Newsletter #1200

1200 Up!

A nail-biting cup tie at Villa as we inexplicably threw away chance after chance in the first half, let them get the better of us for about 15 minutes and finally up popped Micah Richards with a trademark headed goal to secure us a replay. The date is yet to be confirmed, either 7/8th or 14/15th March and the winner of that gets a home tie against either Bolton or West Ham at home. Still belief that this is our year, given the anniversaries, so no pressure Pearce and the team, but get the form and consistency sorted!

We have a match report tonight thanks to Colin, opinion on just how poor Villa are, Richards in the FA Vote, more on giving up and the usual requests.

MATCH REPORT: AVFC 1 MCFC 1

Thriller at the Villa!

We have this touching belief that our name is on the Cup this year but for twenty minutes it looked a forlorn one until Micah Richards’ last-gasp equaliser sent the travelling support into ecstasy at Villa Park. I hadn’t planned to go originally as I had another arrangement but changed my plans late on in order to drive my son and his friend down. Boy, am I glad I did! It was a tortuous journey down the M6 with heavy traffic all the way and at one point it looked as though we weren’t going to get there in time. We made it with ten minutes to spare to be greeted by the sight of three half-empty stands but a packed City contingent of nearly 6,000. The atmosphere was really buzzing in the City end and the opening exchanges reflected that, with both sides getting stuck in. However, it didn’t take long before City got on top and Vassell had an early strike that served notice of his intentions to ram the booing of the Villa fans down their throats. It was incredible to us that they could treat their former hero like that. I’d always had a bit of a soft spot for Villa before today. Let’s face it, we know what it’s like to under-achieve under a chairman who is undoubtedly a genuine fan but is long past his sell-by date. Also to only muster 18,000 for a fifth round FA Cup tie against attractive, Premiership opposition belies any notion that they are a “big club“.

Villa had possession but did little with it – if they got the ball past Barton and Musampa then Dunne and Distin were waiting for them. City, in contrast were using the ball superbly and sliced the Villa defence open on a number of occasions. Samaras looked confident and had a shot straight at Sorenson when a pass to Riera would have been better. Then Samuel made a total boo-boo and put a back pass straight at the feet of Vassell, who only had Sorenson to beat but he took a touch too many and the Villa ‘keeper did very well to deny him. He then saved well from Barton and the pattern continued for the rest of the half. Sibierski and Distin had notable chances – the former heading just over and the latter delivering a typical centre half’s effort. At half-time it was 0-0 and, to quote the old cliché, they were lucky to get 0. James had not been totally idle but the sum total of his effort was easily collecting a number of harmless crosses. City had dominated but, true to type, had failed to kill off the game as they should have. You knew the second half was going to be a different matter and so it proved. Villa came out with much more purpose and fight and dominated the first twenty minutes, during which James had to make his first proper save, which he failed to hold onto but Dunne was around to clear up. Then City put the pressure on and had a succession of corners that led to good chances, two of which were cleared off the line and another was deflected wide of the goal. Just when it looked like we had weathered the initial storm, Baros fought to win a loose ball against three City defenders. It rolled free and Distin should have cleared it but he allowed Davis to sneak in. He played a great through ball to Baros who took one touch before lashing it past James. It was their only chance from open play and was an object lesson in the art of finishing.

There’s no worse feeling that going one down late on in a Cup game; you have this sick feeling in the pit of your stomach knowing you’ve screwed up your chance for the season. The City players’ heads seemed to go down, as did the fans. Villa were well on top now and the Holte End was singing for the first time. Sibierski was injured and was replaced by Croft but then a puzzling substitution saw Vassell, one of our most effective performers apart from his finishing, replaced by Wright-Phillips. Dunne then went up front – but why did SP take Vassell off if he wanted an extra forward? City were in headless chicken mode now, snatching at shots and making wrong decisions at crucial moments. This was summed up when BWP gave up the chase for a through ball when it looked as though he could have got it before it went out. It looked likely that the resulting goal kick would be the last action but the ball came back and, this time, Croft didn’t give up the chase and kept the ball in, gaining a corner off the covering defender. We had one last chance and the ensuing corner was superb, as all Barton’s set pieces had been. Suddenly the ball was in the net and bedlam ensued. The delirious City fans surged forward, many wrapped in the arms of their friends or even complete strangers. I ended up tumbling over seats hugging the guy next to me and finished at least six rows further forward from where I’d started. There were players in the crowd and fans on the pitch. It was sheer chaos for a minute or two and it took some time before we worked out that Richards was the scorer. The whistle went as soon as Villa restarted and we had earned what seemed at one point an unlikely replay. There was no doubting which fans were the happier but when you thought about it, we were delirious about drawing a game we should have easily won.

