Love This City: Wil Dougherty | OneFootball

Love This City: Wil Dougherty | OneFootball

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Manchester City F.C.

·24 de julio de 2025

Love This City: Wil Dougherty

Imagen del artículo:Love This City: Wil Dougherty

I’m a mobile barber and my van has basically become a City museum!

About 80% of my clients are Blues and all we do is talk about is City and we even watch games while I cut their hair.


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Thanks to social media, I’ve also connected with loads of fellow fans. Seeing them all at games and sharing that passion, it’s a real community.

I grew up in Carrington on a proper small street where most of the lads supported United.

I was eight when my mate Darren came down the road in a City kit. The sky blue just hit different.

It wasn’t the red we saw all the time – it felt fresh, bold and it just spoke to me.

Darren’s family got me a kit in 1993 and that was it. That’s the moment I knew I’d found my club. From that day, my love for City only grew over the years to come.

Imagen del artículo:Love This City: Wil Dougherty

No one in my family was into football, so I never got to experience Maine Road and that still stings a bit. But I was lucky in my own way.

When City moved their training ground to Carrington, I used to walk up there every week, get a sausage on toast from Matt’s Snax Bar, cut through the dirt tracks and bushes and we were pitchside.

No fences, no barriers, just us and the players. We’d end up being ball boys, chatting to the lads. I’ll never forget Kevin Keegan, he was class and always made time for us.

“You’re our ball boys again today, lads” he’d say, shaking our hands.

My first game was City v Derby County with the famous Michael Johnson goal. I was hooked even more from that moment.

For every match at the Etihad nowadays, there’s a buzz in the stomach I can’t explain. Whether I’m driving or getting the bus, it will start the same. I’ll bring either my son or my daughter (they take turns) and meet my mates.

Imagen del artículo:Love This City: Wil Dougherty

The first stop is Tony’s Chippy for cheesy pie and chips. Best in the world, no question!

Then we swing by Mary D’s for a drink and a sing-a-long with the fans. On sunny days, we get to the Etihad early because the kids love it. City always have something for the families and we always get a programme for them to keep.

Inside the ground, we’ll chat to the staff and head down to our seats, soaking in the atmosphere every single second.

Supporting City has been massive for me. Growing up, I was the only football fan in my family. Now, I’m taking my own kids to games and they live for it.

Being a dad changes everything and gives you that perspective. To be able to share something so special with your kids, it’s magic. It’s not just football, it’s our bond.

Imagen del artículo:Love This City: Wil Dougherty

Watching them scream for City like I did is emotional. There’s nothing like it.Watching City under Pep has been an absolute dream. This is what football should look like. The 100-point season, the domestic quadruple, the legendary Treble in 2023, there are memories we’ll have forever.

To witness this era, to be a part of it, to share it with my kids, is everything. I’ll never take it for granted.

I’m proud, I’m grateful and I’m City ‘til I die.

My life is City and haircuts. What more could I ask for?

Wil Dougherty

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