Oasis: What do they mean to Manchester football fans?

It was the worst-kept secret around. On Tuesday morning, Liam and Noel Gallagher announced Oasis were reforming to play a series of dates across the UK and Ireland next year – 15 years after their split.

But what does the reunion mean for fans of their home city’s two biggest football clubs?

Liam and Noel have famously found plenty to disagree about over the years, but one thing they have in common is their love for Manchester City.

The boys from Burnage were in their pomp during the mid-90s, playing to 250,000 people over two nights at Knebworth in 1996. Their swagger became synonymous with the whole city.

But their football team – and cross-city rivals United – were on very different trajectories at the time.

While Sir Alex Ferguson was building a dynasty at Old Trafford – delivering 13 Premier League trophies between 1993 and 2013 – City’s fortunes were rather more mixed.

In 1998 – following the release of Oasis’ third album, Be Here Now – the Blues were in the third tier of English football.

The band split in August 2009 – a year after City’s takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group.

Fifteen years on, City have won the Champions League, eight Premier League titles, three FA Cups and six League Cups. United, meanwhile, have not won the league since Ferguson retired in 2013.