TRUE BLUE STORIES

Ron Smith

Mid sixties, England had won the World cCup and football was what we played or talked about. I was 12 and only old enough to go to home games on my own which meant that every other game was a Rags game. So why blue, was it because my mates who supported the Rags were all loud mouthed and thick and didn't have enough brain cells to make up their own minds, just went with the flow. I think the match that finally settled it was City-Liverpool, it was a Wed. evening game we got into the ground about 3 in the afternoon thru an open turnstile or gate, we got thrown out a couple of times before finally finding a hiding place under the Platt Lane stand in a dug out in a very dark corner. There we stayed until the gates opened a few hours later and we emerged all covered in Maine Road muck. The game finished 3-2 or 2-3 can't remember which or even which season. It may well have been the championship season.

From then on it was home and away until the bomb landed at our house. We're on our way to Oz. Life without the blues, a fate worse than death. I survived however, thanks to the BBC World Service and a pre-season tour. Was this the real meaning of 'true blue mate'. A couple of years back in M/C during the mid seventies and as many City games as possible, then back to Oz and finally to Sweden. On my travels I have spread the faith about the blues, the only team from M/C. For those of you that have not travelled this planet we live on, when you talk football and say you are from M/C then there is the usual comment about which team you support, this has only made me more blue, thru the years I have converted many a person to the blue faith, at least they check City's result first when reading the paper. Now I have 3 sons, all have seen City live but never win, even my wife got to see a City game when we were in London celebrating her 40th birthday.

Don't get down to Maine Rd. much these days for obvious reasons but how much fun I have on a Saturday night here in Stockholm depends a lot on the result. My shrink thinks it's time to break out of my depression, it has gone on far to long. FC are you listening. Let's hope things get better, a decent youth program and another season out of the Prem. will give us time to build a decent team that can stay up when we finally get there. Life as a City fan is really like a ride on the Big dipper, lots of up and downs and even the odd loop, it's never boring, lets say that if the day to day life at Maine Road was a TV soap nobody would beleive a word of it.

Many thanks to all at MCIVTA for keeping us well informed.

PS. Eddie 'Jock' Turnbull from Peel Hall where are you?