Manchester City fanatics have their day of days

The members of the Manchester City Chennai Supporters Club (MCCSC) were in full voice as the ‘Citizens’ celebrated its record-shattering 2018-19 campaign with a Trophy Tour in India. Six trophies – Men: Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Community Shield; Women: FA Cup and Continental Cup – were on display in Chennai, the first stopover of the tour. Local fanatics, in the home and away attires of City, poured their love to the blue side of Manchester by coming out in droves. One among them was Pranav, an avid supporter who flew from Hyderabad just to soak in the ambience of the place which brimmed with excitement. “City is everything to me. I want to have as much fun as possible,” said Pranav. 

 “I started following the team in 2009 and my first game was a Manchester derby. But it was only around 2013 that I joined the MCCSC group. Whenever I have time, I come to Chennai to be a part of the official screenings,” he added. Another follower, Gautham, based presently in Bengaluru, was glad to witness the once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.

 “It’s kind of a dream come true moment for all of us. For the first time, Chennai was selected as a stopover. We missed out last year (City had visited Pune, New Delhi and Mumbai in 2018),” remarked Gautham. “The last two seasons have been amazing for us. Clinching back-to-back PL trophies is a big achievement I think.”

 Venkat, who handles the social media pages of MCCSC, was amazed with City’s move. “The club decided to choose one south Indian city and luckily it’s Chennai. This is something huge,” Venkat had his day of days. The Tamil Nadu lad revealed that a number of passionate fans in India make it a point to go to the Etihad Stadium, the home of City.

 “Actually, a lot of people are travelling. Last season, one guy from our supporters club won a giveaway contest and went to Manchester for a PL matchday,” he stated.

Having racked up many accolades in the past couple of years, one common voice among the City faithful is “We want our club to win every tournament it competes in”.  Formidables Pep Guardiola-managed men’s team bagged all but the Champions League title during the 2018-19 season. 

The ‘Sky Blues’ pipped rival Liverpool by the finest of margins to come first in PL. City edged Chelsea in the Community Shield and League Cup final, with it battering Watford in the FA Cup summit contest. The women’s side took home the FA Women’s Cup and WSL Continental Cup.