My Grandad was born in 1906 and after WWI used to deliver milk to Ardwick on a Saturday morning and would go and watch a City game. He went to both Hyde Road and Maine Road, City was his team, but he did actually used to go to watch United as well and used to take my Father and Uncle to Maine Road one week and Old Trafford the next in the 1960s. My Dad favoured City; my Uncle United.
My Mother’s side of the family were all from Moss Side (well, my Grandad was from Cheetham Hill but moved to Moss Side when he married my Nan and said he felt like he’d moved up in the world because he thought of Moss Side as posh back then!)... all but one Uncle were Blues.
I was born a mile away from Maine Road but, even so, my Dad still gave me the choice of City or United (and didn’t say I’d be “out the door” if I chose red!), even asked if I wanted a City or United shirt for my first shirt. And he never used to try and brainwash me into believing everything about City was great and everything about United was bad. Although some on my Mother’s side of the family did. My Father always tried to encourage independent thought and choice, also said that brainwashing bitterness into children creates twisted and sinister adults; he’s probably right! Look at some of the utter bollocks spouted by so many football fans, especially on platforms like Twitter - I bet they’re from families where their Dad’s clubs colours were slapped on them in the hours after being born and I bet they were brainwashed from an early age.
Also look at the lunatics who believe in far left or far right politics or the loons who are overtly religious... I’ll bet it’s all been forced on them from being a kid and it creates adults with deranged views.
After the choice he gave me, I chose City! Even though we were a division below United at the time (1989).
Now, as an adult, I have made my own mind up that the Redshirts are three evil entities, the European Cartel are a bunch of a dozen plus evil entities, who all want to put a stop to the rise of Manchester City and will do anything to do it. But it was never brainwashed into me from being a kid.
Just like, as an adult (well I was actually a kid when I first thought it), I have realised that religion and god and all that bollocks is all just made up fantasy stories. The myth of the so called “big clubs” is just that, a myth. They haven’t always been big clubs, they haven’t always been at the top, they didn’t organically grow their clubs to become successful - every single one of them had money pumped into them to get to the top. Their clubs aren’t what they’ve been brainwashed into believing from a young age!
I do believe that everyone in the world is representative more greatly as a person of the town/city they come from more than the nation they come from. People don’t support other countries other than their own in sport so why on Earth would anyone support a football club from another city/country?
When you wake up in the morning and step out of your front door, you breathe the air and take the steps on the ground of your city. Supporting the football club of that turf as important in our family’s opinion.
But I’d still give my kids (if I ever have any) the choice of City or United, or Alty if I stayed round here if I had kids. My Sister married a Rag and one of her kids supports City and another a United. I’d even give them the choice not to like football if they preferred rugby league or ballroom dancing!
There was a Father and Son who sat near me at City for years. The kid had more Loyalty Points than me, his Dad had taken him home and away everywhere from being a young kid. The other year, I noticed the Dad was sitting alone so i asked him here his lad was and he said “he’s just turned 18 and told me he wanted to give up his seasoncard, he told me he never really liked football”!
Imagine how many kids up and down the country have been dragged along to football by parents who’ve made them do it, who don’t even support that team or even like the sport.