Marks:
James 7. Not at fault for the goal and dominated his area. Distribution was good.
Richards 9. Got forward well, defended stoutly and scored a memorable goal.
Dunne 8. A rock at the back and, for once, his single mistake went unpunished.
Distin 7. Did well overall but have to ask questions about his part in the Villa goal.
Jordan 6. Ball watches too much then gets caught out of position. The weakest link.
Sibierski 6. Used the ball well but failed to put away at least three good chances.
Musampa 8. His best game so far this season. He competed all over the field.
Barton 8. Always involved and set piece delivery was far, far better.
Riera 7. A solid, workmanlike game and often troubled the Villa defence.
Vassell 8. Destroyed them in the first half but should have scored.
Samaras 7. Excellent first touch and intelligent play. He is so strong.
Subs:
Croft 7. Showed great determination and a cool head in the dying seconds.
Wright-Phillips 6. Chief headless chicken but needs more time on the pitch.

OPINION: FA CUP MAN OF THE WEEKEND

Micah Richards is in the running for The FA’s prestigious FA Cup ‘Player of the Round’ after his Fifth Round headline-grabbing goal at the weekend, and you could help him win the award!

In only his second start, defender Richards (17) headed home a last-gasp equaliser from Joey Barton’s corner to give the Blues a deserved 1-1 against Aston Villa, after Milan Baros had put the home side ahead in the 72nd minute.

City fans can show their support for Micah by voting for him in an on-line poll at http://www.TheFA.com/.

Fans have just seven days to vote before the deadline of 9.00am on Monday, February 27.

If Micah gets the most votes, in addition to being crowned FA Cup ‘Player of the Round’, he will win £1,000 worth of Umbro football kit for a local school, club or organisation of his choice.

Micah would be the eighth and youngest player to join The FA’s Team of The FA Cup this season, guaranteeing him VIP attendance at the 125th FA Cup final.

Taken from the official site – get voting!

OPINION: THE VILLAINS

Hands up supporters of the worst team in the Premiership. OK Sunderland, put your hands down. Alright then, the second worse team. Yes, Villa, you lot!

It beggars belief how Villa and their inept manager are not in the bottom 3 of the league. City were so dominant it was embarrassing. I like Vassell but he wants shooting for missing that one on one.

Whatever happens this season with City, we should thank our lucky stars that we haven’t got Souness or O’Leary as manager. Surely club chairmen can now see their true worth to a club (nowt – a liability)?

I write this before knowing the next round draw so I won’t speculate on the possibilities and besides, I started to think about the quarter finals before the Villa game and look what happened!

Let’s see off Villa first.

OPINION: SONG FOR SAM

He’s Greek, he’s great,
He smashes dinner plates,
Samaras, Samaras…

Loud and proud now eh?

[Quite like the thought of Greece Lightning – Ed]

OPINION: THE BIG DEBATE I

I have been reading with interest the debate over standing vs. sitting. I myself used to stand on the Kippax from the age of 14 (early 70s) until it was bulldozed and regarded it as the only way to really enjoy a football match and be able to sing at the same time. Trying to sing while seated is pants.

Anyway, my question is, has any solution to this problem been looked into? If not, why not?

On to my main point. I used to work in Germany and on many occasions I went to watch 1860 Munich (the poor relations to Bayern M; now where have we seen that before in a City beginning with the letter M?). Anyway I digress, at the Olympic Stadium in Munich at both ends of the ground they have a solution to the whole standing, sitting problem and you can do either in complete safety, this is done by having a bar that comes up from the row in front and is at a height that people on the row behind can stand up against without fear of falling on the person in front of them, so stopping any accidents from happening.

Perhaps the club should be made aware of this solution and send someone to have a look, take pictures and report back to the Club and Council?

I know there would be a financial outlay for this seating/standing system and the local authorities would need to be consulted, but surely the happiness of the currently disgruntled fans needs to be addressed, after all the fans are the lifeblood of the club.

It could also halt the flow of season ticket holders from not renewing their season tickets, and in the years to come the Club would come to see the benefits from such a solution.

