In Praise of Manchester - Centre Of My Universe!

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Can I just say.......I love A2K'ers, but sometimes I just don't know what they're going on about!!! Especially our American Cousins! I don't know their expressions, their programmes, some of their music. I really want to join in but feel very working class and northern. But I love being from here and I just wanted to open a thread and say things like 'turnt big light off' - 'bog off' - 'blimey' - 'scally' - 'egg & chips' - 'Mam' - 'pissed' - 'shut yer gob' - 'Blackpool Illuminations' - 'butties' and 'nowt so gueer'.

There.......I feel better now :wink:

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When I was in Manchester, I remember some locals nattering on about Blackpool, and how we should all take a detour over there.

What are "Blackpool Illuminations"?

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Aw'ight Sarah!

I can understand your love of home and incomprehension of some of our "septic" friends (there's the Londoner in me coming out!) Wink

...

How's the festive season been? Office party complete with your very own David Brent?

As long as you don't start praising Man U, as managed by Britain's own answer to Rudolf, I'm happy to share this excuse to be an unashamed Brit!

TTFN

KP

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Ticomaya - Imagine the bright lights of the Vegas casinos, circa 1951. Then make them much smaller. Then attach them to the street-lights of a small town nestled on the wind-swept drizzle-soaked coast of North West England. And that's the Blackpool Illuminations!

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Oh, dear - I see red and white roses before my eyes! Laughing

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Incidentally, the folks I met in Manchester were fans of the "other" soccer team in town, which I think is Manchester City. I'd frankly never heard of it. Which is the favorite of most of the locals?

GD, thanks for the explanation. Blackpool passes for a resort town? A place to go on "holiday"?

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Kitchenpete, MAN U, are you a mentalist? Keegans boys all the way! Mr S has painted our bedroom City Blue and we have a Maine Road street sign up on the woodchip! Needless to say I was one happy girl this weekend. I personally don't know much about football (only recently finding out that goalies weren't freelance) but I soon know if City's won!:wink:

Can I also just say that the computer was invented in Manchester (UMIST) :wink:

Office party.....surely you must have read about it here? Came home pissed, took my bra off and a crushed fag and lighter fell out (classy chick). Of course the thread then went off on a tangent 'cos I'd forgotten that the term fag has different connotations in Americaland.

I really do work in David Brenty office, here's a scene:

Manager comes bounding out of his office and says "any ideas for the celebrating diversity week?"

Me (quickly minimising A2K on my screen) "We could pretend to be blind for the day!" :wink:

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Sorry Ticomaya, how rude of me............the illuminations are nothing more than xmas lights on a sea front, in a jaded seaside town. It's the type of place that hosts stag and hen weekends. It has drag shows and a funfair. BUT.......GB is about to relax the gambling laws, allow casinos and turn it into our own mini LAS VEGAS.....YAY!!!!!!!! Very Happy

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Ticomaya wrote:

Incidentally, the folks I met in Manchester were fans of the "other" soccer team in town, which I think is Manchester City. I'd frankly never heard of it. Which is the favorite of most of the locals?

GD, thanks for the explanation. Blackpool passes for a resort town? A place to go on "holiday"?

I think (maybe Sarah or KP can clarify) that the Blues (Man City) are more popular with the locals. In fact, I have vague recollections that Man Utd's ground isn't technically in Manchester, but in Salford (a town within a city). Sarah - help?!

Blackpool is/was the biggest seaside resort in the North. Until cheap air fares to the Continent came into existence in the 70's, the only holiday that the Northern working class could afford was a week in Blackpool, Scarborough (smaller, east coast) or similar. Now of course they are full of hotels & guesthouses that no-one particularly wants to stay in when they can have 2 weeks on the Mediterranean for £350. So, like Sarah says, it's now full of drunken louts on stag & hen parties. they have some good rollercoasters though.

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Sarah can conrfirm the fact, but there are no Surrey-based Man City fans who annoy the FCUK out of me and who have probably never been to Manchester in their lives.

