jcoope

Why Blue?

Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to everyone at Mcivta. I have been kept appraised of the demise of a once great club during my exile here in the States. I am lucky that for the last 6 years I have been out of the UK (3 years in Germany and 3 in the USA: 2.5 years in Detroit and now in Boston).Geographical distance has been a great help in the “denial” phase that is essential for any City fan to remain sane, however, it did not prevent a torrent of abuse from Rags after the weekend’s result. For some strange reason I have at least 6 “good” friends who are Rags, of course only 1 of them actually comes from Manchester.

Anyway, one of the things I have been debating (and something that is often asked as a Mancunian abroad) is “why blue”. The bottom line is I don’t really know, but here are a few of the possible reasons:

• Coming from Eccles (now Salford!) most people were Reds/morons so I figured I had to do something different.
• Always having an eye for a bargain you could get a bus all the way from Eccles (number 262) to the Princess hotel for almost nothing and then at the age of 15 actually get served in the pub.
• The first time I stood in the Kippax (1977) I actually saw 2 people having sex, so it seemed like City were the club for me!
• At the time City were actually a good football team although never threatening to bore you with any consistency.
• It was a great learning experience discovering such interesting things as:
  • Geordies are at least 6 inches taller than other people so don’t bother chasing them down Princess Parkway.
  • Never bother getting a return train ticket to Stoke as you always get kicked off the train on the way back.
  • Always remember that shouting “you dirty red b*****d” at Joe Jordan while standing in the Stretford end will result in unpleasant circumstances.
  • Never run to the Police while being chased at Elland Road or Anfield as all they will do is provide encouraging noises to the local populace as they do what the hell they like.

In reality I think City fans have to recognize they are destined to spend most of their life suffering for the cause. I am sure there are many City fans out there who realise they were born too late. I was born in 1961 and therefore missed out on England winning the world cup and City winning just about everything; the only consolation being that my 4 year old son should probably be old enough to appreciate the next upturn in the geat (but s***ty) circle of life.

In this time of deep despondancy the only thing to consider is that it could be worse; here in the States where the dollar is King you can actually lose everything; e.g the Cleveland Browns “football” team who lost their franchise because some other city offered more money. We can rest assured that no one will try and steal the City franchise.

My forecast for the next five years is we will end up back in the Premiership and for the next ten that we will lift the European Championship before the team from Stretford. I honestly believe this, sad eh!?

If anyone out there lives near Boston and would like to get together to either talk about City or watch a few world cup games together please e-mail me at jcoope18@aol.com

Have a great summer!

First printed in: MCIVTA Newsletter #401 on