Newsletter #1267

Thankfully a considerably busier MCIVTMF tonight, even without our Blue boys playing.

We have the news summary from Don ‘puns-a-plenty’ Barrie, views about parking, tickets being sold to students at knock down prices, more about Joey’s rear, information about a new Internet viewing service that gives you a chance to watch City live, plus more besides.

There’s also intriguing news from Jeff Buckley via Alex Channon about an upcoming mini-Derby between Maine Road FC and FC United, taking place on the 4th November at Stalybridge Celtic’s ground.

Another mixed bag in the international arena, a woeful performance by England, epitomised by a mixup between Gary ‘I fed the Goat’ Neville and Paul Robinson gifting Croatia a second goal. It might be jinxing the poor lad, but I would remind the FA that we have an English ‘keeper who is not at all bad and were it not for nasty injuries, would surely be ahead of the likes of Robert Green in the England setup. The ‘Weaver for England’ campaign starts here, perhaps.

City players’ involvement seems to have been limited to Georgios Samaras, who scored in Greece’s 4-0 defeat of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Micah Richards, who played in the England Under-21s 2-0 win against Germany, in which he (according to the BBC) made a miraculous goal-line clearance.

Back to matters in hand, I had a complaint from a reader about putting asterisks, such as a**e. I understand that it looks odd but it’s not because I’m a prude. Some of our readers get this newsletter at work, and workplaces are increasingly tetchy about use of e-mail, mainly because of viruses, but also what they consider to be ‘inappropriate’ content. It is because of this that I felt the need to alter some of the language, to prevent any of our readers getting into trouble. Of course, I’ll always listen to other opinions, but for now, I’m opting for the cautious approach.

Anyway, enough rambling from me. On to the newsletter with fingers crossed that the table and results come through un-mangled this time…

NEWS SUMMARY

The End of the Affair

I See A Blue Moon A-Rising: The majority of City-related stories this week involved the continuing saga of Joey Barton and his shorts dropping at Everton. The FA set a deadline of 6pm on Friday, for Barton to respond to the charges, but then announced that the 24-year-old would be allowed the weekend to mull over his conduct, before offering his response to the charge. City said that they were supporting the midfielder. Spokesman Paul Tyrrell said “It is deeply disappointing that the Football Association have decided to charge Joey Barton with improper conduct. The player accepts that some elements of his behaviour following the game with Everton were ill advised and he apologises to anybody who may have felt offended. He has been reminded of his responsibilities as a custodian of this football club, but we do not believe his actions warrant any further investigation. It is our firm opinion that the matter should end there. We believe The FA should have taken into account the context of the incident and noted he behaved without any malice, and in a light-hearted manner. Joey wishes to thank the many Evertonians, City supporters and general football fans who have contacted the club this week with messages of support.”

Flash the Cash: Early this week, Barton admitted a charge of improper conduct and then requested a personal hearing. The tribunal sat on Tuesday, with JB being represented by the Professional Footballers Association and the Sporting Chance charity. The hearing must have moved on pretty quickly, because that night we had news that he had been fined £2,000 and warned as to his future conduct.

Oh! The Cheek of It: The club then released the following response, purportedly offered by the butt baring scampster himself: “I have had a fair hearing and would like to thank the FA for that. The backing I have received from the Sporting Chance charity, the PFA and Manchester City Football Club has been exceptional and I would like to thank them for that. Sporting Chance, and the football club, have been with me all the way in recent times and I know I can count on them. It has been a real boost to get so many letters and emails from Blues, both City and Everton fans, supporting me during this time. I have also had letters from fans of other football clubs showing solidarity. I regret what I did but am grateful to the FA for recognising the provocation I had to endure. I am now looking forward and concentrating on preparations for Saturday’s game against Sheffield United.” And that concludes the backside puns for this season. We hope…

