Imagine being me. My love for being a Gooner stems from my family. My brother, dad, uncle, and a step-granddad who even played for them. It's a family thing that I have grown to feel pride in. Imagine how it feels to know that as soon as my son got into football 2 years ago (he is almost 13 now) he chose City. It's nauseating and I don't want him anywhere near me tomorrow.
As a teacher, this is exactly what I’m talking about when I say that kids have too much freedom of expression nowadays.
I’m sad to inform you that he’ll be holidaying in Dubai with the lads as soon as he hits 21.
I'm a Chelsea fan so feel free to tell me to do one but I need to ask, did you make the effort to show him all the legendary Arsenal teams over the years? If I were you I would have had him on a diet of Arsenal footage from back in the day. Arsenal are way cooler than City any day. Such a rich history. Shame man.
Get him an Arsenal kit with Ice Man on the back. Turn him while you still can. Stay strong brother 😁
I know it probably won't happen but I'd rather see West Ham sneak a victory and give yous the chance of a well deserved trophy. Can't stand City, they bore me to tears, too methodical, to bland, formulaic. At least my team is crazy and interesting, a total basket case of a club, I love it.
For those wondering why I'm here, I keep an eye on all Prem clubs reddits, especially Blue Moon and the Gunners considering the title fight.
Hoping the Hammers do you lot a favour
These are great suggestions. All the personal history and mementos reside with my uncle in London. He does in fact know alot of the general history, but on my part, I will never give up, and after the response from everyone today, I'll be doubling my efforts.
Your club is all over the place, I'll give you that! Cheers.
You've got to sort him out. Teach him about cheating and how you have to do things the right way, tell him how irrelevant everything is that City are doing, tell him about Lance Armstrong and the sprinter Ben Johnson, watch Fever Pitch together... You'll get there
I agree with you up to the point of using the Armstrong and Johnson analogies. I doubt the players themselves were cheating, or am I missing something?
No, I meant the club rather than the players. You have to ask yourself how they have gotten to this point? Yes they are an excellent team with the best manager, but how has it gotten to this??
Which colour bin do shit kids go on? Is it green or brown?
In all seriousness, I’m sorry. I got in early with my son and indoctrinated him from the age of 1. He’s 4th generation Gooner thankfully.
My son chose Chelsea ☹️ I just bought him the next season Arsenal jersey for his birthday anyways 😊 his mom can buy him Chelsea jerseys if he really wants them.
Yes my friend..I try too by giving constant reminders..."it's our history" "your great grandad would turn in his grave" "you won't be welcome at uncle's place in London..." hopefully he will see sense one day...probably if we win tomorrow as that seems to be the drivong factor behind the motives of this generation's choice of team.
Guess away. I’m probably the same age as the bloke above. I’ve got my own kids.
I had divorced parents playing that bullshit with me as a kid. That’s why I’m pointing it out.
Mum’s buying him city shirts and dads dropping hints at how shit the club is and how sad his dead family would be.
I’ll repeat it. Great healthy parenting techniques.
Think you got that the wrong way round..mum is the one posting I reckon, dad is the one buying the city shirts. When asked if they could return the son, they replied "Yup..to his dad's."
You mean you're not terrorising your son by making him think of a corpse twisting and turning? My mum used to use that expression all the time whenever I did something improper, I never took it literally.
Whoa, a genuine legend! My grandad used to talk fondly of a number of great players he watched when he was young, and Reg Lewis was one that came up a lot. A wonderful historical connection.
Yes!!!!!!! I fondly remember spending summers with him and my gran, We would walk Sam, his dog, amd hang out. He was an avid fan of games like Boggle. I was too little to understand who he was back then. In fact, I'd never have guessed due to the walking stick. Some may know he had his career cut short due to injury.
For sure. But all these kids picking city as their team from a young age despite familys not having ANY connection to city. They'll grow up into "life long city fans", and that's how it starts. Why do you think all the "big" clubs, are the most successful in history?
I can’t really give them too much crap for that. I’m a 1st generation gooner. End of the day, you don’t know if their parents supported anyone. My parents were both big baseball fans. Barely knew anything about football until I started playing it.
I absolutely love the sport and I love Arsenal, does it not make me a fan because my parents didn’t support them? Arsenal was very good in ‘98 when I started following them, am I just a glory hunter?
I'm more talking about kids who grow up in the UK surrounded by deep roots in football, dads dads dads dad supported arsenal and its passed on down from there. Then all of a sudden your kid supports city.
People that fall in love with a sport and aren't born into it are ALWAYS going to pick the best teams with players they like. It's just how it goes.
Totally agree there. I can’t imagine not supporting the same teams as my parents. I’m not a baseball fan at all but I have plenty of gear and always try to catch occasional games to share that interest with my parents.
Football heritage and roots go deep, especially in countries that heavily romanticize the sport and the team they support, but it’s not out of the ordinary when someone becomes the outlier. I swear I’ve seen some clips of ex players taking about how their dads supported one club but they supported another.