As an Arsenal fan, Man City are "allies" - on the principle that my enemy's enemy is my friend!

For any Americans reading, Manchester United are the "Yankees" of English football - loved by many but hated by everyone else.

KP

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Man U's ground is in Old Trafford, Manchester, though it is on the 'cusp' with Salford. I used to have a boyfriend who was a rabid Man U fan, I lived behind Main Road (City's old ground) at the time.....he refused to linger snogging me on the doorstep because he could "smell the blues"!!!

Football affilliations are strong here in Manc, I tend to think of Man U as an international team rather than a local one.

Ever read that book 'Manchester United Ruined My Life'? Mr S says it's very funny.

Have to go for a bit...........chip pan's on! :wink:

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kitchenpete wrote:

Sarah can conrfirm the fact, but there are no Surrey-based Man City fans who annoy the **** out of me and who have probably never been to Manchester in their lives.

As an Arsenal fan, Man City are "allies" - on the principle that my enemy's enemy is my friend!

For any Americans reading, Manchester United are the "Yankees" of English football - loved by many but hated by everyone else.

KP

And have been since when I was there...which is way back in the mid 1950's!!!!

I use to love the pools...and a couple of buddies and I threw a few quid into them each week. Never had MU in our picks...because they were unlikely to tie!

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When I'm in Manchester, I usually join some friends, when they have hteir regular intelligence meeeting on Thursday evening in a pub. (Thankfully, they changed the day on my last visit to Friday, since I just came over the weekend.)

It's always very interesting, because they are split between ManU [origianally:Newton Heath LYR (Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway)] and City (Superbia In Proelio).

Personally, I'm a fan of Bert Traumann's club as well as of the club from Stretford :wink:

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Walter, Mr S just told me that Bert Trauman famously finished a cup final in spite of a broken neck! What year?

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Well, that's a simple question: 1956 FA cup final against Birmingham City.

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Quote:

Trautmann to be given OBE honour

Former Manchester City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann is to be awarded an OBE.
The 82-year-old is famous for playing on in the 1956 FA Cup Final against Birmingman, despite breaking his neck.

A former German POW won the hearts of City supporters in the 1950s and is being honoured for his ongoing work to improve British-German relations.

Trautmann has just launched the Trautmann Foundation, aimed at promoting British-German understanding through football.

Trautmann, who came to England as a prisoner of war, joined Manchester City in 1949 to the fury of fans.

Season ticket holders threatened a boycott and 40,000 people marched on the streets to protest the signing of an "enemy" soldier so soon after World War Two.

But Trautmann won fans over with his brilliant goalkeeping and most memorably his heroics in the 1956 Cup final when ensured City beat Birmingham City 3-1.

Fifteen minutes before the end of the game, Trautmann dived at the feet of opposing striker Peter Murphy and sustained a horrific neck injury.

He carried on in considerable pain and went up to collect his winner's medal from the Queen.

Prince Philip, the Queen's husband, is said to have asked him why he was cocking his head. "I've got a stiff neck," Trautmann replied.

That year he was honoured as the first foreigner to be named 'Footballer of the Year.'

Trautmann stayed with Manchester City for 15 years even though this excluded him from the German national team which did not select those playing overseas.

The former City goalkeeper, alongside current Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, will be the guest of the Queen next week when she makes a state visit to Germany.

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi/football/3962625.stm

Published: 2004/10/28 17:53:49 GMT

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Quote:

current Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann

I know, Pete, I know Sad

(But this always happens to Schalke traitors! :wink: [Lehmann was origianally the goalie for Schalke, tranferred then to Dortmund - some as someone going from ManU to City.])

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Your a sagacious old bugger, Walter! :wink:

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Sarah Morgan wrote:

Your a sagacious old bugger, Walter! :wink:

That's Mancunian for "ballsy spring chicken", isn't it? Laughing

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EEE, tha not backward in coming forward, Walter! Laughing

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In Praise of Manchester - Centre Of My Universe!

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