I'm Steven McInerney, lifelong Manchester City fan and content creator.
Over the next few weeks, Man City and Nexen Tire are sending me on a journey
around the world, in search of some of the most dedicated City fans.
Welcome to Away from Home.
So we've just landed here in Hamburg,
and we're on our way to meet Manchester City super fan Lennart,
who set up the first ever supporters club here in Germany.
I cannot wait to meet him.
Lennart, great to meet you.
Very nice to finally meet you. Thank you, cheers.
Welcome to Hamburg.
Lennart, you're a Manchester City fan living in Germany.
How did that come to happen?
It was about 2005, back in the day as a young lad.
In an era with no Premier League on TV, no highlights on YouTube or anything.
And, yeah, I was looking for similar teams to my local club on FIFA.
And, yeah, Manchester City really came to my mind straight away,
being the underdog like my local team and also playing in blue, you know.
2005, any particular players that stood out for you?
Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Shauny Wright Wright Wright man, legend.
Oh my word some final charge wasn't it.
Pick that one out. Goodnight.
I think he still could play under Pep nowadays.
He’s still probably got the pace as well nowadays.
And of course, as well, there's even stronger Hamburg links
Nigel De Jong and Vincent Kompany, both ex Hamburg players.
Oh, yeah.
I mean, Vincent Kompany as a very young lad in Hamburg, as a young talent,
playing quite some decent football already for two years
and then coming to Manchester City.
Well, he ended up with a statue outside
the Etihad, so that shows how good he was.
You must have been quite proud, actually.
Oh, yeah.
Of course, he defined an era for us, didn't he?
Everyone's saying, Oh, don't shoot, don't shoot.
I could really hear it.
Perhaps will have a shot here, has a dig - and how about that!
It was annoying me.
And I said,
hold on a second, I've not come this far in my career for young players
to tell me whether I can take a shot or not and I just took it.
We couldn't leave the port without trying Hamburg's famous fish sandwich.
Here's a very traditional dish.
It's a fish sandwich.
How do you say that in German? It's Fischbrötchen. Fischbrötchen.
Wanna try it?
Are we gonna give it a go?
Let's go.
You were saying before how you wanted to come and watch a City game with me
actually in Manchester. Have you ever been to Manchester before?
Yeah I actually lived there for a while.
No way man! Where abouts?
In Bury.
I live near Bury as well right now, it's perfect!
You've got to come over again.
I'll take you out on the town and all that kind of stuff.
That would be great.
Did you get to any City games when you were in Manchester?
I did get to a few home games
and that was honestly one of the main reasons why I moved there.
Of course the experience, being there, being in the stadium
being close to the players, that must have meant something.
It's just very different, to just watching the games from home, you know
Were you enjoying the chants and all that kind of stuff?
I did.
I did, yes.
For me personally, my dad helped me get into City.
He took me to my first game back in 1994.
Did your dad have any impact on you getting in to City?
Oh definitely.
I mean he generally speaking got me into football, watching local clubs
and everything and he was very supportive when I got into City,
he bought my first jersey and I mean, I told you about the FIFA story.
I mean he bought this FIFA game for me, right?
So I think he played quite a crucial part.
Lennart you've started the
first ever supporters club in Germany, not just Hamburg in Germany full stop.
What made you want to do this?
You know, I just want to connect people with each other and grow organically.
Just get everyone involved and then being able to watch the games
here, obviously together, but then also go to some big games
in Manchester, travel together and yeah just go from there.
Of course, getting the City flags and all that kind of stuff around the bar.
Getting the chants going as well.
Yeah. Getting blue moon going, in German.
Oh yeah. That'll be wonderful.
Next up he was taking me
to one of Hamburg's biggest attractions,
the largest model railway in the world.
So what were your memories of the 93:20 moment?
Huge moment, of course.
The first 90 minutes were crazy, and then this Dzeko moment happened.
People sometimes forget about it.
Here's Silva, swings it in and Dzeko's there.
It's in!
City have got a goal back.
It's Dzeko!
Game on.
What was the Aguero moment like for you personally?
It was the most emotional football moment for me, up until today.
It was the first league title for ages.
It was such a crucial moment for us.
We went from noisy neighbour to the big neighbour.
I know we're spoilt for choice at the moment but
favourite Manchester City player?
It must be Kevin de Bruyne.
He was such a great player in Germany already, wasn't he?
But with his vision and technique, I can't even explain.
He sees stuff we don't even see on TV.
And of course as well, there's the German connection,
Ilkay Gundogan, world class midfielder again.
