Should you find yourself here reading Part Two, please go read Part One of this article by clicking here.

Kick-off was around fifteen minutes away now, I had found my seat and was eagerly anticipating what could possibly unravel. A man sitting two seats away from me introduced himself as Paul and we shook hands and I instantly felt welcome, I was also impressed that he would do such a thing. In a way it didn’t feel real, my eyes were constantly wandering, I could feel myself being influenced by what was going on around me. Sudden chorus’s of Bluemoon and half hearted attempts by the United fans grabbed my attention. I looked to my right, all of the City end was now full to the brim of partying Blues. I then looked to my left, for a moment I wondered to myself if the United end had actually sold out because it was still only half full and very close to kick-off. My ticket had ultimately come through a company that sponsors David Silva and I was waiting for ‘the guy’ to come and sit next to me that sold me the ticket. He arrived just minutes before kick-off and this is defiantly the time that the saying ‘It’s a small world’ comes into action, I knew him from school. We hardly had anytime to say hello when the players arrived out of the tunnel. Can I just quickly point out that my predicted starting-line up from a previous blog entry was all correct except I had chosen Milner instead of Johnson.

It was time, the floating camera in the sky had whizzed past and the players were out of their tracksuit tops and were in formation waiting for the referee’s whistle. Vincent Kompany and Nemanja Vidić had shaken hands, we had won the toss and chose to stay at our end of the stadium. The big screen suddenly zoomed in right on Wayne Rooney, a big boooooooo came from the City fans and you could see a little smile on his face. United kicked-off and we were under way at Wembley.

The first thing I remember was singing, the City fans sung almost non-stop for the first ten minutes of the match, especially during the periods we had the ball. Mario Balotelli was working hard upfront on his own, chasing down each of the United centre backs when they were in possession. Kompany looked at home straight away but Lescott seemed a bit nervy, you could see it in his legs whenever he touched the ball but rest assured he was fine soon enough. The next major point in the game was the Berbatov chances, I was level with Gareth Barry on the pitch when he did that strange backwards pass to Lescott on the stretch which instantly United turned into a one-on-one with Hart. My heart sunk, I knew United were going to score because it was in such a great position, then Hart came flying out, he had his body spread similar to how Schmeichel had done a million times before for United, what a save. The fans behind the goal celebrated the save like we had scored, when straight away Berbatov found himself in the middle of goal, an open net with Kolarov a few steps behind him. The ball came flying in at his feet, he stretched for it and I knew then that United were going to score. The United fans were cheering but we were cheering louder, how Berbatov managed to miss that chance I will never know, I would miss those chances week-in-week-out for half the wages he was receiving if anyone’s interested in signing me up. City then went on to have a few chances of their own through Barry, Balotelli, Lescott and Kompany but all to no avail. The half time whistle blew and I remember thinking to myself that I was happy/relieved we had made it to half time having not conceded and not trailing.

During the half time interval, I mostly looked around, my friend had gone to the toilet so I was free to imagine. I took a few photographs using my mobile phone and watched the entertainment which was taking penalties at Dave Beasant, that was a bit of a letdown but it passed the time. Before I knew it, it was time to kick-off again. The teams had remained unchanged and it was as you were in the Semi Final of the FA Cup. This half had a different feel to it, City started to show the United players less respect and we were flying into challenges. Pablo Zabaleta was not taking any prisoners yet he was winning the ball every time, Gareth Barry was getting stuck in too. City gradually worked their way into the match, United and in particular Scholes had taken a strong hold on the centre of midfield during the first half and it wasn’t until we had come to terms with this that we really started to look like we could go on to win this. We were dominating from the off and before you knew it we had scored. I was sat right near the front but more towards the half way line, from my angle it looked like a very easy goal and it wasn’t until I saw a replay on the screen had I realised that Yaya Toure had done so well. He came and slid just to our right and I have never celebrated so much in my life, I jumped up and down like I was on a trampoline shouting “yessssssss, yessssssss, yesssssssss” for about five minutes continuously. Everyone around me was the same, I had my arms on people all around me, and they were jumping too. Then out came the Poznan, “let’s all do the Poznan, let’s all do the Poznan, naa, naa, naa, na”! I cannot describe the feeling in words but I will never forget this moment as long as I live.