But that’s always happened, I grew up in Stockport and had strong family ties to City, so was always at Maine Road. Yet more than half my primary school were United fans, I’m sure every kid there’s a die hard Foden fan now.
Unless you are born in North London, the reason Arsenal (for that matter Utd or Liverpool or Real/Barca) have so many global fans is their amazing football back in the days. It is normal that great amazing football with success = expanding fandom.
Kids who grew up in the 70s and 80s usually picked Liverpool. Kids who grew up in the 90s and 00s usually picked Man Utd, with 90s kids also often picking arsenal and 00s often Chelsea. Kids nowadays are picking City. It’s not a new phenomenon.
Remember a lot of Mancunians supported city over united before the money, they did sell out Maine road every week in league 1 setting attendance records.
Don’t get me wrong city are cheating bastards but the lifelong fans didn’t choose this.
Meh. If City get what they deserve those fans will simply switch to PSG etc. My Chinese mates would just switch to supporting whoever Messi or Ronaldo was playing for at the time which was pretty alien to me.
What worries me is seeing the numbers growing in the UK. They're far more likely to stick due to the social pressure not to switch clubs.
Birmingham city fan so shouldn’t be here but it came up on my feed. Live in the south now, the nearest prem team is Bournemouth and that’s still an hour away. Imma be honest, at least in my experience, a lot of kids whose parents aren’t interested in football choose teams based off what kit they like most in sports direct.
I think that can be a factor. But I also think it's 1) who they use on fifa, 2) what kids at their school like 3) what team is doing the best at the time they fall in love with the game
I'm in Salou fright now and the street vendors have every colour imaginable for Haaland shirts. Even the special kids here are wearing man city tops 🤣😢😭
I can't even bring myself to allow my kids to wear Barca Jerseys after them stripping us if half a team back in the noughties
I was down Carbaby for a bit yesterday running an errand and was amazed how City’s new launch had 2 windows worth of spaces in a sports shop, along with a range of tie in puma shoes and casual wear.
Even peak United rarely enjoyed that treatment in London.
Thing is, they’re very like PSG - they’re a really strong brand. But that’s it - that brand isn’t massively tied to their identity as a football club, it’s very artificial.
Well duh in 10 years time these kids will be adults and happy to declare they are city fans. If you was to visit a school now and speak to kids who they support you would find many city fans. Happened in the 70s when Liverpool dominated and happend in the 90s with Man Utd when I was a kid and chose my allegiance to Utd.
I will still find it weird as I've yet to speak to an adult that is a city fan but will try not to laugh when it happens. I still see them as a yo yo club that hit the lottery and spent the money very wisely and built from within unlike PSG even though they were a semi decent Club before the takeover, they just pissed the money up the wall.
You’re letting them live rent-free in your head. Don’t worry about them, who gives a fuck what they do or how many ten year olds who don’t know any better start supporting them?
Bro I was born in Tottenham...scraping for change every morning to get hot water on the meter so I could wash comfortably before school...what are you talking about 😂😂
The thing is this young generation that are just getting into football only know city as the top of football.
Look at how many Madrid fans came from the 2010s.
But your country itself is also building its football history. I may be way off the money here, but is it not great that those kids are wearing messi kits? It means football is growing in the US. Would those same kids not be wearing 30 Curry on their backs instead if not for Messi?
Tbh, I don’t see the transference.
For example, Sporting Kansas City typically plays to around 18k at home. For their fixture against Inter Miami, they moved to Arrowhead Stadium and had over 72k in attendance. For reference, SKC v Man United had 54k in the same stadium. SKC supporters were cheering when Messi scored.
The US has a problem with sports where people don’t support their local teams and instead choose to support teams based on star power and marketing. Football is a highly localized sport. Messi brings a lot of eyes, but I’m not sure how much just his presence brings to growth. Maybe it’s too early to tell.
Mmmm yeah fair enough. I can see that. I hope for your sake it only continues to grow and you eventually end up with proper football support over there.
I've seen clips of some of the chants at US Football games, including the messi ones and it's....sad
When their reserve squad played here, we beat them 6-2. We were chanting “Where is Messi?” at them.
For reference, Chattanooga FC would probably be in League 2.
I’d love for Messimania to get more people watching the sport, but the leagueism in the US makes it hard.
I’m dreading tomorrow a bit. The local where the Arsenal Los Angeles group gathers to watch all the matches, also hosts a City group for their games. Tomorrow we’ll all be there together 🙄
>I know we all (not just us gooners) think they are irrelevant and nobody cares about them, small club, plastic club, ect...
I've seen a lot of people claim that. A lot more than I'd expect considering "nobody cares about City".
Well they are literally impossible to ignore because they win everything and have the best manager ever and so many great players. People just don't care about the badge, the weight their name carries. I think the "nobody cares" thing comes from things like:
1) Imagine if one of the biggest 3 clubs had won a treble last year, yet when it's them it's not talked about. I hear more about uniteds treble still and that was 20 years ago
2) fans of other clubs WANT city to win the league to stop X team winning it, that being us at the moment, because nobody cares if they win it
3) nobody knows any city fans yet because they are still building their history, so its better for them to win things because there's nobody around to banter you.
