What a life...2012
I hoped to contribute to this blogspot fairly often but due
to Uni commitments I have struggled to find the time to sit down and write. As I
have found a bit of time, and it is the last day of 2012 it felt fitting to
write about the past 12 months.
2012 has been a brilliant year with some unbelievable highs
and some of the greatest memories of my life but I have to start with a gloomy
day up in the North-East. Sunderland away, January 1st. It was my
second time to the ‘Stadium of Light’, the first consisted of me being
violently sick on the coach on the way up there – luckily Adam Johnson salvaged
a point. With optimism and a hangover from NYE I entered the ground pretty
confident City would do the business, unfortunately that wasn’t to happen. We
just couldn’t put the ball in the net and to compound our misery they scored
with the last kick of the game. Oh how we laughed.....(Oh and it was offside
too..).
Looking back January was pretty woeful in terms of away
results, knocked out by Liverpool in the Mickey Mouse cup and also losing 1-0
to Everton. All I can remember of Everton away was freezing my boll*cks off and
watching some muppet handcuff himself to the goalpost. At least it only took me
half an hour to get back to my student house in Liverpool.
I find myself quite limited in the amount of away games I
can afford to attend, so whilst at Uni I concentrate on new grounds and the odd
European away. My next away was Swansea,
new ground (number 54). Luckily I had already had a great day out with the
Hazel Grove Branch before the game kicked off. As my old man always told me,
never let City get in the way of a top day out. The game will always be
remembered for that City fan crying, and for me, it was the day I truly
believed we would not go on to win the league.
I tried to keep the faith but deep down I knew United would
win it. They were just too good, they had done it so many times before, they
never crumble. Ever. I remember sat in a lecture theatre in Warwick during a
training weekend for Challenger Sports. United had beaten QPR at home and Shaun
Derry had been ludicrously sent off. We were at Arsenal and anything but a win
would be the final nail in the coffin. I raced away from Warwick Uni and found
a pub to watch the match. It was dreadful, the players and Mancini were arguing
amongst themselves and it was a gutless performance by a team that looked down
and out. Arteta scored late on to give Arsenal the win and Balotelli then got
sent off. As he walked off the pitch many predicted it would be the last time
we saw him in a City shirt. We had given United the title.
Me and my City mates have made a habit of going to Newcastle
every year. Weekend away, night out and the match. We booked this year with optimism;
it was the penultimate game of the season and could be a huge game in terms of
the title race. Now, it looked like a bit of a damp squib. West Brom at home
was City’s next match, a comfortable win but the match will be remembered for
the news that filtered through at full-time. United were losing at Wigan. I ran
to the back of the 2nd tier and clambered on a seat to watch the
last couple of seconds of the United match on a monitor in a box. A cheer went
up and some guy in a suit came out to tell us Wigan had won. Surely it wasn’t all
back on.
With a new wave of momentum coupled with the return of
Carlos Tevez, City smashed Norwich 1-6 (my new favourite score-line). The following
week it was all eyes on Old Trafford as United welcomed Everton, I couldn’t
bring myself to watch it so decided to go and watch a mate play in his team’s cup
semi-final. It was quite surreal as both teams seem more interested in what was
going on at Old Trafford than their own pitch and goal updates were constantly
being relayed onto the pitch. 4-4, it was back in our hands. Win the next 4
games and we are champions. We breezed past Wolves and now all eyes were on the
Manchester Derby.
The ground was electric and Vincent got the only goal of the game, City were back on
top. Maradona has always been one of my heroes, and seeing him singing along to
City’s version of Hey Jude will stay with me forever. Mancini insisted United
were still favourites, and to be honest I believed him. Newcastle away had
turned from a damp squib to arguably the most important league game we have
played since we won the league there back in 1968. They were pushing for the
Champions League and were really strong.
I travelled to Newcastle with some of my closest mates, we
had seen some sh*t (and some good times too) over the years following our club
and this was a trip we were all looking forward to. A night out on the Saturday
left us all a bit worse for wear getting up for the match on Sunday but soon
the adrenaline took over. It was pandemonium when Yaya put us 1-0 up and I
insist to this day that when that goal went in I have never seen an away end
like it. We won 2-0 and surely even City wouldn’t blow it against QPR. What a
trip, probably the best away I have been on, the only regret was not being able
to share the moment with my Dad who was in a box at the other end of the
ground.
Outside St James Park
I am not going to go into too much detail regarding the last
day of the season. I actually have very little memory of Aguero’s goal, I just
remember the sound of the crowd as he composed himself before smashing it home.
No words could describe what I went through that day, I am just happy I shared
the moment with the people closest to me, especially my Dad.
After the initial shock had settled I met up with my mates
and went into town. I tried to not get carried away and too pissed as I wanted
to saviour and remember every minute. What a day.
That summer I travelled to Budapest for a short break and
then America (Chicago), for 9 weeks with Challenger Sports and had the summer
of a lifetime.
Other memories that stand out are the trip to Madrid to
watch City with my Dad and the latest trip to Newcastle with the lads.
I’ll have to concentrate on getting a decent grade from
University this next couple of months and I hope that 2013 will be just as good
as 2012. I have a trip to Barcelona with Football Studies to look forward to
and also the birth of two more Niece’s or Nephews.
Thanks to everyone who made 2012 special and hopefully we
can have more of the same in 2013.
Champions.
