My first ever game was back in 1975 I went with my dad and his friends I was 8 years old. We walked there from West Gorton, past Victoria Baths. It took about 45 minutes, I always ran off in front. When we got nearer to the ground the place was buzzing with fans most of them singing walking down Claremont Road. I was so excited, I know it sounds daft but I remember getting this little fluttering in my belly the nearer I got. We got in the long line of fans waiting at the Kippax end to get into the ground. Once through the turnstiles, my dad went to get his programme and then made me go to the loo! He waited for me at the bottom of the stairs. We stood in the corner between the North stand and the Kippax.

I could hardly see but remember being more interested in the people around me making loads of noise, the enormity of the ground and the strange woman sat behind the goal ringing a bell. Half time came and my dad’s friend Frank got out his flask of coffee and a couple of toffees for me as a treat. For years I thought Frank was deaf, he always had an earpiece in, it was a long time before I realised it was the results from the other matches he was listening to.

I remember my favourite players being big Joe Corrigan and Gary Owen. I’ve heard people say “once a blue always a blue” and it’s true, it’s bred into you from an early age. I still get that buzz walking down Grey Mare Lane with my son towards the stadium. These days I’m proud to say I work at the Stadium, along with my dad and daughter.

I had been bugging my dad for a couple of years to take me to watch City but he was an admirer of The rags.
I was eight years old at the time and now know that money would have been quite tight, he eventually relented when we drew our hometown club Wigan Athletic in the third round of the F.A.Cup,at Maine Road on the 2nd Jan.
This was a big occasion for Wigan as they were then in the Northern Premier Non League.
There are a few things that stick in my mind about the day, the size of the ground and the immense block of green as we entered at the top of the Platt Lane stand,the size of the floodlights, the smells of tobacco and linament and of the game only two thing stand out,the amount of people that where there and the whole Platt Lane standing as one when they thought Wigan had equalised only to find that Big Joe had saved the shot due to the strikers boot splitting as he shot. From that day my dad finally saw the light and we started to travel to Maine Road on a regular basis and became season ticket holders a few years later, we also followed the blues all over the country and but for him I wouldn’t have had some great days following the boys and had the chance to meet some great friends, he is still with us but doesn’t get to the games now since the move from Maine Road he attended one season at COMS and then handed his season ticket over to my son who is nine, he has now taken his place and we go to every home game and as many aways as we can.
Thanks Dad and we will always be City ’til we die.

Before to many eye brows get raised, I’ll explain…….
It was August 1989 and I’d had a little bit, well a big bit of a thing for Gary Lineker!! It was silly I know but there you go…. A friend at school told me that he was going to the City game at the weekend and that they were playing Spurs. Now, I didn’t know much about football at the time, didn’t know anything about City, didn’t know much about United either (oh how I wish that was still the case!!) I did know that my dream man played for Spurs. My dad didn’t see it my way…. “Girl’s don’t go to football matches”. So, I did what every good girl did – I lied and went anyway. Sorry dad!!

I remember the walk from the bus, there were people everywhere….. I don’t think I’d ever seen so many people in one place. The colour, the smell of that chippy on the corner – it was all very odd. Walking up the stairs with the corrugated iron sides then to walk onto the Kippax, I’d like to say the hairs standing on the back of my neck were for the Blues as they do now but they weren’t…. and if they were it wasn’t for the blues. The players were warming up, City players near the North stand and Spurs players at the Platt Lane end – all the fans were at the City end but I headed straight to see him…….. I’d stood there for about 10 mins watching him, oblivious to anything else, then it happened…… the inevitable……… he slipped while sprinting side to side and fell right on his back side – all the City fans jeered and I was trying to hush them all on my own!!

