I was talking to a very good
friend of mine, Ian Cheeseman, recently, speculating about the long-term future
of City and the what-ifs. We were wondering what direction the club would go in
and musing over the future of the current fan base if we ever won the Champions
League.
I already know people who have left
their season tickets behind, whether it be for financial reasons or personal,
but then it made me think. Could I ever turn my back on my football team? Just
the thought of answering the question made my heart drop.
What would I be without Manchester City?
The way of life
For around 25 years, I’ve planned
my life around the football fixtures. Before children and responsibilities in
general came along, I used to go home and away across the country following
City. This meant almost every weekend was spent travelling and supporting my
team. Whether it was London, Liverpool, Leeds or Leicester, I’d be there.
Sometimes we’d stay overnight, meaning the weekend was taken up with following
the Blues. 3,000 of you who have the loyalty points, the time or the
supporters’ club memberships, still do this. You lucky sods.
I still mark the fixture list on
the calendar (as soon as the rearranged
television fixtures come out – no point beforehand!) and add on all cup
games. If a friend asks to meet on a Saturday? ‘Let me just check my calendar,’
of course, largely meaning the fixture list. So City have dictated my social
life for a quarter of a century already. When I say that out loud, it sounds
really sad, doesn’t it? But it’s more than just a hobby – it’s a way of life.
It’s all I’ve ever know for a huge chunk of my life. It’s all we’ve ever known.
These days, with having two boys
under the age of four, finances and circumstances at the moment mean that we
are sharing a season ticket, so we take it in turns to go to the home games. We
have dropped down the pecking order points-wise for away tickets, so following
City away is now once in a blue moon. Which is fine by me, as it makes it all
the more special when we do get to do it. It’s unrealistic to think we could do
any more right now all things considered. We can take Vincent to the games as
he’s four and really enjoys it, but Noel is almost two and still hasn’t mastered
the act of sitting still, so the thought of taking him for the sake of it and
chasing him round the stand for 90 minutes isn’t really an appealing one.
It goes without saying that we
never miss a game. So the ones we get to – fantastic – the others, like many
other people, we watch on the television or on a stream. Does it make us any
less of a fan? Absolutely not. These are the sacrifices we inevitably have to
make as we make decisions throughout our lives. Living vicariously isn’t always
possible when you have a budget to manage and two little humans to feed, dress
and entertain. Most people have responsibilities, with decisions to make. A lot
of the time, life is a balancing act. Trying to keep everything in balance,
everybody happy, everything afloat, can prove so difficult. But the one
constant has been City – and that won’t change any time soon.
It’s in the blood
I know so many people who were
named after former City players. Colin, Mike, Francis…the memories of those
legends of the past will forever resonate through generations: not only because
of their skills on the pitch, but because fans during that time created a
further legacy for them, by naming their sons after them.
It’s not an easy thing, thinking
of what name to give your child. I remember when I was pregnant with my first
born, I wrote down a list of potential names to consider and the pressure and
practicalities of giving my child that name for the rest of their life weighed
down on me with such a heavy burden. All of my friends and everybody that knows
me knew it would have some City
connection.
But he was always only ever going
to be called Vincent. Captain Kompany has earned his place in City’s history
with his typically solid, swashbuckling defending displays over the years. Some
may remember him for his unfortunate injury record; I for one will only take
away the positives, and there are so many to choose from. His attitude is
faultless, his heart is golden and his heroics have helped towards many of our
trophies. The signings of Stones and Laporte have inevitably seen the Belgian
fall down the pecking order, but I’ll always be able to tell my Vincent the
stories of just how pivotal a part his name sake played in the story of City’s
successes over the years.
My second born was slightly
tougher. I didn’t want him to have a name that he could potentially be one of a
few in his classroom, so that ruled out Kevin, David, Joe. Many people said
Sergio to me and laughed, but it did actually get to a point where I seriously
started to consider it. I mentioned it to Adam and his response was laughter,
of course. He’d definitely be the only Sergio in his class, that’s for sure! I
thought Serg for short was pretty cool too, but, ultimately, we both decided to
go for it as a middle name, with Noel (of
Gallagher, Oasis, fame) as his first name.
So, with sons called Vincent and
Noel Sergio, it’s pretty hard to escape which football team I support. That’s a
conscious choice I opted for and one that will stay with them now for the rest
of their lives. It’s in their blood. Vincent has been to quite a few games now;
he’s seen us lift the Premier League trophy at the Etihad and the Capital One
Cup twice at Wembley. Noel is yet to go because, basically, he doesn’t sit
still yet! But hopefully one day, like many fans before them, our match day
traditions and love for our team will strike a chord for them. One day they’ll
be going in Mary D’s supping pints before the game. One day they might meet
their girlfriend because of City. One day they may have a hand in naming their
child after the next generation of City heroes. One day.