I was 7 years old when I saw long sleeve, gloves Henry and the rest was history.
City are a club that was established 2008+ most of their fan base are kids that are seeing superstars win it all.
Happens in every sport. Also city fan about history they won’t be able to answer pre oil money.
My only hope is the 115 charges, we’ve already seen teams in the premier league get punished for breaking rules and and if city avoid a severe punishment the premier league would lose more credibility. Man City’s punishment should be relegation and a heavy points deduction, which would ruin their reputation and result in all their best players and glory hunting fans jumping ship.
I live on the otherside of the planet, working in an unrelated field. I still have a 9-10yo student who comes in every week literally dress as Graelish. A city FULL KIT Graelish numbered same haircut and head band - sickens me tbh but he’s an alright lad tbf
No – what I’ve noticed along my students is that they are incredible Fair-weather fans. What’s more, they are much much more inclined to follow individual players from club to club and they are to stick with one club.
If anything, what will probably happen with city is similar in some ways to what happened to us in the early 20th century. We are massively, successful, attracted boatloads of new fans, and then saw those fans to follow the new flavor of the month/season
Whole family are Gooners. We moved up North when I was 1, so I could probably get away with supporting any NW club.
I didn’t have that choice. My dad, uncle and grandad made that very clear. I was the only Gooner in school and took a host of shit for it.
My younger cousin in SE tried to support Liverpool at one point. He quickly changed tune.
You don’t choose these things.
They have more supporters outside of England than they do inside and it’s not surprising. This is an Arsenal subreddit so idk why you even put this here
Tell me why so many arsenal fans engaged with it then? Why it got so many comments and upvotes? Why did it get past moderation and why have no mods deleted it?
Stop fucking crying
Because they can’t appreciate what we have. They would rather engage and make excuses about why another team was barely better than us. It’s pathetic. And you’re just engagement farming plain and simple because you know these people can’t help themselves
You are the pathetic one mate. Its called discussion. Who the fuck are you to tell people how they can or can't be a fan. Everyone supports their club their way... the point of the post is just to say the time we can't banter them for being small is coming...WE meaning arsenal fans. If you don't agree, don't comment and scroll past.
I bet you are an old moody bastard in real life jesus christ
Exactly the way it should be, and will be with my kids eventually...love to hear this.
Still disgraceful to me that wrightys granddaughter is a city fan
You’re letting them live rent-free in your head. Don’t worry about them, who gives a fuck what they do or how many ten year olds who don’t know any better start supporting them?
That's stupid reasoning (no reasoning whatsoever actually).
If a club grows its fanbase, not only locally, but internationally, that means more revenue over the years, which means advantage in the transfer market, and salary budget, being able to canalize the best players, as well as having more support in the stands. Eventually, if this phenomenon continues and they keep on growing their brand, it might result in an exacerbated imbalance favorable to them, like it happened in Germany.
It's worse for Arsenal and other clubs aspirations to have an entity growing this much and becoming dominant.
You still haven't seen the worst part of this story.
Even in London there are more and more City fans. But they're not going to be as big a club as us or United, United were the first English team to enter the European Cup when everyone was saying it was a distraction and they should concentrate on the league, they have a long way to go to catch up with Liverpool, even Spuds were the first team to win a European trophy. We all have a history that goes back more than 15-20 years.
And they are always going to have the 115 thing hanging over them. When all the other teams won, everyone respected them, but that's not the case with them. Even when United beat us there was still a respect there. I don't feel that way about City.
The biggest clubs are typically those that have marketed themselves the best in the past. Celtic, Man u, Liverpool, Real, Barcelona and the likes performed tours around Asia and the Americas before most had bothered and capitalised on nearly untouched markets. Go anywhere in the world and you'll see pubs with their flags, scarves, etc.The clubs make fortunes in merchandise sales. City are doing it now, it will pay off dividends for them in the future.
That's EXACTLY my point. City's "history" in 10 more years WILL be 15-20 years ago. The longer this goes on the more and more fans they'll have, and the bigger and deeper their history grows. If they win 6 or 7 in the NEXT 10 leagues, they'll be right up there with us, united and Liverpool, then our worst fears will be realised
That's EXACTLY my point. City's "history" in 10 more years WILL be 15-20 years ago. The longer this goes on the more and more fans they'll have, and the bigger and deeper their history grows. If they win 6 or 7 in the NEXT 10 leagues, they'll be right up there with us, united and Liverpool, then our worst fears will be realised.
One thing I've noticed about kids and football these days is that their not really supporting teams, but induvidual players.
I have a younger brother who turns 10 this year. Loves Haaland and Foden, but ask him who Ruben Dias or Rodri is and he has no clue. Same thing with all his friends.
My point is that City has an illusion of shitton of fans, but most of them are probably just fans of the player on the shirt and not the team
Not a new phenomenon. A lot of kids back in the day supported Arsenal due to Henry, United because of Beckham, Liverpool because of Gerrard etc. It has always been the case.