It would also help the atmosphere issue and the security personnel could get on with their job instead of trying to get people to sit down.

Kills 4 birds with one stone in my book.

Everyone happy, good. Now let’s get on with the football and challenging for Europe.

[Unfortunately Mark, it isn’t up to MCFC or the Council, it is down to the FLA and the authorities – see the Points of Blue notes below – Ed]

OPINION: THE BIG DEBATE II

On getting home from work yesterday, I opened a letter from John Wardle at MCFC advising me that our seats (my son and myself) are unavailable for the Sunderland game due to persistent standing by supporters on the row that we sit.

This is really getting out of control and my reply to Mr Wardle is below:

Dear Mr Wardle,

Thank you for your letter of 14 February 2006 re removing the availability of seats in the South Stand for the Sunderland game.

As you say in your letter “… the availability of all seats in the row that you sit at the Stadium…”, is absolutely correct, we do sit when the people in front of us sit down. And like other supporters around the ground we stand at key moments throughout the game, and sit down again afterwards.

You also say that this action has been taken because of “… the persistent standing in that row of nearly all of the supporters.” And again, I would agree with this statement.

So you clearly agree that there are a number of people that do sit down in accordance with the regulations and yet those people are being tarred with the same brush as the ‘persistent offenders’ that stand.

Meanwhile, the ‘away supporters’ stand with impunity and must be laughing at the way that City supporters are being treated.

Surely with the aid of CCTV and stewards, you must be able to identify the ‘persistent standing supporters’ and deal with them by blocking their season cards?

Why do the innocent have to be drawn into this situation?

I have been supporting City for over 40 years, am 56 years of age and hardly fit the profile of a football hooligan and yet I am being penalised for the actions of others.

At the Charlton game, there were some fairly aggressive stewards on the aisle that we sit adjacent to and my son calmed down a number of supporters that were becoming very irritated and very angry.

The alternative seats that you have sent for the Sunderland game are not acceptable/suitable and therefore these are returned with this letter, and expect a refund for the cost of our seats in the South Stand.

I will also expect a refund for any future games that our seats are unavailable for.

Just over a week ago, you sent out Season Ticket renewal forms with our name printed on the back of a City shirt, which was quite impressive.

I spoke to a number of City supporters (in their 40’s and 50’s) at the Charlton game, and they have had enough and like me have stated that they will not be renewing their tickets for the 2006/07 season.

As I have said previously, I have supported City for over 40 years and with my son, we supported City in the First Division, Second Division, First Division, Premiership, First Division and back to the Premiership to the current time.

We travel 320 miles for every home game with £30 of fuel costs and additional expenses, so supporting City is quite expensive.

I am disgusted by the way that we are being treated, and you as the Chairman of the Club should ensure that supporters are treated fairly and honestly and I do not believe this to be the case.

Yours sincerely,

OPINION: THE BIG DEBATE III

It’s 2 weeks since I wrote out of sheer frustration with the over zealous attitude towards football supporters, in our case fans in the South Stand at Eastlands. I have even seen reports of a fan being ejected at the Charlton game for “persistent standing” despite the fact that there were fans standing both in front and behind him. This fan allegedly even had his seasoncard taken from him and was told he would have to apply to the club to have it returned.

Frankly, this is both ridiculous and reprehensible. Did this fan chant or make racist remarks? Did he attempt to invade the field of play? No he dared to stand up “Persistently”!

How many fans who contribute to this forum started life on the Kippax or failing that stood on it at some point or failing even that have stood persistently in a seated area at times of excitement or simply because they wanted to so they could feel part of the atmosphere? OK this is not advocating wholesale standing at Eastlands but isn’t it time that fans were allowed to stand in certain parts of a football ground if they want to?

The whole ethos of what it means to support your team in our ground and other grounds in this country is slowly being eroded. Fans that for years have supported the club they love are beginning to feel alienated not just for the reasons I am bemoaning but this is indicative of the growing apathy that if continually ignored will be to the detriment of football and of course our beloved club.

When I read that fans on these pages have decided not to renew their season card (even our favourite Editor is thinking about things!) then isn’t it time to take some form of action?

My brother in MCIVTA 1199 wrote about http://www.standupsitdown.co.uk/. I have been in contact with people from that website and members are considering a protest in two weeks’ time at West Ham and at Leeds. Both these grounds to name a few have had problems similar to those that we have seen at Eastlands this season. The protest is planned to be peaceful and take the form of a showing of yellow cards before and during the game and hopefully getting some publicity in the process.

