My Mam grew up in Moss Side and has a family of Blues. She was a Maine Road regular from about 1970. Me Dad grew up in Timperley and was taken to Maine Road one week and Old Trafford the week after, as a kid from the mid-60's, by his Dad. Where his brother went and became a Rag, my Dad sided with his Dad and became a Blue and was a regular up until 2006.
I didn't have City forced on me. My Dad even gave me a choice as a kid, if I wanted to go to United I could. But I wanted to stick with both my parents and most of my family and be a City fan. I was born in 1982, I remember one game only on the tele of City when I was young, but remember well listening to the second half commentary on Piccadilly radio on a Saturday afternoon round me Nans house ("it's a goal" "oh no") while my Dad and my Mams brothers and cousins would go to the match and come back and tell me the stories of what happened.
Then in the 1988-89 season, when I was 6/7, my Dad started taking me to games. We went home and away at the back end of that promotion season and with getting promoted and seeing young Mancunians throughout our squad I thought City were amazing!
My first derby was the 5-1.
Then it was Italia 90 and England got to the semi's and the furour that surrounded that was amazing, even for an 8 year old.
I thought footy was amazing as a kid!
I very much less so think that way now. It gets to the point when I see diving and feigning injury, shit atmospheres, people who hate England just because United players might play for them, no video technology, shit officiating that doesn't in any way make up for not having video tech, United fans, the shit media that surrounds the game, and so on and so on... football can drive me mad, and in many ways I hate the game. I even really dislike a huge amount of my fellow City fans. There are loads of absolute tools and clowns who follow us, proper knobs! But I still love the club and would never want to lose my SC. I try and think of MCFC as my club. They play for me and I support them. If anyone else happens to do the same then sobeit. Luckily nearly 100% of all my mates are Blues and are likeminded Blues as I am. Patient, realistic!