General News

International Blues’ News: It was all going so well at one point for City’s Republic of Ireland pair. At half time on Saturday night, Ireland were drawing 2-2 with Cyprus, with our very own Richard Dunne and Stephen Ireland the goalscorers. Then the sky fell in somewhat – the home side whacked in three second half goals to push the Republic to a 5-2 defeat, Stephen Ireland suffered a hamstring injury, and Dunnie was shown a red card 12 minutes from time. SP found a positive spin for City out of the débâcle: “It looks as though we have lost Stephen Ireland to a hamstring problem, so that’s something we have to look at when he returns from Ireland,” offered Psycho. “The good news for us, although it’s not for him or the Republic, is that Richard Dunne being sent off on Saturday enables us to have him back a bit earlier, and he’ll be training with us today. It’s better for me, and although I’m disappointed for Richard and Stephen that they can’t play in Ireland’s second game, this should benefit the Club.” In terms of results, Micah Richards had a couple of successful outings with England’s under 21’s, although the home and away victories against Germany were clouded by allegations of racial abuse by some German players towards Micah and West Ham’s Anton Ferdinand. Micah played in both legs of the play off, which ensured England will make the finals in Holland next year. A 1-0 victory in Coventry on Friday was followed by a 2-0 triumph in Leverkusen on Tuesday. Micah and Ferdinand both alleged they were called “monkeys” by opposition players at the BayArena, and a Football Association spokesman later confirmed: “Two of our players have complained of racial abuse from Germany players. We have raised that with the UEFA delegate after the game and will be formally communicating with UEFA in the next couple of days. Racism is an issue which we take extremely seriously and we’ll follow this up.” Elsewhere, Georgios Samaras played for Greece as they beat Norway 1-0, but earned a yellow card in the victory.

The Property Game: In a relatively quiet week for City news, the club’s Chief Executive Alistair Mackintosh was frequently featured in many media outlets. And after reading Colin’s excellent articles in MCIVTA recently, Mackintosh’s comments are rather interesting. On the club’s podcast, he focussed on attracting new finance to the club, and how the ground could be used to secure future finance. “We are always open to the idea of new, appropriate investment,” he says. “We continue to look for appropriate parties that might contribute to this football club. Money is money, as long as it is from an appropriate individual who continues to be a custodian of this club, and who keeps in mind our links with the community and in particular our fan base. It shows the strength of the Premier League at the moment that there is so much interest from outside.” And of the use of the COMS as security, he added: “Anyone looking at City will see that the ground is leased off the council, in the first instance, although once they start to understand the transaction they will see that it’s a 250 year lease. Therefore it can be used as security, as we have done for securitisation. For all intents and purposes we have freehold ownership. If someone was just looking at a football club as a property play, I don’t think they would look at Manchester City as closely as other clubs. I don’t want someone who wants to look at this football club as a property play, I want them looking at this as a football club. This is our home, I want it to be owned by Manchester City Football Club, not an external investor who wants to sell it on.” In the M.E.N., Mr. Mackintosh defended the strategy of paying higher player wages, subbed by the money saved on making Bosman free transfer signings. “Certain clubs have run very low wage bills and it has become self-fulfilling in that they have ended up leaving the Premier League,” he said. “That is exactly what we don’t want to happen. It is a strategic choice to have a high wage bill. We want to use wages in the most efficient way possible and we want to support Stuart bringing in the players he wants. We have a manager who we think is an exceptional individual who has purpose and passion. He will do a very good job for City.” He’s also proud of the contribution being made by the players who came up through the Academy system, and thinks players like Micah Richards will be at the club for a long time to come. “We invest £2 million in our academy each year,” he revealed. “If we weren’t looking to bring those players through to our first team, we should not be spending that money. There was a lot of speculation about Micah during the summer and we could have cashed in. But we don’t want him to go elsewhere, which is why we worked very hard to keep him.”

Transfer News and Gossip

Micah on His Bike-A? Let’s hope Mr. Mackintosh’s views are correct on the subject of Micah Richards, as Sunday’s People newspaper suggested that Micah is a January target for (gulp) Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. If a bid did arise, it would have to be a hefty one, as Richards only signed a new four year contract with City last summer. And the rumours concerning MK Dons’ striker Izale McLeod refuse to go away. The News of the World claim that the Dons have told City that they value McLeod at £1.5 million, while City have been offering only half that sum.

