New v Old supporters

[Harlaching Sky Blue]

Tis a good question to be fair. I was playing 5 a side the other week in Munich, and there was a kid in the court next to me with the new City kit on. Newer than mine!!! (although to be fair mine did have PHILIPS still on it...just kidding)

Went over to him with a "nice shirt" gesture and he just shrugged not knowing what the gig was all about. Ill be honest I was pissed off in a "get off my manor" type attitude, the kind I adopted when I saw cockneys wearing flares, blowing whistles and wearing Renni hats in the late 80s.

I thought "youre not part of this so do one."

Then I thought again, hold on a mo. This is what, rightly or wrongly, being a big club is going to be. This is what is going to be fuelling our players wages and long term keeping our owners interested. Selling the name abroad. Like it or loathe it Manchester City is no longer simply a Manchester club. Our owners are not shelling out millions to have the our clubs catchment area end at Knutsford service station.

To some traditionalists (like I am a bit) that may be loaded with distaste. But consider this

We could stay little ol City - banning all people who dont talk like Alec Gilroy from our stadium and become a club like Blackburn, with Benjani and Vassell leading our front line or

We embrace the new, including the worldwide fan base and commercial luggage that brings, which in itself supports directly our quest for glory and enjoy the brand new world.

Ive had enough mediocrity over the last 30 years so my conclusion after much deliberation is "the more City fans and shirts all over the world the better"

Ill still reserve the right to get pissed off when I see a cockney wearing an Inspiral Carpets cool as f**k tshirt mind.

 

[secondtoughest]

I don't think necessarily 'time served' is the most important thing, it's how much your emotional investment is. Like, my 65 year old Dad only watches some of the Sky games in the pub.. couldn't really name any of our players apart from Tevez and Hart but he has been a fan for 50 odd years and used to be a season ticket holder. Is he more of a fan than me, who watches every game, knows all our players, history since I started watching in the late 80's etc?

It's how much you care and how much you will continue to care in the future that bothers me.

 

[didactic]

This this and this.
Took the words right out of my mouth.

Never missed a single game between seasons 1996-2001 with my mum.
It's been an emotional ride with the amount of shit I (we) have seen over the years, the amount of stick we have taken.

WHEN we win something, it will mean more to me than someone who started supporting the club in say 2008. My first game was in the 1992/93 season, and have been going ever since, and someone who started supporting the club since then cannot be as emotionally attached to the club.

So by that logic a person who has been married 20 years loves his wife more than person that has been married 2 years?

 

[jerseyblue]

This this and this.
Took the words right out of my mouth.

Never missed a single game between seasons 1996-2001 with my mum.
It's been an emotional ride with the amount of shit I (we) have seen over the years, the amount of stick we have taken.

WHEN we win something, it will mean more to me than someone who started supporting the club in say 2008. My first game was in the 1992/93 season, and have been going ever since, and someone who started supporting the club since then cannot be as emotionally attached to the club.

So by that logic a person who has been married 20 years loves his wife more than person that has been married 2 years?

Bad comparison...he's right, there is no way I will be able to compare 5 years of support to someone who has been through the thick and thin of City over the years when we win something. It will certainly have more meaning to all of those people. I'm not saying I won't be excited, because I will, but all those fans will feel something distinctly more than I could possibly feel. NOW, that doesn't mean I'm any less of a fan, or that City is less important to me than some other fan, thats trivial bullshit, but there is no doubt these longtime City fans will feel something greater than anyone who has started supporting this team in the last few years.

 

[didactic]

I don't think necessarily 'time served' is the most important thing, it's how much your emotional investment is. Like, my 65 year old Dad only watches some of the Sky games in the pub.. couldn't really name any of our players apart from Tevez and Hart but he has been a fan for 50 odd years and used to be a season ticket holder. Is he more of a fan than me, who watches every game, knows all our players, history since I started watching in the late 80's etc?

It's how much you care and how much you will continue to care in the future that bothers me.

I agree 100% my boss has held a season ticket to Arsenal for over 30 years because his father was a member of some board at the club. Born and bred in the Westend. He never goes and uses his tickets as target incentives whenever he can or raffles them. Then there is one of the lads who works for an African branch of the firm he is a die hard gonner and every year he saves his pennies so when he comes over for work he can at least watch a game or two? Pays what is to him a fortune for the club kit. He is in his 20s but lives, breathes and bleeds Arsenal. He wanted to paint his house with the colors but couldnt find the right paint. (I kid you not). Yet to some my boss is the true supporter and the other lad is a pretender because "why is he supporting a European club not from his manor?".

