Esme Morgan
Blue blood
"Everything means a little bit more because you have an extra desire: to win and get one over on United. You do feel a little more giddy before the game... You tackle that bit harder, cheer that bit louder... You find it from within you – the Blue comes out and gives you an extra ten per cent."
TRUE BLUE
Esme Morgan is Manchester City through and through.
A City fan and Seasonticket holder since the age of three, the 20-year-old is now living the dream for all of us, donning the sky blue
shirt in Gareth Taylor's star-studded first-team squad.
Ahead of Friday's Manchester Derby, the defender opens up about facing United as a Blue, recalling her best (and worst)
memories of Derby Day, and reveals how she's
powering the pride in the dressing room...
Derby Day: It’s the first fixture you look for when the calendar is released – the clash with more than points at stake. It’s the day superstitions become imperative, the reason friends and relatives fall out, and the motive behind calling in sick to work on the Monday morning...
For City and England defender Esme Morgan, it's all of the above and more... for the 20-year-old lifelong Blue proudly stands in the coveted position of being able to realise every football fans' dream of playing for her childhood Club.
With Blue blood coursing through her veins, her true colours shine through - perhaps most brightly when she prepares to lock horns against our fiercest rivals Manchester United.
The neighbouring nemeses meet on Friday night in a hotly-anticipated clash, enhanced by the magnitude of the game in the league title race and the prospect of a night under the floodlights at the Academy Stadium. Needless to say, the days cannot pass quick enough for Morgan.
"I can’t wait!" she grins. "It still seems a bit surreal that I’m a part of a Manchester Derby!
"I've been supporting City since I was small. I went to my first game when I was three - we beat Bolton 6-2 - and I remember it so clearly. I fell in love with football and with City from that moment on.
"Since then, I've seen the Club's rise to success. I like to think I brought the Club a bit of luck because things gradually got better after I started going to matches!
"It's an amazing feeling to represent City. I have so many shirts I've worn over the years and now, to wear one as a player and have fans cheering me on is incredible.
"I have to pinch myself all the time, playing for City, but to play in a Derby especially is incredible. Those games give you the most thrill to play in.
"I've watched so many over the years and been so engrossed as a fan, that to now play a part and have some sort of bearing on the outcome is really exciting."
Of those many unforgettable early Derby moments within Morgan's memory bank, sadly there are none crafted by a female player - no dramatic winners, no wild celebrations... The Manchester Derby rivalry simply did not exist at the top level of the women's game... until recently.
In fact, growing up, Morgan never even dreamed of playing for a women's team. She imagined playing for the men's side instead. To her, that was a more realistic option!
The London Olympics opened the youngster's eyes to the prospect of carving a career within the women's game, as Team GB (inspired by a certain goalscoring left-back Steph Houghton!) starred on home soil, capturing the hearts of the 90,000-strong crowds and television audiences alike.
Fast forward to 2018 and Sheffield-born starlet Morgan now lines up alongside Houghton and co. for her beloved City (and her country) as a professional footballer.
It's an accomplishment she holds immense pride for and - as positive, driven and enthusiastic as she is on the pitch - she's determined to make the rest of us proud.
"I wasn't really aware of women's football growing up," she admits.
"It came to the forefront at the 2012 Olympics. That was the first time a lot of people, including myself, started to take notice of women's football.
"Joining City was a dream come true. Like many, I'd played with boys' teams growing up and then I trialled with City at Under-15s level purely because I was a fan. I was accepted and then I moved up to the Under-16s Regional Talent and Elite Development Squads.
"Then, I was invited to travel away with the first-team in pre-season when I was 16 and when I was 18, I signed my first professional contract.
"It's been a bit of a whirlwind. It's been crazy... but I've loved every minute.
"Now, women's football is growing so fast and rivalries are starting to emerge. It was always a shame United didn't have a women's team - we'd treat the games against Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool as our Derbies - so now, it's great they have a team.
"It's brought something new into the women's game - it's something for everyone to look forward to and it draws a lot of attention.
"You only have to look at the first FA Women's Super League Derby at the Etihad Stadium last season. We had 30,000 fans there - people who had never been to a women's game before, people who were only interested because it was City against United...
