Emotionally connected to City..!

[krswanny]

In hindsight I have made too many decisions based on putting watching City first over the years but generally don't regret any of them and my love for City is unconditional.

As the OP says anyone (wife included) who hasn't the same love for a team/sport would consider it irrational behaviour :)

 

[Colin Bells Boots]

Every time I get over for a game, it's costing the thick end of €250-300, when flights and the hotel is taken into account. God knows what the cup final set me back in May. The ticket alone was £145 (all that was left when I qualified to buy one). Throw in flights and the hotel, and a bit of spending money (not that much), and it gets silly, for one match. Why the fuck do I do it?

Because you are an unsung hero Jim and a true City supporter. You and the many fans who spend thousands of pounds each year and travel huge distances to support our beloved team are the lifeblood of our wonderful club.

 

[Bill the Blue]

My attachment to City is as solid as ever even though I've just turned 60.

The real change is in my attachment to football in general. Firstly, I can no longer play so I have no personal input on the pitch. It makes a difference.

Then there's the media. Gone are the days of watching match of the day and Granada football on Sunday which, if nothing else, gave generally tolerable and even coverage to all clubs and the allegiances of the likes of David Coleman, Barry Davies and Gerald Sinstadt, if they had any, were professionally concealed. That's not a "jumpers for goalposts" type lament, it's a loathing of the dumbed down, partisan, club promo broadcasts we're subjected to round the clock. It has become unwatchable so I don't.

The radio and newspapers have followed suit so I can't follow football there either.

Then, of course, we have the financial chicanery of FFP. In attempting to stop us "buying the league", they have only succeeded, just in case there was any doubt, in proving that those "historic" clubs achieved everything they achieved due to their financial dominance and any concerns they have about competitiveness are entirely bogus. It's been laid bare for all but the most blinkered to see.

But out there on the pitch 11 v 11, there is a beauty that can salvage the game. And no-one has seen more of it than we have. We are very privileged.

Great post NN.. I like you have no appetite for MOTD / most of the coverage SKY and BT serve up as it is so slanted towards certain teams..

Not sure where you are but back in the day, every Saturday in Manchester, I was in the paper shop eagerly waiting for the transit van to turn up with the football pink newspaper..

I'd read it cover to cover, soaking up the days results and news..

MOTD was a must then as was Kick Off on Sundays, Hugh Johns was a cracking commentator, covering the Midlands teams..

It seemed a lot more innocent back then, the Media and money have changed all that..

I don't buy newspapers and rarely watch MOTD these days, however my attachment to City has never waivered..

 

[Colin Bells Boots]

Great post NN.. I like you have no appetite for MOTD / most of the coverage SKY and BT serve up as it is so slanted towards certain teams..

Not sure where you are but back in the day, every Saturday in Manchester, I was in the paper shop eagerly waiting for the transit van to turn up with the football pink newspaper..

I'd read it cover to cover, soaking up the days results and news..

MOTD was a must then as was Kick Off on Sundays, Hugh Johns was a cracking commentator, covering the Midlands teams..

It seemed a lot more innocent back then, the Media and money have changed all that..

I don't buy newspapers and rarely watch MOTD these days, however my attachment to City has never waivered..

There are lots of us " old school " supporters Bill and I agree that the media bullshit is a fucking annoyance basically directed towards the fuckwits who slavishly follow the rags and dippers.

 

[jimharri]

Because you are an unsung hero Jim and a true City supporter. You and the many fans who spend thousands of pounds each year and travel huge distances to support our beloved team are the lifeblood of our wonderful club.

 

[xgorton]

8 pounds return on the coach to see city at Cardiff and a fiver to get in and stand where you want with your mates to watch billys blue and white army

Would that be the 3-0 win 85,I was at that one.

 

[Bill the Blue]

There are lots of us " old school " supporters Bill and I agree that the media bullshit is a fucking annoyance basically directed towards the fuckwits who slavishly follow the rags and dippers.

I don't know if 56 qualifies me for an 'old school' badge CBB, there are a lot more worthy recipients on here who have made a bigger investment in our club than me who are deserving of that accolade..

I read posts like yours confirming your lifelong support and realise there's no escape from the emotional roller coaster.. Ha!!

I wonder sometimes if I hadn't been gripped how my life would have panned out..

Less worry lines and lower blood pressure for a start I would think..!

 

[xgorton]

First game Birmingham 62 aged 10 was also Pardoes début just short of his 16th birthday,started going away 63/64 season old 2nd division on local coach from Gorton places like Preston,Rotherham,Bury,Huddersfield, Bolton also remember playing Everton 66 at Maine road in the cup and a full house of over 63,000 that afternoon. We came up 66/67 season I started to do more away games then but it was the following season when I started work and had my own money I was up and down the country on the train watching us.We won the league that season Newcastle away was a great day.My first cup final was Leicester 69 I will always remember the man in the middle on some sort of platform with his white suit and 100,000 crowd all singing abide with me,I was then definitely emotionally connected to City.

 

[Stevieatlasblue]

Would that be the 3-0 win 85,I was at that one.

Yes it was indeed. I was there too. The good old days

 

[petrusha]

I've become less interested of late in English top-flight football as a whole. I used to watch loads of matches and follow the news quite avidly online or in the media. Now I don't do any of that. I'm just tired of all the bullshit that surrounds it, so I basically watch and follow City alone (as well as taking my grandson occasionally to watch Zenit St Petersburg, which is our local team, and following their fortunes with a mild interest).

I'm still as passionate as ever about City, indeed maybe more so as the years go by. I'd say it's probable that I'll never live in Manchester again even though, when I visit, it still feels like home. At the moment, I do still travel there reasonably regularly, but my parents are now in their eighties and their health is failing. Aside from them, I have little reason to make the trip. The rest of the family who survive have moved away, exception for one cousin, with whom I've not had any contact for years (there's been no big falling out, but we just have nothing in common). Nor do any of my closest friends live there any longer.

Support for City is the one constant that's bound our family together down the generations. Both my grandfathers were watching City in the Hyde Road days, while my dad and his brother were both ardent Blues from the days when they were in short trousers, living just behind the Parkside. My mum was never quite as avid in her support as her father or brother, just as my sister was less passionate than dad or me, but both would definitely classify themselves as Blues. In the new generation, my grandson, Zenit fan though he primarily is, proudly sports an Aguero shirt to football practice and my nephew, who lives in Germany, proclaims himself a Blue just as much as a fan of his local team Eintracht.

So while City continue to exist in a recognisable form, they represent for me a meaningful, tangible and important connection with my roots. I don't foresee that emotional bond lessening any time soon.