Sid-Well Thought Of: City were mentioned again this week in connection to Reading’s Steve Sidwell, mainly because Newcastle United are supposedly preparing a bid for the midfielder. The Blues tried to sign Sidwell in the summer, but his current club rebuffed the approach. The Toon are reported to be ready to bid £4 million in January, so the press think that there’ll be a three-way tussle for the 24-year-old, between Newcastle, City and Aston Villa come the New Year.

Taking the Mick? According to reports emanating from Greece, SP has been casting his eyes over Cyprus striker Michael Konstantinou. The 28-year-old Olympiakos forward scored twice against the Republic of Ireland last weekend, and has hit two goals in as many games in the Champions’ League for his club.

Ex-Blues’ News

Danny Down Under: Thanks to Sebastian Harvey, who’s sent in a note updating us on the whereabouts of one Danny Allsopp. Danny, you’ll recall, was at City during the dark Division One days. Sebastian writes: “Danny Allsopp, who came to City about the same time as the other Danny (Tiatto) and on the back of a Golden Boot performance in the U17 World Cup in Ecuador, has hit a rich vein of form at the start of the A-League season for Melbourne Victory with 5 goals from the first 7 games (all of them wins to the mighty Victory). Such is his form he has even been on standby for the national squad for its Asia Cup qualifiers. Despite this he is still not top scorer for his club. That honour goes to one of the most reviled men in football – renowned leg breaker and former Millwall captain Kevin Muscat – who has 6 goals in the campaign (5 from the penalty spot). Allsopp had stints at Notts County and Hull City between leaving Manchester and returning to Melbourne.”

Squad News

You Can’t Get Better Than A Top Shot Stopper: Stuart Pearce thinks that Nicky Weaver has been one of the stars of the season, and most City fans would agree. So how has the Sheffield born shot stopper impressed the gaffer? “He has not just done well between the posts but there has been a lot of professionalism that has gone into his performances,” Pearce said in the Evening News this week. “It showed when he tried to defuse the situation with Joey Barton last weekend. I think he has got more confidence in his own physical attributes now than he had at the start of the season. I got a feeling that in training and in reserve games, he was more nervous about diving because he had the time to think about it. At present he is composed and confident, which is what you want from your goalkeeper. I am delighted to have him around and was pleased to offer him a one-year contract in the summer and pleased too that he decided to stay and have a go when he could have decided to go elsewhere and get some more regular first-team football. The way the season has panned out for him he will be delighted with what he is doing and he has got to keep doing that for me.”

Cole Rôle for Vass:Darius Vassell doesn’t sound too pleased at Andy Cole’s recent departurefor Portsmouth. “I was very disappointed to see Andy go,” Vasselladmitted in The Times. “He has been one of my heroes for a long time andstill is. What he has achieved in the game is, without question, greatfor him and for those people who aspire to be like him. And I am one ofthose people. He has gone on to a team that is doing well at the momentbut we have brought new players in and want to move forward.”

• Note – Sarah Longshaw will be producing the News Summary nextweek(thanks Sarah!) , so please send any contributions to the usual newsemail address.

[Thanks Don. Editing MCIVTA has opened my eyes to how much work you and Heidi put into this and you can rest assured I will be extra appreciative in future! Euan]

OPINION: TICKET PRICES

Guess how much Manchester University Students can buy tickets for the Sheffield United game on Saturday? I visited the Student Union to buy some tickets for a gig today and was shocked to see that tickets for this game are just £5.50 for students. Yes that’s just over a fiver for an adult ticket. Me and my wife gave up our season tickets this summer mainly because of the price (plus reasons of disillusionment that have been expressed very well by various readers recently), but if it was £5.50 per game, a season ticket would be about £100.00. The cheapest tickets available for this game to me are £26.00, but if I were to enrol as a Manchester University student, it would be about a fifth of the price! In this climate of the club taking every opportunity to stretch as much profit out of the supporters, I can’t believe they are offering tickets at this price – let’s face it, to students most of whom will not be City supporters. The lad in the queue behind me had a southern accent and asked for a “Man City” ticket (generally locals/supporters don’t call City “Man City”). Surely this can’t be economical and I feel quite put out to find this out. I wonder if the University do any part time courses that I could enrol for…