"It was such a special occasion and now, it's something we all get to experience several times throughout a season.
"For me personally, being a City fan, it's incredible."
TRUE BLUE
Esme Morgan is Manchester City through and through.
A City fan and Seasonticket holder since the age of three, the 20-year old is now living the dream for all of us, donning the sky blue shirt in Gareth Taylor's star-studded first-team squad.
Ahead of Friday's Manchester Derby, the defender opens up about facing United as a Blue, recalling her best (and worst) memories of Derby Day, and reveals how she's powering the pride in the dressing room...
Derby Day: It’s the first fixture you look for when the calendar is released – the clash with more than points at stake. It’s the day superstitions become imperative, the reason friends and relatives fall out, and the motive behind calling in sick to work on the Monday morning...
For City and England defender Esme Morgan, it's all of the above and more... for the 20-year-old lifelong Blue proudly stands in the coveted position of being able to realise every football fans' dream of playing for her childhood Club.
With Blue blood coursing through her veins, her true colours shine through - perhaps most brightly when she prepares to lock horns against our fiercest rivals Manchester United.
The neighbouring nemeses meet in a hotly-anticipated clash, enhanced by the magnitude of the game and the prospect of a night under the floodlights at the Academy Stadium. Needless to say, the days cannot pass quick enough for Morgan.
"I can’t wait!" she grins. "It still seems a bit surreal that I’m a part of a Manchester Derby!
"I've been supporting City since I was small. I went to my first game when I was three - we beat Bolton 6-2 - and I remember it so clearly. I fell in love with football and with City from that moment on.
"Since then, I've seen the Club's rise to success. I like to think I brought the Club a bit of luck because things gradually got better after I started going to matches!
"It's an amazing feeling to represent City. I have so many shirts I've worn over the years and now, to wear one as a player and have fans cheering me on is incredible.
"I have to pinch myself all the time, playing for City, but to play in a Derby especially is incredible. Those games give you the most thrill to play in.
"I've watched so many over the years and been so engrossed as a fan, that to now play a part and have some sort of bearing on the outcome is really exciting."
Of those many unforgettable early Derby moments within Morgan's memory bank, sadly there are none crafted by a female player - no dramatic winners, no wild celebrations... The Manchester Derby rivalry simply did not exist at the top level of the women's game... until recently.
In fact, growing up, Morgan never even dreamed of playing for a women's team. She imagined playing for the men's side instead. To her, that was a more realistic option!
The London Olympics opened the youngster's eyes to the prospect of carving a career within the women's game, as Team GB (inspired by a certain goalscoring left-back Steph Houghton!) starred on home soil, capturing the hearts of the 90,000-strong crowds and television audiences alike.
Fast forward to 2018 and Sheffield-born starlet Morgan now lines up alongside Houghton and co. for her beloved City (and her country) as a professional footballer.
It's an accomplishment she holds immense pride for and - as positive, driven and enthusiastic as she is on the pitch - she's determined to make the rest of us proud.
"I wasn't really aware of women's football growing up," she admits.
"It came to the forefront at the 2012 Olympics. That was the first time a lot of people, including myself, started to take notice of women's football.
"Joining City was a dream come true. Like many, I'd played with boys' teams growing up and then I trialled with City at Under-15s level purely because I was a fan. I was accepted and then I moved up to the Under-16s Regional Talent and Elite Development Squads.
"Then, I was invited to travel away with the first-team in pre-season when I was 16 and when I was 18, I signed my first professional contract.
"It's been a bit of a whirlwind. It's been crazy... but I've loved every minute.
"Now, women's football is growing so fast and rivalries are starting to emerge. It was always a shame United didn't have a women's team - we'd treat the games against Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool as our Derbies - so now, it's great they have a team.
"It's brought something new into the women's game - it's something for everyone to look forward to and it draws a lot of attention.
"You only have to look at the first FA Women's Super League Derby at the Etihad Stadium last season. We had 30,000 fans there - people who had never been to a women's game before, people who were only interested because it was City against United...