It’s that generational support
that is so vital to the club. City are focusing so much at the moment on
attracting the global and corporate fans. I’m all for that and I encourage that
entirely. But what about the local fans? The fans that have been there since
day one? The great Grandfathers, who took the Grandads, who then passed on
their support to the Mums and Dads. The families throughout the years: aunties,
uncles, cousins, sons and daughters that went week in, week out at Maine Road
and now turn up at the Etihad without fail. That hardcore support that City
relied on during the club’s plummet to Division Two, are still going, but will
eventually, slowly stop. We have to make our best effort to pass on our
allegiance to our children and encourage them to partake in our hobby just as
passionately as we have done throughout the years to ensure the fan base
remains. I want them to be able to enjoy it just as much as I have done – even
when the day out was much better than the football!
It’s a different generation now
though. The club has evolved beyond anything it ever looked like when I started
going. The stadium, the players, the management, the football, the philosophy,
even the mentality has started to shift. ‘Typical City’ was the tag we all used
to refer to – the new ‘Typical City’ norm is winning. A winning mentality, a
winning habit and winners across the pitch. The losses sting perhaps more now,
because they’re so few and far between. The football is mesmerising, hypnotic
but just as addictive. Like a habit so hard to shake, to quit, to walk away
would be impossible. Not even the heaviest of hearts could make such a
decision. It’s blue blood – that will never change.
Memories for life
So many memories I have
throughout my life, are memories that I’ve made involving City. The good, the
bad and the ugly. Every single boyfriend I’ve had with the exception of one
have been City fans. I met my current boyfriend, Adam, through Twitter and this
only happened because he was a blue. The first time we met was at the Etihad. Some
of our best memories together have been shared there, falling in love and
having our baby boy, Noel Sergio. We’ve celebrated many of our successes
together and it’s one of the hobbies that we share and enjoy as a couple.
Ten trips to Wembley when at one
point in my life I thought I’d be lucky to ever experience one. The first time
securing promotion to the then Division One by the tip of our fingernails, the
second beating United to pave the way to the third - ripping the banner down by
winning the FA Cup. The nights out that have ended in spectacular hangovers,
the days seeing the joy on my little Vincent’s bewildered face. Finding a copy
of King of the Kippax at my Grandad’s house after he passed away from prostate
cancer, only then discovering he read my work. Going to games with my Mum, Dad
and brother as a family, together, before they divorced and Dad moved to Hong
Kong. Celebrating our second Premier League title on the pitch when I was 20
weeks pregnant with Vincent, only to run on again, this time with him
celebrating on his knees arms aloft, after our third title win. Travelling down
to Stamford Bridge with Adam’s Mum and Dad on my birthday and telling them an
hour before the game that I was pregnant with their third grandchild.
I’ve only scratched the surface.
Every match brings different memories – and there have been hundreds. Whether
with friends or family, strangers or colleagues, football has this often unique
way of unifying people. It’s tribal, it’s infectious, but, ultimately, we’re
all family. It’s a bond we all share, a tie that binds us. What would I be
without these memories? Where would my life have taken me? Who would I have
met? Would I be happy?
The goose-bumps, the sighs, the
eye rolls, the agony and the ecstacy. The bruises, the aches, the sore throats
and the limbs in the celebrations. The rivalries and the harmonies. I’ve
experienced every emotion possible following City; I’ve invested my heart and
soul to the club. The results define your mood every weekend – who was that guy
who said football wasn’t a matter of life and death, it was so much more? Ah,
yes. Well, you’ve got to say, he makes an excellent point.
The opportunities it’s created
As I’ve written about previously,
I first started writing for King of the Kippax when I was 15 years old and
still at high school. It was largely down to Dave and Sue that I continued down
the path of writing. I loved English at school and I knew I had to do something
in life connected to it: I was writing all the time in my spare time, so it
made sense to try and pursue it in some way. The encouragement and confidence
that Dave and Sue gave me inspired me to eventually go to university and study
a degree in Sports Journalism.
It was my passion for everything
City that extended into my writing. I wrote opinion pieces, player profiles,
match reports, features and about personal experiences. I was more than capable
of writing impartially about other teams and still am, but it was all things
blue that kept me up until midnight. I sent off work and wrote voluntary for
many different organisations, I was invited onto radio programmes by the BBC
and the now defunct Key 103 (now Hits
Radio). I wrote match reports for the Mirror and articles for Football
Fancast.
