Meaning: When you are in a very difficult or dangerous situation, especially one that makes you understand the true value of people or things.
A statement which could not have been more poignant on the evening of 19 November 2011 when Newcastle United visited the Etihad Stadium.
The story you are about to read does not unfold a tale of a devastating defeat, embarrassing blunder or outrageous own-goal - it’s much, much worse than that.
It was the day the Etihad Stadium kiosks ran out of chips...
(Or so the legend claims!)
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Once upon a time, in the land of East Manchester, a Premier League football match took place as Manchester City entertained Newcastle.
Hosts City had savoured a delectable unbeaten record against the Magpies, tasting victory in seven of our previous nine meetings.
That run looked to be extending when Mario Balotelli opened the scoring four minutes before the break, tucking away a penalty, although the Italian’s unimpressed celebration would prove a sign of things to come!
The fans relished a quickfire second helping, as Micah Richards doubled the lead, volleying home just four minutes later. The ever-chipper fan favourite certainly enjoyed his strike... but the mood would turn sour a matter of minutes later.
As the half-time whistle blew and the players headed back to the dressing room, a terri-frying announcement was broadcast over the tannoy and big screens.
It read: “We are very sorry, chips are unavailable on the concourse today.”
To say the news didn’t go down too well would be an understatement...
Cue a chorus of boos and chants of: ‘Who ate all the chips?’ (amongst other jeers) before a mass sprint to the kiosks in the hope of snaffling the last pickings of potato!
Some of the ‘hanger’ was directed at the opposition fans!
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Big screens announce that there are no chips available on the concourse at the Etihad Stadium this half time. Queue masses of boos! Ha ha!
— Manchester City (@ManCity) November 19, 2011
Any optimists in the audience who hoped the announcement had all been a distasteful joke were left feeling empty when a second message flashed to provide confirmation: ‘Due to unforseen circumstances, there are no chips available during half-time today.’
So amusing was the situation, it’s still fondly remembered to this day as ‘Chipgate’ and caused further hilarity in the days that followed across social media.
@MCFC @aguerosergiokun @NUFC I remember when we ran out of chips. That was awful.
— Alan Phoenix-Bates (@sp3ccylad) April 19, 2016
#cityhorrorshows running out of chips haha @mcfc @fanzonedanny
— Rikki Williams (@Rikki1612) July 13, 2012
Rumours of the seasoning (sorry, reasoning) behind the tattie-strophic mishap circulated, feeding the controversy, and the Club felt compelled to dig out the truth...
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As the root cause was identi-fried, a statement was released to satisfy the growing hunger for answers, explaining that the problem was not due to a lack of chips but in fact an issue with the gas supply.
Quite simply, we couldn’t heat them up!
#mcfc statement re no chips at halftime v Newcastle "The Chips were put in the fryers but refused to warm up"
— Ian Cheeseman (@IanCheeseman) November 19, 2011
A two-for-one offer was also added to the menu for the next home game against Norwich - and the City fans were treated to another feast of goals, as Roberto Mancini’s men demolished the Canaries with a 5-1 win!
Now that really is a case of cashing in your chips!
