And we also want to see your flags, scarves, inflatables and anything else that can inspire the lads to Wembley.
The yellow peril has become part of the Club’s folklore and have been a staple part of matchdays for City fans for more almost 30 years and occasionally make a welcome comeback for special occasions.
Their initial arrival centered mainly around the 1988–89 season and proved to be a colourful affair, especially on the Kippax at Maine Road or at away grounds and the Blues’ faithful were rightly praised by the media for bringing some much-needed humour back to a dull period for the club and football in general.
Why bananas? Well, one theory is the club have been known to slip-up on a few banana skins in the past, so that’s in with a shout and another is Imre Varadi, a crowd favourite of the day, had a surname that sounded a bit like a banana.
However the most creditable tale is that Frank Newton, a City fan and computer analyst, was the man who started the tradition.
The legend goes that Frank brought his inflatable banana to Maine Road after borrowing it from a mate in Leeds back in 1987.
It was around that time that popular striker Imre Varadi was on City’s books and away to West Brom, the chant for Varadi went up and with the banana among the away fans at The Hawthorns, the chant became Imre Banana.
From there, the craze of bringing various blow-up bits of fruit, toys, monsters and suchlike caught on and supporters at other clubs had their own varied themes, though City always led the way.
Of the rest, Stoke City and their legions of Pink Panthers were among the best while Grimsby Town’s ‘Harry the Haddocks’ was original and Norwich City adopted yellow canaries.
Bananas made something of a minor comeback in 2006/07 and have never really gone away.
Make sure you bring yours on Wednesday night, or if you’re sat in Level 1, you’ll find one on your seat so we can see if the old inflatables can still work their magic…
Take us to Wembley!
City face Everton in the second leg of the Capital One Cup semi final on Wednesday 27 January, in what’s set to be a thrilling night of cup football at the Etihad.
Tickets are available to buy online at mcfc.co.uk/tickets by telephone on
