Decent article in the MEN
They were at it again at White Hart Lane on Sunday, fans with no sense of history and no comprehension of irony.
“Where were you when you were s**t?" the Tottenham fans sang at the near-3,000 Manchester City fans, questioning the fealty of an away support that had spent a fortune and endured a ten-hour round trip to support their team.
Even when you factor in the truth that football chants rarely have their roots in reality, but rather tend to be a vulgar attempt to hit a nerve, throwing that particular nonsense at City fans is just daft.
Especially when, for the past 13 seasons – which pre-dates Sheikh Mansour's revolutionary takeover – the Blues have had bigger attendances than the north Londoners.
Ah, you can hear the the Cockerel crow, but Spurs have been almost at full capacity during that period – and that is true, hence the current re-build to create a new 61,000-seater stadium.
But even when you delve back in the history books to when City truly were “s**t" and Tottenham had a bigger capacity, the taunt does not hold up.
From 1982 to 1986 City, and football in general, were in decline. The Blues spent two of those seasons in the second division and did not finish above tenth – they averaged 26,981 in a stadium that held 48,200.
In that same period, Spurs had a thrilling team which included Glenn Hoddle and exotic Argentina internationals Ossie Ardile and Ricky Villa. They won the FA Cup and Uefa Cup, and finished in the top four in three out of five seasons.
In that spell, they averaged 28,830 in a stadium that held 52,600. Less than two thousand fans more than the struggling Blues.
Any City fan who can fit that into a riposte chant is a genius!
And it's not just Tottenham fans who are guilty of such misplaced ignorance – City's support stands up alongside anyone in the country in terms of consistency. No-one has the right to call them fair-weather fans.
Jealous fans of other Premier League teams have completely re-invented their attitude to City fans, over the last eight years.
Back in the day, the Blues were generally well-liked, partly because they were not United, partly because they were no threat to the established big clubs, and partly because their fans had a reputation for not taking themselves too seriously.
As with every other club, success – and rising ticket prices - has brought a new breed of fan to City.
But the core of their support remains, even if many of them can no longer afford to go to every game, and tend to pick and choose their games.
And that hard-core of loyal away support tends to be the people who HAVE stuck with City from the lean times, fans who have enjoyed the full football experience, from Barnsley to Barcelona.
They were the people who were still supporting their team as they slipped to their first defeat of the season at White Hart Lane.
And if the wishes of opposition fans come true, and one day City are plunged back into relative obscurity, they are the fans who will STILL be cheering on their sky blue heroes, whether it be Shaun Goater or Sergio Aguero.
Where were you when we were sh*t
posted on 5/10/16
Same thing as Spurs fans really
posted on 5/10/16
Who's Trever Tannoy?
posted on 5/10/16
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 5/10/16
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 5/10/16
comment by mancWoohoo - Maximus Mardius Cob-onius (U10676)
posted 1 hour, 30 minutes ago
Who's Trever Tannoy?
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Trevor tanner is the equivalent of your own mickey Francis who used to lead your firm the guvnors.
Tanner upset a few of our lot when he wrote his book.
posted on 5/10/16
What's been the average % of away ticket sales for City.
If it has remained the same or increased the. It shows how passionate the fans are......well the travelling fans
posted on 5/10/16
comment by Arouna Jagielka oooh I wanna take ya, Heitinga Nikica come on pretty mama (U1308)
posted 3 minutes ago
What's been the average % of away ticket sales for City.
If it has remained the same or increased the. It shows how passionate the fans are......well the travelling fans
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Not really. City have always been well supported away from home.
The dynamic of that support has changed due to the way that tickets are now distributed. There are a lot more corporate types and tourists based on what I heard about the match at OT.
I don't really do away games any more but I hardly get a sniff of a ticket when I try to now.
Hey ho!
posted on 5/10/16
comment by FishMCFC (U16301)
posted 40 seconds ago
comment by Arouna Jagielka oooh I wanna take ya, Heitinga Nikica come on pretty mama (U1308)
posted 3 minutes ago
What's been the average % of away ticket sales for City.
If it has remained the same or increased the. It shows how passionate the fans are......well the travelling fans
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Not really. City have always been well supported away from home.
The dynamic of that support has changed due to the way that tickets are now distributed. There are a lot more corporate types and tourists based on what I heard about the match at OT.
I don't really do away games any more but I hardly get a sniff of a ticket when I try to now.
Hey ho!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
How away tickets are distributed at Everton make it a closed loop. ST holders will sell to fiends the away games they can't make. So if you stopped going away but wanted to get back into the loop, it's almost impossible.
But has the % attendance on always increased, decreased or remains stable during good and bad times??
posted on 5/10/16
comment by Arouna Jagielka oooh I wanna take ya, Heitinga Nikica come on pretty mama (U1308)
posted 5 minutes ago
comment by FishMCFC (U16301)
posted 40 seconds ago
comment by Arouna Jagielka oooh I wanna take ya, Heitinga Nikica come on pretty mama (U1308)
posted 3 minutes ago
What's been the average % of away ticket sales for City.
If it has remained the same or increased the. It shows how passionate the fans are......well the travelling fans
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Not really. City have always been well supported away from home.
The dynamic of that support has changed due to the way that tickets are now distributed. There are a lot more corporate types and tourists based on what I heard about the match at OT.
I don't really do away games any more but I hardly get a sniff of a ticket when I try to now.
Hey ho!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
How away tickets are distributed at Everton make it a closed loop. ST holders will sell to fiends the away games they can't make. So if you stopped going away but wanted to get back into the loop, it's almost impossible.
But has the % attendance on always increased, decreased or remains stable during good and bad times??
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Who knows. For the most part City will sell out their allocations, with the exception of Chelsea away for some reason.
I've never been to an away game where I can remember thinking "not a lot of us here today". Quote the opposite.
Can't recall ever being in an away end that wasn't full. Regardless of the quality of the football.
posted on 5/10/16
We have a points system for away games that is as fair as possible but still flawed.
If you're 23ish and have loads of money to spend you'll probably struggle to get a ticket because someone that's 10 years older has more loyalty points but more financial commitments. This means they're less likely to go to mega-expensive games like Chelsea, that may mean staying in London overnight.