We all know we have the best fans in the world and manager Roberto Mancini is building the team our supporters deserve.
Loyalty, commitment, passion and, during the darker times, a sense of humour has been needed over the years to follow the Blues – that’s what we affectionately call City - but expectation and optimism have now been added to those qualities.
Success means we’ll be welcoming a new generation of City fans from here in England and all over the globe, too, and when our new followers come on board, they’ll be welcomed with open arms into our ‘family’.
Champions League qualification and the FA Cup Final will mean hundreds of thousands of people will adopt the Blues as their chosen side and with that in mind, here is a guide to help ‘newbies’ bluff your way through the televised games, with your mates down at the pub or actually at a game.
So long as you’ve got City in your hearts, we want your support – and if you are watching City (there’s only one City, by the way!) take on Stoke at Wembley on Saturday and you’ll be cheering us on for the first time in the new Carlos Tevez home shirt you’ve just bought on-line, this is stuff you need to know.
As they say on the evening news sports results round-up, if you don’t want to know the following - or more likely if you already know (!), look away now.
Our fans’ anthem is Blue Moon, a song written 67 years ago by Rogers and Hart and adopted in or around 1989. Though we don’t sing the whole song – just the chorus - Blue Moon echoes out when the players are need of an uplift or when we we’ve just scored.
If asked where we play our football, it’s the City of Manchester Stadium – also nicknamed Eastlands due to the area of Manchester it is in. It’s worth noting that from 1923 to 2003 we played our home games at Maine Road
If you are asked who your favourite players are from down the years – your credibility is at stake here – don’t say Francis Bell, Colin Summerbee and Yaya Dzeko though these names exists, they are combinations – have a good scan over the club website and check out who the current favourites are and who the club legends are and take notes!
And, if we score against Stoke and some more experienced Blues (ahem!) around you ask you to join in a ‘Poznan’ , don’t say ‘Sure, make it a double with ice’, simply turn your back to the screen or the pitch, put your arms around the shoulders of the people on either side and jump up and down.
ncidentally, it’s called The Poznan because City played a team called Lech Poznan earlier this season and their fans did the same dance – we just named it in their honour!
This is our first FA Cup Final since 1981, so don’t try and bluff your way through historical facts. The last trophy we won was in 1976 so again, get this right or you’ll arouse suspicion.
There may be the odd person who tries to trip you up with the terms ‘massive’ or ‘Man City’ – please ignore these are we are now accepting these words in general club usage!
Of course, in the fullness of time you’ll pick ‘The Knowledge’ and become a diehard City fan just like the rest of us. Until then, we hope the above is of some use!
