Varadi: Man City fans' inflatable bananas 'brought a lot of fun back' at Anfield
Former Manchester City striker Imre Varadi said it was "brilliant to see" the club's fans waving inflatable bananas at Anfield on Sunday after City's 3-0 win over Liverpool, adding the display "brought a lot of fun back". Dozens of the bananas were visible during the match.
Man City were relegated twice and promoted twice during the 1980s, a period that gave rise to the inflatable-banana tradition among City supporters when the team played in the old Second Division. The craze continued into the early 90s and has appeared intermittently since, with dozens re-emerging at Sunday's game. Varadi was nicknamed 'Imre Banana' by City fans during his two-year spell with the club in the late 1980s. He joined City from West Brom in October 1986 and scored 26 goals in 65 appearances before moving to Sheffield Wednesday in September 1988; he now sells inflatable bananas via the club and uses the X account @imre_banana.
Fans revived the banana tradition at Anfield as a nod to City's yo-yo years in the 1980s. The inflatable display accompanied the team's 3-0 victory over Liverpool.
Varadi told BBC Radio 5 Live Drive: "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."
He also recalled how the original craze began: "Somebody started to call me Imre Banana and then, the following game, there were 10, 20, 25 bananas and then it just grew and grew and grew until every football club had an inflatable," and added, "I started it but it was 40 years ago and it's still going strong now, as we all saw at Anfield. I'm really proud of it. "It's bringing a lot of joy to the game. It's great to see."
City's 3-0 win over Liverpool was the club's first game since being found guilty of 114 charges related to breaches of Premier League financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18. The club faces sanctions such as a points deduction or expulsion from the Premier League.