"It was such a special occasion and now, it's something we all get to experience several times throughout a season.
"For me personally, being a City fan, it's incredible."
With the heart-wrenching and notable absence of fans this season, it will be up to the players and staff to create a small modicum of the famous atmosphere - and Morgan is more than happy to accept the responsibility, illustrating exactly what it means to play in a Derby.
United States star and World Cup winner Sam Mewis is no stranger to the big stage - but local rivalries in America don't quite share the same level of significance. True Blue Morgan has been happy to educate her new teammate, who she proudly reveals is a fast learner!
"It will be a shame not to have fans because Derby Days always bring out the best atmospheres," Morgan laments.
"We've got a few City fans in the squad - true, die-hard Blues - and we'll certainly be rallying people up for the game.
"We want them to have the same level of desire to win so we'll be getting everyone else to jump on that passion we City fans have.
"I was talking to Sam Mewis and she said that since she's arrived at the Club, she's actually grown a dislike for United. I love to hear that!
"She's been here for six months and she already has that feeling. Clearly, we're rubbing off on her in the right way!
"That passion is infectious. You get territorial and you want to win for City. Even if you're not a City fan, you want to please the fans and have those bragging rights.
"Keira Walsh has probably had some influence too but Sam experienced it for herself with how feisty the two away Derbies were.
"She realised what it meant there and then and it's grown since. I'm very proud!"
Also a lifelong Blue, Walsh has previously admitted the emotions of a Derby can overrule logic. The midfield maestro was sent off in her first trip to United, conceding afterwards the occasion of the day affected her performance.
Walsh has spoken since about the importance of keeping those feelings suppressed, trying to treat a Derby like any other game, but as Morgan explains, it can be hard to quell such deep-rooted fervour.
"Being the model professional, you have to treat it as if it's no different," she says, "but it is exciting...
"Everything means a little bit more because you have an extra desire: to win and get one over on United.
"You do feel a little more giddy before the game... You tackle that bit harder, cheer that bit louder... You find it from within you – the Blue comes out and gives you an extra ten per cent.
"You just can't beat Derby Day!"
For Friday's eagerly-awaited battle though, there is more than just local pride at stake: City sit two points behind our cross-town rivals in the league table - with a game in hand.
With Gareth Taylor's side set to lock horns with table-topping Chelsea at the Academy Stadium the end of April, the title race lies very much in City's hands. With so much on the line, Morgan agrees the stakes could not be higher for this week's mouth-watering meeting.
United edged November's two Derby clashes, clawing back a two-goal deficit in a real 'game of two halves' in the league, before triumphing on penalties in the final Continental Cup group stage game in which City progressed with the point earned in normal time.
Morgan asserts lessons have been learned from each of those encounters - evident with her side's recent impressive upturn in form.
"In the wider picture of the season, it's a massive game," she states.
"There's a lot riding on it because we want to catch and overtake them in the table.
"We were really disappointed with the two games earlier in the season. In the league game, we were unbelievable in the first half and we probably should have put the game to bed.
"It was similar in the Conti Cup. We had chances but we didn't finish them.
"We've learned to be more ruthless in games, especially when we're on top.
"Since Christmas, we've shown that more ruthless, clinical streak we had perhaps been lacking earlier on.
"We've been consistent throughout in terms of creating chances but it's only more recently that we've started to finish our best ones and win comfortably.
"That's probably the biggest learnings we've taken from those games so they were important in that respect."
Born in the Millennium, Morgan has enjoyed more success in Manchester Derbies than some older City fans had gained previously in their lifetimes!
However, she wasn't always able to witness such festivities in person... Though a Seasonticket holder from an early age, her parents were understandably wary of exposing young Esme to the cut and thrust of a Derby. Then, as she grew older, her weekends began to fill with the fun of grassroots football, as her budding sporting career blossomed.
"When I was a lot younger, I wasn't able to go to Derbies because the atmosphere gets a bit feisty!" Morgan laughs.
"I had a Seasonticket but my parents wouldn't let me go. I would stay at home and watch it or go to my nan's house in Manchester.
"We'd watch the scores coming in on TV and I remember my nan used to groan if United scored and if City scored, we'd go crazy!
