Newsletter #1125

So the season is over and congratulations to West Ham, Sheffield Wednesday and Southend. Time to sit down and watch our 1999 game again.

Tonight we have opinion on critics, the quality of the new shirt, Pink memories and an Italian correction.

OPINION: CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICS I

To Anne Parker who thinks we shouldn’t have a go at our players: why not? You moan at actors, moan at politicians, moan at the wife or husband, or both! So why not players?

They are paid an exorbitant amount of money to play the game that most of us play for nothing. In all honesty Anne, Danny Mills has been terrible this season and Stuart Pearce obviously thinks so as well. In every walk of life there are people that don’t pull their weight, play the game, be part of the team etc.; should we just let them carry on?

The next question to be asked is that as I live in New Zealand, how can I comment, not ever having been to see my team and probably never will. Thanks to television I’ve seen enough of the team to make a comment. Once you take the fans’ emotions out of a game you have a very sterile game. Look at the comments when Anelka left. You think we’d sold the crown jewels; well we still have the crown jewels, mind you he’s going to be a very busy boy playing for the five or six clubs he’s said to be transferring to.

I think criticism is fine, it’s what you make out of it.

Finally, City fans pop up in the most unusual places. I went to church the other weekend, and a bloke up the front was wearing a City sweatshirt. The next weekend he was back, his wife saw me and he came over and introduced himself to me. It was the City padre out here on a holiday. It’s a funny little world!

Well now the silly season is upon us.

OPINION: CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICS II

Just one word about the Danny Mills argument Anne; we ‘just can’t get behind our players, playing for the team we love’, because as proven often and again, it is players like Mills/McManaman et al who seemingly refuse to get behind the team we love. It’s the fading romance of football I’m afraid – there is no room for sentimentality in any longer. Sad. True. And the Dollar(!) saw to it.

Also, Dave Lyons – an absolutley moving piece. There will no doubt be people who get this email who will look down at the fact that you were once involved in the ‘odd skirmish when on the terraces’ – but I felt compelled to forward it to loads of footie fans – because it’s an insight many would never get to see. They need to.

OPINION: PINK MEMORIES

Jim Heaviside is right about the Football Pink. It was an institution – indeed it had iconic status. I first came across it in the early 1960s when I was living in South Africa. My parents had emigrated there from Manchester in 1953. Like lots of ex-pats they had loads of English friends and a number were from Manchester. One guy used to get the Pink sent out to him – he was a United supporter (my twin brother and I were City supporters having gone to Maine Road in 1955 when we had accompanied my mother back to Manchester for a visit – the score was City 1 Sunderland 0 and we saw Don Revie and Bert Trautmann for City and Len Shackleton for Sunderland).

Anyway, I used to look forward to visiting Max (which was the Utd supporter’s name) to read his Football Pinks. This led me to have a loyalty to all the north-west clubs – like the Latics, County, the Dale etc. When I returned to England and ended up living in Manchester I used to get the Pink and then started to follow the non-League teams.

I was really pleased for Liam Watson when he made it from the semi-pro pages to Preston North End (although I never saw him play!). Like me, my brother who had emigrated to New Zealand with his family by this time, also enjoyed the Pink. That made getting him a Xmas present really easy – just a subscription to the Pink. That way, like Jim Heaviside, we could follow the progress of David Pace’s Droylsden; Mike McKenzie when he was at Hyde United (good to see they won the Unibond Premier League) etc. Great to see Alty back in the Conference. When I moved to the south-west I also took out a subscription. I’ll miss my Monday morning read of the Pink (along with The Game from The Times). I suppose it’s all part of ‘progress’ – but sometimes I do wonder…

Still, I guess we can log on to MOL and read pages on Latics, Rochdale and the like via the Internet. And like Heidi I also hope that Preston North End win their play-off (I’m that old that I can recall seeing Tom Finney play – mind you it was at the end of his career when he was guesting for a club in South Africa) – not too bothered about Lincoln, although it would be good to see Simon Yeo get a couple of goals but Southend do have Spencer Prior in their team; also like Sheffield Wednesday to win because they have Glenn Whelan.