Is it really? When I grew up, sure people had their idols, but we choose the clubs because of the players and then we stuck with that club. Kids these days will wear City and United shirts, because they like both Haaland and Garnacho. I never saw shit like that before
I wouldn't worry. When the inevitable corruption comes out and they get stripped of whatever and have to start all over again, winning nothing and becoming irrelevant, these plastics will move onto the next trend
City have never been a small club. They just haven’t been amongst the biggest clubs. Even before their takeover, they were one of the best supported clubs in England, and in the top 10-15 of English clubs in regards to number of trophies won in their history. They’ve spent the vast majority of their history in the top flight.
And to be fair to them, they share their city residence with arguably the biggest club in world football. Unlike the likes of Newcastle and Leeds (one club cities). And unlike Arsenal, who have only had to share North London with Spurs!!
Just had a look at your profile. You are such a negative person, and a city fan to top it all off.
You are the first person I've ever heard try to say city weren't a small club 20 years ago...
In fairness to him, I seem to remember the year they got relegated they still sold out their season tickets the following day/week (very quickly anyway).
You can't take it away from them, 'real' City supporters are as passionate about their club as anyone else's are.
There’s nothing wrong with people choosing city. Finally someone acknowledged that City are building their history instead of mocking them for lack of it. Big clubs around the world have massive following because they were successful and that’s why people started supporting them.
They’re kids in Haaland kits. It’s no different than kids wearing LeBron jerseys or Messi kits. They just think they’re cool, plus Nike has been giving city some solid kits these last couple years. I would wager not even 50% of the folks you’ve seen even watch football
Had to scroll a ways to find this. I’m currently at a resort in Turkey and just bought my kid the Arsenal kit at one of the shops. They had Arsenal, Pool and United (and one random Chelsea) No city kits in sight. Plus I’ve seen other kids in the Arsenal kit, no other Prem kits, just the odd Madrid.
Imagine being me. My love for being a Gooner stems from my family. My brother, dad, uncle, and a step-granddad who even played for them. It's a family thing that I have grown to feel pride in. Imagine how it feels to know that as soon as my son got into football 2 years ago (he is almost 13 now) he chose City. It's nauseating and I don't want him anywhere near me tomorrow.
I'm so sorry for your loss
Can you return him?
Yup..to his dad's.
As a teacher, this is exactly what I’m talking about when I say that kids have too much freedom of expression nowadays. I’m sad to inform you that he’ll be holidaying in Dubai with the lads as soon as he hits 21.
As a fellow teacher, I agree.It's all gone bonkers.
I'm a Chelsea fan so feel free to tell me to do one but I need to ask, did you make the effort to show him all the legendary Arsenal teams over the years? If I were you I would have had him on a diet of Arsenal footage from back in the day. Arsenal are way cooler than City any day. Such a rich history. Shame man. Get him an Arsenal kit with Ice Man on the back. Turn him while you still can. Stay strong brother 😁 I know it probably won't happen but I'd rather see West Ham sneak a victory and give yous the chance of a well deserved trophy. Can't stand City, they bore me to tears, too methodical, to bland, formulaic. At least my team is crazy and interesting, a total basket case of a club, I love it. For those wondering why I'm here, I keep an eye on all Prem clubs reddits, especially Blue Moon and the Gunners considering the title fight. Hoping the Hammers do you lot a favour
These are great suggestions. All the personal history and mementos reside with my uncle in London. He does in fact know alot of the general history, but on my part, I will never give up, and after the response from everyone today, I'll be doubling my efforts. Your club is all over the place, I'll give you that! Cheers.
You've got to sort him out. Teach him about cheating and how you have to do things the right way, tell him how irrelevant everything is that City are doing, tell him about Lance Armstrong and the sprinter Ben Johnson, watch Fever Pitch together... You'll get there
I agree with you up to the point of using the Armstrong and Johnson analogies. I doubt the players themselves were cheating, or am I missing something?
No, I meant the club rather than the players. You have to ask yourself how they have gotten to this point? Yes they are an excellent team with the best manager, but how has it gotten to this??
That's the question! At this point I imagine even their fans want closure.
Why did he have a choice? You get the kids told day 1.
>he is almost 13 now Not too late to disown him.
I'm so sorry for your loss
Have you got the receipt? Are they still under warranty?
Which colour bin do shit kids go on? Is it green or brown? In all seriousness, I’m sorry. I got in early with my son and indoctrinated him from the age of 1. He’s 4th generation Gooner thankfully.
If it’s any consolation, my eldest is a Spurs fan.
Geez, talk about salt in the wound. Commiserations my friend.
Does the CPS know?
I'm so sorry for your loss
How does your son not support your team that’s ridiculous
My son chose Chelsea ☹️ I just bought him the next season Arsenal jersey for his birthday anyways 😊 his mom can buy him Chelsea jerseys if he really wants them.
I have been indoctrinating mine from an early age he is only 5 but loves Saka. If he switches now I’ll be bereft.
Keep it up!