Now this game was ours to lose, we were dominating possession and position but in my mind as a City fan there is always that feeling of anything can happen. I spent the rest of the half watching and analysing the situation in my head, United were having chances but everything seemed to end up in Joe Hart’s hands. At one point I remember hearing from behind me, “Oi, are you a red”, so I quickly turned round and spotted trouble on the row behind me. A City fan had noticed a United fan sat in the City end on the row in front of him, he was far from happy and took it out by repeatedly punching the man in the back of the head. He quickly moved towards the stewards and was gone, people around him told him to leave him alone but then he questioned whether they were reds too, luckily one had a City tattoo on his arm which calmed everything right down and we were back to normal. Nani was lining up a free kick at the time, the one that... you guessed it... went straight down Hart’s throat.

What happened next could not have been better written, Paul Scholes the United legend was sent off for a disgraceful challenge on Pablo Zabaleta. “Cheerio, cheerio, cheeriooo”, we waved goodbye to him as he walked towards the tunnel, I received text messages from friends telling me they had seen me on TV waving goodbye to Scholes. I knew then that this was a chance like no other for us to make it into the final. The picture of me can be seen below but the much better video can be seen by clicking here.

The final whistle drew closer and closer, I wanted the game to end sooner rather than later but on the other hand I was having a great time and so were all the other City fans. The United end was clearing quickly and for what seemed like the longest five minutes of extra time ever my heart was in my mouth. United came close twice through Evra who should have concentrated more on not being left in the dust by Shaun Wright-Phillips and Adam Johnson rather than smashing the ball into side netting. Then we heard it, the final whistle... oh wait, no it wasn’t. We played on with a goal kick by Joe Hart, there it was... the final whistle and up went a loud cheer of celebration. In a way it did feel like we had won something, but we hadn’t, at least we were now in with a chance of winning something. Our first final in 30 years!!!

We had yet another party in the stands, the inflatables were everywhere, scarf’s were swinging and the fans were singing. Straight away the sore losers showed their true colours, Anderson and Rio Ferdinand were looking for any sort of excuse. Balotelli was the easy target who kissed his badge towards the United end from the half way line. Someone should have told the United players that all their fans had left already anyway. We didn’t realise there was a practise fire drill at our of the stadium end because there must have been something that made the United fans leave so quickly. The players did the Poznan which was a nice touch after being asked to do so by fans at a meeting a few days before the match. I didn’t want to leave the stadium, we waved the players off and I grabbed an inflatable beach ball that was my souvenir of the day.

As soon as I left the ground (with a huge smile on my face) there was trouble, United fans walking along next to City fans. Are the people that organised this a bit simple because what did they expect to happen? A few fist fights broke out but nothing too serious, it was right where I had arranged to meet my brother so I was worried about him. Luckily it all died down and we were able to make our way to the City coach parking area. It was yet again another party, I felt someone grab me from behind, and it was a friend from back home who started crying with joy. We waited around for the area and roads to clear and we were back on the coach home.

The journey home seemed much quicker than the journey down, my bum didn’t get numb once and I spent almost the whole time talking to my brother about the game. We had the radio on listening to some daft United fans ring in to Robbie Savage complaining about one thing or another and we just spent that time cheering. We arrived home around 1am where I instantly went to my bedroom and watched the match again, I was on a natural high and didn’t want to go to sleep. I used the #cityatwembley hash tag on twitter like I had been doing all day and it was used by Manchester City on their fans view of the day on the website. It can be seen below, my tweet is the top one @AndySlow.

Eventually I felt tired and retired to my bed, I managed to watch the whole match before falling asleep. I woke the next morning and got ready for work, for some reason I had never looked so forward to work in my life!!!

Now where do I begin? Should I gloat about Manchester City beating Manchester United 1-0... No! Should I prematurely over-react about Manchester City reaching their first FA Cup final in 30 years... No! What impressed me the most was the Manchester City fans because I have never felt so proud of being a blue in my life!!!

My journey began at 6:30am on Saturday morning, which is a big deal for me because I have not been up early in a couple of years. I had no problem getting myself out of bed, making my way to the shower and eating my bowl of cereal. My dad drove my brother, his girlfriend and myself to Manchester Airport where we were due to meet our coach that would take us all the way to London. Within an hour of being sat on the coach my bum was aching, I could feel myself constantly adjusting position which made the journey feel like it lasted forever. The highlight of the journey down was the DVD the driver put on for us, it was of course the Manchester City review for the 08/09 season. I heard someone close to me say, “You know what, just as I was waiting for this coach I was thinking to myself I would love to see a review of the classic 08/09 season”, brilliant!

