Manchester City
Supporting City is serious business. For anyone who’s watched this club for years – through the lean times before the money poured in, through the nearlys and the title deciders settled by goal difference on the final minute of the final day – knows that it runs deep. History means something. So when it came to sourcing gifts for City fans we approached the task with the proper reverence, knowing they would approach unwrapping them the same way.
Most football gifts aren’t considered. They’re lazy. A tubacky mug. A keyring from a garage. Not gifts at all really. Tokens aping the notion of a present, that tell you nothing about the person you’re supposed to be buying for. We didn’t want that. What we wanted were gifts that told us something about the person you’re buying for. That show their support for City is about more than just rocking a blue shirt.
Everything in this collection has been handpicked by us, filtered through one simple question. Would we confidently give this to a City fan we cared about? Would we feel embarrassed handing it over? It’s a higher bar than it sounds. Countless tubacky mugs were rejected on those grounds. With the remaining stuff, we looked for items that would earn their keep in someone’s home or life. Whether that’s because they’re exceptionally well made, or because they say something true about City and the city it comes from.
Which brings us to Manchester. City cannot be seperated from its hometown. From the east side of the city. From Moss Side. From the Etihad standing tall where Maine Road once did. The best gifts here recognise that. They appreciate that while you’ll find people supporting City all over the world, the club cannot be extricated from the place and community it came from. So they mean something. To anyone who’s lived alongside the club, or grew into supporting it. To anyone who chose City and never looked back.
Got a City fan who’s birthday coming up? Buying a Christmas present? Someone that just watched City lift another trophy? Here are the gifts worth buying. Cheers for sorting the crowd pleasers from the goodies, you won’t have to spend ages scrolling through loads of rubbish to find something worthwhile.