What determines who you support in Manchester? Is it a geographical thing?

[Magicpole]

The religious angle in Manchester football is quite interesting. (cue for long winded history).
City, as we all know started as St. Marks West Gorton. The church was protestant but everybody was welcome to join, the real motivation was to combat poverty, crime and gang warfare. The protestant thing faded away quite quickly after several amalgamations with other local clubs. After WW1, City had a strong connection with Jewish families who had migrated from central Europe and lived in Moss Side. (see Bernstein). In 1948, City signed Bert Trautmann and many Jews objected to the German paratrooper. About 40,000 people joined a mass demonstration and things got quite nasty. The situation was saved by an open letter in MEN from the chief rabbi of Manchester addressed to all Jews, reminding them that theirs was a peaceful religion and urging forgiveness and reconciliation. Some Jews abandoned City and went to the dark side. Later, Bert became active in organisations whose purpose was to heal the wounds.
United has a much misunderstood connection to catholicism. It started as a railway workers club, not a church inspired organisation. At the beginning of the 20th century, Trafford Park opened as the first industrial park in Britain.
On that site started Ford UK, with the first conveyor belt manufacturing system in Europe. They, and others, were short of labour, so they recruited hundreds in Ireland, who, naturally, were catholics. And where did they go on Saturday Afternoons nearby ? Yep, them.
Manoo built on this Irish Connection over the years, but they are not ' a Catholic club .' The BBC, of course, think they are.

When Niall Quinn was a transfer target for City, he was worried thinking City was protestant and United Catholic. Discopants came from a staunchly Catholic and Irish republican background. As a kid he was banned by his family from playing the English game and had to sneak off to do it. Eventually he was persuaded that City was not protestant and so joined us.
This is from memory, so feel free to correct me.

Enjoyed that mate, cheers.

 

[Magicpole]

Nobody who is a real fan changes their club. It's in the blood . God knows I've had enough excuses in the last 60 years, but I wouldn't dream of it.

Agree and identify 100% with all of that. Especially the pain induced excuses I could have used.

When I hear someone changed teams I make a mental note never to trust them. :)

 

[Deepest Blue]

Although I'm born and bred Salford my Dad was from a Hulme family. Hulme was predominantly Blue then due to proximity to Hyde Road and then Maine Road.

 

[Sid C]

I think family and friends have the biggest influence on who you support but that goes hand in hand with where you were brought up.

I grew up in Burnage and all but a couple of my friends were blue, the cost of getting into Maine Rd for a junior in those days was peanuts so it was a no brainer. In contrast by the time my two lads were born I'd moved to Sale and most of my eldest lads mates were rags, despite me banning the little rag bastards from my house and being constantly obnoxious to them it was still a struggle to keep my eldest on the straight and narrow. Glad to report though that both my lads still sit next to me at the Etihad and neither would have it any other way.

 

[Ghandi's Flip Flops]

Think family/mates has a lot to do with it.

I had a totally fucked up time with who i supported when i was a kid.
My mum's side of the family were 95% season ticket holding Blues, but my Dad was from Leeds.
My Dad's first love was Leeds Rugby League team (he played for their juniors when a kid), but he also nominally followed Leeds FC.
Hence, my first football kit i got bought was an all white one, which as you can imagine didn't go down too well whilst playing on the red wreck in Newton Heath in the late 70's!

Being still young & naive i decided to jump ship and made the cardinal mistake of choosing the rags (mainly influenced by older cousins, and also to be a bit rebellious against the rest of the family). This lasted only a couple of seasons as i found i didn't really have any affinity to them, plus it seemed it was mainly the nob-heads in my school/area who supported them.

Also around this time at my school the 'in thing' was to also 'support' a London team and you'd see lot of kids having a kick around in London team tops (QPR, Palace & Orient were the main ones). I therefore switched to supporting West Ham (weirdly because i had an uncle in Leeds who already supported them), and kinda got lucky that same season when they won the FA Cup, and so i carried on supporting them for a few more years.

The thing was, that while all the above was happening i still regularly went to Maine Road with my season ticket holding Gran (who i was really close to, as she practically brought me up).She passed on in the early 80's and after that i sorta spent a few years in the wilderness not really supporting anyone.

That was until the 85 season. A mate who was season ticket holder asked me if i'd go first game of the season with him (as his dad was working that night and his other brother was too young). So, I went to the game and i felt as though a massive void that had been in my life since my Gran had passed on had just been filled.

I became totally hooked on City, so much so, that me and my mate got tickets & coach travel to the Full Members Final on our own. We was 14 at the time and when my mum found out after i returned, i got grounded for over a month for my troubles :)

 

[mccity]

A lot of people before the 60s actually supported both sides. It meant there was always a football match they could go to on the weekend for starters.

