A client of ours owned a pub in Middleton. She had no football affiliations, but said she preferred City matches over ManUre.
She said City fans would come in early in big numbers, eat, drink & prep themselves for the match. They'd stay long after the match & continue eating & drinking.
The Rags however, would turn up 20 minutes before kickoff, order a pint & nurse it for the whole match, & as soon as the final whistle blew, they were gone.
Her pub was upgraded some years ago, so another thing she noticed is the Rags preferred this spit & sawdust boozer about half a mile away, whereas City fans wouldn't be seen dead in there.
I get what the OP means about the Rags support being swelled by fans from the surrounding mill towns. One season ticket holding Rag I used to work with came from Scarborough. It was the first time I'd heard the term 'I'm a ManUre supporter, but my home town/ local club is "Insert Name Here" '.
None of my football loving colleagues from the surrounding mill towns support their local clubs. One from Preston will argue the toss all day in defence of the rags. 2 from Oldham are diehard Dippers. Ask them why the support a team away from their area, & they reply they've always supported 'big team A, B or C'. However ask them why they don't support their hometown club, it basically comes down to the fact they're shit & have little support.
Pointing out if all these glory seeking fans supported their local teams, they wouldn't be as shit as they are, is lost on them. They're just desperate to be emotionally involved in the big Premier League scraps they watch in the pub.
In terms of our growing support, it will take another couple of generations to challenge ManUre & the Dippers, but it's happening at a rate of knots which is frightening both of them.
Going to London regularly, I was shocked to see so many kids wearing our shirt. Even abroad our brand is rapidly expanding. After the recent pre-season match between the two Madrid clubs, during the fans post match interviews, one fan ran up to the camera & screamed 'MANCHESTER CITY!!!!' That would have been unheard of even 5 years ago.
Success brings fans, especially younger ones. In the next few years, it's they who'll be TV presenters & Journo's & it then we'll start to get the fair press we deserve.