That time Balotelli wore the "Why Always Me?" shirt Proving himself to be an icon of style and football

Mario Balotelli was a controversial footballer throughout his career, but there is one city where he will be loved and celebrated for the rest of his days: Manchester, on the City side. Not so much for his goals - 30 in 80 appearances overall - but for the iconic moments he was able to deliver. After all, his signature is also on the most important day in the club's history, 13 May 2012, when Manchester City, then managed by current Italy national team head coach Roberto Mancini, defeated Queen's Park Rangers 3–2 on the final day of the Premier League season with two goals in stoppage time, winning the title for the first time since the 1967/68 season. It was he who provided the decisive assist to Sergio Agüero for the winning goal.

During that season, Balotelli had delivered other iconic moments — such as the shoulder goal he scored against Norwich — but none had been able to replicate the level of aura generated by his celebration for the first of his two goals at Old Trafford in the derby against Manchester United, won 6–1 on 23 October 2011. After slotting the ball into the corner, Balotelli turns to face the camera and, pulling his Umbro home jersey up over his neck, reveals a second shirt bearing a phrase that to this day best sums up his career: "WHY ALWAYS ME?"

A Series of Unfortunate Events

The week before the derby, Balotelli made the front pages of every British tabloid after firefighters were called to put out a blaze that broke out at his home. It later emerged that the fire had been accidentally started by Balotelli himself, carelessly handling fireworks during a party with friends.

This episode was the peak of a series of controversies that had made Balotelli a target: in August 2010 he was involved in a car accident from which he emerged unscathed; in March 2011 he first got into an argument that nearly came to blows, and then, a few days later, Manchester City docked him a week's wages as punishment for throwing darts at some youth team players. The following month, his Maserati was attacked with iron bars. In July, during a pre-season friendly, Balotelli missed an open goal by attempting a bizarre spinning backheel; manager Roberto Mancini substituted him immediately and berated him in front of the whole world. Then came the fireworks incident at home.

Weighed down by an ever-growing wave of criticism, Balotelli decided to vent some of his frustration by sending a message if he scored in the derby, a response to the media. With that in mind, before the match he went to see Les Chapman, Manchester City's kitman, and asked him to print a phrase for him. Chapman warned him that there were rules to follow regarding celebratory shirts: no insults or provocations. Every phrase Balotelli suggested was turned down. So Balotelli proposed "Why always me!" to Chapman. Chapman's only objection was to replace the exclamation mark with a question mark. He then turned to the heat press and printed the words onto an undershirt.

A Legendary Meme

The very instant Balotelli revealed the celebratory shirt, he entered football history, staging one of the most iconic goal celebrations of all time. Dozens of celebratory shirts had been seen after goals in the past — Francesco Totti had been a master of the art, with the shirt reading "Vi ho purgato ancora" ("I've purged you again") to mock Lazio fans after a derby goal in 1999, or the shirt reading "6 UNICA" ("You're one of a kind") with which he declared his love for Ilary Blasi in 2002. None, however, had ever reached, or ever will reach, the epic status of "Why always me?"

First and foremost because at that moment Balotelli was the bad boy of international football, always in the spotlight for the wrong reasons and for his childish behaviour. That shirt was the perfect response to all the criticism, a meme before memes became the world's most widespread form of communication. There is also a highly significant aesthetic dimension: the words "Why always me?" were printed in the official Premier League font used between 2007 and 2017,  a bold, angular typeface with sharp edges and a more condensed form. Details that at first glance gave the impression of an official City product, and which to this day add to the beauty of that moment through the sentimental value fans have attached to that era of English football.