Man City bananas ‘brought fun back’, says Varadi

Former Manchester City striker Imre Varadi expressed his delight over the sight of fans waving inflatable bananas at Anfield on Sunday. For Varadi, it was "brilliant to see" the club's supporters bringing "a lot of fun back" to the match.

Nicknamed 'Imre Banana' during his two-year stint with the club in the late 1980s, fans began waving inflatable bananas to games when they played in the old Second Division. The tradition persisted intermittently throughout the 1990s, with dozens of bananas making appearances in recent years.

City's 3-0 victory over Liverpool marked the club's first game since being found guilty of 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18. Facing potential sanctions like a points deduction or expulsion, City fans took to waving bananas at Anfield as a symbol of their fluctuating fortunes during the 1980s.

Varadi, who currently sells inflatable bananas through the club and uses the handle @imre_banana on X, shared his thoughts on the nostalgic craze: "It was amazing, it's bringing a lot of fun back into the game. The game itself was a terrific game obviously, but just to see the inflatable craze coming back from the 80s when I was playing at the old Maine Road, it was a joy."

Varadi joined City from West Brom in October 1986, scoring 26 goals in 65 appearances before moving to Sheffield Wednesday in September 1988. He reminisced about how the banana craze started, with one fan calling him 'Imre Banana' and the tradition gradually growing until every football club had an inflatable. Varadi expressed his pride in being a part of the enduring tradition, stating it "brought a lot of joy to the game" and was "great to see" at Anfield.