EXCLUSIVE: Manchester City's away end was awash with inflatable bananas during their trip to face Liverpool and there was a telling reason why

You couldn't miss the bright yellow inflatable bananas bouncing around Manchester City's away end during their clash with Liverpool. And there's a deeper meaning behind the fruity folly.

The eyes of the footballing world were fixed on Anfield on Sunday as City came to town. The club had been found guilty of 114 financial rule breaches spanning 2009 to 2018 by an independent commission 12 days prior, though City vehemently deny the findings and have launched an appeal.

Nevertheless, their first game since the verdict - a trip to face their title rivals of many seasons past - was hotly anticipated. The atmosphere was fierce as the City players entered the pitch and during the game, chants about cheating echoed from the home stands.

But that didn't upset City's on-field apple cart and they came away 3-0 victors thanks to goals from Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki - every strike sending the visiting City faithful ballistic. Yet for those watching along, both in the stadium and at home, one aspect of this away flock was impossible to ignore - hundreds of inflatable bananas waved defiantly high.

The craze originated with Frank Newton, a dedicated City fan who brought an inflatable banana measuring over five feet long to a second-tier match in 1987. This soon caught on and quite literally ballooned, with hundreds bringing various inflatables to matches to combat some grim results.

But why revive this now and what message was being sent? One City fan who attended the match has unpeeled the banana for us.

Nick Clarke, chair of the Citizens Trust and co-founder of MCFC Fans Foodbank Support, told the Manchester Evening News: "The inflatables have come around again, organically led by fans from the 1894 group, at a time when we're facing an unprecedented potential fallout.

"It just speaks volumes about the fans and how we will always face adversity with a cheeky grin on our faces. Because I think for all the uncertainty that we're all experiencing, what I felt from being in that away end on Sunday was just the complete opposite of uncertainty.

"It was a complete resolute steadfastness that no matter what happens, no matter where we end up, we're going to be there supporting our team. We're going to be there supporting the players that pull on that shirt.

"At the end of the day, that's what all this is. Whether it's somehow in non-League or in the Champions League, it's an absolute roller-coaster supporting City and I don't think I'm ever going to get off."

Clarke added: "I mean, on some level, this entire situation is absurd and I think it is a little bit of a reflection of that, too. I was really fearful that fans would be down, feeling a bit beaten and a bit crushed at Liverpool.

"But all my fears genuinely just dissipated because it's not about the politics for the vast majority of fans. It's not about the spreadsheets, it's not about the powers that be. We'd be standing next to our parents, our friends, our mates or whoever, at a local park watching our team. It genuinely doesn't matter.

"It took us about 70 minutes to score a goal, but the away end was bouncing before that anyway. Whether we won, drew, or lost that game, I think the experience from that has brought fans closer together.

"Also, it's important to note that this was something that originated in the late 1980s and 1990s, before many people in that away end were even born.

"This was before multiple different owners, let alone the current ones. We are a club, a community asset with decades, over a century, of history, and it's we, the fans, who are the only constant throughout that. Players come and go, managers, owners and staff members come and go. But it's the fans that maintain. I think that's the really important part to pick up on.

"Especially when it literally feels for a lot of fans like it's us against the world, us against the footballing world to a degree. Even though opinions are diverse, it's like, 'You can't say anything to us, because look at what we're doing ourselves.'

"It's not completely serious either - you don't go to the football because it's completely serious. It's in our supposed leisure time. I mean, for God's sake, there's literally nowhere else on earth other than a City home or away end where I'd be waving a banana above my head!"