Isn’t it time we tried to reclaim our rights as fans to be able to support our team in the way that genuine football fans have always done in a safe and lawful manner?

With the club’s agreement it is my intention to try to organise some form of protest, possibly at the next home game vs. Sunderland. I have no idea of cost or logistics I am acting purely as a passionate supporter who is fed up of “suits” who have no association with our game telling us how to sit on a seat or how we should support our team.

Of course this will not be a success without people getting together as a collective – there is no point in our views being fragmented (I know Bluewatch is on my wavelength); we need to be together on this so I appeal to all City fans, particularly those sitting/standing in the South Stand, to help get this organised (this should only be the start) and of course bear whatever the cost may be of printing the cards.

If United fans can do something then so can we.

Any people interested in helping please email me at <gkmcfc(at)ntlworld.com> and in the words of Alan Partridge: “Let battle commence!!”

OPINION: GIVING UP

I would like to say that I also agree with Mr Redgrave (MCIVTA 1199). No matter how much I have spent on following City over many years, I have finally started to think about giving up my season ticket (sorry). I hate to say this but I am in HM Forces and do not get to see every game every season and when I do, it involves early mornings, a lot of money, tired heads, a lot of assistance, blah blah blah, and most importantly a p****d-off wife.

But this year I’m thinking of giving up my ticket. And one of the reasons is the issue of sit down, do as you are told and create no atmosphere in this beautiful, lovely stadium. If it wasn’t for the fantastic group of people that sit around me in the East Stand, the ticket would have already gone. Along with many other issue that Mr Redgrave pointed out, why oh why should I spend a fortune on following the club when they along with Sky, BBC, FA etc. decided that a kick-off on a Sunday at 18:30 is acceptable? I’m travelling from Germany; I might as well watch it on BBC. And Mr (God) Pearce says the Cup has not lost the razz, the buzz for the club. Well it’s lost it for me, a supporter who pays the bills. 18:30 on a Sunday evening, how f*****g annoying is that?

If I did decide to take three days off work, spend extra money on flights, trains, annoying my parents etc., I turn up to watch players who think they are worth more than they really are (Joey) taking no real interest in the game apart from to pick their wages up etc. Then I decide to go and vent my anger out over a pint and chat with my fellow Blues but get more annoyed by the hard work I have to put in just to get a beer and a pie.

It’s not hard. Get a grip City and sort out the essentials that matter to me, a hard working true supporter of the club who will spend good, hard-earned money on following you next season.

Rant over.

OPINION: POINTS OF BLUE MEETING

Notes from Points of Blue delegate meeting with club officials on 15 February (to be linked to minutes of meeting on 9 February).

Sara Billington, Alistair Mackintosh, Paul Tyrrell represented club.

City branding at the Stadium

Alistair Mackintosh had met with Sport England, who seem amenable, and with support given to PoB from many city councillors, it is hoped that at least one “Manchester City Football Club” sign will be in place for next season.

Tickets

1. When time is short to sell tickets for cup games, the demand is notprincipally from seasoncard holders but from those who otherwise end up”walking up” on matchday with then problems of queueing/late entry to theground. Seasoncard holders not on the Cup Direct scheme should still be ableto get their own seats if they apply on first day.
2. Waiting list for seasoncard holders moving seats: 2,000 moved last season,to and from different parts of the ground. Re suggestion of people arrangingswaps, the club felt that the issue of seat moves had to be managed andcontrolled by them.
3. Query re finance deal – in line with other clubs’ arrangements.
4. The £10 charge for renewing by credit / debit card: the charge doesreflect the real cost of bank charges for using credit and some debit cards.The only alternative was to put all prices up to cover it (rather than offercash and cheque options without a charge).
5. The charge for Internet bookings: technology isn’t quite as clever as we’dwish (e.g. pay money on net, card “loaded” automatically), so there is a costin handling.

Thomas Cook

It was a one-off arrangement for discount off seasoncard if booking a TC holiday. Discounts for holidays for cardholders still applies.

Credit Card Canvassers

Club will have a word.

