TRUE BLUE STORIES

Andrew Jackson

My dad has supported City all his life, and while he maintains that he never actually forced me into supporting City, I didn't have any choice.

The first match I went to was against Oldham away in 1984, when I was only four-years old, but I had to wait another two years before he took me to Maine Road. From the first moment I saw the floodlights on the way to the ground I was hooked. For a couple of years my dad had been brainwashing me, making out that City were the greatest club in the world and now I was actually here at the home of football.

My clearest memories were of sitting on the bars in the Kippax with my brother, while my dad was just behind. I was fascinated with the Kippax. There were about 16,000 fans in the stand all singing and chanting, and wanting City to win. The wind used to sweep through the stand and all you could smell was cigarette smoke. Today when I smell this it reminds me of the Kippax straight away.

My first favourite player was Paul Simpson. I used to love players who could take people on, and this is exactly what he did. Just as I started to watch City more and more they were relegated in 1987. The next two seasons were great. We played attacking football, and scored loads of goals. I particularly liked the young players Redmond, White, Hinchcliffe, Brightwell, Lake and Moulden.

In 1990, my dad got moved with his job, and we moved from Manchester to Barnsley. Instead of missing out on going to matches, we actually started to go to more because my dad gave up playing football on Saturdays. I got my first season ticket in 1991, and I have now held it for seven years. In that time I always wanted to move back to Manchester, and this year I did when I came to Salford University. Peter Reid's team was the best I have seen, and Kinkladze the best player.

Hopefully the good times are just around the corner.