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In this teaching ideas post we listen to Manchester City fan Dave explain why he supports the Blues and not the Reds from his hometown of Manchester. Vocabulary in bold is explained at the end of the post

• Download the worksheet here
• Listen to the interview here

Why Manchester City? That’s a very good question. I know that in Japan and in many other countries most people know or have heard about Manchester United of course – a very famous team. However, you may be interested to know that there is another team in Manchester and the team is called Manchester City.

The main difference between United and City – apart from the fact that United are far more famous and successful – is that City wear sky blue, sky blue shirts and white shorts. I mention that because when I was a kid, when I was about maybe 10 or 11 years old that’s the main reason why I chose to support Man City, as opposed to Man Utd. Or at least one of them. And the other main reason was not so much the team but the supporters of the club. For a lot of football fans in England it’s not only the actual team and the players who are on the pitch that you support but you also become involved in the atmosphere of a club and it used to be when the stands were all standing – that means no sitting, you could go there and have a really, really good time, not so much watching the game but having a laugh, listening to some of the other fans and the comments that they made.

The main difference between United and City was that at United all the fans just completely adored the team at the time, which as I remember was Bobby Charlton, George Best, Denis Law. On the other hand, City, which had a very good team at that time, whenever they lost the crowd used to really criticise them and attack them and so on. For me as a young boy of 10 or 11, I just found that rather more interesting to be critical of the team rather than just showing adulation all the time.

And I think even now there is … that is a big difference maybe between the fans of City and United and that’s why that it’s very difficult for a City fan to switch over to supporting United. That may be similar in … with other cities which have two teams, like Liverpool and Everton maybe, or even in …with the London teams, Arsenal – Spurs, Chelsea – Fulham, and so on. But really that is the main reason why, even though I do agree that United have a great team at the moment and play great football, I still hate them. It’s mostly because of the fans.

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Here are explanations of some of the words and phrases from the reading. Download the worksheet here

atmosphere: The feeling surrounding the club

the stands: Where fans go to sit or stand and watch the game

having a laugh: To have some fun, to be relaxed

adored: To really love someone or something

to switch over to: To change the team you support