Sorry for the long post, but this is therapy for me, as I am just recovering from the embarrassment of yesterday, amplified by the three hours on the train back to London chatting with Brighton fans (who were all very friendly) about how terrible our atmosphere was. I’ve been to every one of our games at the AMEX, and it’s hardly a cauldron of fire, but it was hard to defend.
I got my season ticket in 1987 and have been home and away since then, despite being a London-based Blue, including Santander, Poznan, Lokeren and yes, one of the 345,000 at York away. I have spent a small fortune following this club, and my mid-week match-going journey normally means I am home at 4am, spending 5-6 hours going back down the M1 at 30mph, or overnight in a hotel.
I believe I have earnt the right to be a grumpy FOC – and yesterday was possibly a new low for me, even after the disaster of the Istanbul car park, the ESL nonsense and (name your favourite fuck up by the Club).
I am at the front of 326, CBL3, and I had four empty seats on my left, and other than the odd regular season card holder, didn’t know anyone else – and I have sat on the same seat, for almost every City game, since the Etihad opened.
I know that it’s easy to see everything that used to be as some perfect nostalgic past. I know football, like everything, has changed – and not everything in football back in the 70s, 80s and 90s was good; racism, violence, Peter Swales, overcrowding, policing, etc., and yes, not every game at Maine Road was rocking or the Kippax bursting at the seams – however – what there was, was a deep connection between us – the fans – and our Club.
All that mattered to me then was that the 11 lads who went out in Blue shirts put in 100% for 90 mins. I didn’t really care if we ‘never won at home, or never won away’, I just wanted to be with my mates, in a space where, for once a week, I could switch off from everything other than focus on the passion of the moment. And for most of that time (80s/90s) we were utterly shite – but it didn’t matter, because those occasional moments (beating the Rags 5-1, David White scoring 4 at Villa, coming back at Spurs in the cup) – were simply priceless.
And then, thanks to the Sheik everything started to change. At first it was like waking up in the best football dream you could ever have. The club looked to be seriously engaging with us, the fans. Discussions over season ticket prices, huge investment into the local area and campus, we were even part of the decision on the new club logo.
At the same time we were privilege to watch Sergio, Silva, Yaya, Vincent, Pablo, etc etc, and obviously the nirvana of 93:20. But what legacy fans like me didn’t also notice at the time is that this wasn’t just an investment into my beloved club by a benevolent billionaire, but a long term commercial strategic initiative by our owners to diversify from reliance on oil & gas into mass market ‘entertainment’.
City Football Group sends shivers down my spine. We might for now be at the top of their asset list – but, who knows what happens in the next two or three decades.
Whilst I have mostly huge gratitude and praise for Khaldoon for allowing us to experience all that we have in recent years, we all need to wake up and understand that CFG are a hugely ambitious commercial operations with only one single objective: making money.
And we legacy fans stand directly in the way of that. The new stand will be an atmosphere black hole. There will be even more tourists (I welcome anyone to support City, so this is not a judgement, but more a fact) than ever before – as their match day spend is almost double or triple than what we spend. We will support a new ESL and take part in every FIFA or UEFA shite competition they can come up with.
Every abandoned season card, is another win for CFG – so please don’t go. Please fight for our Club.
Yes, there are so many reasons why yesterday was so dire – Pep’s current style of play, a team in transition that’s burnt out and knackered, the traffic, the weather, the price, the 115, and yes, not every PL ground is rocking every game, but please, as long as you can justify the financial cost (which is getting harder and harder) – please don’t surrender your ownership of this Club.
I have spent so much of my life invested in City, that I would rather be the only one singing in 326 than abandon my club to empty seats, tourists and influencers. I promise you it’s worth fighting for – just remember what it’s given you, over generations, and it’s up to us legacy fans, not just to moan on here (but my god, it does feel good!), but to support things like 1894, City Matters boycotts, more season tickets, protecting discounts and tickets for 18-35s, and turning up and making your voice heard – even if no one’s listening.
