What winning 9:0 Means for Me and Manchester City

Growing up as a Manchester City fan in the 1970’s and 1980’s was something of a desert in terms of winning trophies. There was losing a Cup Final and getting promoted on the last day of the season as notable achievements but we tended to find our enjoyment other ways.

In every game there were always moments to savour, crashing tackles, goals, passes and of course there were moments of unadulterated comedy too. Grimsby Town fans used to sing about what they did to our fish. I still hope it is not true, but safe to say I always wash my fish before eating it these days.

What I remember of those days which continued with me as a City fan into adulthood was the unerring ability of City to conjure defeat out of anything. If there was a way to undermine the squad or turn victory into defeat we would find it. Being 3:0 up and drawing 3:3 seemed to be happening every week.

It was around this time that we witnessed the birth of the phrase “typical City”, which seemed to characterise the Club and also made us something of a broad comedy for fans of other teams. We were not much of a threat and tended to mess things up so other fans took us to heart and we became the second team of many fans.

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That is not to say there wasn’t brilliance along the way – beating Huddersfield 10:1, that wonderful late 1980’s and early 1990’s side which almost threatened to be good enough to win something real.

But during the darker days of following City in the second tier of English football in the 1980’s we spent a good period of not being great. It was during this time amongst friends I started every pre match with the claim that this would be the game where we would turn the world on it’s head and win 9:0. It was a drunken call to arms.

The 9:0 City prediction became a standing joke. It was just nonsense. A false declaration of excellence. It was also something of a superstitious charm and almost like having to do the same lottery numbers every week, I had to make sure I shared my 9:0 match prediction before we kicked off. Of course, for me it was part of that pre match excitement too – those moments before kick off when anything almost seemed possible, even if it was crazy.

As City got worse and went into freefall, the 9:0 score prediction became less humorous to me and my friends. It started to sound bitter, as though we were yearning for something lost like faded glories. It seemed more and more unlikely. It was like rubbing salt into an open wound. It was a sullen proclamation in those days, spoken under the breath but nevertheless remained part of that pre match ritual.

As City started to mark their recovery back up through the leagues, the 9:0 prediction for every match continued. But these days it was in some faint hope as well. Although there was still plenty of typical City around too.

In the 10 years since the takeover of Manchester City by Sheikh Mansour the club has risen beyond all expectation and as a supporter the experience is almost uncomparable to what we experienced in the past. Maybe the cliche is right and the highs we currently experience feel so very good because of the lows we have had as supporters along the way.

Certainly the success of City on the pitch and the massive growth off the pitch has attracted many new fans – all of whom are welcome to share our Blues. I have continued my 9:0 match predictions because for me they are part of my ritual before the game and it reminds me both of the past and the possibility presented by the future. Of course these days with the proliferation of social media, many more people are aware of the prediction and indeed Manchester City have even retweeted it and engaged with it in the past.

But therein lies a problem for me. We are so good now the 9:0 prediction does not seem like a humorous joke to other supporters but more like an arrogant taunting. That almost seems even more the case after the incredible happened and City actually won 9:0 by beating Burton Albion in the Carabao Cup.

I am not arrogant. I remember where we have come from but am enjoying the ridiculous ride we are on. The difference is these days my team are just about the best in the World under Guardiola and I am not going to be ashamed of that.

As a life long Manchester City supporter who has jokingly predicted we will win every match 9:0 for nearly 40 years, actually winning 9:0 has been truly brilliant. I cannot thank my team enough for doing what I thought was impossible. I will continue to make my pre match prediction the same as I ever have. It is part of my ritual, like putting on my socks in the same order (left first) or wearing my lucky shirt to the game.

Next. Three Things We Learnt From Manchester City 9 Burton Albion 0. dark

I do not think I will ever get to see a 9:0 game again in my lifetime but I can hope. I also hope that you all get to experience the unbridled joy which comes from wishing for something every week for 40 years which finally comes true!