on the terraces that could possibly be construed as Unionist, or favouring the Unionists particularly. Never heard a chant in favour of the Primate of All England (as he is so delightfully described).
What I did hear when we bored out of our skulls by a match that was just going through the motions (and yes, they did exist!) was “Celtic, Rangers, Celtic, Rangers, Celtic, Rangers” being started by wags at the back of the Kippax. Just to wake themselves (and us) up…
 
M23 Citizen said:
More to do with religion…

I’m glad that any original or old City religious connections disappeared early doors with our club and fan culture. Especially as I’m someone who doesn’t believe in any gods.

Always hated this banner:

View attachment 139397

And when City fans refer to City as ‘God’s own club’……… sling it!
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It's just a bit of bantz, you know. Completely tongue in cheek.
 
blue44 said:
Sammy McIlroy too.
i remember him getting booed most kicks he had at MR with him having played at a certain other club !
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I recall mcllroy saying he got booed cos he played for the rags. No he got booed cos he was shit. He got extra boos cos he played for the rags
 
Mr Fraser said:
I recall mcllroy saying he got booed cos he played for the rags. No he got booed cos he was shit. He got extra boos cos he played for the rags
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I agree with all of that,but thats how shit we were then anyway to buy a rag like him,maybe we got him on a free ,i can't remember
 
M23 Citizen said:
And Northern Irish. One of our greatest ever legends, Peter Doherty.

Not really, from what I remember. The IRA bombed Manchester four times and nearby Warrington twice, between 1992-1996. I think there was more of a reaction from England’s hardcore football fans about it than City and United’s.

There was nothing directed at any players at City around it.
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Lomas, Horlock, the Whitley brothers, Neil Lennon, Gerry Taggart (i think? wasn't he at City)
 
In my early football lifetime 1940s onwards Celtic ever only signed catholic players, Rangers protestant. City and United never ever did this. The religious links are tenuous.
 
SteveinBeds said:
I happen to be CofE and a lifetime City supporter. I was at a school on Princess Road and walked to City matches in the evenings and after school on Saturday mornings. Almost everyone at school was a City supporter and most, but by no means all, boys at the nearby RC school supported the Rags. I remember my mother telling me not to go out with my City scarf in 1962 ( I was eight) on Easter Sunday when the RC marches were taking place.

Does any of this ancient history matter? Not at all. We just need to be comfortable with the fact that it was only the churches in the nineteenth century that had the structures and inclination to run local sports teams. Our support never had anything to do with the worst excesses of sectarianism. More generally, thankfully Manchester (and most UK cities) have moved on and the linkage was always very loose. I have recollections of cheering the halftime results when Rangers and Liverpool were winning but could not have explained why; it was just what you did and had become a habit.
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The Manchester Catholic walks were held on Whit weekends. Think your mum got mixed up.
 
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