Danny Dyer - Support your local team

Callmev said:
I agree with Danny, but I also think there’s a “window” when it comes to how support takes shape.

I didn’t grow up anywhere near Manchester. I left the UK early, and my last home game was back in 2013, that 6–3 against Arsenal under Pellers.

But my connection with the club goes much further back. I started supporting City in 1998, when we were in the third tier. That perspective matters to me, and it’s why I believe in this idea of a window.

Because, when we talk about City today, it’s clear the fanbase has grown in waves. Some were there long before the success, others came during the rise, and many arrived in the Guardiola era. And that’s natural, success always opens new doors.

I think that support, if genuine and lasting, does not matter whether you live next to Etihad or in Burkina Faso.
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Nobody in Burkina Faso is supporting City , or any other club , if the dark days were ever to comeback. I’m pretty sure those days won’t ever comeback anyway.

I live on the outskirts of Glasgow and travelled down quite regularly to see City with a few friends but none of us would claim to be City supporters. We all have our own club but like to see City do well for various reasons. Mine is simply down to ASA Hartford being my favourite Scottish player as a youngster. I’d be very suspicious of anybody local to me claiming to be a huge , passionate City fan if they had no family connections or had never lived near Manchester.
 
I’m from Ireland and have been a city fan all my life my dad has supported city since the 74 defeat to wolves in the league cup final I also support my local team so where do I fall in this? Bit of a strange thing to say this when the premier league has a worldwide audience.
 
Same as above I am from Ireland have supported City my whole life got it from my dad who had family in Manchester and went to see City when over there from 1950s onwards. I also am season ticket holder with my local league of Ireland club so again like above where do we fit into all of this.
 
In one way I understand this argument but does that mean we should only listen to local bands or musicians, or we should only watch films by local directors? Should the Ferrari F1 team only be supported by Italians?

Football is just entertainment at the end of the day and the Premier League is probably the biggest sporting entertainment in the world, or at least one of them. You can't stop people supporting the biggest teams in the PL if that's what they want (although you can take the piss mercilessly).
 
tommy116 said:
Same as above I am from Ireland have supported City my whole life got it from my dad who had family in Manchester and went to see City when over there from 1950s onwards. I also am season ticket holder with my local league of Ireland club so again like above where do we fit into all of this.
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You can’t support two teams. Thems is the rules.
 
Danny is talking from the viewpoint of an Ultra. There is room for Ultras and supporters both in and out of the ground these days, that's just the game at the top, top level.
 
No.8 said:
Nobody in Burkina Faso is supporting City , or any other club , if the dark days were ever to comeback. I’m pretty sure those days won’t ever comeback anyway.

I live on the outskirts of Glasgow and travelled down quite regularly to see City with a few friends but none of us would claim to be City supporters. We all have our own club but like to see City do well for various reasons. Mine is simply down to ASA Hartford being my favourite Scottish player as a youngster. I’d be very suspicious of anybody local to me claiming to be a huge , passionate City fan if they had no family connections or had never lived near Manchester.
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Fair enough.
In my case, I have no local club to support. Found City as my first real love.
 
Callmev said:
I agree with Danny, but I also think there’s a “window” when it comes to how support takes shape.

I didn’t grow up anywhere near Manchester. I left the UK early, and my last home game was back in 2013, that 6–3 against Arsenal under Pellers.

But my connection with the club goes much further back. I started supporting City in 1998, when we were in the third tier. That perspective matters to me, and it’s why I believe in this idea of a window.

Because, when we talk about City today, it’s clear the fanbase has grown in waves. Some were there long before the success, others came during the rise, and many arrived in the Guardiola era. And that’s natural, success always opens new doors.

I think that support, if genuine and lasting, does not matter whether you live next to Etihad or in Burkina Faso.
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I get what you’re saying, I’m from Stockport and my Dad was from Collyhurst, I was given no choice but City (cheers Dad). I now live in Salford and gave my lad no choice, his first match was Phil Brown’s half time team talk and he was just coming up to his fourth birthday, coming back from Wembley with him yesterday made me wonder how time flies but hopefully he’ll be doing the same with his kids in the future.

More relevant to your post is my second team is Napoli and how this came about was my uncle worked in Naples in the early 80’s. When he came back to the UK in 82 he gave me a Napoli pennant and I’ve followed them ever since, been over to Naples a few times, never had any hassle from the locals and as a consequence my lad also supports them. Sometimes it doesn’t take much for someone to have an affinity for a club and things to click, a simple gesture like being given some club merchandise can be all it takes sometimes. I’ve considered myself a Napoli supporter for 44 years and a City supporter for 54 years.

Some of the similarities between City and Napoli are uncanny. City winning the League and Napoli the Coppa Italia in 2012, City’s treble and Napoli’s Scudetto in 2023 and both maintaining high attendances despite playing in the third tier.
 
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Nebuchadnezzar said:
Imagine spending the first 26 years of your life in Manchester and then moving to Ireland, to be told by Irish United fans that Manchester is red when they've never been to England, stating they can't get a ticket when the cunts haven't sold out for years
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I had someone in Germany ask me how come everyone he meets from Manchester is a City fan, yet United seem to have fans all these fans over the world? Had to mention two things: United are not from Manchester & most global United fans are a result of the PL/cable/satellite blowing up while they were on top wearing a “good luck in SE Asia” red shirt!

I have no doubt they have a big international fan base, but like Dyer said, it’s about it being in your blood, not glory hunting…or should be…and City have grown very nicely indeed in the local area.
 
I've been questioned quite a few times over the years due to my accent and it rankles , especially one time from a guy from Stockport who supported City but strangely, didn't support his local side either ha
 
I think there's a deeper connection if you have a love for the place your team plays. You'll see loads of people in the south supporting the rags or dippers then undoubtedly making statements about the north, northerners or people from those cities. They support the football team, but it doesn't necessarily run as deep as if you were connected geographically to the place.

But the connection doesn't necessarily come from growing up somewhere. I think if you have strong family ties and grow up hearing stories about the place you grow to love it just like a local might. Possible more, as you'll have a romanticised version.

It's also dependent on who you pick. There's only one reason most people outside the region pick the dippers or rags and they'll never know what it truly means to support a football team in the truest sense.
 
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