Man City fans smash £10k landmark and sell out Community Shield screening as boycott momentum grows

Manchester City fans have raised over £10,000 for the local foodbank and have also sold out a charity screening of the Community Shield, as momentum is growing for a boycott of the season curtain-raiser.

City fans are frustrated with the scheduling of the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday, August 6, complaining that the fixture will make it difficult for up to 30,000 fans to return to Manchester after the game on a Sunday. After initial pressure, the kick-off time was brought forward by 90 minutes from 5.30pm to 4pm, however, the 1894 group want the game to be brought forward again to 3pm - or ideally rescheduled for the Saturday.

Their stance is that fans are too often asked to accommodate for inconvenient kick-off times, and with a 30,000 allocation at Wembley, 1894 feel that this is an opportunity to make a stand against fans not being considered when big games are scheduled.

The group have therefore encouraged others to boycott the Community Shield, and instead donate the price of a ticket (or anything a fan can afford) to the MCFC Fans Supporting Foodbanks group, who raise donations for the Manchester Central foodbank.

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Those donations have now topped £10,000 when GiftAid is included, taking the boycott momentum past a significant landmark. The 1894 have also sold out their screening of the Community Shield at the iconic Manchester venue Band on the Wall, with profits to be added to the donation total.

However, it is unlikely that the kick-off time will be moved again, with the FA telling MEN Sport that they are comfortable with the 4pm start, adding that many league games kick off at the same time throughout the