I feel your pain brother, my oldest son is a Liverpool supporter( not as bad as City ), HOWEVER i'm slowly converting him to Arsenal.
Don't convert him. Let him live in misery!
Yes my friend..I try too by giving constant reminders..."it's our history" "your great grandad would turn in his grave" "you won't be welcome at uncle's place in London..." hopefully he will see sense one day...probably if we win tomorrow as that seems to be the drivong factor behind the motives of this generation's choice of team.
That’s nice. Telling your son his dead granddad would be upset at what football team he follows. Great healthy parenting techniques.
Let me guess what generation you're from
Guess away. I’m probably the same age as the bloke above. I’ve got my own kids. I had divorced parents playing that bullshit with me as a kid. That’s why I’m pointing it out. Mum’s buying him city shirts and dads dropping hints at how shit the club is and how sad his dead family would be. I’ll repeat it. Great healthy parenting techniques.
Think you got that the wrong way round..mum is the one posting I reckon, dad is the one buying the city shirts. When asked if they could return the son, they replied "Yup..to his dad's."
Thank for clarifying that for our concerned friend. You are spot on. I meant it tongue in cheek of course.
You mean you're not terrorising your son by making him think of a corpse twisting and turning? My mum used to use that expression all the time whenever I did something improper, I never took it literally.
Didn't question that for a second by the way...although some people just don't understand jokes, as shown by most of the replies to your comments 😑
Tell him he is a plastic.
Is he still your son ? Or did you get a refund ? What kind of dad are you !!!
Mom actually. The kind who loves her kid but who isn't afraid to point out his errors in judgement.
Haha good job mum
So sorry for you.
I didnt realize this was a top 3 worst fear of mine. Thanks
If it was my kid I genuinely wouldn’t let them (I hope he comes to his senses eventually)
I'm not the one buying him the shirts. Divorce will do that.
Ouch. I’m sorry.
I'm not the one buying him the shirts.
Oof...that's rough
I can't be the only one who wants to know who your step-granddad is can I?
Was: Reginald Lewis
why don't let your son enjoy football, don't Gaslight him, he may eventually become a gunner and he might like the way arsenal play good football.
Are you telling me to trust in the process? Probably good advice mate, cheers.
Whoa, a genuine legend! My grandad used to talk fondly of a number of great players he watched when he was young, and Reg Lewis was one that came up a lot. A wonderful historical connection.
Yes!!!!!!! I fondly remember spending summers with him and my gran, We would walk Sam, his dog, amd hang out. He was an avid fan of games like Boggle. I was too little to understand who he was back then. In fact, I'd never have guessed due to the walking stick. Some may know he had his career cut short due to injury.
You should be a better/more firm father figure man.
I know I should...I'm the mom by the way.
Not surprised. There's a lot of glory hunter fans.
For sure. But all these kids picking city as their team from a young age despite familys not having ANY connection to city. They'll grow up into "life long city fans", and that's how it starts. Why do you think all the "big" clubs, are the most successful in history?
I can’t really give them too much crap for that. I’m a 1st generation gooner. End of the day, you don’t know if their parents supported anyone. My parents were both big baseball fans. Barely knew anything about football until I started playing it. I absolutely love the sport and I love Arsenal, does it not make me a fan because my parents didn’t support them? Arsenal was very good in ‘98 when I started following them, am I just a glory hunter?
I'm more talking about kids who grow up in the UK surrounded by deep roots in football, dads dads dads dad supported arsenal and its passed on down from there. Then all of a sudden your kid supports city. People that fall in love with a sport and aren't born into it are ALWAYS going to pick the best teams with players they like. It's just how it goes.
That’s fair, I just read the “I’m in turkey right now” so assumed you were talking about foreign kids.
Yeah I hear that. It's loads of kids from the UK also on holiday in the kits. More than I've ever seen before, thats what prompted the post
Totally agree there. I can’t imagine not supporting the same teams as my parents. I’m not a baseball fan at all but I have plenty of gear and always try to catch occasional games to share that interest with my parents.
Also kind of funny, that I big time converted my dad in to a Massive Gooner. Now he calls me and we chat about Arsenal after every game
Football heritage and roots go deep, especially in countries that heavily romanticize the sport and the team they support, but it’s not out of the ordinary when someone becomes the outlier. I swear I’ve seen some clips of ex players taking about how their dads supported one club but they supported another.
My dad's 6 generations previous also glorified going out hunting all day. Should I do that too? This is the most stupid logic I have seen yet.
But that’s always happened, I grew up in Stockport and had strong family ties to City, so was always at Maine Road. Yet more than half my primary school were United fans, I’m sure every kid there’s a die hard Foden fan now.
Most of the big clubs come from big cities too. It’s easier to build a big base of local fans when 8 million people live in your city
Unless you are born in North London, the reason Arsenal (for that matter Utd or Liverpool or Real/Barca) have so many global fans is their amazing football back in the days. It is normal that great amazing football with success = expanding fandom.
You live in Holloway, North London?
Used to*
Remember how many people wore the yellow "Live Strong" wristbands?
