They Are 5: Why Man City Fans In Kenya Are More Than You Think [EXCLUSIVE]

In a space of just 11 years, English Premier League club Manchester City went from being relegated to the third tier of English football in 1998 and being mid-table in the 2000s to arguably the best team in the world right now.

Its considerable financial investment both in playing staff and facilities following its takeover by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan through the Abu Dhabi United Group in August 2008 transformed the club into a trophy magnet from winning the FA Cup in 2011 to becoming the first team since rivals Manchester United to win the Premier League three times in a row; that is 2021, 2022 and 2023, all under Pep Guardiola.

The Cityzens, as they are famously nicknamed, are the only Premier League club to have amassed 100 points in a single season and the first English men's team to win a domestic treble.

The club is now worth Ksh694.7 billion, according to Forbes in 2023 which ranked it as the sixth-most valuable football club in the world, and is owned by British-based holding company City Football Group Limited (CFG) which also owns stakes in clubs in the United States, Australia, India, Japan, Spain, Brazil, Uruguay, China, Belgium, France and Italy.

Manchester City fans celebrate after the team scores in the FA Cup final against Manchester United on June 3, 2023. /MCFC LADS

Man City Fans In Kenya

Despite enjoying a significant following in England in terms of fans as well as across the world, Manchester City is the one English Premier League club which has been ridiculed for years in Kenya over the population of its fans compared to the traditional big four of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, which enjoy a massive following; that is, you meet a fan of either of the big four clubs even metres after leaving your house. 

On Saturday, June 3, a video shared by Radio Africa Group (RAG) sports journalist Eric Njiru emerged on Twitter during Manchester City's 2-1 win over bitter rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final showing his colleague, Lotan Salapei, passionately celebrating by himself after the final whistle, despite other voices joining him in unison at a local entertainment joint.

.@LotanSalapei @ManCity pic.twitter.com/2HtOK7Vb5i — Eric Njiru (@EricNjiiru) June 3, 2023

A majority of the responses by Kenyans On Twitter (KOT) claimed that there were "three, four, five" Man City fans in the whole of Kenya, seemingly alluding to the slow growth of City's fanbase in the country despite the club itself dominating modern-day English football.

Official Supporters Club

Viral Tea established that there is actually a Manchester City Official Supporters Club (OSC) group in Kenya, based in Nairobi, and a group dubbed ManCity254 which is the first official Manchester City supporters club in Kenya with 200 registered members and over 1,000 Manchester City fans from the larger Nairobi area.

"Our mission is to grow Manchester City’s support base in Kenya while positively impacting society through football," the club states on its official website.

Viral Tea caught up with Brenda Waitherero, the Vice-Chairperson of the City OSC Nairobi branch who clarified the actual population of Man City fans in Kenya and how the growth of the fanbase has been since the famous 2012 Premier League title win over Manchester United.

She also took us down memory lane of her early days of supporting the blue half of Manchester and uncovered what the future looks like in terms of City's growing fanbase in Kenya, even after the Pep Guardiola era.

Here's Waitherero's story in her own words:

Just to begin, how many Man City fans are there really in Kenya?

There's actually a lot of us. There's an active group in Nairobi as well as Mombasa. We have several City groups full of fans from all around Kenya. They may say there are not a lot of us but the City jersey is one that sells very well, better than most from jersey stores (laughs) makes you think.

I've seen a number of Man City jerseys in Nairobi...though I'm not sure if the guys wearing them are actually City fans or buy them for fashion

Next time say hi and ask them who their favourite player is and why. Or their favourite game so far

Will do. And then, what would you say has led to the sudden growth of Man City fans in Kenya, even though you've already won seven league titles, a couple of domestic trophies and maybe not to the number of fans in the other popular teams in the country?

I suppose it is common to have a club get an influx of new formerly undecided fans when they are performing well. For instance, my brother now in form one is now a staunch Cityzen. He's grown up with me singing city praises, no other team stood a chance. I suppose some do like the kind of football we play and some the structure or how the club is run.

