Despite the grim situation surrounding the financial scandal, Manchester City won the top-of-the-table clash at Liverpool FC. Fans and players celebrated together – with inflatable bananas.
Liverpool FC fans expressed their displeasure in various ways following Manchester City’s conviction in the financial scandal. This came as little surprise, given that the Reds had finished the 2013/14, 2018/19 and 2020/21 seasons in second place behind Man City.
The Citizens certainly hadn’t expected such a warm welcome at Anfield Road. In the end, however, they got the job done and celebrated their away win in front of the away end. Some of the City players may well have wondered what all the fuss was about regarding a rather unusual fan prop.
Whilst the home fans repeatedly hurled barbs towards the away supporters’ section, the City fans were clearly enjoying themselves, holding hundreds of inflatable bananas aloft. The story behind this goes back a long way.
A bet and a fan chant as the origin?
There are various theories as to the exact origin of this yellow plastic accessory’s first appearance, which even the club itself cannot fully confirm. One possible explanation relates to former City striker Imre Varadi, who scored goals for the Citizens between 1986 and 1988. According to the club, the fact that some fans chanted “Imre Banana” instead could mark the beginning of the banana’s history.
According to The Guardian, this chant in turn stemmed from a bet between Man City fan Frank Newton and his friend Allen Busby. Newton reportedly brought an inflatable banana, designed by friends, to the stadium on the spur of the moment. When he held it aloft as Varadi came on as a substitute, the chants of “Imre Varadi” in the stand promptly turned to “Imre Banana” – and the moment went viral.
“He was in the right place at the right time, so perhaps it’s possible,” Man City speculates on its website regarding the connection with Varadi. What is clear, however, is a parallel between that era and the present day, which explains the resurgence of the bananas.
Frankenstein also made an appearance once
The late 1980s had been a bleak period not only for ManCity, but also for English football in general. In the wake of the Heysel disaster – a stampede during the 1984–85 European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus – most English clubs were banned from international football by UEFA for five years. ManCity, for its part, was flitting between the lower and upper divisions at the time.
So the Citizens’ supporters came up with the idea of refusing to mope, at least in the stands. Alongside the ever-popular bananas, inflatable Frankenstein or dinosaur figures could also be seen from time to time. There were no limits to the imagination in the fight against the gloomy mood.
In the context of the financial scandal and its uncertain consequences, the bananas thus served once again, many years later, as a symbol of solidarity and resilience. “The message is: this fanbase has always been on a rollercoaster ride,” the City supporters’ group “1894” had explained in the run-up to the top-of-the-table clash.