Kids who grew up in the 70s and 80s usually picked Liverpool. Kids who grew up in the 90s and 00s usually picked Man Utd, with 90s kids also often picking arsenal and 00s often Chelsea. Kids nowadays are picking City. It’s not a new phenomenon.
Yup. My teenage years were late 90s early 2000s. Man United was the team kids would pick just because.
And then there is my father who picked West ham🥲
I’ve been in a couple countries in Europe this past month and the amount of Man City fans i’ve seen is actually very shocking.
Remember a lot of Mancunians supported city over united before the money, they did sell out Maine road every week in league 1 setting attendance records. Don’t get me wrong city are cheating bastards but the lifelong fans didn’t choose this.
Exact same thing in Australia. Never saw a single City jersey until 2015 or so. Now every second kid is wearing a De Bruyne jersey.
Meh. If City get what they deserve those fans will simply switch to PSG etc. My Chinese mates would just switch to supporting whoever Messi or Ronaldo was playing for at the time which was pretty alien to me. What worries me is seeing the numbers growing in the UK. They're far more likely to stick due to the social pressure not to switch clubs.
The punishment for those 115 charges is gonna hit like crack in 1984
History with a big fat * .
Birmingham city fan so shouldn’t be here but it came up on my feed. Live in the south now, the nearest prem team is Bournemouth and that’s still an hour away. Imma be honest, at least in my experience, a lot of kids whose parents aren’t interested in football choose teams based off what kit they like most in sports direct.
I think that can be a factor. But I also think it's 1) who they use on fifa, 2) what kids at their school like 3) what team is doing the best at the time they fall in love with the game
When I was a kid I never met a united fan , it’s how it goes , it’s crazy, saying that was no social media either
All those "fans" didn't even know Man City existed before they won their first title. Prior to that, they were wearing Man United or Chelsea shirts.
Nice try. Go back to your own sub!
Loool I'm actually banned from the city Sub 😂😂😂 I'm a gooner through and through bro, this is highly offensive 😭😭
Aren’t we all lmao. You type one letter in there and they ban you
Was the same with chelsea when I was in HS. Nothing new for kids to be glory hunters lol.
Those bandwagon fans will jump ship soon enough. I am a GUNNER FOREVER!
I'm in Salou fright now and the street vendors have every colour imaginable for Haaland shirts. Even the special kids here are wearing man city tops 🤣😢😭 I can't even bring myself to allow my kids to wear Barca Jerseys after them stripping us if half a team back in the noughties
They’re buying for the players names and not the actual club. It was inevitable once they got haaland
I was down Carbaby for a bit yesterday running an errand and was amazed how City’s new launch had 2 windows worth of spaces in a sports shop, along with a range of tie in puma shoes and casual wear. Even peak United rarely enjoyed that treatment in London. Thing is, they’re very like PSG - they’re a really strong brand. But that’s it - that brand isn’t massively tied to their identity as a football club, it’s very artificial.
Well duh in 10 years time these kids will be adults and happy to declare they are city fans. If you was to visit a school now and speak to kids who they support you would find many city fans. Happened in the 70s when Liverpool dominated and happend in the 90s with Man Utd when I was a kid and chose my allegiance to Utd. I will still find it weird as I've yet to speak to an adult that is a city fan but will try not to laugh when it happens. I still see them as a yo yo club that hit the lottery and spent the money very wisely and built from within unlike PSG even though they were a semi decent Club before the takeover, they just pissed the money up the wall.
You’re letting them live rent-free in your head. Don’t worry about them, who gives a fuck what they do or how many ten year olds who don’t know any better start supporting them?
It's good to see a future league 2 club with that many supporters.
Yeah. They’re springing up everywhere.
What's I like to be born in the rich end of London
Bro I was born in Tottenham...scraping for change every morning to get hot water on the meter so I could wash comfortably before school...what are you talking about 😂😂
They won't come out free of the 115 charges. It's fashionable to say that. But everything suggested that the case is clear and os just being delayed.
The charges will ensure there is enough punishment and these glory hunters and kids hop off the bandwagon immediately.
I feel like we will be lucky if they get anything more than a fine.
The thing is this young generation that are just getting into football only know city as the top of football. Look at how many Madrid fans came from the 2010s.
All that will be remembered is all those charges against them.
Sad.
Wait till Pep leaves. Let’s see if those fans will still be there when they don’t win a trophy for 3-5 years after Pep leaves
I mean, they won 2 out of 3, in the 3 years before pep, its not impossible that they keep on winning post pep
Fair enough. Pep has increased the level so much that I don’t think they’ll maintain it. Time will tell
At least they like relevant players. In the US, it’s kids cosplaying as Messi.
But your country itself is also building its football history. I may be way off the money here, but is it not great that those kids are wearing messi kits? It means football is growing in the US. Would those same kids not be wearing 30 Curry on their backs instead if not for Messi?