And as for other clubs having more fans, I'm not surprised they did have a head start. They performed at a time we were battling relegations. They had the influx we are enjoying now. We'll get there.

How long have you been supporting Man City?

(laughs) I have come to expect this question, took you long enough, to answer your question, years. Since Mark Hughes, I’d say FA Cup 2011. That’s probably when some people started taking us seriously.

That was around 2008. 

It is.

You beat Stoke City at the time. First major trophy after 35 years. How did it feel at the time?

I think we'd beat Man United in the semis leading up to the finals. There was a time I think it was Dimi (Berbatov) who had that chance and my heart nearly stopped. Reminds me of Saturday's (June 3) game when I think it was McTominay had that close call. It felt validating.

Must be nice. What of the 2012 league title...you won it in stoppage time and on goal difference against Man United?

That was an emotional roller coaster. It took us through the wringer (chuckles) I like it better when we handle our business before Matchday 38. I still get teary, anxious and goosebumps when I rewatch that game. Consequently, I don't know how to give up on a game till I hear the final whistle.

Sergio Aguero celebrates after scoring against QPR for Manchester City in 2012. /THE MIRROR

I remember at the beginning of the season interacting with an Arsenal fan and we were talking about our title win last year and I told him I do not want to experience that again he insisted he wanted it. By the time they had lost the race, he was a wreck. Everyone thinks they want to be in a title race until they are in one it's emotionally taxing. Makes for excellent memories though.

Owing to the Pep Guardiola era that has you winning trophies left right and centre, and the growth of City fans in Kenya, what would you do best to attract more fans the way these Chelsea and Man United attracted theirs? In the country? Especially to those who are showing interest in football.

Right now we are working on visibility, I know there are a lot more Cityzens we are yet to interact with as they don't know of us, but we are also working on increasing the registered members. We have watch parties we had one for the FA finals at Anga Cinema and will have one for the UCL finals at Embassy (along Thika Road), football friendlies, and our annual charity event every November. Content shot during those events are what we use to reach new members

Of course, we have social media presence and referrals have been working like a charm, people tell their friends and after that, we absorb them into our City family.

This is amazing! Will the same momentum be maintained even after Pep Guardiola leaves Man City?

I believe Khaldoon (Khalifa Al Mubarak- Manchester City chairman) and his team will figure everything out. They prepared for Pep I'm sure they'll prepare for the aftermath of Pep.

What is the registration process for anyone who is wishing to join the Man City Fans Kenya group?

One wishing to join the groups could request to join our WhatsApp groups on one of our social media platforms, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. As for official registration into our supporters' club Nairobi, once one searches for city OSC, Nairobi's global city map and clicking on Nairobi sends a request to join our OSC. The chairman and the organizing secretary get notified and accept members if they've made the payments. It's Ksh850 for the season. Usually, registration is open from August through September. (Visit here)

Saturday (June 10) is the UEFA Champions League (UCL) final, your second-ever final in this competition, this time you're facing Inter Milan. What would you say are your expectations for that game and what lessons have you learnt since losing to Chelsea in 2021?

I expect us to win, I want us to win by a margin but I'll take any win. I'm excited and nervous. Sometimes I'm super confident we will steamroll Inter other times I can hear the DJ putting on the Hii imeenda sound bite, and then I snap out of it. I feel like the boys are confident this time around, it's just a different vibe from a couple of years back.

Also, I think Chelsea were lucky Pep chose to go rouge and the players to give less than the bare minimum

Now, I probably should have asked this in the beginning, but in a nutshell, other than being Vice Chair of City OSC, who is Brenda Waitherero?

She's a young lady that loves watching sports, football, basketball, F1 etc. I work for an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and I love charity work, it makes me feel fulfilled.

Manchester City fans in Kenya during a past football event. /FACEBOOK.MANCHESTER CITY KENYA FANS CLUB