OPINION: JOEY’S A**E 1

Neil Young (the Canadian one)

Have only just spotted “The needle and no damage done” – genius! Maybe I’ll get “City reap the Harvest” in… Or “Barton’s Harvest Moon”? I’ll quit while I’m ahead. Although giving his shirt to that disabled lad proves JB has a “Heart of Gold”… aaarrrghhhhh.

OPINION: JOEY’S A**E 2

Eats shoots and leaves

Well done on giving Joey an apostrophe, but Rooney, despite his unfortunate mush and appalling taste in football clubs, is also entitled to an apostrophe on the tee-shirt. Those of us lucky enough to have an apostrophe in our names are quite democratic about such things. A better question for the tee-shirt might be “Which is more offensive – Rooney’s mush or Rooney’s a**e?”

OPINION: JOEY’S A**E 3

Amazed at the bare cheek of Joey Barton? Then you’ll be astonished at what The Knowledge has uncovered.

http://guardian.chtah.com/a/hBFLRZDAY30QpAe9jDFAWE2M8Yu/fvr4

OPINION: JOEY’S A**E 4

And next week Ian Ferguson might add the second apostrophe. 😉

OPINION: DRIVING AWAY FROM THE GROUND 1

One of the things that really bother me about City supporters, and I travel to away games too, so I get to see the others, but the thing that really bugs me is the time keeping issue!

At City home games as the players come on to the pitch, most of the seats are empty. Ten minutes into the game and I’m still having to stand to let people pass. Forty minutes into the game, these same people are up again, and as a result I’m having to move to let them by. Half time comes I go have a pee and get a coke on the way back. I sit and the game begins 10 minutes later and I’m having to let people past me again. Thirty minutes later there’s still 5 minutes left on the scoreboard and they’re off again. Where do these people go and why are they in such a rush?

I pay good money for my ticket and I want to savour every minute! Are they all getting discounts I don’t know about?

Why, when the team play well and beat West Ham, is the stadium 2 thirds empty going into added time? Don’t the players deserve a round of applause from a full house when they win?

Why, when there’s 3 minutes to go do people feel they need to get ahead of the traffic? Can’t they plan their day a little better not to plan anything within 2 hours of the game ending (remember we’re the local team, so we don’t all need to travel outside of Greater Manchester!)?

Why, when I live in Saddlworth, are people who left with 3 minutes to go complaining on GMR about how they’re still stuck in traffic when I left after most everyone else and certainly after the final whistle, and I’m tucking into my dinner at home?

Why, when I travel around the country are other grounds buzzing with excitement 10 minutes before the players run on the pitch?

Why, on away trips, when we get beaten (most trips then!), are all the home fans still there to cheer on their team?

Why do we mock teams about “Worst support we’ve ever seen!”? Do we assume when they come to Eastlands they don’t notice our bizarre team supporting arrangements?

Here’s some tips:

1. Arrive 20 minutes before kick-off. Get some munchies, a programme beforethe queues that everyone mentions, but I’ve never seen form. Have a peewithout standing in someone else’s space! Enter the stand and have a chatwith Nicky Weaver as he warms up. When he goes back with the rest of theteam, just have 10 minutes to breeze through the programme.
2. When the team arrive, stand and applaud them, cheer! Make a noise, sing“Blue Moon”, who cares, let ’em know you’re there!
3. Watch the game without missing bits!
4. At half time (signalled by the ref blowing his whistle and the playersleaving the pitch), do what I do, have a pee and get a drink (damn bladderof mine!).
5. Back to my seat. Have another look through the programme and await theteam’s return. Greet them enthusiastically!
6. Watch the 2nd half without missing bits!
7. Wait for that whistle and players leaving the field thing!
8. Cheer the team enthusiastically or make requests for them “to sort itout!”
9. Walk back to car past the lovely people who’ve been held up by thepolice, so I can cross in safety!
10. Drive home while listening to people phoning GMR to complain about lousytraffic.
11. Eat dinner while still listening to traffic reports.
12. Take shower, go out, do whatever… If I took a radio with me, they’re no doubt still there!

