How to recognise long standing and loyal supporters

[Mase]

The ones who didn't walk away when we had relegation after relegation. The ones who put up with all the shit that was thrown at them by rags for years and years.
The kids who were growing up when we were in Division 2 losing to Stockport fuckin County and could quite easily have chosen to support the rags like the rest of their mates at school did but chose not to be a sheep and chose to fall in love with the blue shirt instead.
The ones who carried on supporting City even though there was 99% chance we'd never see our own team win anything.
The ones who were overwhelmed when we finally won the FA Cup against Stoke and could barely see the trophy lift due to the tears in their eyes.

[Ted Hughes]

What about the ones who had already done all that, several times, during 50 years previous, & still stuck it out & went through it all again ?

[Mase]

What about the ones who had already done all that, several times, during 50 years previous, & still stuck it out & went through it all again ?

Then they've already done what I said, and come out the other side.

[Ted Hughes]

They have just put themselves through it all again because they love City.

Imagine if City won fuck all from now for the next 40 years. And the rags won everything, & City went down two divisions at the same time. I wonder how many supporters who are 40 years old now, would still be as keen in 40 years. The ones who were, would deserve a bit of special recognition imo.

[Mase]

They have just put themselves through it all again because they love City.

Imagine if City won fuck all from now for the next 40 years. And the rags won everything, & City went down two divisions at the same time. I wonder how many supporters who are 40 years old now, would still be as keen in 40 years. The ones who were, would deserve a bit of special recognition imo.

Definitely. 100%
But at the same time you couldn't not give someone the same treatment just because of their age.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Is it possible to be a loyal long standing fan without being a sc holder?

Of course. It's all down to your emotional attachment to the club.

Good I still have a chance then :)

[Peter Doherty (AGAIG)]

Is it possible to be a loyal long standing fan without being a sc holder?

Of course. It's all down to your emotional attachment to the club.

Good I still have a chance then :)

Anyone who's regularly used a pair of step-ladders to follow his club deserves special recognition. They should name one of the spiral walkways at the stadium after you.

[DoomMerchant]

Is it possible to be a loyal long standing fan without being a sc holder?

Of course. It's all down to your emotional attachment to the club.

Good I still have a chance then :)

Anyone who's regularly used a pair of step-ladders to follow his club deserves special recognition. They should name one of the spiral walkways at the stadium after you.

A pair? Explain.

Cheers

[Peter Doherty (AGAIG)]

Is it possible to be a loyal long standing fan without being a sc holder?

Of course. It's all down to your emotional attachment to the club.

Good I still have a chance then :)

Anyone who's regularly used a pair of step-ladders to follow his club deserves special recognition. They should name one of the spiral walkways at the stadium after you.

A pair? Explain.

Cheers

[mcfc1632]

What about the ones who had already done all that, several times, during 50 years previous, & still stuck it out & went through it all again ?

Agreed - isn't all that just part of being a CITY fan?

If you have been a long-standing CITY fan then you will have been through all that and not been fazed - and there are a very many who have done the journey.

I feel a little sorry (perversely) for those who were not around in the 60's and onwards - they will never know the highs and lows that the long standing fans have faced. Strangely they will never experienced - and probably not understand how the highs (and I mean days like Gillingham and Blackburn rather than QPR) were so extra special because of a mind set and camaraderie that was forged out of decades of 'being a CITY fan'.

I remember so often seeing the same faces at away grounds - on the trains and in the pubs before and after matches - we 'knew' we were going to lose - but we were still able to enjoy ourselves - sounds like a bit of an illness really.

Addressing the topic though - surely it can only be judged on a few obvious factors, years a SC holder, numbers of games attended etc. No ideal method so just have to use what they have facts on?

[Mase]

I feel a little sorry (perversely) for those who were not around in the 60's and onwards - they will never know the highs and lows that the long standing fans have faced. Strangely they will never experienced - and probably not understand how the highs (and I mean days like Gillingham and Blackburn rather than QPR) were so extra special because of a mind set and camaraderie that was forged out of decades of 'being a CITY fan'.

