My father was injured in the war fighting for the allied troops in N.Africa. Apparently, he was very good at what he did so instead of transferring back to the States he was transferred to a joint air force base near Manchester to teach new recruits the use of the weapon with which he was proficient. He fell in with a group of City fans and fell in love with the game.
When I was 5, I joined a soccer club my Dad said ok, if you're going to play the sport, you're a City fan and showed me some pictures that he had brought back from the war of him and some of his Manc mates playing. On my 10th birthday in 1965 my Dad took me on a trip to a reunion in Manchester with his army buddies where of course we attended a City match. At that point I fell in love with City, the game and the culture around it. During college I spent a 1/2year in England studying at Teesside Polytechnic in Middlesboro. Two guys from the college football team were from Manchester and were City fans, every other Saturday morning the three of us would hitchhike across the north to Manchester to attend services at Maine Road. If I remember correctly we always walked up and bought tickets for I believe £2.15 and a pint of lager was 35p. Anyway, every five years or so my two mates from my Boro days and I would have our own reunion back in Manchester or they would come to Philadelphia and we would attend an Eagles game, sadly one of them passed away pre-covid and our planned reunion in 2020 was postponed due to the insidious ailment. My next trip is tentatively scheduled for September 2025 at which time I plan on bringing both of my sons and both of my grandsons to celebrate my 70th birthday.
Regarding the wearing of the colors, although I am only 15lbs. heavier than my college playing weight, I think an FOC like me looks rather silly in a football kit. I do however have several City hats, sweatshirts and windbreakers with the original logo, the logo with the goofy bird and stars on it and the new logo. Comically, I had a City cap on while riding the train around Christmas, the attendant collecting my ticket noticed the hat and said to me, "I'm a united fan, how long have you been a City supporter? My guess would be about 10 years right?" The look on his face when I pulled a ticket stub from November 1978 City v Derby County, Maine Road, Manchester from my wallet was priceless, stupid red bastard. Upon leaving the train I remarked to the lad, "good luck winning the Wenger Cup"! The look on his face was one of puzzlement followed by an unexplained rage because he had no reply. Made my day.
