Manchester City

You have been sharing your stories and photos about why you love Manchester City.

Here is a final selection of your submissions, but do make sure you scroll down this page to see all the best responses from throughout the week:

Steve: As a young boy in East Sussex, I was mesmerised by Peter Barnes running down the wing. I used to pretend I was him whenever I had a ball at my feet so needless to say I became a Manchester City fan.

Here I am nearly 50 years later, a Sussex-based season ticket holder with a 550-mile round trip every home game. I have spent years on the M6 wondering if I was slightly insane?

But the friends I have made, the memories shared and the past few trophyladen years make it all worthwhile!

Mark: I was at Maine Road waiting in my work van for new signing Trevor Francis to arrive.

Suddenly there was a rush of photographers running to the front entrance. In all the excitement, I started my van to get a bit closer, my foot slipped off the clutch pedal and I hit a concrete bollard!

But…I did get to see our new superstar!

Manchester City have turned down an offer from Roma for Argentine midfielder Claudio Echeverri, 19, as they want to loan him to Girona, who are under the City Football Group umbrella. (Calciomercato - in Italian), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

This week, we are asking you to share your stories and photos for why you fell in love with Manchester City.

Here is a selection of your submissions:

Mike: I moved to Bury in 1962 soon after Colin Bell signed for them. He moved into a 'club' house opposite where we lived and I watched him with my dad at Gigg Lane.

When he moved to City, my support went with him. Soon after my, second favourite player Franny Lee also signed for City. That was it. I was a Man City fan forever!

Carl: As a football mad three-year-old living in Norwich, I only ever wanted a Norwich football strip. My mum and dad didn't have much money and when my birthday came, I was given a Man City away strip, the red and black stripes, as it was half price.

I didn't know about Man City until that day but ever since, I have followed them for 57 years and can remember watching Mike Summerbee, Lee, and Bell. City were strong, then after came the lows but I still loved City every game.

Now I still can't believe I support the greatest club ever and always will.

Send us your pictures and stories here

Image source, Getty Images

Erling Haaland is the only Manchester City figure featured in the Ballon d'Or shortlist - or any other of the year's awards.

Despite City not winning a trophy last season, Haaland still scored 34 goals and added a further five assists in 48 outings for the Blues this season.

It is his fifth consecutive nomination for the award.

Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Danielle Sarver Coombs

When it comes to our love for a football club, the answer to why we do lies in "both psychological and societal" reasons.

In the first part of her chat with BBC Sport, researcher and co-writer of the Routledge Handbook of Sport Fans and Fandom Danielle Sarver Coombs spoke about the part that identity and tradition play.

And yet when we are caught up in the emotions of a tough defeat or nerves of an important match, we can often ask why we put ourselves through it.

"There are psychological processes at work and physiological ones in terms of how we respond and engage," Sarver Coombs said.

"An example that I always give is when I take the train to work, I go past Arsenal's stadium and I feel literally nothing other than: 'Oh, that's a big building'. Whereas on a train to Manchester, I went by Villa Park and my heart started pounding. I got all excited and was trying to take pictures out the window.

"I had a visceral reaction to this place. We can't pretend we don't have that sort of physical reaction because we do.

"When someone is talking about a controversial decision and I feel myself getting wound up, even though I intellectually know that I can't control it and that it's just a game, my body doesn't know that.

"My gut doesn't know that and so I have this really emotional response and we can't control that."

A 2023 book titled 'Football on the brain: why minds love sport, external' suggests it comes down to 'an understandable and logical consequence of the human mind's natural inclination to find meaning through beliefs... It's a religion as far as the brain is concerned'.

But it not just about what is going on inside the mind but outside influences too.

"There is a sociological element to it because the community part is such a huge driver and benefit for us," Sarver Coombs explains.

"Sociologically, we are driven to be part of communities. We are driven to find our groups that we can be members of. Sport provides a way to do that - this sense that I was chosen to be part of this community and it's something bigger than I am."

As the game expands, unrest among supporters seems to be increasing, but how does that impact this ingrained love for a club?

"You always go through these cycles when the game is changing," Sarver Coombs said.

"Despite all the changes, the traditions remain so strong and it's such a huge draw that it becomes really hard to actually separate yourself from it. Even if you do, it tends to be a short-term separation. You get sucked back in because something happens.

"People don't want that change, but then we adapt to it and continue moving forward."

Browse this page to see lots of fan stories for how you fell in love with your club.

And check out those from other Premier League teams over here

Everton have opened talks over a deal to bring in attacking midfielder Jack Grealish from Manchester City. (Sky Sports), external

City's Mateo Kovacic has been approached by Saudi Pro League clubs this summer, but the midfielder wants to stay. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Norwich City are hoping to beat Leicester City and Sheffield United to the signing of defender Callum Doyle, who is valued at about £10m by Manchester City. (SportsBoom), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

This week, we are asking you to share your stories and photos for why you fell in love with City.