From there I guess it came down to anything. Familiarity as to who you'd seen more, your family, your mates, which ground was easier to get to, blue vs red etc. In the late 60s-mid 70s we played some nice football too, so that could've swung it.

United only really became mainstream popular in 92. When it became easy to support them. I reckon if you recorded the demographic of City/United fans who started following their respective teams before 92 there'd be a fairly even split.

 

[idahoblues]

A lot of people before the 60s actually supported both sides. It meant there was always a football match they could go to on the weekend for starters.

From there I guess it came down to anything. Familiarity as to who you'd seen more, your family, your mates, which ground was easier to get to, blue vs red etc. In the late 60s-mid 70s we played some nice football too, so that could've swung it.

United only really became mainstream popular in 92. When it became easy to support them. I reckon if you recorded the demographic of City/United fans who started following their respective teams before 92 there'd be a fairly even split.

united were definitely mainstream popular before 92

 

[mccity]

united were definitely mainstream popular before 92

You are right on reflection.
I don't think so much with the older fans though. They started infecting the youth with the school of ticket touting and classless commercialisation about 10 years prior. It's how they got Beckham now that my memory has come back a bit

 

[philiph20]

The religious angle in Manchester football is quite interesting. (cue for long winded history).
City, as we all know started as St. Marks West Gorton. The church was protestant but everybody was welcome to join, the real motivation was to combat poverty, crime and gang warfare. The protestant thing faded away quite quickly after several amalgamations with other local clubs. After WW1, City had a strong connection with Jewish families who had migrated from central Europe and lived in Moss Side. (see Bernstein). In 1948, City signed Bert Trautmann and many Jews objected to the German paratrooper. About 40,000 people joined a mass demonstration and things got quite nasty. The situation was saved by an open letter in MEN from the chief rabbi of Manchester addressed to all Jews, reminding them that theirs was a peaceful religion and urging forgiveness and reconciliation. Some Jews abandoned City and went to the dark side. Later, Bert became active in organisations whose purpose was to heal the wounds.
United has a much misunderstood connection to catholicism. It started as a railway workers club, not a church inspired organisation. At the beginning of the 20th century, Trafford Park opened as the first industrial park in Britain.
On that site started Ford UK, with the first conveyor belt manufacturing system in Europe. They, and others, were short of labour, so they recruited hundreds in Ireland, who, naturally, were catholics. And where did they go on Saturday Afternoons nearby ? Yep, them.
Manoo built on this Irish Connection over the years, but they are not ' a Catholic club .' The BBC, of course, think they are.

When Niall Quinn was a transfer target for City, he was worried thinking City was protestant and United Catholic. Discopants came from a staunchly Catholic and Irish republican background. As a kid he was banned by his family from playing the English game and had to sneak off to do it. Eventually he was persuaded that City was not protestant and so joined us.
This is from memory, so feel free to correct me.

That's a great read. If anything you would with their railway roots see them as from a left trade union background but they saw a gap in the market so to speak and 'embraced' Catholicism and all things Irish for no other reason than commercialism.

Interestingly enough there apoears a religious division at board room level, all their managers from Busby up until Ron Atkinson were all Catholics whereas ours from Willie Maley leaving to Billy McNeill being appointed were all Protestant. The Edwards family were catholic yet the City board during the 60s 70s were either Jewish or Protestant, it might be all a coincidence but it could give fuel to the fire.

 

[Pughie]

Ours is an odd one.

My grandad was born in Lostock Gralam, a little village in Northwich, Cheshire.

He was a Manchester United supporter in the 50's, up until he learnt how the families of the Munich disaster were being treated and renounced his support.

In the mid 60's he joined the GMP and was posted at Maine Road, so began supporting City instead.

Because of this decision my entire family are Blues. Him, my dad, my uncle, their cousins, my cousins, me, my brother, my sister. I've even converted my girlfriend who started life supporting the Scum, then became a Red Dipper because thats who her mum supported, and now is an avid City fan. I have mixed feelings on adding such a football supporting mongrel to the City family.

I was born in Wythenshawe hospital in 1991 and lived in Didsbury until 1993. Ironically, other than my uncles family, we all moved back to Northwich in Cheshire. There is still a strong prescence of Pugh's in South Manchester and West Cheshire, every single one of us are blues. What makes me especially proud, is that when the football debate is brought up I can say that A) I am a Manc and B) I supporr my local team, my 3 closest friends either support the Scum or Everton, all 3 are born in Crewe. In their defence they are surprisingly knowledgable about football, and do go to games.

So that's the Pugh history on why we all support City!