But while he spent his childhood on the terraces at Maine Road, Martin has spent the past 32 years following City from Houston, helping to establish their Official Supporters Club branch.
This week though, he returns to Manchester to see Pep Guardiola’s men take on Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium.
Despite living thousands of miles away, the significance of the game isn’t lost on him or his fellow US-based supporters.
“The Champions League is the ultimate goal,” began Martin. “Living in the US, I know just how big of a deal the Champions League is worldwide.”
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Martin’s parents were drawn to Manchester from Ireland for work and, despite being born in Stretford and their distant affiliation to Manchester United, he was quickly persuaded to follow City by a friend who told him “he had it all wrong”.
“When I was 10 my Mum bought me a season ticket in the Platt Lane stand,” said Martin. “If you were a kid, you really wanted to be in the Kippax which was standing. I used to sell my season ticket outside and then I would go round and pay to get into the Kippax, so we always found a way of getting in.”
Martin remembers his first game at Maine Road vividly, watching City in our final game of the 1976/77 season against Everton.
Brian Kidd gave City the lead 20 minutes in but Toffees captain Mick Lyons’ equaliser in the 79th minute prevented us from being crowned Division One champions.
But the disappointment of the defeat had no impact on Martin’s love for the beautiful game.
“Growing up as a child in Manchester it was only football. It wasn’t just you supporting the team, it was all you did,” said Martin.
“As soon as you got a break at school you went outside and played and most of the time you didn’t even have a real ball. Football was just everything.”
Martin was so obsessed with City as a child he even scoured the phone book looking for City players who had landlines.
“We found Tommy Booth who was a defender for City. Me and my friend Tommy called him up and he spent 20 minutes on the phone with us talking,” said Martin as he chuckled over the phone.
It’s at this point where the second pillar of Mancunian heritage comes into play.
At 18 years old, he was hired to work at the iconic Hacienda nightclub in 1985. He became the first DJ to play a Stone Roses record and quickly became good friends with fellow DJ and City fan Mike Pickering, as well as New Order’s manager Rob Gretton.
“Initially I was DJing at The Hacienda on Tuesdays for a night we called The Summer of Love,” Martin explained.
“Phil Saxe was the Happy Mondays manager and he would bring them down to expose them to some of the sounds he grew up with. John Squire, Ian Brown and Cressa from the Stone Roses were also regular attendees.
“The Happy Mondays rehearsed downstairs and I asked them to play at my 21st birthday. They obliged for the fee of two cases of lager. I even got to join in on stage with a tambourine or two.”
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Martin would spend some years attending Maine Road with Pickering and Gretton before moving to Houston, Texas in 1990.
At the time, Martin admitted it was difficult – and not cheap – to keep up to date with City scores from the other side of the world.
“It was such a solitary existence. Games would be on at 6am. I remember going to the Rangers FC pub in the suburbs of Houston. I called the night before and they said they would be showing the game.
“I got a taxi there and they weren’t open! But some of the night staff were in there cleaning, they couldn’t let me in because they’d get into trouble, but they turned the TVs for me so I could watch the game from outside.”
Martin endeavoured to make following his beloved City, and fellow blues in the US, an easier prospect.
And after years of dedicated City fans meeting every week, in 2019 Martin was part of the founding members who formed the Houston OSC.
“Michele Shephard found a place,” began Martin. “We were just happy to have a place to go and watch the games, it wasn’t on my mind to form an Official Supporters Club, but Michele was the one who really did all the work for it.
“She told me we have around 280 supporters now and we are the biggest branch in Texas.”
And through the OSC Martin got the pleasure of not just seeing the Premier League trophy last summer during the Trophy Tour, but City players themselves.
“Our [OSC] home base now is a place called The Phoenix which is at the end of my road and they brought the Premier League trophy there – at the end of my road! It was a surreal fantasy moment,” Martin exclaimed.
“One of the highlights of my life (never mind career) was when Rodrigo, Nathan Ake, Kevin De Bruyne and a number of staff came in to a place I work for a birthday dinner.
“And they requested Bad Bunny! So that was a big thrill for me getting to play for an hour or so for them.”
And it is through the OSC that Martin is able to return to Manchester to watch his beloved City take on Real Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final.
“I remember my first European game which was against Borussia Monchengladbach in what would have been the UEFA Cup in 1978 I think.
“This is our third year in a row and I really feel like this is the one. The team we have now, just the way everything has been clicking, I just cannot take it for granted this moment. This is the moment.”
