Thomas Bubendorfer

Why Blue?

A very good question. After all, I am not from Manchester. In fact, I am not even from England. I am an Austrian, grown up in a tiny village somewhere in the Alps where football is only the second most important sport after skiing.

For some reason I have always been interested in Man City. I remember watching the League Cup Final 1976 – not live, but still – and the first leg of the 1981 FA Cup Final, when poor Tommy Hutchinson scored for both teams.

But I really started to support City when I spent 5 weeks in Mansfield with an uncle of mine. I don’t remeber what year it was exactly, it must have been around 1986. One of the Blues’ players – Imre Varadi – lived in or near Mansfield and did not have a driving licence at the time. The man who drove Imre to the training and matches was a friend of my uncle – so when he asked me if I wanted to come to Maine Road, of course I said yes. The moment when I first came out of the tunnel and saw the stadium all around and a luminous green pitch in the middle and I haven’t been the same since (ok, it is a quote, but it was like that). After the matches I was allowed to meet some of the players personally. It was a brilliant time for me, and when I had to go back to Austria, I was a die hard Blues fan and stayed so ever since.

Since I am living in London now, I can go to a few matches and see the team live, not just reading about it in the papers or the Web, because I feel that a supporter must see his team playing. Although we are having a difficult time at the moment (and that is an understatement), I am convinced that, in the bright future, there will be better times for us.

Up The Blues!

First printed in: MCIVTA Newsletter #256 on