 

[MotownBlue]

I have been a Blue since 1996 or so. I am also an American. Does the fact that my first few years as a Blue were spent riding the elevator of relegation/promotion make me any more credible as a City fan? I don’t know that it does, but I do feel like it helps me understand why some Blues get irritated with fans who are just now beginning to support City today, as we move closer and closer to glory.
I have seen the good days and the bad days, as much as can be said by a fan who has only followed the team for 15 years or so. I have followed my hometown (Detroit) sports teams for all of my almost 44 years, so I guess I understand why some of the members of this board feel protective of City, or that they are “truer” Blues. I followed the Detroit Red wings for 30 years before they won a Stanley Cup, and I lived through some rough years along the way. Those rough years made the winning, when it happened, SO MUCH sweeter. I suppose this is what some of you are on about regarding “new fans”. They haven’t felt THE PAIN. And by the way, if you want to know pain, try being a lifetime fan of the Detroit Lions NFL team…
These days, when I watch my beloved Red Wings play road games, the crowd often cheers as loud or louder for us then for their home team. This is a direct result of our success over the last 15 years or so, when so many fans have jumped on our bandwagon. It happens especially when we play in places like California, Arizona and Florida, where there are also a lot of transplanted Detroiters living in the communities. I have to say, I actually like when I see that. Our local Fox Sports affiliate always takes the time to show these out of towners at away games, and I love seeing them their Red Wings gear, beer in hand, cheering us on.
I am also a Brewmaster at a pub for a living. I meet tons of ex-pat Brits at my job, and they all immediately assume I am a Man United fan when I tell them I am a footie fan. I love seeing their faces when I respond by asking WHO THE FUCK ARE MAN UNITED, often in song. If I see a guy in my pub wearing a filthy rag shirt (it happens quite often), you can bet I will be saying something to them about what a shit side they support, in some way or another. This is actually more fun with Americans, as they seem to be mostly United or Liverpool fans and just seem to expect that I will be a fan of United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea.
I consider myself as true a blue as they come, and I have never been to Manchester. One of my dear friends, though, just travelled to England with his fiancé. They took the train up to Manchester (he is a HUGE Manchester music fan) and Chad returned to the States with a City lapel pin he bought for me at Eastlands. I was out of my mind as I put it on my coat…
New fans or old, at the end of the day, I don’t think it should matter as long as they support City with pride and class.
CTID

 

[Greiver]

I started supporting in 2007! :D I remember seeing Elano's freekick and I was hooked! Keep in mind I never even liked "soccer" before this moment. The first team I supported and only that I have supported has been Manchester City. Elano was my first favorite player! City is my only team!

 

[Longsight-memories]

Because it concedes ground to the rags. It's the stick we've been beating them with for years, but we all know well that people from outside Mcr support the blues and have done for years and years. There are people on here from NZ, SA, USA and even the Himalayas. Last home game I went to against Leicester, there was a guy infront of us in a city kit who was shouting louder than anyone with a strong Brummie accent.

These older fans you speak of are stuck in the 1990's. They need to move on because they have missed the boat. Our club is reaching out to communities in Seirra Leonne, New York...Belfast. This is happening, and some Nesbit from Longsight aint gonna change a damn thing, so deal with it and shurrup.

Been there done it got the T shirt as you say...most of the older city fans have forgot more about city than the new fans will ever know untill they are our age..... but we hope they never have to go through what we have... ie stockport macc york etc etc..

like in everything in life you earn your Kudos... so to all you new city fans shout louder for longer clap louder & longer... buy more swag than we ever bought..travel to as many Euro away games as you can that way if we see you on the telly...we can feel proud of you...lets hope the future is going to be half as good as we ALL hope it will be

 

[Cleggy09]

Seeing it more and more to be honest on away days people questioning other fans credibility! Saw it at villa and it was the biggest load of nonsense going!

A city fan was questioned by another and was deemed as a novality for him to be at an away game! The chap who he had questioned is THE biggest blue I know and follows the club everywhere only extreme and I mean extreme circumstances means he will miss a game and that goes back years and years.

Snide comments were made with nothing to back up he was just a victim of said Blue who must have had a bee in his bonnet regarding so called NEW blues.

There was some of this at Arsenal too. end of the day were all there to support our fantastic club and there will always be differences between fans and how long they have supported the club or how much they support the club.

 

[Skashion]

Everyone who does the Poznan is a new supporter, including Mavis.