On the way down I kept one eye on the road next to me, looking out for both Manchester City fans to wave to and Manchester United fans to erm... ‘wave to’. I was quite surprised in the end, as on the way I only saw one car that clearly contained Manchester United fans compared to hundreds of mini buses, cars, coaches and even limousines filled full of blues. We stopped off at a service station half way in the Birmingham area that I can only assume was a designated Manchester City only service station... I ate my pot of pasta & drank my drink of Lucozade and we were back on the road.

You could tell we had arrived when the coach lit up with City fans pointing at the Wembley arch that had appeared over the horizon, instantly the butterflies in my belly appeared. We stopped off at our destination, a Manchester City fans only men’s club called Willesden. The club was a bit run down when you looked closely but it was hard to notice with the songs filling the place with blue passion. All the usual songs came out like the “invisible man”, “blue moon” and “the best team in the land and all the world”. One song in particular stuck in my mind, maybe it was because it was sung non-stop for about an hour and that was “Never felt more like singing the blues, when City in and United lose... Ooooh City, you got me singing the blues”. People were using notice boards, glass bottles on tables and stamping their feet like drums, you can see my brother’s video of the place, here.

Finally the time came for us to get the tube which was actually above ground to Wembley, we waited on the platform for about a minute and we all pilled on and mingled in with a couple of United fans. The songs started straight away, I will not repeat them as they are far too explicit for this family orientated blog but I am sure you can imagine. We exited the tube at the station, walked through one of those annoying little gates that snatch the ticket out of your hand and there it was in all its glory, Wembley.

We were surrounded by Manchester United fans, they were stood on top of the bridge and walkways hurling abuse, drinks and anything they could get their hands on in our direction. We just stuck to the middle and smiled at them, what a bunch... They were constantly looking for trouble, groups of United fans were picking out City fans hoping for a reaction, apparently it was the other way around after the match. The police did the best they could using horses and man power to maintain the gap between the sets of fans but the United fans were angry beyond reason, maybe they should try and enjoy the day rather than try and spoil somebody else’s. Don’t get me wrong, of course there were City fans causing trouble too and that is something I disagree with, but its all part of football and as long as it’s two fans of opposite teams that are both looking for a fight then let them get on with it. They should be arrested within minutes anyway.

We walked up the platform to our side of the stadium, arranged a meeting point for after the game and I separated from my brother and his girlfriend, I was now alone but I didn’t care. I scanned my ticket at gate H and went straight to the toilet, best to get that out of the way before kick off if you ask me... Then it was time, the size and height of the place takes you back, I mean it wasn’t as big as the Nou Camp but the shape and beauty of the place was something to behold. I wasn’t too keen on the colour of the red seats but after fifteen minutes our side turned blue. I read an article in the Guardian that read:-

“There was little doubt, even several hours before the kick‑off, who wanted it more.”

“City's fans had poured into north London early in the afternoon while United's hordes were still sauntering through the satnav nightmare imposed by a scrapyard fire under the M1. The light blue masses were in place in the stadium's western half long before their red counterparts had taken their seats, and with that bizarre backs‑to‑the‑pitch dance, borrowed from Lech Poznan, and the dozens of flags, beach balls and inflatable bananas, the City end looked and sounded like a giant street party.”

“United's support merely stood there, as if this was the kind of spectacle to which they are accustomed every week, warranting no special display of exuberance. If perhaps half of all the United supporters had turned up wearing replica shirts, the figure at the other end must have been closer to 90%.”

I could not have written it better myself. It was a blue party and we were all invited and very much involved. I was sat in an area of the ground that was considered slightly more family orientated but even the elderly and children were singing and swinging scarfs around their heads. I looked to my left at the United end, it was only a quarter full and I could have swore I saw a tumble weed blow by... One of my Manchester United fan friends told me it was “just another semi final to them” and we couldn’t half tell. Right in front of me was where the City substitutes were warming up, Dzeko, Viera, Boyata, Milner and Wright-Phillips.

Kick-off was around fifteen minutes away and I will talk more in depth about my thoughts/experience of the match and journey home during Part Two of this BlueBlog which will be available in a few days time, so keep your eyes open if you’re interested...

This weekend will be the first time I have been to Wembley to watch a football match in my life, I have been on the tour at the old Wembley stadium but we had vouchers from the newspaper so it doesn’t really count. This in fact will be the biggest game that I have ever attended and one of the biggest games in my City history, well let’s be honest... there has not been many! The one that stands out for me is the Manchester City 2-2 Gillingham play-off final, I was only about 12 at the time but I still remember the day so well... as always we did things the hard way but it wouldn’t be City if we won 3-0. Anyway, that’s enough about the past, let’s talk about the future because it looks bright.

