Manchester City as a 'world power'

Football is getting big in the U.S now so I'm guessing that's the only place their fan base will grow.

In Ireland I've only seen one young guy wearing a jersey then I have 3 mates who are City games, 2 who always supported them and came out of the woodwork and one guy that used be a huge Chelsea fan :rolleyes:

..so ya, still a tiny club.
 
Trizy said:
Football is getting big in the U.S now so I'm guessing that's the only place their fan base will grow.

In Ireland I've only seen one young guy wearing a jersey then I have 3 mates who are City games, 2 who always supported them and came out of the woodwork and one guy that used be a huge Chelsea fan :rolleyes:

..so ya, still a tiny club.
Click to expand...

I remember a guy when we were in secondary school showing up in a Blackburn Rovers kit at PE right after they won the league.
 
The get some sympathy over here in Belgium, mainly because of Kompany. But I've never met a genuine supporter, either online or in person. Whereas I've met loads of supporters for the traditional top European sides. Chelsea as well, and that was before all the Belgians in their squad, so they've pretty much established themselves. I've even met Spurs supporters. While everyone considers City genuine contenders for the biggest trophies, they just haven't done enough to aqcuire a following here. Yet. I'm sure it'll come eventually, just like Chelsea.

But when talking about the truly elite clubs, the ones that have had multiple periods of significant success, or at least one long sustained period, it's still the usual suspects. United, Real, Barça, Milan, Bayern, etc. Yes, Liverpool too. Chelsea are still far away from that, let alone City. That sort of status takes decades to reach.
 
Ainu said:
I've even met Spurs supporters. .
Click to expand...

They're quite popular over here, well as a 5th choice club anyway.

1. United
2. Liverpool
3. Arsenal
4. Chelsea
5. Spurs
6. Newcastle
7. Everton
8. Leeds
9. West Ham
10. Aston Villa
11. QPR
12. City/Fulham
 
I'm in Manchester and rarely see City shirts. Truth.
 
Ainu said:
The get some sympathy over here in Belgium, mainly because of Kompany. But I've never met a genuine supporter, either online or in person. Whereas I've met loads of supporters for the traditional top European sides. Chelsea as well, and that was before all the Belgians in their squad, so they've pretty much established themselves. I've even met Spurs supporters. While everyone considers City genuine contenders for the biggest trophies, they just haven't done enough to aqcuire a following here. Yet. I'm sure it'll come eventually, just like Chelsea.

But when talking about the truly elite clubs, the ones that have had multiple periods of significant success, or at least one long sustained period, it's still the usual suspects. United, Real, Barça, Milan, Bayern, etc. Yes, Liverpool too. Chelsea are still far away from that, let alone City. That sort of status takes decades to reach.
Click to expand...
Spot on, mate. I play football myself and I've never seen a City jersey on the training ground, not in my team nor in the youth ranks, while there are always loads of other Premier League jerseys to be spotted. Spurs have a respectable fan base over here though, far more than you'd imagine given their (lack of) recent success...

I guess our stores and pubs have a say in this as well though. You barely see City jerseys in sport stores, United's are everywhere (or maybe that's just me). Liverpool has a disadvantage with Warrior as our shirt sponsor, the biggest stores only seem to sell Puma and Nike nowadays. And the pubs in my hometown barely broadcast City games, which is a bit weird considering they've got Kompany. Anyway, I guess it's something like this: United, Liverpool and Arsenal with Chelsea gaining ground on all of them (probably thanks to their Belgians). Spurs have more fans than City as well. Actually, it's more like nobody is really bothered by City. They certainly don't have that top club status (yet). For me personally, you need a proper history to reach that level.
 
Loublaze said:
Spurs have more fans in the US than City
Click to expand...
I've seen a few Spurs shirts around here, they were certainly more popular than City couple years back when they came to our university's training ground in preparation for a friendly.
 
Adzzz said:
I'm in Manchester and rarely see City shirts. Truth.
Click to expand...

I never see people wearing footy shirts for every day wear, that trend went out with the 90's.

Only time i do, it's generally alcoholics with a 4 year out of date jersey, sat about on a wall, fag in hand and a can of Skol.
 
They don't have enough fans in Manchester to fill their stadium most weekends, but like I said, player's are more concerned with money and winning trophies, City offers both.
 
Never seen a shirt in Japan and most people I talk to have not heard of them. The few that have make me laugh when they say their name. Because there is no 'si' sound in Japanese they say 'shi', so it becomes Manchester Shitty.
 
I dont know any real City fans in Trinidad, Canada or the US.
Im sure they exist but I barely see anyone wearing their replicas or anything like that.
 
They don't have many fans where I am either but I think it's to do with the CL. Chelsea established themselves because they did very well in the CL in the mid '00s with all those semi-finals and clashes against Barcelona. When Man City become CL regular, I think we will be seeing a lot of City shirts around.
 
Trizy said:
They're quite popular over here, well as a 5th choice club anyway.

