Close to a home

Jerome Boateng is in the bag and so might be a home for the UOMCSCC (unofficial Official Manchester City Supporter's Club of Canada - say that 10 times fast).

The world of City supporter's is a small one and it didn't take long for my innocent little blog entry to find the eyes of someone that sent it on to another person who just happened to own a space in downtown Toronto. Oh, and that person happens to be a lifelong City supporter with roots in Manchester.

The partnership isn't official yet, but unless something unexpected comes up when we go for a look-see next week it's a likely match.

As stated, City fans tend to stick together. It's a bunker mentality developed over years of fighting off United and Liverpool fanboys. So, then, this seems as good a time as any to share my story. How does a Canadian kid from eastern Ontario end up with Blue in his veins?

Like any North American fan there was a choice involved. I'd love to share stories of going to Maine Road on my granddad’s knee, but my granddad took me to hockey games -- the Ontario Hockey League's Belleville Bulls to be exact -- not football games. I'm not sure grandpa cared much for the beautiful game, but I loved him anyway.

To find the footy connection you have to look at the woman who stayed behind and made me peanut butter cookies while we were at those hockey games. My grandmother was of British heritage. She maintained a healthy appreciation for the Queen and Marks & Spencer throughout her life (she also used to feed me these wonderful crackers shaped like hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds that were purchased at M&S. I've been on a search throughout my adult life to find them again. They kind of taste like McVitie's Mini Cheddars, but not quite. If anyone could point them to me I'd be indebted to them for life).

Grandma wasn't a football fan herself, but she did turn me into an unapologetic anglophile. Also a sports fan, it only made sense that I would embrace British sports. There wasn't a cricket club in Belleville, so soccer became the focus.

(About the same time as I was discovering the sport Canada qualified for its one and only World Cup. That sealed the deal and I've been suffering with the Canadian national team ever since).

Now that I was a football fan I had to choose my team. Grandma's family were from Bristol (Bristol City fans as it turned out), but that didn't help me much as at the time there was next to no information on British football outside of the biggest clubs. So, I tried to learn as much as I could about as many teams as I could.

Then my British cousins came to visit. This was a monumental occasion in my young life. Work needed to happen to ensure that I was sufficiently British enough to meet their approval. So, I read more and more and more.

When the day came that I was to meet them I was introduced as the "little soccer fan." My two female cousins could have cared less. Their interest was in getting to Toronto to do some shopping. My male cousin, however, was a fan. He had also just moved to Manchester (I forget why. Work? School? It doesn't much matter now).

I bet you can guess what club he supported (and thank God he had taste).

Now I had a team. I aimed to learn as much about Manchester City as I could over the next few years. This was pre-Internet so I had to go to libraries, read newspapers that my grandmother had sent over for me and generally fake it a lot. Years later I would go to university and discover the wonders of Usenet. Every so often I would see a game -- another soccer fan in university had some VHS tapes of a bunch of British league games, there was a pub that played a game each week. For the first time I was able to cheer as things happened.

Each year that passed saw more games shown in Canada. Of course things really started to take off here about the same time that City was ingloriously dropping down the table. I stayed with the club though, instinctively understanding that that's what a true supporter does. I do remember, however, taking about six buses out to a British Pub in the very southern part of the city I was living in to watch (tape delayed) City play Gillingham at Wembley. I think many here can remember how that one tuned out and if there ever was any question about my lifelong loyalty (there wasn't, but if there was) it was settled about the time that Dickov was making his final kick of stoppage time.

Since 1999 things have, of course, become much easier. Over the past three years I've missed seeing less than 10 games City have played with the vast majority seen live. I've also been fortunate of, after years of living in the sport’s hinterland, to have a home team club to support week after week. Although I now have two football loves, my involvement in the supporter's culture of Toronto FC has only made me love City more -- and long to experience the same community amongst City fans as I do with TFC. Thus, my desire to help organize a club.

I'll cut this post off here (I do have to get ready to go to today's TFC game against Kansas City after all -- the best thing about being a football fan in North America? No off-season!), but keep an eye on this spot for details of our meeting with the bar next week.

Welcome to Blue Canuck

This is the official blog of the unofficial Manchester City Supporter's Club of Canada. The group, made up of old and new City fans sick of sharing pub space with those wearing red, is looking to gather each week during the 2010-11 season and beyond. For now, the group will be in Toronto at a yet to be determined pub. However, after it is established it will be looking to support satellite groups in other Canadian cities.

There will be three posts a week in this space, commenting all all things City.

Canadian City fans are out there. It's time we find each other and paint the town Blue!

If you are a pub owner in the GTA willing to host the group, please send an e-mail to dgrollins@gmail.com. Our only request is that we are given priority over other groups of fans. City versus Stoke always gets priority on your TV screens over United versus Liverpool. Otherwise, we aren’t any better off than we are now.

If you are a City fan in Canada drop me a line at the above address.