MAN CITY – Best Fans in the Premier League?
13 Oct
Punctuation and grammatical correctness are highly important attributes for any budding writer to possess, so it’s with great care and a sense of reinforced purpose that I included the question mark at the end of the title of this article. A statement declaring that Man City have the best fans in the Premier League may in fact be true, but surely it would be better to consider the alternative options first. To that end, I quote the esteemed Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges at the culmination of his opening paragraph of ‘El Arte Narrativo y La Magia’ and ‘beg indulgence for the documentation that follows.’
Deciding which club has the superior fans is a fickle choice and is a topic bound to court opinions and controversy in equal measure. Family, friends and colleagues have argued and debated this question at great length but never has any solitary answer been agreed upon. Clearly, each set of supporters believes they are the best, leaving no room for other fans to state their cases.
First, let’s consider the merits of Man City. As a passionate fan of the Blues, I don’t need to look far to witness the emotion of the supporters. It’s there in abundance at every match for all to see. 33,000 attending Maine Road when the Blues were in what is now known as League One. The atmosphere at the unforgettable Hamburg game, something that will live long in the memory for those who were privileged enough to be there. The mass outbreak of emotion when Paul Dickov scored that goal at Wembley. The hearts in the mouths at Ewood Park when Blackburn hit the post four times.
Those moments are there, inscribed into history for eternity. But for me, being a City fan is more than just turning up on a Saturday for the match. It’s about the humour, the self-deprecation, the ability to not take oneself too seriously. We can sing at the top of our voices and we can cheers the players from the rafters, but when the game is finished, I believe no fans of other football clubs can go home after a devastating defeat and shrug it off as ‘typical City.’
Let’s move on to considering the merits of fellow Premier League sides. Stoke City for one have always impressed me with their vocal support, being crowned the loudest fans last season. They are relatively new to the league and are willing to show everyone just how much they care. Newcastle, once regarded as an influential figure in English football, have diehard supporters who go through thick and thin for their club, but without wishing to antagonise them further after the Nigel de Jong incident, I’m not quite sure whether constant moaning and whining deserves to be rewarded with the title of best fans.
The North West is an area with a plethora of clubs in the Premier League but the likes of Bolton and Wigan are competing at the other end of the spectrum for supporter loyalty, whilst Liverpool fans aren’t exactly getting behind the team in their current plight.
Returning my sights to City, despite all that I mentioned earlier, opposition would be quick to seize upon the fact that only 35,000, a whole 12,000 fewer than capacity, turned up for the City v Juventus fixture. I don’t really intend to ramble on too much further, but will leave you with this one question. Who are the best fans in the Premier League?
In my opinion we do not have the best fans in the league.
At home games we have a very muted atmosphere apart from in the singing section/south stand next to the away fans. There are many other, much more vocal sets of home fans out there, from experience I would say Tottenham, West Brom and Everton all produce a lot of noise from all over the ground throughout the game.
Away from home our level of support has dropped off in recent years and as a result the atmosphere at away grounds is noticeably quieter during the game, especially if we are not performing well, than it has been in previous years.
I have not been to Stoke, but from living in Newcastle for four years I think I have not come across a worse set of fans! They only turn up when their team is doing well (much like the fans of Sunderland and Middlesbrough) and the atmosphere at St James is very disappointing.
I think as city fans we are certainly ‘better’ than most, especially that lot from across the city, but there are certainly several better, but to answer your question I would suggest Tottenham as a better set of fans.
*awaits abuse*
“from living in Newcastle for four years I think I have not come across a worse set of fans! They only turn up when their team is doing well”
We played last season in the championship and still pulled in more fans than most premier league sides. Good analysis mate. Glad you didn’t waste your time in Newcastle.
I mostly agree with Elliot, though I’d take Everton off his list and add Stoke and Sunderland. In my opinion the atmosphere at our home games is awful, bar the odd big match. One “Hamburg night” every couple of seasons doesn’t make us the best fans around unfortunately. I think the atmosphere would be improved by turning one end of the ground into a one-tiered Kop. Might cost a bit, but it’s not like the boss doesn’t have the money. Even more worrying is our away support which in the late 80s and 90s was the envy of pretty much any other club, in terms of constant noise. Maybe this comes down to raised expectations, I don’t know but would be interested in what other people think.
I did appreciate the opening comment Sven, thankyou!
Cambridge is unbelievably busy but great fun… So far at least! I’ve got cricket trials at fenners this sunday which will be really interesting (and probably really scary!), and I’ve got back into playing football, which is cool… Did you get into the commentating thing you were telling me about in the end?
As regards the blog, I’m not sure if we are the best fans in the league really. The best set of fans I’ve ever seen at a city home match was newcastle 2 or 3 years ago – it was mid-winter and they were jumping around with their tops off even though it was a boring 0 – 0! What about one of the other london teams like west ham? Their fans are traditionally… shall we say known for their rowdiness?
In terms of shear dogeared-ness and durability I would say we’re up there but the atmosphere at home games is diabolical. I sit in the East stand level 3 overlooking the away fans and I’ve lost count of the amount of times people have looked at me like an alien for singing, i’ve been told to sit down after celebrating a goal and I’ve also heard a hell of a lot of negativity about our own players which doesn’t help things. My view is that years and years of mediocrity have turned us into the most cynical and lazy group of fans in the league. You can feel it throughout the game and that will have an effect on the players on the pitch.
I can’t remember who told me, but someone once had a theory of “New Stadium Syndrome”, whereby all the fans who used to sit/stand together, (on the Kippax for instance), are dispersed when the club moves to a new stadium.
It may take years for the type of fans who love to sing and shout (and get in a bit of a barney with the opposition fans on occasion), to regroup, which is why the atmosphere in new stadiums isn’t a patch on what it was in the old stadiums.
Seems to have a ring of truth about it to me.
I’ll comment in full at a later date as im in a hurry now, but what about another club….Pompey?x