Agree with all of that apart from the last bit. I'd pretty much abandoned hope of us dining at the top table again. I thought the barriers to entry were too great. It just goes to show you how nothing in this world should ever be taken for granted. Something frequently intervenes to move the pieces on the board in a game changing way.Brilliant read, thanks mate.
I won't deny it brought a lump to my throat reading about it and seeing those old images of Maine Road. I loved the place, but I'm somewhat of a contemporist, so whilst Maine Road was special to me, I was eager for us to move on to a new stadium and progress onwards and upwards.
Ultimately the move was probably the best thing that's ever happened to us as I doubt we'd have been half as attractive as a takeover proposition to Sheikh Mansour if we'd remained in Moss Side.
Looking at our stadium now and knowing there are plans to extend it further, not to mention that fantastic bridge linking us to the CFA, I couldn't be happier about our future. I'm just glad I've lived long enough to witness it because I never ever thought I'd see anything like this happen to City in my lifetime.
Even though we were 'Typical City', I knew we'd rise to the top again at some point in the future just by the law of averages, but I always reckoned I'd be long gone when this happened and our future fans would be turning up to games using flying cars like The Jetsons! :-)
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
Let's be brutally honest Maine Road was a dump.
What we have now is far, far better.
Please. An Atmospheric Dump ; )
with a very special place in many people's memories .
And the last bit of your post perfectly sums up my mantra for life, mainly that nothing remains the same for ever and that life is cyclical.Agree with all of that apart from the last bit. I'd pretty much abandoned hope of us dining at the top table again. I thought the barriers to entry were too great. It just goes to show you how nothing in this world should ever be taken for granted. Something frequently intervenes to move the pieces on the board in a game changing way.
Occasionally it was a good atmospheric dump I grant you. For example:Please. An Atmospheric Dump ; )
Occasionally it was a good atmospheric dump I grant you. For example:
Newcastle (H) - Colin Bell Return.
Everton (H) - FA Cup QF.
Charlton (H) - 5-0 Promotion Party.
Utd (H) 3-1 - The Goater/Neville show.
Most of the time though it could be as poor as anything folks on here complain about the Etihad. Consider the defeat to Charlton the week after the Goater/Neville show...
For example Utd home (2011-12) & QPR Home (2011-12) were excellent at the new place,
Nah nah,
Nah na na nah.
Nah na na nah,
City!
I think there have been two, district primary forces at play in terms of City and united's realignment in recent years.And the last bit of your post perfectly sums up my mantra for life, mainly that nothing remains the same for ever and that life is cyclical.
For the last 20 years, every Rag who knew me and even some who didn't would make a beeline for me whenever we'd lost (especially to them) or we suffered more misfortune like relegation or losing the odd good player we had (SWP, Anelka spring to mind). But I remained stiff in my resolve that one day, the natural order of things would be restored and the day would come that we'd finish ahead of them in the league and actually win the damn thing again!
They all though I was a fuckin fruit loop as I used to sit there with a straight face calmly telling them all that City would return to our position of prominence over them and I'd also live to see the day that ManUre were reduced to playing Sunday League football on Hough End playing fields with one man and his dog watching the bastards.
As you may have guessed, I have a pathological hatred for them but bit by bit my hopes and dreams are turning into reality. The significance of our 2012 title win passes most people by, because we could have gone on to win 10 titles in a row, but it would have never carried any weight with those bastards because we'd have always had 'yes but you couldn't do it when Ferguson was manager'. Seeing his crumpled face at the end of that match will live with me forever and is only second to seeing Kun wheeling away after scoring that dramatic late winner.
Now all they have left is, the size of Old Toilet stadium, number of league title wins, number of CL wins, us never having won the CL, their bigger financial turnover and my personal favourite the empty seats at our place. Bit by bit we're happily burbling along ticking off the boxes as we reach our milestones as they continue to count our empty seats. The law of averages always dictated there was a possibility this could happen, I'm just astounded its come in such a stunning fashion and happened so quickly.
Our rise may not have been organic, but a lottery win is a lottery win and however you've come by your good fortune it all comes down to the same thing, to be successful you need money, which makes even more money, which brings even more success, rinse and repeat. All we have to do is cast a glance at our illustrious neighbours, Real, Barca and Bayern to see this is the case. But lest we forget that nothing lasts forever, all we have to do is look at the 2 Milan giants and Ajax.
Bang on. It was a shit hole. Our ground now is better in every single way.Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
Let's be brutally honest Maine Road was a dump.
What we have now is far, far better.
Agreed!I think there have been two, district primary forces at play in terms of City and united's realignment in recent years.
Firstly relates to City. Certainly there were several factors that conspired to make us the vehicle that Sheikh Mansour chose for his project, but many of those could be said to be as a result of happenstance: the Stadium, our share structure, Dickov's goal. We were, as you say, lottery winners to all intents and purposes.
The second factor, however, has been brought about by united upon themselves. Notwithstanding our rise, they could have maintained a presence around the top of the table these last few years, but they became so bloated and pumped up on their own self-importance that they took their eye off the ball in an astonishingly negligent way. I believe there are fault lines running through that club that will take significant time, resources and guile to correct. One only has to look at their return on player acquisitions and the recent performances of their younger youth teams to see that. Further, their ground, at the forefront of European stadiums a decade ago, is now looking dated and a little down at heel. There is a (beautiful) air of decay around the club.
It would be foolish to write them off, for the same reasons it was foolish of me to assume we could never get back. We live in a universe of infinite chaos and unexpected things can happen, but they've got a monumental task to catch us up imo.
I just hope we never fall into the same trap of arrogant complacency that has left them floundering in our wake.
Occasionally it was a good atmospheric dump I grant you. For example:
Newcastle (H) - Colin Bell Return.
Everton (H) - FA Cup QF.
Charlton (H) - 5-0 Promotion Party.
Utd (H) 3-1 - The Goater/Neville show.
Most of the time though it could be as poor as anything folks on here complain about the Etihad. Consider the defeat to Charlton the week after the Goater/Neville show...
For example Utd home (2011-12) & QPR Home (2011-12) were excellent at the new place,
Nah nah,
Nah na na nah.
Nah na na nah,
City!
Alarm bells should start ringing when we start pontificating about 'the City way'!And your final sentence is my biggest fear too. I just hope we as fans never forget our darkest days nor our out of the blue good fortune. I also hope we fully appreciate the lottery win we've been afforded and that we never turn into the arrogant, self entitled fans we so came to hate and detest.
Definitely lots of fond memories from Maine Road, but as the years proceed at the Etihad, fond memories come in to replace them.May of been a dump but it holds loads of fond memories. I Even put my grandadds ashes was on the pitch will never forget that moment.
Totally agree.Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
Let's be brutally honest Maine Road was a dump.
What we have now is far, far better.