Former Manchester City striker Imre Varadi, who earned the nickname “Imre Banana” during his brief spell with the club in the late 1980s, said the return of inflatable bananas at a recent match was “brilliant” and had “brought a lot of fun back” to the game. Varadi spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live’s Drive programme about the sight of fans waving the bright yellow props at Anfield on Sunday, where City secured a 3‑0 victory over Liverpool.
The inflatable craze began in the 1980s when City were a yo‑yo side, being relegated and promoted twice during the decade. Fans started bringing bananas to Second Division fixtures, and the trend spread to other clubs in the early 1990s. Since then, the bananas have become a quirky symbol of City’s history, with dozens appearing again at the Anfield match. The win was City’s first since the club was found guilty of 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules between 2009‑10 and 2017‑18, a sanction that could have included a points deduction or even expulsion from the league.
Varadi, who now sells inflatable bananas through the club and runs a social‑media account under the handle @imre_banana, described the moment as “amazing” and noted that seeing the inflatable craze return felt like a nod to his own playing days at Maine Road. “It was amazing, it’s bringing a lot of fun back into the game,” he said. “The game itself was terrific, 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 recalled how the trend started: “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.” Varadi added that he began the tradition 40 years ago and is proud to see it still thriving, especially at a match that carried such symbolic weight for the club.
The comeback of the bananas at Anfield underscores the enduring connection between City’s past and present, reminding supporters of the club’s turbulent 1980s era while celebrating a recent triumph that keeps the team’s future in the Premier League secure.