The Cityzens Weekend saw fans in Manchester, and thousands more around the world -following online via new website mancity.com and social channels – welcome new manager Pep Guardiola, and witness the launch of the new Club badge and home kit for 2016-17 season.
The free two-day event brought fans behind-the-scenes into the heart of the City Football Academy for the first time since its opening in December 2014, as the site was transformed into a festival with activities for fans of all ages.
The climax of the weekend took place today as Guardiola was presented to fans for the first time. Guardiola told fans of his excitement at joining Manchester City and eagerness for the season to start. As Guardiola was unveiled to fans, fans broke into a rousing rendition of an all new fan chant in his honour.
Commenting on the upcoming season, Guardiola said: “I’ve never been here before, I never experienced the Premier League before, that’s why I am here. If we are able to win one game, why can’t we win again three days later and then why can’t we win one week later like we did in the last two games? That is the reason why I am in England. In Barcelona, in Bayern Munich, in Spain, in Germany, we were able to do that and there are people who say it was because we were in Barcelona, because we were in Bayern Munich, and they say you won’t be able to do that in England, so okay let’s do it.”
It's Pep time! #MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/hdO4E1UuXp
— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 4, 2016
Guardiola was also joined on stage by Manchester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho and Manchester City Women’s players captain Steph Houghton and Karen Bardsley, as well as representatives from a number of the Club’s youth academy teams, including the U14s, U15 and U18s teams, each of which won their respective leagues last season.
All players modelled the new Nike home shirt for 2016-17, the most technologically advanced kit to date and the first to be emblazoned with the new club badge.
Prior to taking to the stage, Guardiola was presented with his new, monogrammed training kit by Director of Football Txiki Begiristain and watched on as players from the Under 13s and City in the Community teams trained on the indoor pitch.
As well as the exciting events on the stage, City representatives, past and present, shared their experiences of the Club during insightful presentations in the CFA Hub and Blue Moon Tavern and new signing Ilkay Gundogan was also introduced to the crowds in his first official public event as a Manchester City player.
Official supporter clubs played an important role over the weekend with a special tournament taking place between their teams and supporter clubs from New York, Melbourne and Shenzhen joining the events via live link-ups.
Ferran Soriano, Chief Executive Officer of Manchester City, commented: “Cityzens Weekend has been a great event and it was amazing to see so many fans here at the CFA enjoying themselves. The weekend was the perfect way to mark such an exciting moment in our history as we launched our new badge, kit and manager with the fans at the heart of it all.
“The fans gave our new manager, Pep Guardiola, a special Manchester City welcome and I’m sure everyone is now just excited to get the season underway.”