I know some grounds have terrible parking arrangements. I’ve spent many hours not moving at Reading and it’s quicker to walk home than it is to get out of the Reebok, but I am an away fan there and not privy to “local knowledge”. As City fans who’ve been turning up for a few years at Eastlands, haven’t we learnt anything? Apparently not, so I’ll lend you all a bit of my “local knowledge”!

1. My season ticket is in block 132 of the North Stand, just behind thestretcher bearers and within a forearm smash of Mr Thatcher’s indiscretions.No big queues for the toilet, the bar, the food or the programmes.
2. I park in River side park, just across the road from the gas tank and upBriscoe Lane about 100 yards. Behind the old church. It costs £5 a game(same as the on-site parking) and I can be in Oldham 20 minutes after thegame ends and not miss a kick or a moon! (so, there is a reason to leaveearly after all!)!

Our team really does need to do better, but our fans are also running the risk of ridicule! Now how do I get a resident’s permit for Charlton? And don’t be fooled by the name, “The Greenwich Peninsula” is nothing like Saddleworth!

OPINION: DRIVING AWAY FROM THE GROUND 2

Not sure why so many people are getting worked up over the changes to the traffic flows after the game, though I suppose I do speak as one who parks well away from the ground (near Oldham Road) and walks to avoid the congestion on the roads around the ground. It’s now a lot safer and quicker for people walking down Joe Mercer way to get through the car parks and away from the ground than it was last season. I suspect the provision near the stands for disabled drivers works quite well from what I’ve seen so why don’t more people use their legs rather than sit in static cars getting all irate about the pedestrians?

OPINION: DRIVING AWAY FROM THE GROUND 3

If they let the fans walk out before letting the cars go, why not stay until full time? At least you’ll be getting more value for money.

OPINION: DRIVING AWAY FROM THE GROUND 4

I have got to agree with Simon Moorehead’s comments on the handling of traffic in and around Eastlands. I always wait until the final whistle because you never know! Anyway I park on the rough ground just opposite the stadium, you know the one between us and McDonalds. Well the last couple of times it has been like wacky races at the end of a match, a scene not too disimilar to the start of an F1 motor race back in the 40’s. It must have took me at least 40 minutes just to get onto Alan Turing Way from the car park. And the so called stewards were just stood there having a fag and a chat! If the club wants its supporters to stay the full distance as I am sure they would do then they need to address this problem pronto or even die hard fans like me will start to edge out of the gate early to avoid the melée.

OPINION: THE STATE OF FOOTBALL

Before I begin, a quick thank you to all the regular MCIVTA pundits – I don’t know what I’d do without all this information and opinion about City. In a way MCIVTA is the cyber equivalent of having a pre-match pint and chat before the game, so keep it all coming.

I wanted to talk about the state of football in the UK, and the undercurrent to many recent postings here has been a state of overall dissatisfaction with the way things are going at City, which I think applies also to the football world in general. It’s a bit of a pity that all of this agitation should occur whilst we have the most inspirational manager at the club since Joe Mercer but that’s typical City isn’t it? In fact I like everything there is about Stuart Pearce, and am going to stick by him and City no matter what – so that’s me easily sorted out for now. Another Keegan, Royle, Machin, Reid or Clark though and I just can’t see me hanging around that much longer, not at current ticket prices anyway.