Catering

Lots of innovations have been tried; odd complaints about cold chips, flat beer (and customers who don’t want a pre-poured pint can ask for a fresh one), etc. Club needs to be told if there are recurring problems at particular outlets, but the main problem is staffing. New agency staff are given (paid) evening training, but on a matchday there can be 80 no-shows out of 1,000 staff. The club says customer service is paramount. If there are other grounds where fans feel the service is better, PT will join us at half-time to see what they do right.

Smoke

Club asked PoB to help get fans used to not being able to smoke anywhere in the stadium from 2007 (including the spirals) because of the new legislation, and the club will assist with stop-smoking campaign. The only viable extractor systems are the ventilators for the pitch, and there are Health & Safety issues if people put arms through the vents.

Standing

The club are sympathetic, but have no choice in this. It is the law. The Safety Advisory Group monitored the Newcastle match and identified persistent standing in rows J & K of the South Stand. A different two rows may be cleared at subsequent matches. It enables stewards to reach the middle of a row. (Some of those who were moved have asked for a permanent move). Toleration of away supporters standing is a judgment call by the licensing authority, and perceptions that Manchester council is less lenient than others are unfounded, and the law does not apply to other events like pop concerts. There is a “league table” of persistent standers and allocations elsewhere have been and will be reduced.

Further debate: is atmosphere ruined because people aren’t allowed to stand, or because everyone is distracted by the attempts to enforce the law (and attempts to break it)? Perhaps instead of “Stand up if you love City” our anthem should be “Sing when we’re sitting, we only sing when we’re sitting”. The alternative is a lot of grief (some as a result of people deliberately flouting the law), and ultimately the sanction of blocks 116 and 117 being closed by the licensing authority. And there is absolutely no political will (from MPs) to change the law.

[On the catering side, if anyone has examples of other grounds which do this, please let me know and I’ll pass them on. Newcastle came to mind, and some Championship League clubs – Ed]

OPINION: KINKY REBORN

Apparently he’s doing quite well in Russia: http://www.uefa.com/magazine/news/Kind=8/newsId=383001.html

REQUEST: YORKSHIRE BLUES

Just a quick email to see if any of your readers can help two fellow supporters. We’ve got tickets for the away game against Liverpool on Sunday 26th Feb, but we’re travelling from Doncaster and the earliest train from Doncaster to Liverpool arrives at 1.15pm (I now realise why I had no problem securing this away ticket)! I know I should have researched this and I’ve tried as many alternative solutions as I can.

Can anyone help? Is anyone driving to the match from the Doncaster/Rotherham area and would be so kind as to let us hitch a lift (we’ll obviously pay pertrol). We’re happy to get the train back to Doncaster as there’s plenty of trains going back in the afternoon.

Any help appreciated.

REQUEST: SAIGON BLUES VIEWING

I’m going to be in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City if you’re a northerner) on Sunday 26th. Is there a bar or sports cafe or somewhere I’ll be able to watch the Liverpool game?

REQUEST: TOKYO BLUES VIEWING

Can anyone lease inform me of anywhere to watch the Sunderland game in Tokyo? Unfortunately I will be over there for this match and if possible would like to watch it.

REQUEST: PORTUGAL BLUES VIEWING

As the Tattooed One and I have made the (very difficult) decision not to renew our seasoncards, we have decided to spend our (already hard earned/saved) seasoncard fund on a holiday. We were looking forward to a good thumping of Sunderland on 4th March to send us off to (sunny, we hope) Portugal on Sunday 5th. However, as is with footie these days, the fixture has been moved to the day we are flying out!

Anyhow, we will be staying in the resort of Alvor and was wondering if anyone can recommend any bars for viewing of City matches in this area? All ideas gratefully accepted (via McV/personal).

REQUEST: MAINE ROAD FC

Just maybe found my new venue for next season! And they will be playing “F C United” apparently! So even a derby game! Hmm, is this the future for fans like me? http://www.maineroadfc.co.uk/

I have never been to one of their games, anyone been? Comments to me by email please.

REQUEST: STAND UP SIT DOWN

I hate to see Blues give in to this standing lark. It is a sham with the identical things going on at concerts and other events such as rugby. Firstly, don’t fully blame the club as their hands are tied, although would`nt it be great for them to come out in public and voice its concerns on behalf of an large percentage of their fans? Supporting its supporters? Phil Gatenby and I have been telling the club for the last 2 years about the long term effect this would have on fans.

