"It was Manchester City against Huddersfield Town in 1987. I must have been about nine years old at the time. I always had a big family of City followers, so I was probably always going to be a blue rather than a red, but it was confirmed after this match as we won 10-1! I was with my uncle at the back of the North Stand at Maine Road. It doesn't get much better than that for a first game."
"I had a load of heroes Ian Brightwell, Andy Morrison, Paul Lake, Paul Dickov, players like that but I'd have to say that it was a player who I've been fortunate enough to become really good friends with now: Georgi Kinkladze. He was brilliant. City didn't have much to be excited about during the time that Georgi was playing for us, but when he got on the ball, he was magic. Seeing him running at defenders was something else."
"Lately, it's the quality of the football and the world-class players that have put on the shirt over the last few years. I was there in the early years when we went down to the second division and we were rubbish. I would spend all day in the rain jumping on different buses just to get to Maine Road, then we'd lose 2-1 to someone like Grimsby Town and I would get home soaking for about nine o'clock in the evening."
Ricky Hatton attended his first match as a nine-year-old when Manchester City beat Huddersfield Town 10-1 at Maine Road. He grew up in a large family of City supporters. He lists childhood heroes including Ian Brightwell, Andy Morrison, Paul Lake and Paul Dickov, and praises Georgi Kinkladze as a magical dribbler and now a close friend. He values the recent world-class quality and players at the club. He recalls trudging to games in the rain during City's low points in the second division. He would bring back old-school figures like Mike Summerbee or Colin Bell, and more recently names David Silva.
Read at www.fourfourtwo.com
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