Manchester City returned to Premier League action at Anfield for the first match since the club was found guilty of serious financial rules breaches, and encountered a hostile reception from the home crowd. With banners unfurled, audible boos and chanting around the stadium, a large number of travelling City supporters were seen waving inflatable bananas in the away end.
The choice drew puzzled looks from some observers, but it was not a spontaneous reaction to events at Anfield. The practice of bringing inflatable bananas to City matches dates back to the 1980s and is particularly linked to the 1987-88 season, according to historical accounts.
The tradition grew out of a terrace nickname for striker Imre Varadi, who spent two seasons with City during his nomadic career. Supporters took to calling him “Imre Banana,” and one fan is said to have brought a large inflatable banana to a game at Maine Road, a gesture that caught on among the crowd.
Inflatable bananas were relatively common at Manchester City matches through the 1980s and 1990s, the accounts say, though the fad declined after the club moved stadiums and underwent a takeover in the mid-2000s. Sunday’s clash with Liverpool saw that older habit resurface, with hundreds of yellow plastic effigies visible in the Anfield Road Stand.
The bananas were waved as an homage to the club’s lower-league days while City players faced jeers branding them “cheats” and calls that included threats of potential relegation from the home crowd. The display revived a decades-old terrace tradition amid a charged atmosphere at the stadium.
