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Now the Blues have made it big in... Hollywood! 19 Mar 2013 10:47
We invite you to meet the ‘Beverly Hills Blues’ – a group of Manchester City fans who are so dedicated they're in the pub at 7am, watching their team play... 5,000 miles away.
The bar is a sea of blue – Manchester City fans with eyes glued to the screens, pints in hand.
Nothing unusual about that. Except this is Hollywood, one of the most glamorous locations on the planet. And it is seven o’clock in the morning.
Meet the ‘Beverly Hills Blues’ – the Hollywood branch of City’s foreign legion. They are a large and growing mix of lifelong ex-pat fans and American recruits from the world’s capital of film.
The group was formed in May last year, on the eve of City’s dramatic Premier League title win.
Two men – Matthew Kershaw, 41, and Paul Carnall, 50 – knew their club were on the verge of something historic.
They found each other through a supporters’ online forum, and the Hollywood MCFC group was born.
Their first match was the last-gap win against QPR that secured the title. They cried in each other’s arms.
The group now boasts around 150 members, with a hardcore of around 40 regularly turning out at the Kings Head II in Studio City – the group’s main meeting point – to watch matches from as early as 4am.
Paul, a native Wiganer who now lives in Studio City, said: “City had beaten Norwich 6-1 in the middle of April.
“That was the turning point for me. Momentum was growing and I thought I’m not watching the last game on my own.”
South African-born Matthew started supporting City as a nine-year-old after watching the 1981 FA Cup final with his Tottenham-fan dad. He said: “Since dad supported Spurs, naturally I had to support the other team. I’ve been a City supporter ever since. I get over to watch them live a couple of times a year. It’s not always been easy.
"Being a City fan has always been very lonely unless you live in Manchester. But awareness is really growing now. Even in America people are beginning to realise there are two teams in Manchester.”
While City’s galaxy of world-class stars – and Premier League win – have certainly boosted their profile in America, it isn’t Sheikh Mansour, Roberto Mancini or Yaya Toure who have been the club’s most effective recruiting sergeants on the other side of the Atlantic.
That role has been taken by Noel and Liam Gallagher.
Most of the Hollywood group’s American-born members started supporting City in the 1990s and early 2000s – when the team was struggling, but the Blues-mad brothers were in their Oasis prime.
Bernadette Gilbey, a 38-year-old Los Angeles native, was one of four people at the first-ever meet-up of the Hollywood group. She said: “I was in England 18 years ago and watched Oasis. I was a huge fan.
“There was an interview with the Gallaghers and all they talked about was City. I had no interest before that – I wasn’t even a soccer fan.
“But the Gallaghers were so passionate about it. We were just converted. Since then I’ve been to Maine Road and the new stadium. It’s incredible how much has changed.”
The ex-pats include Andy Gillespie, 46, originally from Middleton but now living in Simi Valley.
He came to visit his mum’s cousin in 1995 – and never left.
He said: “I figured I would stay for six months and ended up staying for good. I came here the day after we were beaten 4-0 by Liverpool in the cup. Back then you’d have to wait until Monday and read the results in the LA Times – or sometimes I’d ring my mum. I’ve been a City fan all my life. In the 1980s I’d follow them home and away.
“It’s hard to grasp how bad we really were back then. I doubt many United fans would have cried tears of joy like we did when we won the cup.
“Watching City is the one thing I miss about England. It was a great day out. For years here there would be no one else with me. Now there is.”
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