Imre Banana - Janice Monk

[Arjan Van Schotte]

Where it all started :)

"We need to take away the stanley knives and the hooligans:

[youtube]oTmaXOcwdRo[/youtube]

[9secondlegend]

i wonder if the bird at 1.26 is still worth one?

[Arjan Van Schotte]

i wonder if the bird at 1.26 is still worth one?

isn't she married to lee chapman?

[ant london]

I remember sitting in the car outside that souvenir shop waiting for my dad to go in and buy me

this shirt

God I can remember it like it was yesterday......fantastic stuff. Thanks for posting that Arjan!

[Goaters 103]

Wife's Uncle and her 3 cousins are in that clip - good stuff. One glaring omission though - where is The Frankenstein Monster?

[Slim]

There was a really well written piece about the inflatable craze, I think it was during a 0-0 at Selhurst Park, talked about a war between dinosaurs and sharks. Ring a bell for anyone?

[lets all have a disco]

Brilliant kit.

Moulden's leather jacket is a belter aswell,i remember that shop like it was yesterday my oh my how far weve come.

[1950]

There was a really well written piece about the inflatable craze, I think it was during a 0-0 at Selhurst Park, talked about a war between dinosaurs and sharks. Ring a bell for anyone?

http://mcivta.com/bananas.html

Sharks, dinosaurs, Godzilla, Frankenstein's Monster. All in there.

[Slim]

There was a really well written piece about the inflatable craze, I think it was during a 0-0 at Selhurst Park, talked about a war between dinosaurs and sharks. Ring a bell for anyone?

http://mcivta.com/bananas.html

Sharks, dinosaurs, Godzilla, Frankenstein's Monster. All in there.

Unfortunately not the one I was after, cheers though.

[craigmcfc]

Whenever I think of Maine Road, one of the first thing that pops into my head is Janice Monk. Every Christmas my mum and dad would make a special trip over from West Yorks with me and spend a fair amount in the souvenir shop.

Without fail each year it was Janice that served us. She was also the first person that I saw when we moved to CoMS in the new store. She's retired now I believe but will always be one of the faces of City.

[Blue Toy]

Isn't Janice Stan Gibson's (RIP) daughter? Pretty sure of it. She still goes to every game she sits quite close to me and is looking well.

[9secondlegend]

Wife's Uncle and her 3 cousins are in that clip - good stuff. One glaring omission though - where is The Frankenstein Monster?

haha i remember franky at filbert st

[Blue In Bolton]

Happy days!! Thanks also for posting that Arjan. Brings back some happy memories.

[craigmcfc]

Isn't Janice Stan Gibson's (RIP) daughter? Pretty sure of it. She still goes to every game she sits quite close to me and is looking well.

Indeed she is

[Arjan Van Schotte]

My first game was away at Sheff Wed in about 87 so i found this and it brought back so many memories!

[gary james]

Nice reminder. It all looks so dated now though!

Whenever I've done research on the earliest years I've always read/heard stuff that was topical at the time but often mystifying (politics/comedy of the period etc.). It's most notable on the stuff from the 1930s (homecoming and their patronising way of talking about Mancunians and so on). Watching this though and listening to comments like: "There's even a fried egg, ignoring Edwina's advice" I've realised that those comments will be as mystifying to young supporters as stuff from the 30s.

It's incredible how soon references date! (for anyone who doesn't know Edwina was MP Edwina Currie and her advice was to cook eggs properly to avoid salmonella etc. - a big story at the time!).

The first person to take an inflatable banana to a game was Frank Newton - Oldham away.

[Arjan Van Schotte]

The first person to take an inflatable banana to a game was Frank Newton - Oldham away.

haha - that's quite a claim to make gary! I've lost count of the amount of mates who i've got that all invented the very same chants!

[gary james]

The first person to take an inflatable banana to a game was Frank Newton - Oldham away.

haha - that's quite a claim to make gary! I've lost count of the amount of mates who i've got that all invented the very same chants!

It's true. There was loads of TV interviews, press coverage and so on at the time. I included it in my 1989 book "From Maine Men To Banana Citizens" as well. It's a widely known fact and has been widely documented.

The Imre Banana name/chant came a little later.

I agree that many myths develop over the years, but this one is a definite and was never challenged back in 1987-88 when the craze started.

EDIT: Meant to add that some imagery from my 1989 bokk "From Maine Men To Banana Citizens" can be seen on my new facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=28 ... aid=281359

Some of the stuff about Frank Newton is in that photo album (quite a bit on bananas towards the end of the album). Images from my other books can also be seen in the other folders there.

[gary james]

I've just posted an edited image from "From Maine Men To Banana Citizens" which includes an old newspaper cutting that talks of the craze starting and Frank's role in it. He also mentions the West Brom game where he reckoned the Imre Banana chant started.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=28 ... 15&theater

In that article he says he took it to the Plymouth game at the start of the 1987-88 season, and in the book I tell of it appearing at Boundary Park - a game played in torrential rain when most of us were stood on the open end. That day the banana lifted morale.

Hope this helps.

[Arjan Van Schotte]

nice one gary - top skills :)

I must admit - I was 16 in 1989 and wouldn't have been seen dead with an inflatable then coz i was far too cool for all that. I did however wear the same pair of farahs combined with a pair adidas oxfords every single time i left the house. cool y'see :)