Has City Lost Its Soul? (And Can a Club Have a Soul Anyway?)
By: Thad | August 4th, 2009In the past, author Colin Shindler has been credited with capturing the spirit of what it has meant to support Manchester City over the decades, in books such as “Manchester United Ruined My Life” and “Fathers, Sons, and Football.” This week, however, Shindler is being credited with setting off a massive, er, sandstorm on the City blogosphere with his Daily Mail piece declaring that “the heart has been ripped from the club I loved for 50 years.”
To say the least, most City fans are not pleased with Shindler’s reaction to recent developments at the club. Some City supporters are resorting to ad hominem attacks in response, but for a particularly thoughtful rebuttal (written in the form of a letter to Shindler) see this post by “Prestwich Blue” on the Blue Moon message board. Prestwich asks Shindler, “Do you really think we had any more “soul” when we were owned and run, with varying degrees of ineptitude, by a series of local businessmen made good? Or was that ineptitude, in your eyes, what gave us that ’soul’? Was being everyone’s favourite laughing stock, the Comedy Club, the Theatre of Base Comedy what gave us that ’soul’?”
I’ve had my own say (indirectly) on this in the form of Rob Hughes’s piece in The New York Times today in which I am quoted, as a counterpoint to Shindler.
I may have more to say on this subject later, but for now I invite responses not just from City fans but supporters of other clubs, to these questions: Do clubs have a soul, an identity, an ethos, or is it just a matter of turning out to see players in a certain color shirt kick a ball? If so, what is that soul? Has the modern game destroyed, or at least tainted it?
What do you think?
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Comments | Add your comment
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rooting for manchester united is like rooting for exxon…except all of your money is oil money soo….
sorry thad…had to.
Posted from
United States
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well, the analogy is a bit inexact (I was referring mainly to Exxon’s position in the marketplace, not the commodity they happen to deal in), but I do take your point
Posted from
United States -
Let me start off by saying that I am an Amemrican who didn’t grown up following soccer.
I stumbled across soccer in high school by playing FIFA soccer games. I soon became caught up in the sport and wanting to learn as much as I could. When I took French class in high school, I followed Lyon and wanted to learn as much about the club as possible. I liked Edgar Davids’ play, so I became a Juventus fan.
For me, the turning point in my fanhood was when Juve were relegated during the whole match fixing scandal. It seems that my fanhood increased tremendously during this period. I was drawn to the fact that my club was on the downswing and would soon return gloriously. When they won Serie B, that was a great day in my memory. Something about rooting for teams that have to overcome make them that much more endearing to fans. Almost creating a “soul” or identity to the team and its fans. It doesn’t make sense, but sports isn’t supposed to…
Posted from
United States -
I agree with Prestwich Blue on Blue Moon. When something goes pear shaped, there’s that old stand-by, “Typical City.”
And from the sounds of it, Shindler would like to keep us on that awry roller coaster. Dropping into the third division, having more second division titles than anybody aside from Leiceister City, having the rug pulled out from under us when things seem to be going well. These things build character and create a “soul”? What a self-hating Blue.
Posted from
United States -
If I was a City fan I’d be tempted to see the club’s current situation as a just reward for my loyalty through all the years of suffering.
Posted from
United States -
Clubs do have a soul. This may sound like pandering to get attention to my own blog, but it’s a legitimate answer to your question:
Athletic Club Bilbao has a soul.
Also, take a look at Queen’s Park F.C. in Scotland who remains strictly an amateur club, despite the fact that this policy has meant a decline in success. Another example would be Chivas (the real one, not the Los Angeles version) who are the only team in Mexico who sign only Mexican players.
As for City, I do think they have lost their “soul” in a way, but when the spending stops (if it stops) and the players bought during this crazy transfer window become regulars, the soul of the club can shine through. I also don’t think this is a reason for City fans to jump ship. Sure, you can laugh at the transfer policies of the team or even be disgusted by it, but I can tell you that even if Athletic did away with the Basques-only policy I would still be a supporter, even though I may be sad to see the club’s identity change.
Posted from
United States -
Ok ok, I’ll be the first to make a joke about Tevez dropping the soap in the shower…
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United States -
ok! first of, there is no soul searching needed for mancity! just because they are spending money does not mean that they have lost their soul! lets compare and contrast here! the obvious comparison in terms of player transfer would be real madrid! people would agree that real madried has alot of club history and thus they have soul! then why are they paying over the odds for the players? i am pretty sure they have an excellent youth system, why cant they make them play! on any given day, huntaleer, roben, would be considered world class players! why cant they play with them? have they lost their soul? what a juventus! the old lady bought in melo and milito, have they lost their soul? no!
man city has bought players not because they want to flaunt their money, but because they need to! and if any of these players stay in the club for lets say 5 years! if ade, tavez and robinho does establish a good? and if they win the league for once and take chelsea’s place? then only would they have soul?spending is the name of the game! u know when lampard came in the late 90s chelsea payed 21 mil for him?
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United States -
Paul is right, Athletic Club Bilbao has a soul.
Same as Barcelona. A club owned by the fans. Represented its own Values that goes beyond football and suffered to promote such Values (even the club president was killed for that- Franco era). So There is no doubt there are teams that have a soul. And that’s the only kind of teams that money cant buy. Barcelona and Athletic are two great examples.
But not all teams have souls (so as not all people if you ask me). So every club is a stand alone case study. Generalization is not valid here. The question is: Does your club has/had a soul?
Posted from
Sweden -
Signed manchester city 2008 pennant from whole of 1st team 2008. Ebay Item number: 120456535329
Posted from
United Kingdom -
There’s a lot to say for the argument that a football club has a soul.
A community has a spirit, a soul, a soul that stens from tradition, and often from hardship. A soul that can be diluted by outsiders and the crass pursuit of success at all costs – especially when it’s at the cost of the supporter.
Everton have much more soul than Liverpool. Millwall have more than Chelsea.
Manchester City still have more than Manchester United, but for how long? Roy Keane summed it up when he attacked the “prawn sandwich brigade” ruining the atmosphere at Man Utd matches. When the club is less about it’s local community it invariably sells its soul, City are doing that, little by little, to paraphrase the Gallagher Brothers…Posted from
Malta -
City is trying to build a winner…Chelsea did it with their Billions why not CIty?
http://footballfraternity.wordpress.com
Posted from
United States -
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United States
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