The facts
Manchester City fans booed the Premier League anthem before their team's match against Ipswich on Saturday, October 17, 2026. This occurred in the club's first top-flight home game since being found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules. Tens of thousands of supporters inside the Etihad Stadium jeered when the anthem was played and chanted 'City, City, City.' The club's fans also waved hundreds of inflatable bananas, a practice reminiscent of the late 1980s, which has seen a revival during the period City has appealed charges related to financial rule breaches between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. These charges include allegations of creating 'sham contracts' to inflate sponsorship deals by £830 million. Manager Enzo Maresca noted the defiant atmosphere, stating, 'The environment was very good. The fans, the club and the players are all together on this journey.' Phil Foden, who scored in the match, commented on the fans' support, saying, 'You can tell they are behind us and they're pushing us.' The win against Ipswich extended City's best start to a league season since 1897, with seven wins out of seven.
Our take
Fucking hell, look at these cunts. After being found guilty of cooking the books for nearly a decade to the tune of eight hundred and thirty million quid, Manchester City’s big-brained response is to boo a song and wave some inflatable bananas. It’s the most pathetic, performative, plastic-fan bullshit imaginable. The club is accused of creating sham contracts to fake sponsorship money, a grift so vast it makes your average ticket tout look like a fucking saint, and the supporters think the real crime is the Premier League’s choice of pre-match muzak. They’re not protesting injustice; they’re having a tantrum because someone finally called their sugar-daddy fantasy what it is: a massive, fraudulent con.
And of course the manager and players are all in on this absolute wank. Enzo Maresca calls it a 'journey,' which is a fancy way of saying the bus ride to the courthouse. Phil Foden, who probably can’t spell 'financial fair play,' says the fans are 'behind us.' No shit they’re behind you, you prick. They’re behind a team built on alleged financial bullshit that’s winning games. It’s the easiest support in the world. It’s like cheering for a bank robber because he’s sharing the cash.
The inflatable bananas are the perfect symbol for this whole circus. A stupid, hollow, late-80s joke revived for a club whose entire modern identity is a hollow, inflated fraud. They’re not a symbol of protest; they’re a symbol of how fucking empty this club’s moral cupboard is. While the charges detail a systematic effort to cheat the entire league, the fans’ big statement is a piece of novelty fruit. It’s the football equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and yelling 'la la la' while the bailiffs are knocking the door down.
Meanwhile, the team is having its best start since 1897, a stat that now reeks of absolute bullshit. Every win is tainted, every goal funded by that alleged eight hundred and thirty million pound lie. The 'environment was very good,' says Maresca. Yeah, it’s always good when you’re stealing the fucking cutlery. This isn’t defiance; it’s the petulant, entitled whine of a club that got caught with its hand in the cookie jar and is now crying because the jar has an alarm. A bunch of absolute cunts, from the boardroom to the stands, pretending a few boos and some yellow plastic makes them rebels instead of the greedy, cheating bastards they are.
