Why Man City fans have inflatable bananas at Anfield in Premier League clash with Liverpool

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Manchester City fans waved hundreds of inflatable bananas in the air as they faced down Liverpool supporters at Anfield.City were playing in their first Premier League since an independent commission ruled that the club’s Abu Dhabi owners had systematically breached a raft of financial rules between 2009 and 2018. The club have launched an appeal against the verdict and insist they have irrefutable evidence to support their position.The reaction at Liverpool, who have been City’s main adversaries over the past decade, was hostile, with City players heavily booed every time they touched the ball in the opening minutes.City fans had applauded their players before kick-off and waved giant bananas, rekindling a tradition from the late 1980s when fans brought bananas and other inflatables to matches during a difficult time in English football when clubs were banned from European competition.The idea was promoted by supporters’ group We Are 1984, and is a reference to the fans bringing fun to the game amid conflict with football’s authorities.

Liverpool were beaten into second place during the 2013/14 season and the fans voiced their displeasure at City during Sunday’s late Premier League kick-off. Outside the stadium, merchandise sellers sold flags and scarves displaying Man City’s players with the words “guilty” and “cheats”, while Liverpool supporters lined the streets around an hour and a half before the scheduled 4.30pm kick-off to greet the team buses.

Liverpool’s team bus arrived to much fanfare but City’s two coaches took a quieter, alternate route to the stadium to avoid the crowds. However, inside the stadium the players were met with a chorus of boos as they came onto the pitch, while the home fans also displayed a banner which read “a generation of supporters cheated” in one corner of the ground.