OPINION: THAT NEW SHIRT I

I have just purchased the much-debated away shirt and I must have a fake one as the (much-debated) badge, the sponsor and the Reebok badge are all crappy transfer material that will surely be peeling off after 3 or 4 washes!

Very disappointed, no wonder it’s the “cheapest for years”.

OPINION: THAT NEW SHIRT II

Just a quick one to say that after the big launch of our new away shirt I thought I’d have a look at it in the flesh.

Yet again this shirt is a rip-off from Reebok. The club website said this shirt will have a 2 year life span. I’m not convinced it will last that long though for the fans who do buy it.

The reason? The badge isn’t even embroidered! No wonder the club shop is selling it for £35 although it can be found cheaper elsewhere.

Think I’ll be giving this one a miss.

Have a great summer all.

OPINION: NEW KIT MARKETING IDEAS

A way for Manchester City Football Club to get some additional revenue would be to allow the fans the chance to design the next home and away kits through a competition. A charge of say, £15 could be levied for each competition entry.

To encourage people to enter the competition, entrants could receive some of the following benefits:

• discount voucher off the price of the new kits when they’re launched
• selection of competition entrants have their designs shown in matchdayprogrammes, and displayed around the stadium
• sneak preview of the winning designs before they’re officially launched
• top 10 runners-up visit Reebok to watch the new kits being produced

And of course, the major incentive is the chance to have their beloved heroes play Premiership football in the kit that they have designed – Imagine that!

Understandably, Reebok would need to fine-tune the winning designs to ensure that they’re in line with all the necessary brand and FA guidelines etc. A selection of the players and management, fans’ committee, and Reebok representatives could form part of the judging panel.

Not only does this generate revenue for the club, it also involves the fans in something they feel very passionate about. It’s a real win/win.

OPINION: SHIRTS, AN ITALIAN CORRECTION

I have followed all the comments about the dispute around the City badge and, even if I agree with the reference that the ‘old one’ is looking better than the new one, I want you to know a very important thing, most of all regarding the Murray Withers’ comments.

Here in Italy I support (try to guess) SS Lazio and, despite the odious fascist following in the Curva Nord (North Bank in the Olympic Stadium), many, many, Lazio fans are in no way fascist!

You really cannot think about all the fans as fascist because Rome is a very big city and the club has got so many fans.

Further, the club was founded in 1900 (many years before Mussolini’s regime) and even if the Partito Nazionale Fascista (National Fascist Party) wanted to merge the club with the newly founded by the regime AS Roma in 1927, the then board wanted the sky blue club to remain ‘different’ and denied the merging! So, not only are Lazio fans not all fascist and most of all the club was hated by all the PNF board. The eagle is only about the Roman Empire symbol and is about the roots of the city.

I am sick and tired about all the people think us (real fans and not false ones always in search of some cheap fame with this fascist tag) as a monolite fascist following!

I despise people like Di Canio celebrating the win in the derby game with a Roman greeting and many fans think the same.

Thank you, C’mon City!

OPINION: RESERVE CHANGES

Just want to say good luck to Steve Wigley. Hopefully he’ll do the biz!

Also, I’d like to pay tribute to one my of all time Blue heroes:

‘Five foot eight,
Tackles late
Asa Hartford’s
F$*!king Great!

Good luck, Asa!

Thanks for the memories.

OPINION: COMEBACKS

Great article by Dave Lyons in MCIVTA 1124.

Went to the local on Wednesday night looking forward to another drab European Cup final as that’s what we were all told to expect.

Ended up jumping up and down doing the Soccer AM “easy, easy” with 2 Leeds fans, a Farnborough Town fan, a Lille fan and a couple of 60 odd year old wine drinking French blokes who looked bemused to say the least.

Never thought I would cheer so much for another team; great end to a very good season.

REQUEST: WEMBLEY FOOTAGE

Today marks the sixth anniversary of Paul Dickov’s finest moment… before he took to scoring against us, Mr Dickov scored in the greatest ever comeback; forget all that Liverpool claptrap rubbish!

Does anyone know where I can find this, and other, City clips on the web? There used to be a site that had all the goals, but it closed down years ago. Any ideas?

MCIVTA FAQ [v0405.02]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Heidi Pickup)          : editor@mcivta.city-fan.org
News/rumour (Don Barrie)         : news@mcivta.city-fan.org
Subscriptions (Madeleine Hawkins): subscriptions@mcivta.city-fan.org
Technical problems (Paul)        : paul@city-fan.org
FAQ (David Warburton)            : faq@mcivta.city-fan.org

[2] What are MCIVTA’s publishing deadlines?

Deadlines for issues are nominally 6pm, Monday and Thursday evenings bu email. Unfortunately we cannot accept email attachments.

[3] MCIVTA Back Issues and Manchester City Supporters’ home page

http://www.uit.no/mancity/ is the unofficial Manchester City Supporters’ home page. Created in 1994, it is the longest running of the Manchester City related web sites. Back issues of MCIVTA are also hosted on the site.

[4] What is the club’s official web site?

The official club web site can be found at http://www.mcfc.co.uk/

[5] What supporters’ clubs are there?

Manchester City FC recognises three supporters’ clubs: The “Official Supporters Club” (http://www.mancity.net/osc/); the “Centenary Supporters’ Association” (http://www.reddishblues.com/CSAWebsite/CSA.htm) and “The International Supporters’ Club” (http://www.mcfc.co.uk/article.asp?article=111845&Title=International+Supporters+Club&lid=Membership).

[6] Where can I find out about the fans’ committee?

The Fans’ Committee operates as an interface between supporters and the club. The Fans’ Committee has been relaunched as “Points of Blue”. It has appeared on the club website as a minor entry under “Fans Zone”.

[7] What match day broadcasts are available on the web?

The GMR pre and post match phone-in is available on the web at http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/gmr/sport_intro.shtml.

Live match commentaries and archives of games, reports and interviews can be found at http://www.mcfctv.com/.

[8] Where can I find out if City are live on satellite TV?

http://www.satfootball.com/pl.html provides a listing of Premiership games being shown on UK domestic and foreign satellite channels. Useful sites for North American viewers are http://canadatvsoccer.tripod.com/Fixtures.htm, http://www.foxsportsworld.com/named/FSW/Index/Soccer, and http://www.soccertv.com/.

[9] Do we have a Usenet newsgroup?

Yes we do: uk.sport.football.clubs.man-city is our home on usenet. If you are not familiar with usenet, a basic explanation is available here: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci213262,00.html

[10] Do any squad members have their own web pages?

There are a number available and direct links can be found at http://www.uit.no/mancity/players/

[11] Can I buy shares in the club?

Yes you can: Shares in Manchester City PLC are traded on OFEX. The latest prices can be on found the OFEX web site http://www.ofex.com/ (registration required) or in the business section of the Manchester Evening News.

[12] Where can I find match statistics?

Statistics for the current season are available from the club site, but for a more in-depth analysis try http://www.mcfcstats.com/.

[13] Where can I find a list of City-related websites?

Try Wookie’s Lair: http://www.wookieslair.com/modules.php?name=Web_Links

DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in MCIVTA are entirely those of the subscribersand there is no intention to represent these opinions as being thoseof Manchester City Football Club, nor of any of the companies anduniversities by whom the subscribers are employed. It is not inany way whatsoever connected to the club or any other relatedorganisation and is simply a group of supporters using this mediumas a means of disseminating news and exchanging opinions.

Heidi Pickup, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: