Heart of the City — yep, it's us alright!

Just got confirmation on the email:

Congratulations you have won the Heart of the City competition for Cheers Bar, Sydney!
We loved your entry and a plaque is now being produced for you.
I’d like to arrange delivery to you and discuss the presentation to the bar.
The announcement that you have won will go on the site tomorrow.
Looking forward to hearing from you soon and well done again.

Thanks,
Someone at Manchester City Football Club

I'm stoked — but as I mentioned in the earlier post, it's more about thanking the team at Cheers for their continued hospitality. So well done all round, as commiserations to the Perth crew, who would have been worthy recipients.

5-a-side Tournament Report

One of the highlights of the weekend was the aforementioned 5-a-side tournament at Harbord. The Sydney Blues were desperately unlucky not to qualify for the finals — if only there was an Intertoto Cup or Fair Play league to qualify!

Thanks to all who played, especially Steve from Perth and Josh from Melbourne.

The Tartan Army were first up, and Roberto Mattcini looked to have pulled off a managerial masterstroke when he unveiled new signing George Dindane, and subsequently played the natural left-back in the right wing position. Dindane made the most of the opportunity, firing in the first goal with his right foot from near half-way, and then later in the match having the audacity to chip the keeper (in 5-a-side, mind) for his second. It wasn’t enough for the Blues though, as they stumbled to a 3-3 draw.

The Blues fell behind almost immediately, thanks to an unfortunate own goal by Brendo, and were always struggling to get back in the contest. Easily our worst performance of the day, against a side that was more intent with fighting amongst themselves than the opposition! It was only some world-class saves from keeper RoHart that kept City in the match.

A poor performance against Australia put City in the near impossible position of requiring two wins from their last two fixtures to qualify for the next round. A tired Liverpool side, reduced to a squad of seven due to injury and playing their third match out of a possible four, were always there for the taking if City were good enough. And they were no match for an inspired City, comfortably taking the match with the goals equally shared.

New boys Steve-from-Perth and Dave destroyed the tired Liverpool team, countered with the husband and wife combination of Brendo and Age in defense, it was a comfortable three points for the Blues.

City were still on course for the finals, however they had to overcome the undefeated Everton to do so. City took the lead early courtesy of a fortunate own goal, where the keeper was more distracted with a ball from another match. Once in the lead, the Blues switched to a defensive approach, with Crouchy, Darren Bellamy and Jameo relying on their trackbackability to neutralize any Everton threat.

Supersub Josh hit the post with his first touch of the match, but it was Crouchy who gave City the lead, latching on to a through-ball from man-of-the-day Jameo. However, Everton threw everything forward and equalized in the dying seconds, RoHart unable to keep the low shot out. It must be said though that this match seemed to finish remarkably early — a case of Reverse Fergie Time, perhaps?

Whilst a win and two draws was enough to claim third spot in the group, it was not enough to qualify for a wildcard entry into the quarter finals. Just like under Mark Hughes, too many draws were costly, as City were bundled out in a very respectable ninth out of 17 teams.

The Sydney Blues 5-a-side Squad
Back Row: Brendan "Brendo The Jet", Nathan "God Squad", Dave, Josh-from-Melbourne, Steve-from-Perth, Benny "The Germ", Matt "Roberto Mattcini/Crouchy"
Front Row: Adriana, George "Dindane", Rohan "Ro-Hart"
Insets: Andrew "Jameo", Darren "Bellers"

Tour Duty: Liverpool (Home)

After the last 6 months of listening to commentary online, watching dodgy streams and enjoying the Spanish commentary whilst watching the games on TV, I finally reached my spiritual home of Eastlands.

Liverpool was the fixture and when I overheard some blues on the train talking about the snow in Manchester the reality started to hit me. 2 hours later I had arrived at Manchester Piccadilly and caught the 216 straight to Eastlands.

The first casualty of the starting lineup didn’t come from the squad, it came from the deflated Blue Roo which wasn’t match fit for travel and still recovering from some injuries incurred back home in his sun burnt country.

I arrived into the stadium at around 2pm to soak up the atmosphere and I must admit since my visit 5 years ago the place seemed to be a lot more polished and the vibe was better. Sitting in Mr Matt Coleman’s seat in the South Stand 1 I enjoyed some great views and was placed nicely right next to the red Scousers.

The game was always destined to end in a draw. Both sides really weren’t going for it and were hoping to get lucky late on in the game. It wasn’t the best game of football but just being back at Eastlands took away from what was being shown on the pitch. It was tense, scrappy and there were limited opportunities.

In the middle of the second half a bit of light snow came down and with my feet now numb all I could think about was Carlos Tevez’s banner of ‘Welcome to Manchester’.

The result was ok and the day out was great. Next week I’ll be cheering the blues on from Stamford Bridge and hopefully we can see City pull out the double of their rich rivals.

City til we die,
Adam

"What we're trying to achieve here..."

Sorry for the Mark Hughes quote to kick things off, but obviously (shit, there's another one) the start of the Australian Blues weekend is nearly upon us.

Although there is no doubt it will be a fantastic few days of football, drinking, and drinking, there is another reason we are running the weekend — to work out how both Sydney and Perth can get bigger and better.

I've listed a few items on the agenda that we would like to discuss. And hopefully, we can use the vast experience of the Perth lads to increase our presence in Sydney. We'll come back in a week or so and post the findings from the talks!

• Make the weekend a regular occurance. Alternating yearly between the eastern and the western seaboard.
• Improving dialogue between our supporter clubs, and exchanging contact details. And making these available for everyone.
  
• Using our collective experience to help grow Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide. There are plenty of Blues there, we know there are — but the hardest part is getting them all in the one place at the one time!
  
• Official Supporters' Club status for Sydney — is it feasible? is it worth it? We will have to have an executive and a monthly meeting if this is the case. A proper meeting, with minutes and everything, not just beers at trivia!
• A one-stop website that the first-time fan can stumble upon and find all the information they need for the area they live — who to contact, where to watch games, how to get involved.
• Should we consider one identity and badge for all Australian branches?
• Lesson in Pride is currently the only Australian-based City blog. Do we allow contributions and post information from other states and other branches?
  
• And any other idea to find more Blues, and what more can we do to continue to grow.

We'll probably just get pissed and all of this will be forgotten, but we hope to have some answers to our questions by the weekend's conclusion.

We hope to see you there.

So four people get into a lift...

In a Sydney harbourside hotel four people from Perth, originally from England, board a lift to head out and explore the harbourside. Not long after another couple enter the lift and by talking to each other give away their accent.

Manchester.

After a quick exchange between all parties its discovered they are all Mancunians, Manchester City fans, currently living in Perth, and holidaying in Sydney.

Why? The Australian M.C.F.C Supporters Weekend.

I met with a few of these intrepid lions-come-sandgroppers last night for a quiet ale and I can say with no uncertainty that this weekend is going to be magic.

Whilst people may not fully understand the concept of flying across Australia to watch a game of football on TV, its nights like last night that make you realise you are part of something special. Put together a couple of beers, a few stories, laughs, tips on the best cafes and shops, a bit of Sydney v Perth banter and a generally great evening was had by all.

Of course we discussed all things football and talked about results, players, history and the future, and I believe by the end of the weekend we will have covered every person to ever pull on the sky blue!

Dave, one of the Perth MCFC fans said it best: "if it wasn't for Man City, we wouldn't all be sitting here." He's right. One of the things I've always loved about City is the way it brings you together with people you may have never met before. People from all walks of life, from all corners of the country and beyond.

So as the weekend approaches, if you were umming and ahhing about coming along I can say this.

Don't miss out.

At the end of the day if City lose, then City lose. The best part will surely be the friends you make and the adventures we share. For many people this is a holiday to see Sydney, and for Sydneysiders its a great chance to see your city from a different angle and perhaps do some things you wouldn't normaly do in your own backyard!

See you all in Darling Harbour tomorrow night with your fashionable bowling shoes ready! If you're in earlier or want to meet up get in touch with Matt or Brendan and they'll point you in the right direction!

See you tomorrow night!