Man City tradition explained as fans bring inflatable bananas to Liverpool fixture

Manchester City fans have revived an old tradition for the huge clash with Liverpool at Anfield in response the club's 115 charges verdict.

City play Liverpool in their first game since they were found guilty by an independent commission following a three-month hearing of which the verdict was not released for more than two years.

A rowdy reception is expected by Liverpool supporters, though the planned bus greeting which was advertised and brought a police warning, did not quite work out as an alternative route was used.

But City supporters also have a response to their club being at the centre of the biggest story in English football and potentially being thrown out of the Premier League and Football League.

Man City's inflatable bananas tradition explained as fans respond

City fans have decided to bring a large amount of inflatable bananas into the away end at Anfield for what will be one of the most-viewed Premier League games.

READ MORE: Man City's 'talks' with broadcasters emerge before Liverpool clash amid 115 charges fallout

The bananas represent a revival of a long-standing tradition for City and is genuinely an important part of their identity.

According to The Mirror, the banana craze was started by a supporter named Frank Newton.

He is said to have brought the five-foot blow-up fruit to the club's old home ground Maine Road for a game with Plymouth Argyle in 1987.

But his decision to do so is understood to have come from the fact that City had a cult hero called Imre Varadi who scored 31 goals in 81 appearances and one fan started calling him 'Imre Banana' - before chants emerged.

At the time, City had just been relegated to Division Two and there was a light-hearted approach from supporters who had grown accustomed to their club's comically bad situation.

It was also a period where hooliganism was rife in England and clubs were handed a European ban.

The trend grew out of control, to the point that City fans took 10,000 fans to an away game with Stoke on Boxing Day and there were inflatables galore.

For special occasions, the bananas were busted out and became a feature of City's fan culture.

Man City supporter group chief reveals message bananas intend to send

30 years on, the 1984 City fan group are believed have distributed more than 1,000 inflatable bananas for the Anfield visit and the away section was packed with them.

READ MORE: Man Utd fans bring back Stretford End 'ticker' banner after Man City guilty verdict

The return of the bananas is designed to send a message that City supporters will still be supporting the club even if they are sent down to the lower echelons where they spent years before becoming a European powerhouse.

The club have appealed the verdict and say they have "irrefutable evidence" of their innocence.

Speaking to the Sporting News, Dante Friend of the 1984 City fan group said: "The message is obviously defiance. We don't give a f*** who the owners are, we are the club. The fans are the club."