At the time though, the stadium was full 48,000 (8,000 ST waiting list) and the money was rolling in but they just couldn’t see what we could see. The atmosphere was dying due to no standing and people were walking away in disgust at the treatment they recieved. These fans’ pleas and concerns were ignored to a large extent and many complaints did not get an investigation. Now this season we feel the club are finally starting to take notice as gates are going down and that is causing the club to lose revenue so now they have to act. Where is the 8,000 waiting list now? If they have stepped in and replaced 8,000 who have gone and the 5,000 who have stopped that is a lot of upset Blues.

Our message at Bluewatch is don’t quit! The safestanding movement is growing, it won’t happen overnight but we believe it will happen. It just needs more people to speak up and join as one and be heard. Our gripe is not with the club, it is with the Football Licensing Authority (top ten quango).

We would love to work with the club and all its supporters and come out and be as one to get safestanding on the map in Manchester. We sympathise with people who want to sit! A lot of our members want to sit! But why should their view be spoiled by someone who wants to stand?

Point being if we want to sit or stand we need to join together as Manchester City Football Club and help sort this mess out.

We are conducting several polls on our site, and the results we will send to the F.L.A., the Club, the Council, and the F.A. as well as Sky T.V.

We plan to take physical action (legal) with banners and protests at future matches but we need you to join us. Remember the problem lies with the F.L.A., not MCFC; we need the club as our friend and not our foe. To all upset Blues, our message is don’t quit, you’ve been through worse and come up trumps.

RESULTS

19 February 2006

Tottenham Hotspur     2 - 2  Wigan Athletic        35,676

League table to 19 February 2006 inclusive

                             HOME          AWAY        OVERALL
                    P  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F  A  W  D  L  F   A   GD Pts
 1 Chelsea         26 12  1  0 31  7  9  2  2 21  9 21  3  2  52  16  36  66
 2 Manchester Utd  26  8  3  1 25  8  8  3  3 27 19 16  6  4  52  27  25  54
 3 Liverpool       26 10  2  1 19  5  5  4  4 13 12 15  6  5  32  17  15  51
 4 Tottenham H.    27  8  5  1 22 10  4  5  4 15 14 12 10  5  37  24  13  46
 5 Arsenal         26  9  2  2 30  8  3  3  7  9 13 12  5  9  39  21  18  41
 6 West Ham United 26  7  1  5 22 16  5  4  4 17 18 12  5  9  39  34   5  41
 7 Blackburn R.    26  8  2  2 21 13  4  2  8 12 18 12  4 10  33  31   2  40
 8 Wigan Athletic  27  6  2  6 17 17  6  2  5 15 17 12  4 11  32  34  -2  40
 9 Bolton Wndrs    24  6  4  1 14  5  4  5  4 16 18 10  9  5  30  23   7  39
10 Manchester City 26  8  2  4 22 12  3  2  7 14 18 11  4 11  36  30   6  37
11 Everton         26  6  1  6 11 15  5  2  6  8 17 11  3 12  19  32 -13  36
12 Charlton Ath.   25  5  2  6 15 16  5  1  6 17 21 10  3 12  32  37  -5  33
13 Fulham          26  9  2  2 25 13  0  3 10 11 24  9  5 12  36  37  -1  32
14 Newcastle Utd   25  5  4  2 12  9  4  1  9 12 20  9  5 11  24  29  -5  32
15 Aston Villa     26  3  4  6 14 17  4  5  4 18 18  7  9 10  32  35  -3  30
16 Middlesbrough   25  4  5  5 20 24  3  2  6 13 20  7  7 11  33  44 -11  28
17 West Brom A.    26  6  1  6 19 15  1  4  8  5 23  7  5 14  24  38 -14  26
18 Birmingham City 25  3  2  7 14 16  2  3  8  7 21  5  5 15  21  37 -16  20
19 Portsmouth      26  2  5  6  8 16  2  1 10 10 29  4  6 16  18  45 -27  18
20 Sunderland      26  0  4 10  9 27  2  0 10  9 21  2  4 20  18  48 -30  10

MCIVTA FAQ [v0506.02]

[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.mcfcosc.com/); the “Centenary Supporters’ Association” (http://www.reddishblues.com/CSAWebsite/CSA.htm) and “The International Supporters’ Club”.

[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://mcfc.videoloungetv.com/do/preLogin?clubSiteCode=MCFC&CMP=AFC-003.

[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://www.foxsportsworld.com/named/FSW/Index/Soccer, http://www.soccertv.com/, and http://www.livesoccertv.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: