Simon Veksner

Why Blue?

So how did I get into this madness we call Man City? Well, it wasn’t through family. My grandad was from the North-East and a fanatical Sunderland fan. My dad was born in Uruguay and supports a team called Penarol, which you may have heard of as they quite often win the Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the European Cup, though eventually he adopted an English team as well – Sunderland, perhaps to please his father-in-law? Nor was it through living in Manchester, as I grew up in Surrey. There are no football teams in Surrey, so the vast majority of the kids at that time (mid-70s) supported one of our two ‘national’ sides, Liverpool or Man. U****d. Now, my best friend Simon Hill supported U****d, so that seemed the way to go, and for about two weeks I was a U****d fan. Until one day I saw on Football Focus that Manchester City were second in the table, while U****d were a few places lower!

Shouldn’t I be supporting the more successful Manchester team? Yes, I know it sounds funny now, but remember, this was a long time ago. When I found out City played in a beautiful sky blue, that clinched it for me. The first game I remember seeing on Match of the Day was a 4-1 away victory at Chelsea, with Ron (?) Futcher scoring a hat-trick. Mick Channon got the other. I won’t bore you with the various ups and downs since then, as you have experienced them in your own way. OK just one – why doesn’t anyone recognise that Steve Mackenzie’s volley was a far better goal than Ricky Villa’s, which was surely just down to bad defending? No, what I really want to use this ‘Why Blue’ to say is that the ‘Manchester-ism’ of City fans bugs the hell out of me. Every time you criticise a U****d fan for not being from Manchester, aren’t you implying that it’s also wrong to be a City fan if you’re not from Manchester? You’re invalidating the feelings of people like myself and the many other non-Manchester or even non-UK City fans. So stop it! Childhood is a magical time, before prejudices are formed, and attachments can be made to a place, a person or a football club that are not strictly logical. But that doesn’t make them any less passionate, or indeed legitimate. It’s sad that having supported City passionately for 21 years, I sometimes have my feelings questioned by other City fans. Don’t mis-understand me, I’m not saying it is wrong to hate U****d. It is perfectly right and proper to hate United! But to criticise their fans because they’re not from Manchester is a mistake. Keep up the good work on McVittee, guys, it’s a joy to read.

P.S. City are going straight back up as champions and will win the FA Cup the year after. You heard it here first!

First printed in: MCIVTA Newsletter #212 on