Empty seats, Emptihad, plastic fans, not real supporters, glory seekers, 115 charges, and a plethora of yawn-inducing taunts later. Where were you when you were shit? Even Wrexham A.F.C. fans will get this with their outside investment…
Many fans say oil club this, oil club that. But, it seems to me that these City owners are the progressive people who are putting their money into other things and getting away from oil dependency. Yes, it is still there, but electric cars in Abu Dhabi are less reliant on black gold from the ground. The provision into alternative uses of land through social housing, football, community aspects, and so called washing of wealth is a controversial one. Are Lloyds Bank, Barclays, or the British government less contentious in their investment habits?
Would East Manchester be improved without the Abu Dhabi commitments? Would new parks in Ancoats and the preservation of derelict hospital and mill fronts be a reality? Thay once stagnant area is a mesh of community, life, and people. Yes, it isn’t fully accessible to everyone but where in Great Britain can you find an affordable home or alternative to homelessness and food banks? That’s a condition at a far higher level than overseas interests. One that England and its neighbours have been flogging beyond the shores for near eternity. Why enable your own people onto a property ladder? Cash in quick.
I am all for human rights. Completely for safety and security of innocent people. What’s worse: a country that executes the absolute bad eggs of society? Or, one that turns off the ability for its elderly to heat themselves in harshest winter? That same latter country drops bombs indirectly through third party holders and battlers. They also provide that weaponry to states that deliberately target civilians. I’m not saying executions are right, not at all, but surely when people exchange cultures and mix and match, they see a clearer picture of where works and what can be realised. Opportunity to change. To improve. The City Football Academy is the utopia of football development. What about Manchester being the bridge of internationalist progressive thinking?
I have never understood why so many people sat at keyboards look at short little numbers and comment on a few hundred empty seats (that likely have sold out). Is there attention groundbreaking? If tens, hundreds, or thousands choose not to turn up, is it worth a song or dance? Are they saying that Manchester City has no right to ambition, growth, and to sit at the top table with Glory, Glory Man United, Liverpool, or Arsenal? Should City look up at their consistently consistent pack of red cartel and stop trying to be better? All that effort to comment on seats. Have they not got anything better to do?
In my mind there is no shame in empty seats every now and then. In fact, the more the merrier. It needs to be seen. Empty seats means that the gaffers at the top made mistakes in pricing and accessibility for a fan base. They became detached and they instilled conditions that do not allow a working class game to connect with an increasingly instable pool of absolute diehards. “The game’s gone “, is one thing I’ve heard time and time again throughout this last decade. And that’s when we’ve won!
Empty seats shows the club, Manchester City, or whoever has lost touch with who we are. And, yes, supporters on their loyalty schemes, from all over planet Earth, may film those gaps. Will they be there when the proverbial turd hits the big skinny blades of a less-shiny fan? I’ll look after my sphere of influence, my mates, my family, my friends, the community of our Official Supporters Club, and whoever matters. That community has built up around us, our City, with us, for us, for City and our seats will be full when they’re full, or empty when unfortunately people get ill, stuff happens beyond their control, and so on. Life happens. You can’t bow down and let football dictate where you should be every day or week. Televised games, competition kick off times, and other factors have put that regularity to bed. It isn’t for the match goer. Losing touch with supporters and televised fixtures can be fixed. It can change. Let’s hope so.
Things happen beyond your control and if others want to sing and chant about how empty the Etihad is, or how akin to a library it can be, knock yourselves out. Good for them. Enjoy it. Right now, with two games to go, after a quiet standing area experience at Wembley, I’m reflecting and positive that good times will return. Football comes in cycles and runs, and staying at a top level, for so long, has been freakish.
The first team to win 4 Premier League titles four times in a row. A record. And like all numbers and statistics, things pass, and clubs have to rest and reset. As a City fan since birth, I feel no shame in losing to a much more hungry Crystal Palace squad. Luck has to be on your side at times but desire and graft get you over the line. I hope Palace fans, players, and the neutrals enjoy the trophy win. Those who rest on their laurels seek no opportunities. So, what now?
Looking down on fans for not attending games is snobbish. Not everyone in Manchester has access to disposable income. And, even when buying tickets it has consequence. How many meal tables are sacrificed for a Champions League night out with the family? Shame on all the pundits and papers for continuing to single out City fans for having the odd lower than capacity appearance. How often do they ignore the reduced allocation of an away club and draw attention to a segment of up in the rafter seats left unoccupied? The constant reference to City’s council house ground, in reference to City’s occupation of the former Commonwealth Games 2002 stadium was pitiful, and should be treated in the same vein as anyone referring to Liverpool fans as bin dippers or Scousers as favouring giros for supporting their living. Football banter and jibes are cruel at times. Until the changes of attitudes, empty seats on tour.
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