Are we getting more popular abroad?

[law74]

Taxi driver taking me to stadium last night was a benefica fan and from the Portuguese I could understand was that we had ruined the world with our cash...I didn't tip him !

The tuesday before our europa league game with Sporting, I was sitting having a beer in the bar- cafe across the road from the train station when a couple of Benfica fans that were studying in Faro Uni seen me, Yaya, Sergio, Tevez....City says they, yip best team in the land and all the world I reply, sat beside them on the train to Lisbon and they made sure that they bought me a beer once we got off the train, back at the same bar on the Friday afternoon and the landlord must have set me up three or four superbocks and got photo's taken of me with nearly all the family and staff...
Can you call in some time soon and see if the Maine Road scarf is still up in the bar?

 

[Toranaga sama]

Here's my story.

(Sorry, my English ain't very good)
I live in Bangladesh, a small country in the south Asia besides India. I started to follow city from late 2008. At first i watched the game occasionally. Then gradually i became a City freak. Always try to watch every game. Sometimes it's not possible for either study, work, load shedding or some other stuff. But always read every single City related news. I still remember when we won FA cup, i was in my home. I was dancing for at least 10 or 15 mins. When we won the title, i was in my hostel's tv room Watching with some friends and elder brothers. When Vinny lifted the trophy i cried like a kid. I don't know why. May be it's love or passion. It's funny but my day starts in a weird way. When i wake up, i just check my phone and visit @City_Watch for latest city related news. It's crazy. In the last January transfer window deadline day, i passed my whole night in front of my monitor Just for Fernando and Mangala deal. But i didn't happen. then i went to bed at 6:00am. [Our gmt +6]
i'm 24 now. But lots of kids in our country around 15-21 love city so much. You cant imagine how far City have gone recently. There are lots of guy who wear Aguero and Merlin's jersey. I know a guy named Kenan Syed I Bakht whom i never met helps lots of kid about some merchandise and membership card. He supported city for at least 30 years.
Day be day the number of City fans are increasing. Some are glory hunters or some are passionate like me, but they are the symbol that Manchester City is not a European club anymore. Its a global club. May be it will take times to cross Rags in the Asian market. But it's not far away.
Last line, lots lots lots of City fan in Bangladesh.

 

[gmckennasell]

spend a lot of time in spain , and the big sportshops in malaga , marbella still do not stock our shirts , its all the usual suspects , madrid , barca , rags , chelski , juventus , bayern , milan etc when we win the champs league , we will gradually infiltrate the old boys uefa G14 network , but it will take ten years or more to be acknowledged throughout europe .

 

[JULES]

in panama it was all barca and real, of course, but the most common English shirt was city! in Bolivia city shirts are common especially with kun aguero on the back, don't see that much rag stuff but there is a fair bit of Chelsea.

 

[dave_blue12]

Here's my story.

(Sorry, my English ain't very good)
I live in Bangladesh, a small country in the south Asia besides India. I started to follow city from late 2008. At first i watched the game occasionally. Then gradually i became a City freak. Always try to watch every game. Sometimes it's not possible for either study, work, load shedding or some other stuff. But always read every single City related news. I still remember when we won FA cup, i was in my home. I was dancing for at least 10 or 15 mins. When we won the title, i was in my hostel's tv room Watching with some friends and elder brothers. When Vinny lifted the trophy i cried like a kid. I don't know why. May be it's love or passion. It's funny but my day starts in a weird way. When i wake up, i just check my phone and visit @City_Watch for latest city related news. It's crazy. In the last January transfer window deadline day, i passed my whole night in front of my monitor Just for Fernando and Mangala deal. But i didn't happen. then i went to bed at 6:00am. [Our gmt +6]
i'm 24 now. But lots of kids in our country around 15-21 love city so much. You cant imagine how far City have gone recently. There are lots of guy who wear Aguero and Merlin's jersey. I know a guy named Kenan Syed I Bakht whom i never met helps lots of kid about some merchandise and membership card. He supported city for at least 30 years.
Day be day the number of City fans are increasing. Some are glory hunters or some are passionate like me, but they are the symbol that Manchester City is not a European club anymore. Its a global club. May be it will take times to cross Rags in the Asian market. But it's not far away.
Last line, lots lots lots of City fan in Bangladesh.