Here is a selection of your submissions:

Alun: It was 1967 - I was at a Hertfordshire school and it all tended to be Spurs and Arsenal fans, maybe Manchester United. I saw Joe Mercer interviewed after watching City highlights, presumably on Match of the Day. He was really down to earth and quietly confident. I just wanted to be different so I decided to support City.

I tracked every match in a scrapbook for years. Some good years to start and then the many difficult times. I got to games when older. I have been hooked for life. There is nothing like City.

Send us your pictures and stories here

Opta's Supercomputer has once again predicted the upcoming 2025-26 Premier League season by using a model to simulate every match 10,000 times.

Image source, Opta

Last season promised a thrilling title race between Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool - but in the end it was anything but.

Arne Slot was given just a 5.1% chance of winning the Premier League in his debut season, but expectations are far higher now.

Despite major changes - including the departures of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz, and the tragic loss of Diogo Jota - Liverpool have rebuilt with the signings of Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, and Hugo Ekitike.

The Opta supercomputer now makes them title favourites, winning in 28.5% of simulations.

Arsenal have finished runners-up for three straight seasons. This could be their moment, especially with Viktor Gyokeres finally giving Mikel Arteta a true number nine. Their title odds have nearly doubled to 24.3%, though another second-place finish remains the most likely outcome.

City were aiming for a historic fifth consecutive title but stumbled, largely due to Rodri's long-term injury. With him fit again, Pep Guardiola will demand a return to form. Their supercomputer-backed chances have dropped sharply this season however, - from 82.2% to just 18.8%.

Fresh off a Club World Cup win, Chelsea are aiming for their first league title since 2017. Enzo Maresca's young side has potential, but consistency is the big question.

They win the league in 8.8% of sims, with another fourth-place finish considered the most likely.

Read Opta's full Supercomputer breakdown here, external

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City defender Joe Stones says the club is determined to bounce back this season after a "humbling" 2024-25 campaign.

Pep Guardiola's side finished third in the Premier League, missing out on a fifth consecutive title and falling short of their own lofty standards.

"It was humbling for us after all the success that we've had," said the England defender. "It makes us realise what we've done and how proud we should be, but we're obviously frustrated at what we did last season.

"It's not what we want to replicate."

City ended the campaign 13 points behind champions Liverpool and three behind Arsenal, and Stones believes the squad is motivated to put things right.

"We've definitely come back with that fire in our bellies to go and achieve," he said. "We've got to get back to our identity, winning matches and having that presence about us."

The 31-year-old is fit again after an injury-hit season and says speculation around his future was never a distraction.

"It's laughable to me," he said of rumours linking him with a move away from Etihad Stadium. "I love it here. I'm here to fight and play and hopefully win some trophies."

The squad has undergone further evolution this summer with the additions of Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Tijjani Reijnders, who featured during the Club World Cup campaign.

Their arrivals follow January signings Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis.

"Football evolves, and the guys that have come in have been great," Stones added. "It takes time to adapt, but I'm excited to play with them and see what they do."

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City's Phil Foden says he wants to continue "getting back" to his "very high level" after an uncharacteristically difficult Premier League campaign in 2024-25.

"I think everyone wants to make up for last season, we all want to come to our best and winning titles," the 25-year-old told BBC Sport.

"We have got a lot of experience in the dressing room. With Bernardo [Silva] being captain, hopefully he can push the lads on. We have got all the experience and we have done it before.

"That's a positive - you know and what it takes so hopefully we can get back there."

After being named the Premier League Player of the Season for the 2023-24 campaign, Foden only registered seven goals and two assists in the league.

However, he looked more comfortable during the summer Club World Cup in the USA - managing three goals and an assist in four games even as City were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Al-Hilal.

• Not a City fan? Find and follow your club here

"I thought I was much better at the Club World Cup and my performances definitely got better from the season before," Foden said.

"I want to continue getting back to my level, which is very high. You just have to put the work in training and believe in yourself.

"I am not sure where the manager sees me this year, I can play in different positions but we all know my position is the insides, in the pockets, so let us see what happens.

"I am not here to replicate what Kev (de Bruyne) did because we all know how good he was and what he did for the club.

"It is about trying my best, getting to the level where I won Player of the Year. You can only train and get back to it - that is what I am trying to do."

Shamoon Hafez
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City have been boosted by the return of key midfielder Rodri following an injury picked up at the Club World Cup.

The Ballon d'Or winner came on as a second-half substitute in the shock last-16 defeat by Al-Hilal, but left the pitch early in extra time.

Manager Pep Guardiola said afterwards the player "complained about his situation", which was thought to be a minor groin issue.

But the 29-year-old took full part in Tuesday's open training session at Joie Stadium and appears to be fit for the Premier League season-opener at Wolves on 16 August.

Midfielder Jack Grealish was left out of the squad for the Club World Cup and, during that period, he has been working individually at City's training ground.

The club invited supporters to watch the training session and Grealish was part of the group being put through their paces.

The 29-year-old is said to be of interest to Everton but sources say City are yet to receive any offers for the England international.

Meanwhile, there was an interesting observer in former Wolves and Bournemouth manager Gary O'Neil, who was sitting in the dugout during the session.

Asked by BBC Sport why he was there, O'Neil said he was "spending the day with Guardiola" and talking through "a few things".

We know the relationship between a football fan and their club is a special one so, as we gear up for the new season, we asked you to share why you fell in love with Manchester City and some of your favourite moments supporting them.

Here are some of your submissions:

Marcel: I was born just 400 yards from Maine Road. I was in Trafford house at Chorlton Grammar School and I made sure to play in goal rather than play in red, which were my house colours!

My hero was Bert Trautmann. I worshipped him, collecting his autograph dozens of times, and I used to spend most of my school holidays watching them train.

Now I live in Torquay and my age, health and finances mean that I have only been to the Etihad once. I have to say that it was nowhere near the magic of the legendary Maine Road. Memories of wonderful days (and nights)!

Send your pictures and stories here

Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

'Why did you fall in love with your club?'

This week, we have asked hundreds of football fans across the world that very question and got hundreds of different answers.

Yes, the themes might be similar - born near a ground; family supported the team; watched a certain player - but the individual story will be unique to each supporter.

The relationship between a fan and their club should not be underestimated, with people ploughing uncountable amounts of money, time and emotional energy into their support for their team.

But what is that makes us love our clubs the way we do?

"A lot of it comes down to our identity," researcher and co-writer of the Routledge Handbook of Sport Fans and Fandom Danielle Sarver Coombs told BBC Sport.

"We become part of this group that means so much to us. It becomes a way to find a community that you're a part of and to find a group of people that, no matter where you are, you could find a pub with other fans of your team. You have that kinship.

"In a world that's increasingly quite lonely, this provides one of the ways that we can have connections so we can have the feeling that we're part of something bigger."

Connection and identity plays a big role in someone's love for their club - particularly when it is a family link.

Many fans talk of being born into who they support - that the connection is so strong there was no other team they could, or would, have chosen.

"The great thing with football is that there's such a strong heritage component to it," Sarver Coombs said. "Often, your grandfather, father, mother or whomever was a fan of the team, so it's part of your family's tradition.

"It's handed down from generation to generation."

The uniqueness of football fandom is something researchers are increasingly investigating.

An article, external published earlier this year in psychology journal Frontiers discusses how football fans often follow follow teams with 'significant attachment and commitment, sometimes to the bewilderment of those outside of the game'.

"With football clubs, you have decades of tradition that you can tap into and it's going to keep coming," Sarver Coombs added.

"Players come and go, managers come and go, shirts change, badges change, but the club itself - the heart and soul of it remains constant. You always have that piece that you're tied to, so the longevity of clubs is a really important part.

"But also, that constant in-person opportunity to be present in a community space really sets football apart from other passions that may be transient or do not have that constant engagement."

Share your story in our My Club My Passion campaign

Alex Keble
Football tactics writer

Former Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders joined Manchester City in June, and his arrival demonstrated a shift in the style of Pep Guardiola's football.

Nevertheless Lijnders, like Klopp, is far more concerned than Guardiola with aggressive, high-octane attacking football and the opportunities that open up when the ball changes hands - and that seems to be how City are evolving.

Comparing their 2023-24 to 24-25 campaigns, City's possession share dropped from 65.5% to 61.3% while their total number of fast breaks jumped from 22 to 30, a rise of 36%.

Most prominently, we saw more long balls from Ederson to bypass the opposition high press and more direct dribbling through the lines from January signing Omar Marmoush.

Marmoush, by the looks of things, was the first signing of Man City 2.0: the rebuild that will shift Pep Guardiola, Pep Lijnders and City into a more Klopp-like direction. More players in that mould have since followed.

Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders have arrived from Lyon and AC Milan respectively and both signings, like Marmoush, point to more carrying of the ball through the lines and fewer neatly choreographed passing triangles.

To put it more simply, Cherki, Reijnders, and Marmoush are the kind of players who prefer to ride the rhythm.

The data here is stark.

Compared with Man City's three most commonly used central midfielders in 2024-25, Cherki, Reijnders, and Marmoush scored considerably higher for 'progressive carries' (a carry of the ball at least five metres towards the opponent's goal) and 'attempted dribbles'.

Read Alex's full piece over here

We know the relationship between a football fan and their club is a special one so, as we gear up for the new season, we asked you to share why you fell in love with Manchester City and some of your favourite moments supporting them.