"The game that sticks in my mind the most was the 1-0 win in 2007 when Geovanni scored. It was so unexpected for us to win that year but I remember my mum and dad walking through the door when they got back from the game and everyone was screaming the house down!"
"What a day that was! We actually went on to do the double over them that season, winning at Old Trafford for the first time in ages... Benjani, what a guy!"
Unfortunately, her Derby debut at the Etihad Stadium would not prove to be quite as enjoyable...
"I think the first Derby I actually went to was a bore draw!" she recalls.
"I must have been about ten. It was awful - so dull!
"My next one was when United got a last-minute winner from a Paul Scholes header and I cried. In was in the stand, bawling my eyes out, and my mum turned to me and said: 'We've brought you up right!'"
"We sat in Level Three of the East Stand so you could look down and see the away fans bouncing up and down. I feel sick talking about it!
"It's such a horrible feeling when the home crowd falls silent and you can hear them cheering in the distance.
"That was the same season as the Michael Owen goal and the League Cup semi-final defeat - we lost all three in injury time! I watched those on the tele and I felt sick.
"Come to think of it, I think we do better when I'm not there! I went to the one where Robin van Persie scored that free-kick as well... but I missed the 4-1 win when Sergio Aguero scored twice and Samir Nasri and Yaya Toure got one each!
"When I played grassroots football, a lot of the time, it clashed with Derbies when they were moved for TV. I missed a few wins. Looking back now, I think I've seen all the worst ones!
"Saying that, I was there for the Vincent Kompany header - that definitely stands out! And there have been a lot of good ones since!
"I remember the game where we needed to win at Old Trafford to stay in the title hunt with Liverpool in 2018/19. At the time, because I was young and living in a different city, I lived with a house family in Sale and my house parents were both huge United fans...
"I thought: 'Well, I don't want to be around them if United win and I'm sure they won't want to be around me if we win' so me and Lauren Hemp went out into Sale with my uncle to watch the game! It was a great atmosphere to be fair!
"I've never been to Old Trafford but we seem to do well there so maybe I should stay away!"
As with many fans of her generation, Morgan grew up idolising wing wizard Shaun Wright-Phillips - a fans' favourite who to this day remains highly-regarded, with many dubbing the midfield dynamo a Club legend.
Though differing in position, style and stature, both Morgan and Wright-Phillips share the same love for the Club - a love which endeared 'SWP' to the City faithful from the start.
Jumping at the chance to reminisce, Morgan hailed her childhood idol in our recent CITY+ documentary: Shaun Wright-Phillips: City's Homegrown Hero.
Fondly recalling one of his most iconic moments, the right-back beamed at the memory of Wright-Phillips' 'robot' goal celebration after he had scored against United in a 4-1 win back in 2004.
In tribute, the defender promises that when she achieves her dream of netting her first goal for her beloved Club, she will pay homage to her hero with her own robot dance - if she can contain herself!
"I loved watching Shaun Wright-Phillips play," she smiles. "He was so exciting to watch - when he got on the ball, you could feel the excitement in the crowd around the ground..
"The goal that sticks out for everyone is the one he scored in the Derby when it went in off the crossbar. What a goal that was!
"I wasn't at that game but I remember staying up to watch it on Match of the Day in the evening.
"I get goosebumps watching it now. I remember seeing it on the tele and hearing the roar of the crowd. A Derby goal is always better, isn't it?!
"I haven't scored for City yet but I've said I will do that robot celebration when I do. Although, with the way I'm built, people might think it's actually a tribute to Peter Crouch rather than Shaun Wright-Phillips!"
"To be honest, if I ever scored against United, I don't think I'd have the presence of mind to do it - I think I'd be beside myself with excitement!
"I did say to Ellen White that it would be a dream to score my first City goal in a Derby.
"She's done it so maybe I'll ask her for some tips! Stranger things have happened...
"In all seriousness though, I'd just be happy with a win. I'm so excited for the game and we'll be doing all we can to get those three points and the bragging rights.
"Manchester is definitely Blue, without a shadow of a doubt."
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