How to start a Manchester City Official Supporters Club in your city

Manchester City’s Official Supporters Club runs as branches, each with its own committee, and the organization’s own site dates it to 1949. A US branch is a pub, a flag and a committee that shows up for every match. This guide covers what the club asks of a new branch, what to have in place first, and how to get found once you are official.

What Manchester City requires

Everything below is from the club’s supporters clubs page, its branch request form and its benefits page.

• Start with the branch request form. The supporters clubs page tells fans with no branch nearby to create one, and its Create a Branch button opens the branch request form. The form asks for your name and contact details, your city and area, whether you have a branch venue and its address, whether you already get together to watch matches, how many potential members there are, how you will recruit new members, and your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and website links. The contact address on the form is officialsupportersclubs@mancity.com.
• A member count the club confirms. An older help centre article put the threshold at 20 members plus a payment before official status is granted; that article no longer loads, so treat the number as unconfirmed and ask the club at officialsupportersclubs@mancity.com for the current figure before you promise it to anyone.
• A committee to run the branch. The welcome pack includes branch committee badges, so the club expects one. The same older article described committees handling membership applications, ticket requests, travel and events.
• A seasonal member fee. The club’s supporters clubs page notes that branches do charge a small seasonal fee to become a member, and the Official Supporters Club organization’s own site says an annual membership fee is required per member, with a percentage donated to City in the Community and charity.

What a new branch receives, according to the club’s benefits page: a welcome pack with the branch’s first Supporters Club flag, branch committee badges and a certificate of official status, with a new flag and certificate each year; membership cards personalised with the branch name; use of a bespoke official branch logo; a plaque to mark the first year; the chance to request player-signed merchandise for fundraising; invitations to events such as the Official Supporters Club Annual Dinner; and a monthly newsletter.

Before you apply

• A bar that will show every City match with sound, including 7:30 am Saturday kickoffs and midweek Champions League nights.
• A list of potential members with names and emails. The form asks how many you have, and the club counts members, not followers.
• A committee of at least three people who will handle joining, tickets and events. The welcome pack includes committee badges, so the club expects one.
• A name that says Manchester City and says your city. Check the club's OSC list so you do not duplicate one.
• Social accounts with some history: the pub, the kickoff routine, photos from the matches you have already watched together.

Getting recognized

1. 1
   Check the OSC list

   The club’s supporters clubs page lists every branch. If your metro has one, join it. If it meets an hour away, say so on the form.
2. 2
   Fill out the branch request form

   The form sits behind the Create a Branch button on the club’s supporters clubs page. Have the pub, the committee and the count of potential members ready, since it asks for all three.
3. 3
   Reach the member count and make the payment the club confirms

   Official status follows both. Ask the club for the current threshold, the amount and the payment route at officialsupportersclubs@mancity.com; none of the three is on the pages that load today.
4. 4
   Collect the welcome pack

   Flag, committee badges and certificate. Hang the flag where the camera can see it; it is how a new arrival knows they are in the right bar.

After you are official

• Announce it from your account and the bar’s, and tell the nearest other branches.
• Meet every match. Carabao Cup on a Tuesday night included.
• Keep the schedule public. Next kickoff in local time, doors-open time, any change of room.
• Renew each season. The club opens OSC sign-up for each new season; put the date in the committee’s calendar.

List the chapter on SoccerMapd

SoccerMapd’s where-to-watch page for Manchester City lists chapters by metro and links each one, next to the week’s fixtures in local time and the US TV channel where it is announced. A branch that lists itself appears there for its city, on the Manchester City team page and in the supporters club directory. State whether you are an Official Supporters Club branch or a group still applying; both belong on the map.

Once listed, ask for the schedule console link and tick the matches you are showing. The supporters club guide walks through it. No account is needed and nothing costs anything.

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