Here are some of your submissions:

Ken: Back in the 1950s, my father took me to my first football match at Old Trafford. When we arrived home, l was very upbeat and wanted to go again the following Saturday. My father explained that United only played at home every other week. l told my father that another Manchester team - Manchester City - were playing at home next week. "We don't go there" he replied.

But the following week, he came home with two tickets for the main stand, given to him by a work colleague. I think it was Man City v West Brom and it was dire and very one-sided, with West Brom laying siege to City's goal. But Bert Trautmann was in inspired form. In the second half, City got on the break and scored to win the match 1-0.

He became my sporting hero and he was the subject I chose for my entrance exam to Stretford technical college, when I was 13 years old. The task was to write about your sporting hero, so it's the easiest exam I've ever taken.

I was lucky enough to meet Bert in the Platt Lane stand many years later. I introduced myself as a big fan but then people started to realise who he was and he made his apologies and left. A City legend who should have his statue with the other greats.

Send your pictures and stories here

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City have confirmed some new shirt numbers ahead of the 2025-26 season but, most importantly, which numbers will the summer signings be wearing on their backs?

Goalkeeper James Trafford has opted for the traditional number-one shirt, with current first-choice shot-stopper Ederson already possessing the number 31 shirt. The 22-year-old also wore the number-one shirt at Burnley last season.

Trafford becomes the first to occupy the number since Claudio Bravo left in 2020, but previous names to have worn it include Joe Hart and David James.

Fellow summer arrival Tijjani Reijnders will wear the number four, previously defensive midfielder Kalvin Phillips' number, while Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri will sport numbers 29 and 21 on their backs respectively.

Elsewhere, academy graduate Nico O'Reilly's shirt number has changed from 75 to 33, a number previously worn by club legend Vincent Kompany and striker Gabriel Jesus.

Image source, Getty Images

Tijjani Reijnders says he was persuaded to join Manchester City because Pep Guardiola's style of play reminds him of that made famous by Netherlands icon Johan Cryuff.

"When we played at the academy in Holland, you quickly learned how important possession is in games, about passing and movement and how important the tactics are," he told City, externalclub media, external. "Most Dutch players have that ingrained within them because they learn it at such an early age.

"As for Johan Cruyff, he's one of the greatest players our country has ever produced and what he left behind, you can still see on the football pitch - and you can also see it here at Manchester City."

Reijnders spent his career in Dutch football until two years ago when AC Milan signed him and, now 27, is excited about a fulfilling childhood hope of playing in the Premier League.

"I always dreamed of this and I think it was always on a Sunday morning that I saw the [Premier League] highlights on TV," he said.

"I'd obviously have a lot of interest in the Dutch players who were over here – Robin van Persie and Dennis Bergkamp in particular. They were the sort of players you were looking at because they were huge stars in our country and as a kid, you want to emulate them.

"Now, being here with City and to be soon playing in the Premier League, it genuinely is a dream come true."

England Under-20 midfielder Nico O'Reilly, 20, will sign a new contract with Manchester City after they rejected two transfer bids from German club Bayer Leverkusen. (Fabrizio Romano), external

La Liga side Girona have agreed a deal in principle to sign City's Brazilian defender Vitor Reis, 19, on loan. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Finally, City want 19-year-old Claudio Echeverri to also go on a season-long loan to Girona, with discussions ongoing between the Argentine forward and the Spanish club. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Image source, Rob

On Monday, we asked you to tell us why you fell in love with Manchester City and some of your favourite moments supporting them.

You have already been getting in touch with your photos and stories and here is just a taste from Rob:

"My father (83) had a tie to the club in the early 1960s. He was a Manchester policeman and played for City in the Lancashire Leagues. He kept the programmes that had his name on the teamsheet. I wanted to do the same, although I wasn't quite good enough, but being able to watch Bell, Summerbee, Lee and Marsh in action, standing on the Kippax was good enough.

"A 44-year wait for a trophy was tough but brings you closer to a club you grew up supporting. Since 2015, my son and I made a commitment to visit Etihad Stadium at least four times a season, despite us living in the south of England. We've kept it, although he only knows a great City team, worships Sergio Aguero and gives me funny looks when I reflect on games v Colchester, Gillingham and York in Division Two.

"Three generations of supporter, I'm proud to say my family is intrinsically linked to the club, its history, its players and light blue. My son has a collection of 35 kits from David Silva to Ryan Cherki.

"Being at the Etihad or Maine Road has provided us with the most vivid and happiest memories of growing up and being together as a three-generation family. We're all privileged to be a small part of the club."

Join the conversation and send your best photos about why you love City.

Your first visit to the stadium? A special kit? An amazing away trip?

Send us your pictures and stories