At 9am BST on Wednesday, mcfc.co.uk will reveal who the Blues will face on the first weekend of the 2013/14 league campaign, and if the last two years are anything to go by we can expect a high scoring game!
A dramatic 3-2 victory over newly-promoted Southampton was on the menu last year, while the Blues kicked off the title-winning season by beating Swansea 4-0.
We didn’t always have it so good! The Blues didn’t record a win on a Premier League opening day until the 2003/04 season, when finally the curse seemed broken as Kevin Keegan’s men put three past Charlton Athletic without reply.
City had already made six attempts to get their Premier League season off to a flyer, but had recorded three draws and three losses, as well as spending five opening days outside the top flight.
It was the first of five victories recorded on the first weekend after the long summer, and City are now unbeaten in their last four opening day games – last suffering start of the season nerves in 2008, when Aston Villa won an entertaining match 4-2 at Villa Park.
The Blues’ first ever game in the Premier League was also the first ever Monday night fixture broadcast live on Sky. The country looked on – via their television sets – as City and QPR drew 1-1 in 1992.
A change to the back pass rule also coincided with the formation of the Premier League, preventing goalkeepers from picking the ball up if a teammate had intentionally kicked it back to them.
That message didn’t appear to have got through to Blues stopper Tony Coton, who picked up a back pass early on, although fortunately the referee allowed play to continue.
More recently, seven of City’s 20 opening day goals in the Premier League era have come in the last two years – so let’s hope Blues fans are cheering a few more strikes as we kick off 2013/14!