The game started and my love for Gary was suddenly overtaken with a new feeling. The noise, the singing, the game – a new love was born. I remember talking about the game all the following week and pestering my school friend for the next fixture…… That’s why I’m a city fan – kind of fell into it but a love that you can’t explain or replace – It is like a marriage, for better or for worse. I often ask myself why Blue, was it the football…… is the humour……Who does come up with the chants that you’d never get at any other ground. Is it the ability to laugh at ourselves? I remember playing Arsenal at Maine Road – night game, god awful weather! Getting beat, convincingly at half time. The north stand in unison starting to sing “can we play you every week” and when the inevitable chants by the Arsenal fans – “going down, going down, going down – City fans singing “so are we, so are we, so are we”. Didn’t hear much from the gunners after that! Confusion mainly kept them quiet!! My school crush on Mr Lineker soon died…… Well mostly!

Caroline Tonge
P.S – Genius idea City……

My parents came down to Manchester from Scotland in the early 1930’s and the first thing they did was to seek out Maine Road to start the Hamilton dynasty of City supporters. I was 5 when they took me to my first game, Easter Saturday 31 March 1956 1-1 draw with Birmingham City, Hayes the scorer. It was an early 6th Birthday present as I had been nagging to go with them for sometime. The excitement was intense as I prepared for that first visit, get out the scarf and new bobble hat, off to catch the bus at Minsterley Parade, Woodhouse Park to see this great team play in the largest stadium in England. The bus arrived at Princess Road Depot, off we got and took my first of many trips down Bowes Street towards the ground. On arriving, I couldn’t get over how large the outside was and on entering the Main Stand Block H my first view of the pitch took my breath away, by this time in the season the green turf had been worn away the surface was mainly brown but that didn’t matter I was here. This was the pitch my brother had played on with Dennis Violet and Eddie Lewis when they all played for Manchester Boys. They of course went on to become Busby Babes whilst Ian joined City but didn’t reach the heights of his friends, he earned more money working in a bank than playing for City, changed times. I can’t remember much of the match, but the team was the one that was to play in the Cup Final against the same team, except that Spurdle played in place of Johnstone. I can remember looking around the crowd of 44,777 and thinking this was amazing, looking across at the Kippax which was about to get its roof and thinking how vast the terrace was. My hero was Big Bert and I still rate him as the best goalkeeper I have ever seen, some of those saves he made were unbelievable. Dave Ewing was a rock in defence and Ken Barnes using his guile to prompt each City attack. I was hooked but was most upset to be left at home come May when off to Wembley they went. I was left at home in my sky blue kit watching on the small black and white tv. I have since seen all the highs and lows which followed and the dynasty continues, with my son, daughter, nephews, son in law, grand daughters all blues. I just wish my parents had still been here to witness our current stadium and new found riches.

My Dad used to take me for my birthday treat every September from being about 6. He used to sit me on the white wall at the front of the Kippax for the best view.
I am the eldest of 4 and we are all mad for the blues, we lost our fantastic Dad this year at the tender age of 57 and I miss discussing every aspect of our wonderful club with him.
Thanks Dad xxxx

It was my first night game at Maine Road, a cold January night against Middlesborough in the League Cup Semi-Final 2nd Leg. I remember seeing the lights from miles away and the steps into the Kippax and being placed on a wall at the side of one the tunnels into the stand by my Dad. My lasting memory was watching a young Peter Barnes take on the whole Middlesborough team literally single handed and scoring one of the 4 goals on the night. Obviously we went on to the Final against Newcastle that season and won 2-1, but my Dad could not get tickets for that game. The team was full of entertainers at that time, but Peter Barnes was like a new breed of winger that at the age of 10 I had never seen.

