The date was October 23, 2011. Old Trafford was buzzing. But honestly, the real story started about 36 hours earlier in a bathroom in Cheshire.
Mario Balotelli was 21 years old. He was talented, rich, and arguably the most scrutinized human being in the United Kingdom at the time. If he went to a curry house, it was front-page news. If he threw a dart—allegedly—at a youth team player, it was a national scandal. So, when he stood in front of the cameras at the Theatre of Dreams after slotting a cool finish past David de Gea, he didn't scream. He didn't do a backflip. He just lifted his blue Manchester City jersey to reveal a simple, hand-printed question on a white undershirt: Why Always Me?
It became the most iconic celebration in Premier League history. But the "why" behind it is a messy mix of property damage, tabloid obsession, and a kit man with a heat press.
The Firework Incident: The Night Before the Derby
You’ve probably heard the myth. Mario was shooting rockets out of his window like a madman.
The reality? It was Friday night, less than 48 hours before the biggest Manchester Derby in decades. Balotelli and four friends were hanging out at his rented mansion in Mottram St Andrew. According to Mario, he wasn't even the one holding the match. One of his buddies decided it would be a "great" idea to set off fireworks from the bathroom window.
Things went south fast.
A firework hit a towel. The towel caught fire. Within minutes, the first floor of the house was a smoke-filled disaster zone. Two fire crews had to use breathing apparatus to tackle the blaze. Total damage? Around £400,000. Mario ended up staying in a hotel that night, presumably with a very annoyed Roberto Mancini calling his phone.
Most players would be dropped. Most players would be hiding from the world. Mario Balotelli isn't most players. He showed up to training at 10:00 AM the next morning like nothing had happened.
How the Shirt Actually Got Made
The "Why Always Me?" shirt wasn't some corporate marketing stunt. It was a last-minute "sfogo"—an Italian word for an emotional release or an outburst.
Les "Chappy" Chapman was City’s kit man at the time. He's a legend in his own right. On the morning of the game, Mario walked up to him in the dressing room area. He had a few ideas for what to put on his undershirt. Apparently, some of the initial suggestions were way too controversial and would have landed him in serious hot water with the FA.
Chappy told him to keep it simple. They settled on those three words.
"I told him the words and he printed them. He is a good guy Chappy, one of the best," Balotelli told TIME magazine a year later.
Interestingly, David Platt (Mancini’s assistant) later banned Chappy from printing any more custom shirts because Balotelli got a yellow card for pulling the jersey over his head. Worth it? Absolutely. City went on to win that game 6-1. It was United’s worst home defeat since 1955.
What He Was Actually Asking
People often mistake the shirt for arrogance. They think he was saying, "Why am I always the star?"
Actually, it was a plea.
Mario was frustrated. He felt like the British press was stalking him, inventing stories, and exaggerating every mistake he made. He’d been in the UK for a little over a year and had already crashed his Audi R8 (carrying £5,000 in cash "because I am rich"), gotten into training ground scraps with Micah Richards, and been sent off multiple times.
In his own words to The Guardian:
"It was to all the people that just talking bad about me and say stuff not nice about me. And they don’t know me, so just asking why always me, like, why always me?"
He wanted to be a footballer, but he had become a character in a reality show he never auditioned for. The irony, of course, is that by wearing the shirt, he ensured the spotlight would never leave him.
The Aftermath and the Legacy
The "Why Always Me?" slogan took on a life of its own. It was on T-shirts, in rap lyrics, and became a shorthand for anyone feeling unfairly picked on.
A few days after the fire, in a move that only makes sense in the Balotelli universe, he became the face of a firework safety campaign in Manchester. You literally cannot make this stuff up. He was telling kids to "follow the firework code" while his landlord was still waiting for the insurance check for his burnt-out bathroom.
Why It Still Matters Today
- The Shift in Manchester Power: That 6-1 win wasn't just a game; it was the moment the "Noisy Neighbors" actually moved in.
- Player Branding: Before every player had a social media manager and a "personal brand," Mario created one of the most recognizable logos in sports history with a Sharpie and a kit man.
- The Human Element: It reminds us that behind the multi-million pound contracts, these are just kids. Balotelli was a 21-year-old living far from home, dealing with massive fame and a very weird sense of humor.
Mario Balotelli’s career didn't quite hit the heights people expected after that 2011/12 season. He bounced from Milan to Liverpool, then to Nice, Marseille, and eventually Turkey and Saudi Arabia. But for one afternoon at Old Trafford, he was the center of the universe.
If you're looking to understand the Balotelli era, don't look at the stats. Look at the photo of him standing still, arms slightly out, wearing a question that he still hasn't quite found the answer to.
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Your Next Moves for the Full Story
- Watch the Match Highlights: Go back and watch the 6-1 highlights. Notice how calm he is. It's eerie.
- Read the TIME Interview: Look up the 2012 TIME cover story "The Italian Job." It’s one of the few times he actually opens up about his identity and the racism he faced.
- Check the Kit Man's Perspective: Search for Les Chapman’s interviews on podcasts like Ninety Three Twenty. He shares the "uncensored" versions of Mario's other shirt ideas that never made it to the pitch.
Mario was never just a player; he was a glitch in the matrix of modern football. And honestly? The game has been a lot more boring since he left the Premier League.