1. United
2. Liverpool
3. Arsenal
4. Chelsea
5. Spurs
6. Newcastle
7. Everton
8. Leeds
9. West Ham
10. Aston Villa
11. QPR
12. City/Fulham
Click to expand...
That list is fascinating and all but 'here' is a country I don't recognise. Mind putting in the country?
 
The Red Tinker said:
That list is fascinating and all but 'here' is a country I don't recognise. Mind putting in the country?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I had mentioned being from Ireland only a few posts up, thought it'd cover me for this page at least. :angel:
 
NoWinNoFee said:
I never see people wearing footy shirts for every day wear, that trend went out with the 90's.

Only time i do, it's generally alcoholics with a 4 year out of date jersey, sat about on a wall, fag in hand and a can of Skol.
Click to expand...


its big in south and central america. Phenomenal actually.. i swear they wear their jerseys to church.
 
City have the potential to be one of the biggest clubs in Europe, they're a very easy team to support so I don't think attracting fans will be a problem.Soon to have a 61,000 capacity stadium which they'll probably fill more often than not, they are always in the market for top players, they have the United rivaly factor, constantly challenging for trophies and playing in the champions league.
 
Nanook said:
City have the potential to be one of the biggest clubs in Europe, they're a very easy team to support so I don't think attracting fans will be a problem.Soon to have a 61,000 capacity stadium which they'll probably fill more often than not, they are always in the market for top players, they have the United rivaly factor, constantly challenging for trophies and playing in the champions league.
Click to expand...
They actually had a buy one get one free campaign for match tickets not too long ago, it's worth remembering. Champions League games too.
 
In Australia, I know a quite a few football fans but literally zero city fan.
 
Ive been in Hong Kong 3 years and i saw my first City shirt (outside a shop) the other day. They barely exist.
 
Pretty irrelevant here I'd say, Liverpool are still strong despite being a bag of shite for many years now, plenty of Chelsea fans as well, can't say the same for City.
 
They've got a long, long way to go to be thought of anything like United or Liverpool (Liverpool's post PL decline but continued relevance act as a living example of this) or even Arsenal, but they'll still undoubtedly grow bigger, and quicker than many here will be comfortable with.

A lot of people laughed at the suggestion Chelsea would ever be a huge club, but it'd be churlish to suggest they're not already in the top bracket (at least of English sides) after a mere 10 years of Abramovichisation.
 
Last edited:
Loublaze said:
In Atlanta I see mostly United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea when it comes to EPL. I did see a few city fans at an Irish pub the day they beat us 1-0. Its the same in New York and L.A. Their presence here is still minimal but I think things will change once they win a few more titles (hopefully not) and do better in the CL. The funny thing is most people i've talked to that are going to throw their support to City's MLS franchise team, New York City F.C, are not City fans and don't particularly plan on supporting them.
Click to expand...

Your from Atlanta? I love that place, visit every year.
 
A few City fans have started popping up down here in Melbourne.

Prior to them buying trophies it was all United, Liverpool and Arsenal... Followed by Chelsea, who also experienced a huge influx of fans after they started splashing all the cash.
 
Miscemayl said:
In Australia, I know a quite a few football fans but literally zero city fan.
Click to expand...

I see probably two or three United shirts every time I go into Central Sydney or to the beach. I'm yet to see a single City shirt in the two months I've been out here.
 
Never seen any in Sweden, the most supported teams I would say are United, Barca, Liverpool and Madrid followed by the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea.
 
Their fanbase will increase as soon as thy can manage to get to a CL final. Could be this year.
 
I'm currently in Denver, CO, on assignment and have noticed a sizable Arsenal following here. Went to Three Lions pub back in May to see the FAC Final and there was a large Arsenal contingent on hand. They seemed legit supporters - knew the songs and the players quite well.

NoWinNoFee said:
I never see people wearing footy shirts for every day wear, that trend went out with the 90's.

Only time i do, it's generally alcoholics with a 4 year out of date jersey, sat about on a wall, fag in hand and a can of Skol.
Click to expand...

Come to the southeastern US where it's fashionable to wear camo and John Deer attire, pick your SEC school of choice as well. And the odd 'A' cap (Atlanta Braves) or 'B' cap (Boston Red Sox). I have seen plenty of Americans wearing sports gear for every day wear. It's fairly normal over here; I've done it over my lifetime too although I tend to only wear a shirt/cap when a big game/match is on the tele.
 
Zero in Singapore and not many in my home country (Vietnam).United is the most supported club in both countries I believe.
 
When I started to follow football back in 1992, I switched teams AC Milan, Juventus, Madrid, Barcelona, Ajax, until I find my true love United.

Can't blame me, I have no real affinity with any of the mentioned clubs (being in Asia and all), it'll took times to figure out who's the bad guys and the good guys. Being at the top of your league and winning it sure helps to sway one or two newcommer to football who happens to watch the sport during that year, let's face it, why would an Indonesian would want to support Stoke? Aston Villa? Nottingham Forrest? and the rest of the lower league tables?

I can't say for every asian, but I do believe that most (if not every one) of us will be glory hunting at some point, glory in the forms of history, play style, actual players, trophy earned, etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.