What was the most toxic period at City?

[Johnny Mars Bar]

Well we’ve reached a milestone I never saw coming.

Stuart Pearce revisionism.

Bugger me, I can understand why the yanks want to give Trump another go now.

 

[M23 Citizen]

Well we’ve reached a milestone I never saw coming.

Stuart Pearce revisionism.

Bugger me, I can understand why the yanks want to give Trump another go now.

Toxic adjective. Meaning: very harmful, dangerous or insidious.

Boring football does not equate to toxicity around a club. It was just boring. It might have been the most boring football we’ve ever seen (but as I said there were still highlights) but our fanbase and the feeling around the club was far from toxic at that time (bar one game at Blackburn).

If asked, I’ll bet you John Wardle wouldn’t use the word toxic about that time in the club’s history. We were sound with him and his fellow board members, despite the precarious situation with finances.

 

[MCFC Wirral]

I know he’s a wanker but Barton doing Dabo in that badly on the training pitch isn’t very positive. I don’t recall anything equally bad since.

 

[mayo31]

It is toxic on here most days, always a row on some thread

 

[ballbag]

Swales era for toxicity.
Pearce for the feeling of 'we aren't ever gonna get any better than this shit show he's serving up'.

 

[Gone for a Burton]

Almost every year from 78 onwards (apart from 81) under Swales.

He metamorphasised from a competent (scheming), ambitious club chairman into arguably one of the most incompetent in football history.

His decisions set the club back 40 years.

A reverse alchemist !!

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Toxic adjective. Meaning: very harmful, dangerous or insidious.

Boring football does not equate to toxicity around a club. It was just boring. It might have been the most boring football we’ve ever seen (but as I said there were still highlights) but our fanbase and the feeling around the club was far from toxic at that time (bar one game at Blackburn).

If asked, I’ll bet you John Wardle wouldn’t use the word toxic about that time in the club’s history. We were sound with him and his fellow board members, despite the precarious situation with finances.

Totally agree with this. Apathy and resignation had crept in by the Pearce season. Crowds were dropping like a stone and the stadium was silent.

The real toxic periods were under Swales before he went and then Franny lee. Probably the worst was the season we were relegated to division 2 when the crowd would routinely break into "We're shit and we're sick of it" and "You're not fit to wear the shirt". There was a reprise of this in the winter of 1998 when we weren't in the promotion frame which culminated in Willie donnachie writing an article in the Evening News about how poisonous the fanbase had become.

 

[JPAMCR]

First one that sprang to mind for me. Players throwing their shirts into the crowd at the end of the game only to see them thrown back at them. A proper "Is this it? Is this all we're capable of?" feeling descended over the fanbase that day and it was pretty nasty watching it on TV. Never seen a City end look so bitter but admittedly I missed the 80s.

Was at that one, optimistic beforehand and devastated afterwards. And when I got on the bus from Piccadilly to home, there was a human shit on the back seat.

 

[JOGAMIGMOG]

30th May 1999, 87 minutes into the match.

Not only have we been relegated, we haven't managed to get automatic promotion, and now we're 2-0 down with just injury time to go, staring at a second season in the third tier. The definition of darkest before the dawn.

Dunno if that counts as toxic, but it was depressing as fuck.

Staring into the abyss or what! Then, as if by magic, we’re the world champions. No other club in the world has gone on a journey like that - not even remotely close.

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

Toxic adjective. Meaning: very harmful, dangerous or insidious.

Boring football does not equate to toxicity around a club. It was just boring. It might have been the most boring football we’ve ever seen (but as I said there were still highlights) but our fanbase and the feeling around the club was far from toxic at that time (bar one game at Blackburn).

If asked, I’ll bet you John Wardle wouldn’t use the word toxic about that time in the club’s history. We were sound with him and his fellow board members, despite the precarious situation with finances.

Agree, Pearce era was toxic level boredom for fans but club was fairly well run and professional. Just didn't have any money to spend.

Early 90s, Kendal / Reid era, was pretty bad for booze culture as described by various players from the time.

Brian Horton improved the vibe, Alan Ball was then a disaster but I think from Horton onwards the club slowly modernised and became more professional even though we subsequently got relegated. We were behind the curve and just following what others were doing we dragged ourselves out of the 1970s level approach to professional sport.