When / why did you become a City fan?

[Cravenvirgin]

1957, went to city v wolves at Maine Road. We lost 3-4 but I was in awe of Bert Trautman. Still the best goalkeeper I ever seen.

 

[Thaksins Love Child]

Why - because of my Dad, like most.

When - my first memory is my uncle (Chelsea fan) taking me to Maine Road in the early 80's to watch us v them. You would have thought my Dad would want to do it. I know money was tight back then though.

City lost 1 - 0 but I wasn't paying that much attention because I remember asking the score on the way back to the car. I remember it was freezing during the match so my uncles eyes were watering. I thought Chelsea were getting beat haha.

Looks like this was it in 1985, just before my 6th birthday.

Manchester City vs Chelsea, Division One (Old), Sat 05 October 1985

Details of every game played by Manchester City Football Club

bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk

 

[Kinkybyname]

after listening to that prick Jordan

 

[Bez]

I lived in Macclesfield at the time. I remember seeing Man City in the Figurine Panini 1978 sticker book. I liked the blue shirts. I knew Manchester was nearby. My Dad took me to see Southampton versus City at Maine Road in 1978. The goal nets were sky blue and the pitch looked incredibly green. The floodlights were immense. The atmosphere was electric. We lost 2.1, but I was hooked. Little did I know that this losing thing was going to be the norm most of the time for City over the next 20 years or so. We got season tickets in the North Stand and there was this guy who sat behind us that used to say "Garbage" repeatedly throughout most of the games. He used to get particularly animated when Malcolm Allison came back as manager. City were garbage then, but John Bond brought back some pride. We were unlucky in the FA Cup final. Briefly when Trevor Francis was fit we put in a decent run and I think we were top of the league at Christmas in 81 or 82. But, Francis had injury problems and our form dropped away. I used to take my mates to the games and they are all City fans now. Anyway, the early memories are the reason I support City and thanks to the PL charges my support of City has strengthened further. Come on City.

 

[SkyBlueAmerican]

Late 2000s, but before the UAE buyout.

I'm from the US and knew very little about football at the time, but started to slowly get interested in it as the sport's profile was increasing here.

The other teams I support in our major sports over here are mostly not big-name clubs. I support the clubs from my home area as well as the university I attended, something I'm a big believer in.

I HATED glory supporters, bandwagoners, and other idiots who picked their teams based on "history." Still do.

Although I didn't know much about football, I knew Manchester United were the ultimate example of that. So many glory supporters over here that just wanted to support a big name and couldn't find Manchester on a map.

The same went for fans of Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool, but United were the absolute pinnacle of this kind of supporting.

Anyway, I looked at the Prem table one day - not yet knowing who all the teams were off the top of my head - and saw an entry for a club called "Manchester City."

My first thought: "Whoa, there's a second team in Manchester?" So I learned about them. Lots of local support, a real working-class club, seemed to be perpetually in United's shadow but as cross-town rivals, the natural enemies of all the bandwagoners and plastic fans I hated.

Plus, there was just something about the name "Manchester City" I loved - maybe it's because I grew up in a rural area and always wanted to get out, and "City" was evocative of that? Or maybe it just reminded me that City were in fact a club that seemed to take its Manc identity more seriously than that other lot. I've always thought "Manchester City" is the perfect name for our club...although I'm an American, I was drawn to the fact that City was first and foremost a club for Mancunians, not glory supporters from random places (ironic, I know)...and it's also fitting considering Manchester was the world's first industrialized city in the modern sense.

They immediately became my side, and I've been a City fan ever since. I've made great friendships, learned so much about the world, and been to places I never thought I would all because one random day I saw a Manchester team in the table that wasn't United. I have loved every minute of supporting this great club, win, lose, or draw.

Of course, with the club's stature what it is now, people assume I'm a glory supporter, but I don't let that bother me, since most of those accusations come from fans of the red cartel and it's not like I take their opinions seriously.

Up the Blues

 

[broadwayblue]

It's a very personal thing to me.

My father’s side of the family were never what one would consider to be particularly close, and what little contact I had with them essentially died when he died of cancer in 2003. I was 15 years old at the time.

Not long after, I visited the UK for the very first time. While I always loved football, it was only really shown on TV in the States every four years for the World Cup. But I caught the football bug whilst in England like never before since it was everywhere, and I decided to find a club to support.

Since my paternal grandmother’s family was from Cheetham Hill and Bury, I wanted it to be from Manchester. At the time, United reigned supreme. As a Yankees fan, I couldn't in good conscience support another "Evil Empire," so to speak, so I decided to support City. It didn't hurt that Claudio Reyna, a fellow American, had just signed with the team, Shaun Wright-Phillips was my favorite footballer, and Oasis were my favorite band. All the pieces were in the right place. So, really, I believe the club chose me more than anything else.

I also HATED American United bandwagoners in school who only followed the club because of Beckham and/or Ronaldo.

(Fast forward to today: City are now the "Evil Empire" and co-own an MLS club with the Yankees. Some things were just meant to be.)

What started as a way to help me find a connection to my father and his side of the family that were no longer really there, helped me gain a bigger and bluer family than I could have ever possibly imagined. It's global. And I wouldn't change it for the world.

 

[Oystercatcher28]

Indoctrination by tribe. No choice. No regrets. Best photo in my youth is with a sky blue shirt, with Umbro logos on sleeves. Happy days. My son is a gloryseeker. Born the day we lost at Southampton in 22/23. Been spoilt since. He doesn't brag.

 

[MCFC Wirral]

My chosen IT degree was offered all over the country so I put Manchester down on my UCAS form purely to get to City with relative ease.

 

[Failsworth Dave]

My Dad had a video review of the 92/93 season that I must have watched 50 times. For Christmas 1993 I got a City kit and tickets for the Southampton game on the 28th. That was my first game at 7.

 

[xgorton]

This save from Joe Corrigan in 1977.



I'm not from Manchester, I'm from the south Midlands where there are no top tier football teams. I was 9 years old and everyone at my primary school had Man Utd, Liverpool or Villa bags. Not sure I can even say this on here - please be kind - I had some interest in Leeds but was already somewhat disillusioned with them when I watched City v Leeds on Match of the Day and Big Joe pulled off this save. I was a budding keeper and I took a keen interest in Joe Corrigan, and by default, Man City. I even copied his superstitions, hence my username.

I thought I'd made a good choice, following City - they'd won the League cup in 1976 and finished runner-up to Liverpool in the First Division in the year I started supporting them. That started my rivalry with Liverpool fans, which continues to this day, as well as the rags, who I was surrounded by.

I then spent the next 30 years believing I was a jinx, as everything went downhill from then on. The '81 Cup Final gutted me. I was the only person in the pub watching the Gillingham game until we equalised, and then I cheered so loudly that almost the entire rest of the pub declared themselves as rags. Nothing changes.

But everything comes to he who waits. I never wavered with who my team was and now I take immense pleasure in telling people I've been a Blue for 45 years and that all our success is just personal karma for me, as my reward for stoically accepting 30 years of people laughing at my choice. They don't laugh now!

Was at that cup game great save from Joe,but they scored right near the end we lost 1-0 well gutted that day.