It’s also a pity that Pearce should be in charge whilst some of our players have shown a fair amount of disloyalty to the cause, such as Barton, Distin, Cole, and James. The funny thing about City is that we don’t get that many ‘wantaways’ and usually in fact ‘push away’ plenty of players who would otherwise be quite happy to keep wearing the sky blue shirt (Hendry, Kinkladze, Owen etc.), so it’s not too often the boot is on the other foot, but it’s something that is happening to us more and more in recent years though.

The situation with Barton and Co at MCFC highlights to me everything that is currently wrong with football – the players have too much power and the clubs (collectively) are too weak, selfish, stupid and short-sighted to get a grip. So I’m going to propose some radical ideas just to get them off my chest. Do I expect these to be implemented in the present climate of the game? No of course not – but it’s nice to dream.

Finances: First of all the financing of football is completely wrong and it is outrageous that players like Barton and Thatcher (and even someone like Gary Neville – totally hopeless and yet he’s got 84 caps) should be made millionaires by us, and yet they are actually fairly limited when it comes to controlling the ball, passing it etc. I have no problem making millionaires out of the likes of Rodney Marsh, Gio Kinkladze, Ali Benarbia etc. (and ideally Clive Wilson and Paul Moulden too!). But for most of the rest like Barton, Thatcher, Sibierski, Mills et al, it’s all getting a bit of a joke. Ironically, I’m not that bothered about bungs and agents because in a morally bankrupt game like professional football, I really do expect no better.

My proposal to fix the game is very simple and relates to the forthcoming TV money, due next season – (£25 million per club?), which if the The Premier league are not careful, is just going to go straight through to the players. Joey Barton will move from £25,000 per week to £35,000 per week, as will all the rest, and we supporters will be no better off, paying over the odds for tickets and shirts and everything else, as per usual.

So, in an ideal world, the government would step in and announce the following:

“For the next five years, and aside from 4 ‘premium’ games per season (and we can all guess which ones these would be), the cost of attendance at Premier league games is to be fixed at a blanket charge of £15 for an adult and £5 for children.” This is for all Premier league games and for both home and away supporters.

The government would then mandate that the clubs have to use the new TV money to make up for the difference in their income. This might sound extreme and it probably would be at first, but at least players like Barton etc. would have to forego their ‘soon-to-be-expected’ £10,000 per week rise (which I’m sure they are already counting on), and for their next contracts, they might actually have to take a small pay cut. And hey, the Premier League might even have to tell the PFA to generate their income from the players’ wages rather than ‘our’ TV money (which is of course a total scandal).

The bottom line for us supporters would be that we would no longer be sponsoring so many hopeless, disloyal, millionaires that are presently in the game, and we could go back to handing over a reasonable sum of cash to watch a game of football. No ifs or buts. Sound fair? Well I hope so because at the moment, every time City go through a barren spell or play poorly, I keep asking myself “Why am I spending around £50 a game to finance all of this?” Whereas for £15 a pop (still not all that cheap really but there you are) I would probably a bit more sanguine about the whole thing – just like we all used to be, back in the day. It should also mean that most games are packed out again, especially for the ‘insignificant’ fixtures.

This also sorts out the ‘bung’ situation quite nicely, because if the cost of watching the match is fixed and reasonable to us supporters, then it’s someone else’s problem whether or not an agent or a middleman is taking a cut – they are all just robbing each other (and the clubs), but not us.

Having just reduced the cost of attendance at football so easily, in my next article I’ll propose a simple remedy to the Bosman situation!

NEWS: LIVE ONLINE FOOTY 1

http://www.liveonlinefooty.com/

You can vote and then maybe see the game on the web… sorry if this is old news but an inclusion in each newslatter henceforth might be an idea? It costs £3.30 to see each game and there’s a vote every week to determin which game gets shown “live” at 3pm. The quality ain’t bad eiether.

[Usual kind of disclaimers apply – MCIVTA doesn’t recommend any one online service above another and anyone using these services does so entirely at their own risk – Euan]

NEWS: LIVE ONLINE FOOTY 2

Just wanted to let everyone know about a website on which you can watch City’s matches live, even when they are not on television. It is http://liveonlinefooty.com/. Based on past experiences with these things, I was skeptical about it until I managed to watch at home, sitting at my computer, both the Blackburn match live (not on TV in the US) and the Everton match (shown in the US on tape delay).