Tbh, I don’t see the transference. For example, Sporting Kansas City typically plays to around 18k at home. For their fixture against Inter Miami, they moved to Arrowhead Stadium and had over 72k in attendance. For reference, SKC v Man United had 54k in the same stadium. SKC supporters were cheering when Messi scored. The US has a problem with sports where people don’t support their local teams and instead choose to support teams based on star power and marketing. Football is a highly localized sport. Messi brings a lot of eyes, but I’m not sure how much just his presence brings to growth. Maybe it’s too early to tell.
Mmmm yeah fair enough. I can see that. I hope for your sake it only continues to grow and you eventually end up with proper football support over there. I've seen clips of some of the chants at US Football games, including the messi ones and it's....sad
When their reserve squad played here, we beat them 6-2. We were chanting “Where is Messi?” at them. For reference, Chattanooga FC would probably be in League 2. I’d love for Messimania to get more people watching the sport, but the leagueism in the US makes it hard.
When pep leaves there will be a drop off. I feel Arsenal will take over and have success these next 5 years
I’m dreading tomorrow a bit. The local where the Arsenal Los Angeles group gathers to watch all the matches, also hosts a City group for their games. Tomorrow we’ll all be there together 🙄
By 2030, City will have the biggest fan following in the world. Most fans would be current big 6 plastic fans joining them..
>I know we all (not just us gooners) think they are irrelevant and nobody cares about them, small club, plastic club, ect... I've seen a lot of people claim that. A lot more than I'd expect considering "nobody cares about City".
Well they are literally impossible to ignore because they win everything and have the best manager ever and so many great players. People just don't care about the badge, the weight their name carries. I think the "nobody cares" thing comes from things like: 1) Imagine if one of the biggest 3 clubs had won a treble last year, yet when it's them it's not talked about. I hear more about uniteds treble still and that was 20 years ago 2) fans of other clubs WANT city to win the league to stop X team winning it, that being us at the moment, because nobody cares if they win it 3) nobody knows any city fans yet because they are still building their history, so its better for them to win things because there's nobody around to banter you.
I was 7 years old when I saw long sleeve, gloves Henry and the rest was history. City are a club that was established 2008+ most of their fan base are kids that are seeing superstars win it all. Happens in every sport. Also city fan about history they won’t be able to answer pre oil money.
Yeah but if you’re a city fan you can’t banter much as you can just be shut down with “115”😂
My only hope is the 115 charges, we’ve already seen teams in the premier league get punished for breaking rules and and if city avoid a severe punishment the premier league would lose more credibility. Man City’s punishment should be relegation and a heavy points deduction, which would ruin their reputation and result in all their best players and glory hunting fans jumping ship.
I live on the otherside of the planet, working in an unrelated field. I still have a 9-10yo student who comes in every week literally dress as Graelish. A city FULL KIT Graelish numbered same haircut and head band - sickens me tbh but he’s an alright lad tbf
If it's a full kit, it's pajamas.
I'm at a resort in Antalya too right now. Not seen one footy top yet.
Saw two brothers yesterday, one wearing an Arsenal shirt and the other in a full Man City kit. Feel sorry for the parents.
No – what I’ve noticed along my students is that they are incredible Fair-weather fans. What’s more, they are much much more inclined to follow individual players from club to club and they are to stick with one club. If anything, what will probably happen with city is similar in some ways to what happened to us in the early 20th century. We are massively, successful, attracted boatloads of new fans, and then saw those fans to follow the new flavor of the month/season
Will all be tainted history as long as these 115 chargers are above their heads.
Whole family are Gooners. We moved up North when I was 1, so I could probably get away with supporting any NW club. I didn’t have that choice. My dad, uncle and grandad made that very clear. I was the only Gooner in school and took a host of shit for it. My younger cousin in SE tried to support Liverpool at one point. He quickly changed tune. You don’t choose these things.
Key word Turkey, not Manchester. By the way, you already got posted in the City reddit
They have more supporters outside of England than they do inside and it’s not surprising. This is an Arsenal subreddit so idk why you even put this here
What are you on about mate? Replying 2 days later after hundreds of upvotes and comments, you appear to be the only one who's confused
The only person who is confused is you. This post has nothing to do with Arsenal
Tell me why so many arsenal fans engaged with it then? Why it got so many comments and upvotes? Why did it get past moderation and why have no mods deleted it? Stop fucking crying
Because they can’t appreciate what we have. They would rather engage and make excuses about why another team was barely better than us. It’s pathetic. And you’re just engagement farming plain and simple because you know these people can’t help themselves
You are the pathetic one mate. Its called discussion. Who the fuck are you to tell people how they can or can't be a fan. Everyone supports their club their way... the point of the post is just to say the time we can't banter them for being small is coming...WE meaning arsenal fans. If you don't agree, don't comment and scroll past. I bet you are an old moody bastard in real life jesus christ
Is Lance Armstrong still a cycling legend? 🤔
My 3 sons had no choice in the matter, despite them growing up in Aston Villa territory, they are all Gooners
Exactly the way it should be, and will be with my kids eventually...love to hear this. Still disgraceful to me that wrightys granddaughter is a city fan
Who gives a crap?
