Well indeed neither of us know. I can't really imagine Rob Gretton would know how often Noel went when he'd have had no clue who he was, but whatever. If you saw the video footage of him in the Hacienda you'll see why no one recognises him later, he looked totally different. They definitely used to go in the early 90s (after its heyday) because Peter Hook (who also owned it) referred to it in an interview back in 1994, when he did know who they were.
Noel has been on documentaries talking about it but I don't think he's ever claimed he was there for every important event. Even if he went 6 times he will have a fair view of what it was like, people are often jealous that he gets asked to talk on these shows but that's because he had a huge impact on pop culture in Britain, more so than the people moaning about it who may have gone more often (or owned it
).
Anyway, I guess you either believe it or you don't. I can't for one second imagine that Noel didn't go to enough City games to class himself as a City fan before the 90s. City actually *weren't* crap in the 70s when he started going, won the League Cup and came 2nd and 4th in the top flight within a few seasons. I've got no idea how many times Noel watched them in the 80s, he claims he did a season with a big group where they went to every match home and away (no one has debunked this in any of the books, and they're not ALL still his mates), but neither does Rob Gretton really (or how often he went to the Hacienda). I've never heard Noel claim he went to Wembley in 76 when he was 9 as they were pretty skint.
And if Rob's anything like his Paddy Considine portrayal, he's a bit of a mardy bum anyway
.