Manchester City fans react to West Midlands Police ‘swipe’ at football club ahead of Aston Villa clash

The West Midlands Police Football Unit aimed a playful dig at Manchester City fans ahead of their game against Aston Villa at the weekend.

Villa travel to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday (12 February) to take on the Premier League champions.

Ahead of the fixture, the force’s football unit, which has an Aston Villa Twitter account to provide infomation and updates for fans of the club, jokingly referred to City’s stadium as the ‘Emptihad’ instead of the Etihad.

Rival fans have called City’s ground the ‘Emptihad’ in recent years to mock the fact that they haven’t always sold out their home allocation despite winning numerous Premier League titles.

The tweet, which has been liked just under 300 times, read: “Fans travelling 2 the Emptihad on Sunday there are no pubs around the ground happy to accept away fans. Away fans travelling via train will be welcome in Brunswick, Piccadilly Tavern & the Waldorf in the city centre. Advice for those travelling via coach & car, stop enroute!”

Many football fans found the playful joke funny, with some replying with a laughing emoji, while others didn’t quite see the funny side.

One person replied: “Makes me laugh why people call man city’s ground the Emptihad they have the 6th highest average home attendance in the league.”

One City fan wrote: “Get the 12yr old off your twitter! 41500 and 52700, slight difference in average attendance.” Another fan added: “Unacceptable unprofessional and childish tweet. Also inaccurate. Grow up.” Another added: “Focus on catching criminals instead of making jokes.”