Aileen Barclay

Why Blue?

I cannot claim to be a lifelong City fan. I have only been a fan for about a year. But here is the reason I’m Blue.

My boyfriend lives in Manchester (but being from Berkshire is a Reading fan through and through, poor lad). I have lived in Scotland all my life and wasn’t really a follower of any particular team south of the border. When I first visited Manchester last summer and walked around the city centre, I was struck by the number of Man Utd ‘fans’ clouding my vista. There was another big club in Manchester – this I knew; so where were the fans? Being a little twisted (why join the majority?) I decided there and then to become a supporter of Manchester City. I soaked up all the information I could on the team – the history, the current players, the feeling of the supporters (via MCIVTA).

When the season started I followed the results, got the City Mag sent up, and went to my first game (against Bradford City) in November at Maine Road. I was so excited – almost 30,000 inside the stadium and some Bradford fans sitting precariously on the newly-constructed corner stand. I’d heard the atmostphere at Maine Road left something to be desired, but I was still shocked at how quiet it was – I opened my bag of crisps and six people turned round. Our game was terrible – we had more than twenty chances of scoring that went begging; it was the most frustrating game of football I had ever witnessed. When we scored on 93 minutes we all went absolutely wild – the fans, the players and no doubt the management – as if we’d won a cup final. I felt like I belonged there, with the big, tortured family of fans who hadn’t seen a piece of silverware in twenty years. Since then, the fortunes of Man City have obviously taken a turn for the worse and I’ll admit to shedding a tear listening to the radio commentary of the Stoke game on the last day of the season. Languishing in Division Two is hopefully City’s worst point in history. I want to be there when they become great again (I can wait).

I don’t know any other City fans but it makes my day when a total stranger comes up and shakes my hand because I’m wearing a City top!

First printed in: MCIVTA Newsletter #420 on