After I graduated and had the
weight of not only years of voluntary media experience, but a recognised
qualification too, it was working on BBC Radio Manchester’s hit City radio
show, Blue Tuesday, that led to my
job at City. I worked there for three years: I got to interview all the first
team squad, to celebrate those trophies with them and to help out many worthy
charities with signed club merchandise. I have many unbelievable memories that
I will treasure from during my time there.
Since then, my children have
become my immediate priority and focus. But I still take great pleasure in
writing for King of the Kippax and
have been lucky to have worked alongside my friend Ian on the City Watch Podcast, an iTunes Top 10
Sports Podcast. I still dip a toe in the water whenever I can and writing will
always be one of my favourite hobbies. Who knows, perhaps in the future, I may
have an opportunity to revisit it as a career. But, without my club, the love,
knowledge and passion for my team, Dave and Sue and the unwavering support from
Ian, I wouldn’t have even thought about going down this career path, and for
that I have to be grateful.
The people you meet
For me, this is one of the most
important parts. Without City, there are a lot of truly wonderful people that
wouldn’t be in my life. I have met so many friends who I have only met because
they are City friends, and their friendships have actually become stronger over
time than many of my friends whom I have known for many years.
A lot of people criticise social
media, but it’s played a huge part in being able to connect with so many fellow
fans and meet up with them at games. I love meeting people I follow on Twitter
at games. We’ve all discussed it many times and there’s just no way that our
paths would have ever crossed in life had it not been for City. I’ve met fans
from across the country, even across the world. When we went out to Dubai, we
met up with a few blues out there and watched the game at their Official
Supporters’ Club. If I ever happened to go on holiday during the season (usually a big no-no!), the first thing
I’d do is find out where their Supporters’ Branch is to be able to go and watch
the game.
It was because of my family,
namely, my Uncle Bob and my brother, Simon that I decided to support City. But
as the years have gone by, friends and colleagues have become so important in
my life. I’ve already mentioned Ian: he’s a genuine, loyal and deeply
passionate person and by far the biggest blue I know. I’ve known him for almost
as long as I’ve known Dave and Sue, who are both truly caring, wonderful and
generous people, for whom I’m always grateful for publishing my musings.
Twitter is full of amazing,
funny, brilliant people who I’m lucky to call friends. Maddie, Abbie,
Nicki, David, Dan, Kathy, Nicola, Juli,
Barbara, Anne, Richard, Nathan, Alan, Ryan, Deb, Samantha, Jenny, Rach…I could
write a paragraph of names and smile thinking about all the memories I’ve
shared throughout the years, both individually and collectively, whether at an
away game, or at Wembley, or at the Etihad.
To you, reading this, those names
probably mean nothing. You will have your own band of friendships that you’ve
formed down the years going to City. Or perhaps you go to every game with your
Mum, your Dad, your children or your partner. Those rituals, those routines,
those experiences that fill your heart with so much joy (and sometimes, pain), you wouldn’t swap for anything. Imagine if
you didn’t have that. You may have also lost a precious soul who was a blue and
that will continue to happen: we’re all not getting any younger, so that’s why
it’s so important to encourage all the young blues to carry the news. Their
legacy can be their future.
I’ve reached a conclusion. I
couldn’t remotely imagine my life during the season without City.
Times are hard, money is tight
and people are being stretched even more than ever. This leads to having to
make tough, heart-breaking choices. Like I said, we share a season ticket at
the moment, because our children are both young; we can’t afford to have two
and our childcare situation means that more often than not, we have to
alternate going to games. I know a few people who do that.
I know people who are not as
fortunate and can’t afford to go to games at all. Or people who have given up
their season tickets because they feel like the club is moving too far away
from their core working class support, towards attracting the corporate
clientele. I also know people who have moved abroad and have to work their
lives around not only the fixture list, but factoring in time differences to be
able to make kick offs to watch the game. The club may be attracting a new,
global fan-base: they have to, to help with merchandise revenue, but there have
been plenty of ex pat and foreign blues there long before the money started
rolling in.
I also, sadly, know blues who
don’t think foreign fans count towards being genuine supporters. They are no
friends of mine. Unfortunately, as well as meeting plenty of fantastic, genuine
City fans, you do meet the odd dickhead along the way. I’m sure you know who
you are, and thankfully, social media has plenty of ways to prevent such people
from engaging with you, if you so wish.
All this passion, this
dedication, this tribalism. All this energy and effort directed towards a
football team. But it’s not just a football team. It’s City. It’s all we’ve
ever known. It’s all we ever will know.
I’ve already mentioned that,
without City, I wouldn’t have met my boyfriend, Adam. I had a season ticket
with my ex, Chris, Vincent’s Dad. So, without City, I definitely wouldn’t have the
two beautiful, healthy children I have today.
Now, if that isn’t something to
be truly thankful for, I’m not sure what is.