Like De Bruyne.
Oh yeah Ilkay,
I mean what a player he is.
And he was really good already in Germany.
But what did Pep do to him!
He's such a great player now, changing
from a defensive play style to such an aggressive, offensive player.
Was there any Manc slang you learnt when you lived in Manchester?
Oh yeah.
Phil Foden, different gravy.
One word, for him.
Different gravy.
Now this is a very traditional German dish.
Actually my mom used to do that quite a few times for lunch.
Oh really she made this?
Yes so this is a potato pancake,
and then we have some like apple, mashed apple here.
See I've never had like, apple puree on potato before.
I mean, it's an interesting one.
You just put the apple puree on it and then you go for it.
You wanna try?
Yeah of course I want to try mate, of course I want to try.
It's been an incredible first day Lennart
I'm absolutely exhausted, but we've seen some wonderful things.
But there's a big thing happening tomorrow.
Man City v Burnley, are you confident?
I'm a bit nervous, but I'm also very excited.
I think we should be. I think we should be confident.
We've got to trust this team haven't we?
It's going to be a good game. I'm looking forward to it.
Me too man.
So it's a huge game today mate.
Burnley, away, Turf Moor.
The title race is getting really tight.
The pressure's on, isn't it?
Oh, the pressure's on. Oh, yes, but
it's exciting, isn't it, that every game matters so much.
This is what we want, thought, isn't it?
This is why you get in the title race.
I mean, it certainly beats the olden days to me anyway, when
I used to worry about relegation, but now this is exciting.
Surely we've got the mentality.
Oh yes, I think so.
I think so.
The thing is with Pep as well,
Pep will be getting into the players’ heads and making sure they're focused, won't he?
Oh yeah.
Bringing in this, this mentality
of everyone being friends with each other and just being so hungry for success.
I think that's what he really brought to the table.
And we can see it day by day, game by game.
Time is ticking away mate. The game is close. Shall we go?
Let's go, let's go.
Lennart's an absolutely wonderful guide, by the way.
And apparently he's organised a pretty special way for us to get to the game.
After taking in a few more sights of Hamburg from the warmth of our tour bus,
we arrived at the Fleetenkieker, with just one thing
we arrived at the Fleetenkieker, with just one thing left to do.
Manchester City bid to return to winning ways in the Premier League.
When they travel to relegation threatened Burnley
this Saturday afternoon, victory today would have City back
where they belong.
Space here for Sterling, brings it inside
and it's Kevin de Bruyne to finish it off, slamming the ball home.
And it's 1-0 to Manchester City with their first shot of the game.
Back across to Gundogan
and it's found its through!
Come on!
Ilkay Gundogan, makes it two.
Come on!
Ilkay!
Your man!
Out of play and with that,
The referee calls a close to this contest. Manchester City back to winning
ways in the Premier League, and they are back on
top of the table.
Our man Stephen McInerney is in Hamburg.
He's getting everywhere.
He's travelling the world meeting City fans.
Hi Nat, it's Stephen and we're here in Hamburg
with Nexen Tire, of course City
have just beat Burnley 2-0, it was wonderful!
And we heard a familiar accent.
Peter and Shane from Manchester
are here with me and Lennart, guys how are you getting on?
Yes. Brilliant.
Absolutely brilliant.
Especially after that result.
We were on top of the world. That was huge.
Brilliant.
Big three points for us today.
Massive three points.
Lennart, it's been an incredible weekend.
City won, of course, against Burnley.
That was huge and we needed that this weekend.
But you've been a fantastic host as well, honestly.
Thank you for showing me around Hamburg. It's been absolutely brilliant.
And Nexen Tire as well, want to say a little thank you
for being such a huge blue over in Hamburg
We got a little something for you.
Here you go, man.
Oh, no. Yes.
We were with some players the other day and they put a little message for you.
They signed it.
We got Gundogan, we got Bernardo and Zack Steffen, and this is yours.
You've got to frame this.
It's got to be in the first ever official supporters club in Germany.
That's beautiful. Thank you so much and thank you for the experience.
No, honestly, thank you. Genuinely. It's been absolutely wonderful.
It's been an incredible honour to be here today.
Hi Lennart, this is Ilkay Gundogan
I heard you are doing an amazing job over in Germany.
It's great to have someone like you over there
and thank you so much for your support.
Keep it up and hopefully we can have
you and your friends to come over here at the Etihad soon.
Take care.
Join me next time when I'll be on the other side
of the world in Seoul watching Man City take on Liverpool.