4 Manchester City Nicknames You Didn’t Know

Manchester City are one of two teams located in Manchester, England. They are Premier League powerhouses, being classed as one of the “top 6” sides in the country alongside Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham.

Like most football clubs, Manchester City have a number of nicknames, used mainly by their supporters but also by journalists and pundits. If you’re unaware what their nicknames are, this article is for you. Read on to learn four Manchester City nicknames that you didn’t know.

How Many Manchester City Nicknames Are There?

Manchester City have four main nicknames, which are mainly used by their supporters:

1. City
2. The Sky Blues
3. The Cityzens
4. Shark Team

1. City

The most basic Manchester City nickname in our list is “City”. It’s not uncommon to hear herds of their fans chanting “City, city, city” before and during their matches. Watch a rendition of Hey Jude by The Beatles, where Manchester City fans refer to their team as City during the song:

2. The Sky Blues

Another straightforward Manchester City nickname is ‘The Sky Blues’. This is reflective of the sky blue coloured home kit that the club have worn since their formation. Sometimes they are referred to as just the “blues”, but the nickname sky blues helps avoid any confusion with other teams that wear blue coloured home kits, such as Chelsea.

3. The Cityzens

Another key Manchester City nickname that’s worth discussing is “The Cityzens”. This nickname derived from one of their more obvious nicknames, “City” and is both a nickname for the team and its supporters.

We believe that this nickname is a slight dig at their red Manchester neighbours, implying that the blue half of Manchester are the main citizens of the city. There is further fuel to this accusation, as Manchester United are renowned for having a lot of non-local fans.

This nickname is regularly used by the club. For example, if you go onto the Manchester City website, you’re able to sign up for a ‘Cityzens Membership’. They also launched a ‘Cityzens at Home’ programme, which helped fans remain close to the club during the COVID-19 pandemic. This programme included different challenges, classes and some football training videos.

4. Shark Team

The most obscure Manchester City nickname in our list is “Shark Team”. This was started by their defender Benjamin Mendy and is in reference to the time when Pep Guardiola’s side went on a staggering run of 18 consecutive Premier League wins.

They went on this run during the 2017/18 season, with it ending after a 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace in late 2017. City went on to win the league that season, achieving a mammoth 100 points. After Mendy had come up with the nickname “Shark Team” fans and players wore t-shirts with the nickname on prior to their 7-2 victory over Stoke City in October 2017.

The nickname basically means that Manchester City are a shark that “eats” other sides up, similar to how a shark would eat some of its prey.

What Do Manchester United Fans Call Manchester City Fans?

Now let’s take a look at a Manchester City nickname gifted to them from the red half of Manchester. United fans will sometimes refer to City fans as “Berties” as well as calling the Etihad stadium the “the Emptyhad”.

Berties

In a widely read Manchester United fanzine, a character named ‘Bertie Magoo the Bitter Blue‘ was used to represent the commonly held view of Manchester City fans.

The character Bertie was represented as a middle-aged, bald man with a blue nose bearing the word ‘Loser‘ and wearing a t-shirt that read ‘Bell better than Best‘. This slogan was in reference to City icon Colin Bell and United legend George Best.

Enjoy the ramblings of a disgruntled Bertie in the following video:

Conclusion

Although Manchester City have several different nicknames, there are only a couple that are typically used by their fans in the modern day. Manchester City nicknames “City” and “The Sky Blues” are arguably the most commonly used, with “The Cityzens” and “Shark Team” being used a lot less frequently.

We hope that you learned something new today in this Elastico article.

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