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Yahoo Sport Question of the Week: Do Man City’s fans deserve to be mocked?
This week Man City fans have been mocked online by other fans for taking a fun-sized amount of supporters to their Champions League qualifier against Steaua Bucharest, and for not selling out their home match against Sunderland. We asked some friends and colleagues if they thought City’s fans deserve to be mocked.
Jonathan Wilson, Editor of The Blizzard, www.theblizzard.co.uk
I think it’s bizarre people care about this sort of stuff. I was at City v Sunderland and to be honest it never even occurred to me it wasn’t full. I suppose it is a bit odd that you don’t sell out for the first game of a manager like Guardiola, but it’s summer, the game was on TV and in an age of austerity in which the economy looks like getting worse, I can’t blame anybody who decided their money might be better used elsewhere. Bucharest is a lovely city and well worth a few days, but equally it’s not an obvious holiday destination: I can see why you might hold off for a possible trip to Lisbon or Paris or Madrid later in the year. Jonathan Wilson
Tom Hocking, News Editor, When Saturday Comes, www.wsc.co.uk
This isn’t the first time Manchester City have been mocked for empty seats and, as always, it’s an unfair cheap shot. City have a loyal set of supporters who stuck by their club in their thousands when they dropped to the third tier in 1998-99 and they would still be there if it happened again. How many fans are Manchester City supposed to have, anyway? As Matthew James pointed out in WSC 335, City are traditionally a parochial club who draw their support almost exclusively from Greater Manchester, including some of its poorest areas. And they have always been battling for fans with the overpowering empire of Manchester United next door. City’s recent influx of money and the accompanying success has given them a bigger presence globally but really that is still in its infancy; it will take a long time to increase a fanbase and there’s a huge difference between buying a replica shirt to wear while you watch on TV and committing to travelling to a stadium. On a broader level, while supporters love to mock other sets of fans, it’s always important to consider outside factors. Hull City were widely chastised for not selling out their Championship play-off final, with those shouting the loudest ignoring the deep unrest in the fanbase, which was (and still is) caused by resentment towards the club’s owners. Instead of mocking fans for not turning up, we should instead celebrate those who do and question what clubs and the authorities could do to ensure more people are able to attend matches.
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Richard Alvin, Founder & Chairman of Audere Capital - Lifelong Spurs fan & West Stand season ticket holder
A large chunk of Man City fans are the embodiment of the new wave of football fans that started in the era post Fever Pitch & Hillsborough where the game on the pitch and even the team itself is secondary. These fans don’t plan holidays or events around games like City fans of our fathers’ and grandfathers’ age would have done, so yes they should be mocked and rightly so.
Kristian Sturt, Founder, Footie Writer, www.footiewriter.com
It’s inevitable they’re going to be mocked. Fans of rival clubs will pick up on anything to get one up on them mostly because it gives them ammo in the never ending one-upmanship ‘battle’. That being said, if their fans want to have a reputation as one of the big clubs, and that’s the vibe one gets, then the club is going to need to do something to sell more tickets and save this sort of embarrassment from happening time and time again.
Jordan Chamberlain, Editor, Empire of the Kop, www.empireofthekop.com
Not really, in short. The people mocking are probably fans of Manchester United or Arsenal who watch games at the pub but take pride in their 'great fan-base’. The reality is City fans loved their club just as much when they were in the old Division 2 - as proved by their big support before investment. A midweek trip to Romania and back is expensive. Many fans can’t afford this. Maine Road held 35,000 and City packed it out every week. The fans never asked to move grounds - it was imposed upon them, just like the billion pound investment was. Believe it or not, some fans preferred the underdog role - as it made relative success all the sweeter. Who is anyone else to judge? It’s their club - they can support is however they choose.
Simon Caney, ex Editor of Sport and MATCH magazines
Full disclosure: I support the other team in Manchester, so most things I say about City can - and indeed should - be taken with a pinch of salt. But I’d also stress that I think much of what they do as a club is to be applauded - their work in the community is outstanding, for instance, and mostly overlooked. They could - with the infinite resources at their disposal - have easily become the most hated team in the world, and it’s to their credit that they have ploughed in so much effort away from the pitch.
As for the fans, I still get the feeling they can’t quite believe it. It’s hard to mock people who aren’t there, who perhaps don’t even exist (and City wouldn’t be the only team not to fulfil their allocation at Steaua Bucharest). Their fans haven’t helped themselves down the years with their constant knocking of 'fake’ United fans (more full disclosure: I am not from Manchester), probably never believing that one day they’d be expected to win more than their neighbours. They weren’t ready for near-enough instant success, and you can’t build a massive fanbase quickly - so many spectators at the likes of United, Liverpool or Arsenal are overseas tourists, for example.
So I don’t think the fans deserve to be mocked. The team, on the other hand - is a different kettle of fish. All that cash at their disposal, and now the finest coach in the world (or so they say). If they don’t win at least two major trophies this year that will be abject failure.
John Henson, Founder, Proven Quality, www.provenquality.com
It’s a little hard to know whether that’s a serious question or an open invitation to mock them. I’ll try to treat it as the former, but I’m not making any promises.
While the small number of supporters doesn’t compare favourably with the amount taken by British teams for Champions League qualifiers in recent years (Arsenal and Manchester United had good showings in Marseille and Bruges respectively), Bucharest is quite a trek from Manchester (there doesn’t seem to be any direct flights) so it’s hard to criticise fans with budget and time constraints for not making the trip.
The empty seats at home are a constant source of merriment, but there are plenty of better reasons to mock City, so why not chuckle at the handsomely paid footballers rather than the paying fans. There’s the fact that such a well-financed team ever had to play a Champions League qualifier, for a start.
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Kadeem Simmonds, Sports Editor, Morning Star, www.morningstaronline.co.uk
In today’s society, Manchester City fans shouldn’t be mocked for not being able to sell out home games or filling out away sections around Europe on a weeknight.
The average fan is being priced out of watching their team so it is not surprising that some stadiums aren’t at capacity. Given the large gaps in sections at the Etihad, the board should be looking at ways to fill those and lowering ticket prices is the only option going forward.
As for European away games, when you factor in hotel prices, flights and the ticket itself, it is understandable why City fans chose to watch the match from the comfort of their sofa.
Ash Davidson, Bread & Butter Football, www.breadandbutterfootball.com
No, I remember when City were rubbish, and then they bought the league. You can buy players, managers and titles, but not fans. Unless you’re Chelsea.
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Dyutiman Banerjee, Co-owner, The 4th Official, www.the4thofficial.net
They don’t deserve to be mocked per se. For too long City have been under the shadows of their neighbours. So it will take time to develop their fanbase. But City need to ensure that the fanbase at the grassroots level develops. Also everyone knows of their relationship with the UEFA. That definitely played a part.
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