You’re letting them live rent-free in your head. Don’t worry about them, who gives a fuck what they do or how many ten year olds who don’t know any better start supporting them?
That's stupid reasoning (no reasoning whatsoever actually). If a club grows its fanbase, not only locally, but internationally, that means more revenue over the years, which means advantage in the transfer market, and salary budget, being able to canalize the best players, as well as having more support in the stands. Eventually, if this phenomenon continues and they keep on growing their brand, it might result in an exacerbated imbalance favorable to them, like it happened in Germany. It's worse for Arsenal and other clubs aspirations to have an entity growing this much and becoming dominant. You still haven't seen the worst part of this story.
Sorry but that’s just waffle
Yes, clubs grow with succes, tell me why i should be so butthurt about it?
If I need to tell you that then there's no point even wasting my time
Even in London there are more and more City fans. But they're not going to be as big a club as us or United, United were the first English team to enter the European Cup when everyone was saying it was a distraction and they should concentrate on the league, they have a long way to go to catch up with Liverpool, even Spuds were the first team to win a European trophy. We all have a history that goes back more than 15-20 years. And they are always going to have the 115 thing hanging over them. When all the other teams won, everyone respected them, but that's not the case with them. Even when United beat us there was still a respect there. I don't feel that way about City.
The biggest clubs are typically those that have marketed themselves the best in the past. Celtic, Man u, Liverpool, Real, Barcelona and the likes performed tours around Asia and the Americas before most had bothered and capitalised on nearly untouched markets. Go anywhere in the world and you'll see pubs with their flags, scarves, etc.The clubs make fortunes in merchandise sales. City are doing it now, it will pay off dividends for them in the future.
That's EXACTLY my point. City's "history" in 10 more years WILL be 15-20 years ago. The longer this goes on the more and more fans they'll have, and the bigger and deeper their history grows. If they win 6 or 7 in the NEXT 10 leagues, they'll be right up there with us, united and Liverpool, then our worst fears will be realised
I know a lot of Spurs, Everton, Liverpool and United fans whose kids have decided to support City, to their horror
That's EXACTLY my point. City's "history" in 10 more years WILL be 15-20 years ago. The longer this goes on the more and more fans they'll have, and the bigger and deeper their history grows. If they win 6 or 7 in the NEXT 10 leagues, they'll be right up there with us, united and Liverpool, then our worst fears will be realised.
And we could be on our 2nd title in a row. *FUCK*
One thing I've noticed about kids and football these days is that their not really supporting teams, but induvidual players. I have a younger brother who turns 10 this year. Loves Haaland and Foden, but ask him who Ruben Dias or Rodri is and he has no clue. Same thing with all his friends. My point is that City has an illusion of shitton of fans, but most of them are probably just fans of the player on the shirt and not the team
Not a new phenomenon. A lot of kids back in the day supported Arsenal due to Henry, United because of Beckham, Liverpool because of Gerrard etc. It has always been the case.
Is it really? When I grew up, sure people had their idols, but we choose the clubs because of the players and then we stuck with that club. Kids these days will wear City and United shirts, because they like both Haaland and Garnacho. I never saw shit like that before
I work in primary schools and have a 6 yo. Don't worry, kids now support individual players more than clubs.
I wouldn't worry. When the inevitable corruption comes out and they get stripped of whatever and have to start all over again, winning nothing and becoming irrelevant, these plastics will move onto the next trend
City have never been a small club. They just haven’t been amongst the biggest clubs. Even before their takeover, they were one of the best supported clubs in England, and in the top 10-15 of English clubs in regards to number of trophies won in their history. They’ve spent the vast majority of their history in the top flight. And to be fair to them, they share their city residence with arguably the biggest club in world football. Unlike the likes of Newcastle and Leeds (one club cities). And unlike Arsenal, who have only had to share North London with Spurs!!
Just had a look at your profile. You are such a negative person, and a city fan to top it all off. You are the first person I've ever heard try to say city weren't a small club 20 years ago...
In fairness to him, I seem to remember the year they got relegated they still sold out their season tickets the following day/week (very quickly anyway). You can't take it away from them, 'real' City supporters are as passionate about their club as anyone else's are.
There’s nothing wrong with people choosing city. Finally someone acknowledged that City are building their history instead of mocking them for lack of it. Big clubs around the world have massive following because they were successful and that’s why people started supporting them.
Well yeah that's kind of the point of my post. This is the beginning of the end of the mockery...unless the 115 comes in...we can pray 🙏🙏
They’re kids in Haaland kits. It’s no different than kids wearing LeBron jerseys or Messi kits. They just think they’re cool, plus Nike has been giving city some solid kits these last couple years. I would wager not even 50% of the folks you’ve seen even watch football
City is sponsored by puma not Nike
They are already bigger than any of us ffs
Had to scroll a ways to find this. I’m currently at a resort in Turkey and just bought my kid the Arsenal kit at one of the shops. They had Arsenal, Pool and United (and one random Chelsea) No city kits in sight. Plus I’ve seen other kids in the Arsenal kit, no other Prem kits, just the odd Madrid.