I disagree. I'm 30 this year and when we were at Gillingham and Blackburn I was just a kid and I can tell you that those days probably meant more to me than QPR. I knew how special those days were even as a kid. At Gillingham when we scored the equaliser a random guy grabbed me and threw me up in the air about 30 times. I saw grown men crying when we were 2-0 down. I knew how important those matches were and how much it meant after we won.

[Nickyboy]

My 32 year old brother has lived in Jersey all his life and has never been as fortunate as me to live here and therefore have a season ticket.

But I do not know a more loyal City fan than him - the easy barometer is years as a season ticket holder or games attended, but there is far more to being a supporter that just that, as others have already stated.

I tend to agree with the earlier posts that we've all been rewarded already with Yaya's goal at Wembley and the Agueroooooooo moment - made the previous 30 odd years of shite pale into insignificance and worth it - the only time in my life I've actually shed tears of joy.

[Scatman]

Is it possible to be a loyal long standing fan without being a sc holder?

Of course. It's all down to your emotional attachment to the club.

Good I still have a chance then :)

Anyone who's regularly used a pair of step-ladders to follow his club deserves special recognition. They should name one of the spiral walkways at the stadium after you.

A pair? Explain.

Cheers

Stepladders come in pairs.

[john@staustell]

Sounds a bit like the 'reward' scheme at work to me. Some lazy bastards get £500 for doing what my people do every day. Reward some and you'll be leaving out hundreds of others.

Me, I started supporting City in the mid 60s age about 5 or 6. My parents - not football fans but rugby league - moved me to Cornwall when I was 8, in 1968 (August). I could get up now and again as a lad on the train for my uncle or someone to take me, but it wasn't really until the early and mid 90s that a combination of personal circumstances and motorway availability meant I could go back regularly and - most unfortunately - me and my eldest had season tickets right through Horton, Ball, Clarke and the manager fiasco, until money didn't allow. Evenings and all.

Now we get up when we can.

I dont want any medals, my current points total is crap, but that's what football is all about. The eternal hope on the trip up, the dismal feeling on the way back (90s) and the eternal hope coming up the next week. Nowadays the elated feeling all the way back - usually.

That's football. And any glory-hunters who want to join me are welcome.

[Wonderwall]

So, there was a group of about 30ish there last night.

Points to note are:
The club has no data on supporters or season ticket holders pre 1998, thats the furthest they can go back. Its not great but it is what it is.
There were discussions about fans proving they were there in the earlier years, photos, programmes etc etc, but this was soon discredited as access to ebay and you could buy anything and pretend it was yours so this was pointless.
All of the points listed in this thread were either discussed by others or brought up by me, no stone left unturned, the club made notes on everything we had to say and they are taking the feedback and discussing it.

Danny Wilson, Andrew from City Voice and Lisa Eaton head of mcfc service and fulfilment were the City reps there.
Overall the fans that were there were very honest and I think the club got something out of it.

One thing to note was that the club was initially thinking of some kind of lapel badge as the reward, this was shot down in flames as being quite a poor effort and in some people eyes, a bit disrespectful. There were a lot of differing views on many points where some thought it was a good idea and others thought it was a non starter.

I have no idea whether it will take off or not, lets wait and see what happens next, they didnt say if there was going to be a follow up session or not

[mcfc1632]

I feel a little sorry (perversely) for those who were not around in the 60's and onwards - they will never know the highs and lows that the long standing fans have faced. Strangely they will never experienced - and probably not understand how the highs (and I mean days like Gillingham and Blackburn rather than QPR) were so extra special because of a mind set and camaraderie that was forged out of decades of 'being a CITY fan'.

I disagree. I'm 30 this year and when we were at Gillingham and Blackburn I was just a kid and I can tell you that those days probably meant more to me than QPR. I knew how special those days were even as a kid. At Gillingham when we scored the equaliser a random guy grabbed me and threw me up in the air about 30 times. I saw grown men crying when we were 2-0 down. I knew how important those matches were and how much it meant after we won.

Accepted,

I guess that you did not have to be around as long as people like me to have had that 'in-bred attitude'- but essentially you are saying the same as me - you were a CITY fan long enough before 99 to take from that day just what it meant - younger fans will never experience that.

