Speaking as a lifelong City fan, you’re not wrong. In a way I miss the days of pre-2008 City, back then there were no plastics so meeting another City fan out and about was always a nice surprise. The win that will always matter the most is the 2012 Premier League title, it wasn’t just City’s first title in 44 years but growing up during a time when Utd dominated English football, snatching the title from their hands in the final minute of the final game felt like the best form of payback possible.
Nowadays the extra titles and trophies don’t really mean much. It’s impossible to ignore the fact that none of the club’s current success would have been possible without cheating, even though many fans will continue to do so (my dad and brother included). Winning the Champions League should have been the crowning achievement of the last 15 years, but frankly to me it didn’t mean any more than completing the set. I’m actually hoping the City won’t win the title this year, because I don’t want City to win everything ever, I want other teams to win as well.
And yet, I can’t really turn off the part of my brain that still wants to support the team. I don’t like the fact that City have become a soulless corporation funded by a country that is literally too dangerous for myself to ever enter, and are dominating football in the same way that Utd did when I was younger and caused me to resent them. For so long I’ve been ignoring that, but at this point I would rather see City get brutally punished for cheating than get a slap on the wrist and continue to dominate for yet another season.
Speaking as a lifelong City fan, you’re not wrong. In a way I miss the days of pre-2008 City, back then there were no plastics so meeting another City fan out and about was always a nice surprise. The win that will always matter the most is the 2012 Premier League title, it wasn’t just City’s first title in 44 years but growing up during a time when Utd dominated English football, snatching the title from their hands in the final minute of the final game felt like the best form of payback possible.
Nowadays the extra titles and trophies don’t really mean much. It’s impossible to ignore the fact that none of the club’s current success would have been possible without cheating, even though many fans will continue to do so (my dad and brother included). Winning the Champions League should have been the crowning achievement of the last 15 years, but frankly to me it didn’t mean any more than completing the set. I’m actually hoping the City won’t win the title this year, because I don’t want City to win everything ever, I want other teams to win as well.
And yet, I can’t really turn off the part of my brain that still wants to support the team. I don’t like the fact that City have become a soulless corporation funded by a country that is literally too dangerous for myself to ever enter, and are dominating football in the same way that Utd did when I was younger and caused me to resent them. For so long I’ve been ignoring that, but at this point I would rather see City get brutally punished for cheating than get a slap on the wrist and continue to dominate for yet another season.