Each week LiveOnlineFooty streams several EPL matches. A couple of these matches are scheduled; but for one several candidate matches are put to a vote by the LiveOnlineFooty audience. Whichever of these candidate matches gets the most votes by the night prior to kick-off goes online live for the following day.

Of the last four matches put to a vote (all of them since I’ve known about this) City’s contest has won the vote and been online. This week we are up against Liverpool/Blackburn, Arsenal/Watford, Portsmouth/West Ham, and Villa/Spurs, and as of this writing (Wednesday) we are well in front, although there are a couple of days left.

So anyone who cannot attend a match in person should check this out. The match will cost you 3.30 pounds, and you can pay on your credit card through one of two payment methods (those outside the UK must use the Paypal method). The match streams in two formats: one is embedded in a webpage and is about 6×6″ but cannot be resized (I think), and at this size it is very pixelated and unclear. I preferred dowloading the Winamp media player (free) and watching it in the more clear 3×3″ screen (careful, Winamp will set itself as your default media player). The size and quality with Winamp is the same as the match highlights on the official site’s MCFCTV, which is not great but certainly viewable. You’ll also need to use Internet Explorer and have broadband; I think it streams at about 300kbs.

Even if you will not stream a match yourself I’m sure many MCIVTA readers would be grateful if you went there each week to vote and ensure that City will be streamed live (you can only vote once). And if anyone knows of any other methods that are actually better than LiveOnlineFooty, I’d be interested to know of them. Thanks.

[Again, see above disclaimer – Euan]

NEWS: MINI DERBY!

(Forwarded by Alex Channon – <alex.channon(at)hotmail.com>)

Having obtained your contact details on the MCFC Website I am attaching a scanned copy of a flyer for our forthcoming match with FC United.

Please can you circulate to all your supporters’ clubs?

The Flyer says it all – more can be read on the website at http://www.maineroadfc.co.uk/

[As we can’t forward attachments, I can only ask readers to look at the Maine Road FC website for more information; the vital facts are that Maine Road FC play FC United at Stalybridge Celtic’s ground on the 4th November at 3pm and City are away at Charlton that day, so the call is for all Blues who aren’t at The Valley to go to Bower Fold]

FUN STUFF: CITY PLAYERS’ QUIZ

I have been sent a fun file where it shows 100 former/present City players and you have to put in their names.

I have tried sending it to you but I guess that the MCIVTA e-mail bars attachments.

If you want to put a piece on the next edition with my e-mail address, I’d be happy to send a copy to anyone who wants it.

[John kindly sent me a copy of the fun file – it’s an Excel spreadsheet with photos of former City players and you have to put in their names. They range from the likes of Franny Lee and Colin Bell through Terry Cooke and Andy Morrison to Ali B and Eyal Berkovic. It’s good fun and had me puzzling for ages. Please note though, that I can’t vouch for the file being 100% safe – I have an Apple Mac and so am not so susceptible to some of the Windows viruses going round – if you want a copy, e-mail John and use at your own risk – Euan]

MCIVTA FAQ [v0607.01]

[1] MCIVTA Addresses

Articles (Euan Bayliss)          : 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 Radio Manchester (née GMR) pre and post match phone-in is available on the web at http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/sport/manchester_city/index.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://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer, 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 Plus Markets Group web site http://www.plusmarketsgroup.com/ 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] I hear there is a TV programme specifically about City?

InsideMCFC is broadcasted by ChannelM. It is available on the SkyDigital (ch.203) and NTL (ch.26) platforms as well as being transmittedtraditionally within the Manchester area (ch.39). In addition, theprogramme is available to watch via the web. More details and schedule:http://www.channelm.co.uk/features/city.html

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.

Euan Bayliss, editor@mcivta.city-fan.org

Editor: