Why do Man City fans bring inflatable bananas to stadiums?

The Manchester City away end is likely to be filled with inflatable bananas again this afternoon.

Their first game since the verdict was a trip to Liverpool. As the likes of Erling Haaland, Ruben Dias, Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki made their way over to the travelling City fans at Anfield, it was noticeable that there were many inflatable bananas among the crowd.

Man City fans and their inflatable bananas at Anfield

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Man City’s inflatable bananas craze is back

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But why? Well, it was widely reported that 1894 - the City fan group - had distributed upwards of 1,000 inflatable bananas among supporters travelling to Anfield.

The trend originated all the way back in August 1987 when Man City supporter Frank Newton brought a five-foot blow-up banana to Maine Road for a match against Plymouth Argyle.

"It started because of [former City forward] Imre Varadi," said Dante Friend of 1894.

"It was just one guy at the game who referred to him as "Imre Banana". A guy called Frank Newton took an inflatable banana to the next game, and then everyone started doing it."

Following the 3-0 win over Liverpool and the rebirth of inflatable bananas, that was the image selected on the cover of the Man City matchday programme the win over Ipswich the following week.

Man City fans certainly added to the spectacle at Anfield

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Speaking ahead of what was City’s first Premier League home game since the aforementioned guilty verdict, Enzo Maresca called for supporters to pack out the Etihad Stadium with inflatable bananas - which they did.

"It’s very nice. I didn’t know the history behind the banana, but I hope tomorrow I can see many bananas in the stadium,” he said.

"I think it creates a nice environment for the fans and for everyone that is in the stadium."

City are back on the road this afternoon, taking on Aston Villa, and those bananas are expected to come along for the ride.