I am your typical City supporter in the sense that I am highly optimistic, the only difference with me and many others is that I am a realist. Now don’t go getting your knickers in a twist feeling offended that I am calling all City fans unrealistic because I am not, but there are some out there the same with every club. I like to look at things from more of a neutral point of view rather than with blue tinted shades... although I do wear them sometimes. That is exactly what I intend to do throughout this Blue Blog not only to get my personal opinion out there but to hopefully influence others to share my views.

Now let’s talk about City and the FA Cup Semi-Final between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley, what an occasion, what a venue and what a bag of nerves every Manchester City fan is going to be. If it was against any other opposition I would be slightly nervous but more optimistic, this time I just can’t stand the thought of losing. Not only will it see us out of the FA Cup and our only remaining chance of a trophy, it will give United the satisfaction of stopping us reaching a final. Honestly, the last thing on my mind is that we have the chance to beat United, I couldn’t care less who the opposition was as long as we reached the final. The thought of what a cup final day would feel like excites me beyond belief, the passion, the hope and the potential glory in our own hands. Is it your destiny and do the players want this win as much as I know every Manchester City fan around the world wants this win, I say around the world... although the majority of us are from Manchester ;)

I know deep down that this group of players are capable of beating anybody on their day, but so many times over the years and even as recent as Monday night against Liverpool has shown us that we are still the same old City inside. It was clear to see at Old Trafford that we can play some real football and if David Silva had placed his shot into the bottom corner rather than thrashing it wide we could have gone on to at least earn a draw. I cannot remember the last time somebody scored a proper one-on-one chance against us, yet in the derby we allowed it to happen. That’s how football is and that’s what makes football the most popular sport in the world, there is no such thing as a sure thing.

I was asked how I would approach this game by a fellow City fan and the answer I gave was an honest and realistic one. This isn’t a time for risks, it’s about picking the most reliable players that have performed the most consistently over recent months. A great example of this came from Manchester United themselves in the 2-1 win over Chelsea in the Champions League Quarter-Final. Alex Ferguson picked his most reliable players that he knew were not there to take risks and try new things, they were there to win no matter what. That is something we need to take on-board and try ourselves for once, but who would I choose in my starting eleven?

I can’t imagine that too many City fans would disagree with my choice, it looks a bit negative but as we saw against Liverpool if you take risks with fringe players in new positions it can all go pear shaped very quickly. I am not the biggest fan of Gareth Barry these days, he has declined as a footballer since the start of 2011 but he works hard and keeps it simple... most of the time. Zabaleta has been away for a while with his ill father but he is the best full-back defensively we have available and defiantly gets the nod in front of young Boyata, although I do believe Boyata has a huge future ahead of him. I said the best way was to not take risks, but is Balotelli as much as risk as Dzeko? Both are not performing anywhere near as well as Tevez but he is unfortunately out injured and I see Balotelli as someone who can change games in the blink of an eye. Should Balotelli not be performing up to standard then it’s Dzeko’s chance at grabbing the headlines, I can see this happening around the 60th minute mark anyway. You may be surprised by my choice of Milner ahead of Adam Johnson, this is simply because I feel Milner works back better and I have not been as impressed with Johnson away as much as I have at home. Johnson is more of an impact substitute at the moment in games like this for me, I would introduce him around the 70th minute mark as fresh legs running directly at the left-back. Everyone else would not be a surprise to most City fans, this team is clearly not our best possible team and doesn’t fill me with as much confidence as one that included both Carlos Tevez instead of Barry and Kolo Toure instead of Lescott but I do believe that this line-up has the potential go on and win at Wembley.

One thing is for certain, it is not going to be easy. Rooney being banned will only spur United on and they now have almost a full squad of fit players to choose from. We are without the likes of *Richards, Boateng, Kolo Toure and Carlos Tevez who in an ideal world would all possibly be starting or featuring in the match. Wow now, before you think I am making excuses already I am not, this is all part of football and is something that a club the size of ours should be able to deal with. At the end of the day, “Que Sera, Sera Whatever Will Be, Will Be” but I know I will be there sat in seat 256, row 3, block 142 having entered through entrance H enjoying every second of it... because that is what football and being a Manchester City fan is all about!!!