[Hazy2]

Good looking bastards, taking the piss out of rags as a normal rule of thumb at every chance. Smirking when passing through some small town in the Midlands and see a scum shirt, I tend to beep and give the Finger. lots of ways to be fair.

[Mase]

I feel a little sorry (perversely) for those who were not around in the 60's and onwards - they will never know the highs and lows that the long standing fans have faced. Strangely they will never experienced - and probably not understand how the highs (and I mean days like Gillingham and Blackburn rather than QPR) were so extra special because of a mind set and camaraderie that was forged out of decades of 'being a CITY fan'.

I disagree. I'm 30 this year and when we were at Gillingham and Blackburn I was just a kid and I can tell you that those days probably meant more to me than QPR. I knew how special those days were even as a kid. At Gillingham when we scored the equaliser a random guy grabbed me and threw me up in the air about 30 times. I saw grown men crying when we were 2-0 down. I knew how important those matches were and how much it meant after we won.

Accepted,

I guess that you did not have to be around as long as people like me to have had that 'in-bred attitude'- but essentially you are saying the same as me - you were a CITY fan long enough before 99 to take from that day just what it meant - younger fans will never experience that.

I actually feel a bit sorry for the younger fans now that probably won't have to go through the lows (or a low for them will be us finishing 2nd one season) because it actually made me love City even more.

[Ted Hughes]

So, there was a group of about 30ish there last night.

Points to note are:
The club has no data on supporters or season ticket holders pre 1998, thats the furthest they can go back. Its not great but it is what it is.
There were discussions about fans proving they were there in the earlier years, photos, programmes etc etc, but this was soon discredited as access to ebay and you could buy anything and pretend it was yours so this was pointless.
All of the points listed in this thread were either discussed by others or brought up by me, no stone left unturned, the club made notes on everything we had to say and they are taking the feedback and discussing it.

Danny Wilson, Andrew from City Voice and Lisa Eaton head of mcfc service and fulfilment were the City reps there.
Overall the fans that were there were very honest and I think the club got something out of it.

One thing to note was that the club was initially thinking of some kind of lapel badge as the reward, this was shot down in flames as being quite a poor effort and in some people eyes, a bit disrespectful. There were a lot of differing views on many points where some thought it was a good idea and others thought it was a non starter.

I have no idea whether it will take off or not, lets wait and see what happens next, they didnt say if there was going to be a follow up session or not

If they've written off the idea of data being relevant, then it's probably some bullshit cheese exercise they are looking for rather than a genuine effort to reward long term fans.

How many fans out of 48k are going to trawl though stuff they get off ebay & fake stories, in order to prove they were long term fans, to get a fucking lapel badge!!?

Sounds like the usual suspects are behind this. I'll write it off as face painting for grown ups.

Cheers for taking the time out to investigate anyway.

[twosips]

I feel a little sorry (perversely) for those who were not around in the 60's and onwards - they will never know the highs and lows that the long standing fans have faced. Strangely they will never experienced - and probably not understand how the highs (and I mean days like Gillingham and Blackburn rather than QPR) were so extra special because of a mind set and camaraderie that was forged out of decades of 'being a CITY fan'.

I disagree. I'm 30 this year and when we were at Gillingham and Blackburn I was just a kid and I can tell you that those days probably meant more to me than QPR. I knew how special those days were even as a kid. At Gillingham when we scored the equaliser a random guy grabbed me and threw me up in the air about 30 times. I saw grown men crying when we were 2-0 down. I knew how important those matches were and how much it meant after we won.

Accepted,

I guess that you did not have to be around as long as people like me to have had that 'in-bred attitude'- but essentially you are saying the same as me - you were a CITY fan long enough before 99 to take from that day just what it meant - younger fans will never experience that.

I actually feel a bit sorry for the younger fans now that probably won't have to go through the lows (or a low for them will be us finishing 2nd one season) because it actually made me love City even more.

+1

Enjoyed games back then more too if im being honest. It's rarely been the same since we moved to the Eithad for whatever reason.