DUBAI // A four-month-old Emirati boy has become the youngest football fan to join Manchester City's overseas supporters' club.
Eid Mohammed Al Mansouri was signed up as a member of the official Sky Blue club by his father, Mohammed Al Mansouri - himself a staunch City fan.
"When Eid was born there was only going to be one club for him to support ," said Mr Al Mansouri. "We have even bought him a team kit to wear."
Mr Al Mansouri has been a fan since his marriage to Yasmin Sneyd. Her father, Peter Sneyd, is a die-hard City fan who moved to Abu Dhabi from Manchester in 1982.
"He is a huge, huge fan and speaks about the team all the time," said Mr Al Mansouri. "With Manchester City's links to Abu Dhabi through the ownership I am so happy to have three generations of the family supporting them."
Manchester City was an unknown team in the UAE before it was bought in 2008 by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed.
"How it has all come together is unbelievable," Mr Sneyd said. "When I arrived in Abu Dhabi nobody had heard of the team, but since the takeover by Sheikh Mansour all that has changed, and now I have three generations of my family all becoming official City fans.
"To sit in the Abu Dhabi sunshine with my baby grandson and son-in-law dressed in City shirts and scarves is just fantastic."
The official supporters' club for UAE-based fans, Sky Blue, launched in October with discounts on Etihad holiday packages back to Manchester.
It has a members-only area at the Club House, Zayed Sports City, which on Sunday will show City's Premiership fixture against Arsenal.
"Sky Blue membership is helping bring fans together and with the team playing so well I can only see it growing and growing," said Mr Sneyd.