Great post !

I love anyone who loves our great club.

 

[raz4la]

I saw a kid here high up north in Sweden with a City shirt a couple of months ago. They usally have United or Barca shirts.

 

[supermario]

the change in the last 5 years is ridiculous...

Used to go away and when asked I would say "I'm from Manchester" and the reply would be "ahh Manchester United" without the majority ever hearing of Man City.

Now you can go anywhere in the World and be asked the same question and give the same reply but their response will be "ahh Manchester United or Manchester City"

 

[better dead than red]

Where I live, I am the only City fan I know. There is an African gent at the dealership where I bought my current car who loves Yaya. One Saturday morning I was working and encountered a young, 20-ish, Asian girl riding her bicycle wearing City top. I told her, "I like your shirt, Blue!" She looked at me blankly and said something about playing football with her mates.

Most football fans I meet , if they like an English club, are scum with a significantly fewer but still noticeable amount of Chelsea and Arsenal.

I also see a lot of Barcelona, and Real Madrid, some AC Milan, Inter and Celtic tops but by far the scum are the majority. I encounter a lot of people because of job and the times I've made an effort to engage fans of Barca and the rags a great many of them just seem to know they "are the best," and that is why they are rag and/or Barcelona supporters.

 

[TCIB]

Here's my story.

(Sorry, my English ain't very good)
I live in Bangladesh, a small country in the south Asia besides India. I started to follow city from late 2008. At first i watched the game occasionally. Then gradually i became a City freak. Always try to watch every game. Sometimes it's not possible for either study, work, load shedding or some other stuff. But always read every single City related news. I still remember when we won FA cup, i was in my home. I was dancing for at least 10 or 15 mins. When we won the title, i was in my hostel's tv room Watching with some friends and elder brothers. When Vinny lifted the trophy i cried like a kid. I don't know why. May be it's love or passion. It's funny but my day starts in a weird way. When i wake up, i just check my phone and visit @City_Watch for latest city related news. It's crazy. In the last January transfer window deadline day, i passed my whole night in front of my monitor Just for Fernando and Mangala deal. But i didn't happen. then i went to bed at 6:00am. [Our gmt +6]
i'm 24 now. But lots of kids in our country around 15-21 love city so much. You cant imagine how far City have gone recently. There are lots of guy who wear Aguero and Merlin's jersey. I know a guy named Kenan Syed I Bakht whom i never met helps lots of kid about some merchandise and membership card. He supported city for at least 30 years.
Day be day the number of City fans are increasing. Some are glory hunters or some are passionate like me, but they are the symbol that Manchester City is not a European club anymore. Its a global club. May be it will take times to cross Rags in the Asian market. But it's not far away.
Last line, lots lots lots of City fan in Bangladesh.

You do not have to justify why you like City mate :)
I hope you enjoy the forum and your English is fine bud :)

 

[cucumberman]

well I can vouch for Brunei, and maybe South east asia as i used to travel alot.

around 15 years ago I am positive i was the only person in Brunei, or even more so in the island of Borneo to wear City colours and for that matter support City. i played a lot of friendly football and kickabouts and there'll be rag shirts worn by almost everyone. my team had the Japanese Kashima Antlers kit as our team kit. but as a goalkeeper I had our eidos or brother kits on and to be honest not many knew of Manchester City. leeds, newcastle and blackburn had bigger supporters back then and everyone was a glory hunter.

fast forward now, I see an equal number of sky blues being worn in the streets. some if not most are knockoffs which is a common issue in the region.

and when City did the Asian tour, it definitely drew new followers.

but i have a sense that some tend to support whoever is the current top team. i doubt they have kept their allegiance in the dark until after when we won the league. so yes we are picking up our fair share of glory hunters too, me included if being non-local is a gauge of one's support. But i believe the angle of our direction, which is on longterm community club playing attractive football and our overall grand plan, as opposed to exploiting consumerism, is the right way in making followers eventual die-hard supporters.

City is becoming quite big in south east asia though I have been out of the region for a while now.