Before a ball is kicked at the Etihad Stadium, the crowd has already made its feelings known. The booing of both the Premier League and Champions League anthems has become a defining ritual for Manchester City supporters, one that grew louder following the club's guilty verdict on financial rule breaches.
The displeasure intensified ahead of City's first home match after that verdict, a Premier League fixture against Ipswich, with the jeers notably louder than usual. For season-ticket holder Dave Wilson, it was nothing new.
"I can't remember a Premier League or Champions League home game where the anthems haven't been booed," Wilson told BBC Sport.
A grievance years in the making
The roots of the anthem protests stretch back to February 2023, when the Premier League announced 115 charges against Manchester City for alleged breaches of financial regulations. That announcement hardened an already fractious relationship between the club's fanbase and the league's governing body.
Wilson noted that the booing was not orchestrated for the Ipswich game but was an organic expression of accumulated frustration. "There hasn't been much love lost between City and the Premier League for a long time," he said. "It definitely wasn't co-ordinated — it's a symptom of everything coming together."
Everton fans blazed a similar trail in their own circumstances. After Everton were deducted 10 points — reduced to six on appeal — for breaking profit and sustainability rules, Toffees supporters at Goodison Park booed the Premier League anthem and held up red cards bearing the word 'corrupt' beneath the league's logo. Manchester City's response was less coordinated but no less heartfelt.
A long history with UEFA
The booing extends beyond Premier League grievances. Champions League anthem protests reflect a deeper mistrust of UEFA, built over more than a decade of disputes.
In 2012, Porto were fined roughly £17,000 by UEFA after Manchester City reported racial abuse directed at striker Mario Balotelli. That same season, City were fined approximately £24,000 for returning late to the pitch after half-time in a game against Sporting.
In 2014, UEFA fined City £49 million and restricted their Champions League squad size for breaching Financial Fair Play regulations. Six years later, the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a two-year ban from European competition, clearing the club of charges that they had disguised equity funds as sponsorship contributions — charges UEFA had initially described as "serious breaches" of FFP rules between 2012 and 2016.
"City fans generally feel there is a conspiracy against them," Wilson said. "There is a feeling of being targeted, rightly or wrongly."
Fans united behind the team
Nick Clarke, interim chair of The Citizens Trust — the Manchester City supporters' union established earlier this year — described the anthem booing as entirely spontaneous, contrasting it with other organised fan displays such as the banana initiative at the Liverpool fixture, which was co-ordinated by the 1894 atmosphere group.
"Even though there are fans who are conflicted about what has happened with the club, there is still a general feeling among the majority that the Premier League is not fit for purpose in regulating itself," Clarke said.
Away from the noise, Manchester City remain top of the Premier League table with seven wins from seven league games. A testing trip to Aston Villa on Saturday provides the next examination of that perfect record. Whatever the outcome of the ongoing appeal, the protests before kick-off at the Etihad Stadium show no sign of fading.