My first City match was in April 1955 not long before the FA Cup final between City and Newcastle United which sadly resulted in a 3-1 victory for the Magpies. This first City game was against Blackpool at Maine Road when I was taken there by my father when I was 8 years old (I’m 62 now). We stood in the Kippax stand I recall. I think he took me to this match mainly because the legendary Stanley Matthews was playing for the Tangerines that day. He always used to say that the day that he and my mum got married was the day City won the FA Cup back in 1934. I only have vague memories of the game but I will never forget the final score and sometimes I mention this in conversations with people. The half time score was City 1 Blackpool 0 – a goal from a free kick by a player called “Fagan” I think. But, the FINAL SCORE was a complete turnaround – City 1 Blackpool 6 (Yes SIX).
About 10-15 years ago I wrote to the club at Maine Road about this game asking if they could look into their records and give me the full details for this particular result and they very kindly sent me a full summary with both teams, scorers, attendance figures etc. The next time I went a match was not until about 1967 when that great team under Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison was on the rise to glory. This was primarily because we were rugby league supporters of our local team Swinton, who were one of the best sides in the game during the ’60s.

Keith J. Smith

49 Danesway
Pendlebury
MANCHESTER
Lancashire
M27 4JS

My first city game was at home to Arsenal. It was the best day of my life. Firstly we were filmed by the bbc, as it was our first city game, and they wanted to see our reaction to the stadium. Then with out us knowing the City press officer took us down to the tunnel where we met Robinho, Micah Richards and Elano. The experience was amazing because what ever way you looked you would see famous footballers, to my left there was Robinho and to my right there was Nasri only a few meters away from me. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was a dream come true. Then the brillant day was capped off when City won 3-0 and when Robinho scored he was dancing right in front of us.- it was simply unbeivable I couldn’t believe my luck.
I would like to say Thank you to everyone on behalf of man city for making this day happen. Robbie Guy aged 14

**Featured on Match of the Day 2: Sunday 23rd November 2008**

My first attendance at a City match was a game against Wolverhampton Wanderers just before Christmas 1955.
With two of my friends we caught an ‘85′ from Chorlton to Lloyd Street South and followed the crowd to Maine Road.

Once through the turnstiles at the scoreboard end we made our way down to the front and stood just to the right of the goal.
The real life colours of the ground were in stark contrast to the black and white images of the time.The pitch was vivid green with carefully sanded goalmouths, the goals themselves were amazingly white and bedecked with perfect nets and all was contained and marked with lines of perfect white.

A mild commotion opposite the players tunnel erupted into spontaneous applause as the teams ran out onto the pitch,even those amongst us with their strange accents and black and gold scarves cheered as eagerly as every one else.

Soon the game was on, the players in their brilliant attire striving with might and main to take advantage of their opponents, all of them using their sublime skills to try and force an opening while all around the crowd roared them on with surging enthusiasm.
Suddenly Jackie Dyson was through and lashed the ball into the net to a tremendous roar of acclamation.Moments later Joe Hayes darted in and cracked in goal number two.

Boy was this good! What a game! What a place!
What a day!

Eventually the final whistle sent us all flooding from the stadium and the three of us made our way back to Chorlton.
As we went along we talked about the power and speed of it all,about City’s dashing cavalier performance and about the two fantastic goals by our heroes Dyson and Hayes.
No one ever mentioned the iron men of Wolverhampton or the performance of the referee or even the two lucky goals that trickled in at the other end for we had already become do or die supporters of the greatest football club on earth.

My father was on leave and took me to Maine Rd.
We played Barnsley (I think).I dont know the score, but I remember their kit was a vivid red with hooped socks they looked like world beaters to us youngsters when they ran out.
After that I found my own way, and it was City one week united next. Before each game we played on the car park City v Utd with a Tennissy(tennis ball)
My favourite was Billy Walsh a classy wing half.
I can never forget Frank Swift. Being born 1933 the same day he made his Maine Rd. debut I was reminded of the fact each boxing day until 1980. Two games I shall never forget were Birmingham away in the cup 1947. I went with my dad by coach from the local pub. On the way we were snowed under and had to be dug out by German p.o.ws. It took 7 hours and we just made the kick off. Amazingly the pitch was cleared and the game went ahead.
We lost 5-0.
Another debacle was Bradford in the war time cup. We won there 3-1 and lost at home 8-2. I saw both games.
Anyway after 65years watching City I am still of sound mind (I THINK)
Up the Blues.