How fortunes have changed for Manchester City, now considered the richest club in the world. Today, under the ownership of members of the Abu Dhabi ruling family, dreams are becoming a reality. Manager Mark Hughes is slowly building a squad with the aim of bringing in silverware for the first time in more than three decades. Seldom a day goes past without Manchester City hitting the headlines, either being linked to a new star purchase or snapping up players like Roque Santa Cruz or Robinho.Manchester City intends going places and has the money to make ambitions come true. It’s all a very far cry from humble beginnings in the 19th century when a former player put in his own cash to stop the club from going bust and postponing his wedding for three years as a result! Like many of our modern day clubs, Manchester City can trace its roots back to church days and cricket. The club used to be called St Mark’s West Gorton, a district in east Manchester, and was formed by three stalwarts, including two church wardens. The team evolved from an avid group of cricketers and the first known competitive football match was played in November of 1880. The youngest player was 15, the oldest 20.
St Mark’s became Ardwick AFC in 1887 and then Manchester City FC in 1894 in a bid to create a club which represented the whole of Manchester. Manchester City have won the League Championship twice, the FA Cup four times, the League Cup twice and the European Cup Winners’ Cup once. It has had periods of success and times of failure and notched up many a record, some of them held with pride, the others not so.
The club’s most successful period was in the late 1960s and early 1970s when it won several major trophies under Joe Mercer and his assistant Malcolm Allison but there have been no glittering honours for 33 years. Under the new ownership, the intention is for all that to change and the future is looking bright. Manchester City have spent most of their history in the top flight but, in the 1990s, had to endure relegation twice in three years and also spent a year in the third tier. Today, failure is not considered an option.
There are fans throughout the UK – the latest statistics suggest some 886,000 – and in excess of two million throughout the world. That’s a large fan base considering the lack of competitive success. Manchester City first won the FA Cup in 1904 but was later dogged by financial irregularities which, in 1906, culminated in the suspension of 17 players. In 1920, fire destroyed the Hyde Road main stand and the club moved to Maine Road in 1923.
The highlight of the 1930s was two consecutive FA Cup finals, one lost to Everton in 1933 and then a victory against Portsmouth in 1934. City won the First Division title for the first time in 1937 but could not avoid relegation the next season. The club was to reach the FA Cup finals again in 1955 and 1956, repeating the pattern of before – losing the first, winning the second. The 1956 final against Birmingham was a memorable affair, not least because City goalie Bert Trautmann continued to play, oblivious of the fact that he had a broken neck. In 1963, City were relegated to the Second Division but fortunes began to turn in 1965 with the appointment of Mercer and Allinson. In their first season, they won the league title, promotion, then the League Cup in 1967-68, the FA Cup in 1969 and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1970, as well as the League Cup.
Manchester City became only the second European team to win a European trophy and a domestic trophy in one season but notched up another record too. They were the only club to have won the European Cup Winners’ Cup and to be relegated to the Third Division. The club was relegated in 1983 and 1987, bouncing back each time, and then became founder members of the Premier League in 1992. However, they were relegated again in 1996 and then to the Third Division two seasons later.
More upheavals were to follow, with promotions and relegations until the Kevin Keegan era when they became Division One champions in 2001-2002, breaking the record for the number of points gained and goals scored in one season. The season of 2002-2003 proved the last at Maine Road with the move to the City of Manchester Stadium. Stuart Pearce took over in 2005 but there was a disappointing 15th place finish in 2005-2006 and another record – just ten home goals, the fewest ever scored by a club.
Many a top manager has been at the helm, including Sven-Goran Erikssohn in July 2007. His reign started well but he was sacked in June 2008 amid a public outcry from the fans. Nothing could save him and Mark Hughes became manager in June 2008. The last season saw the club finishing tenth in the Premiership and reaching the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup. On the way, another record was notched up with the signing of Real Madrid star Robinho for a then British record-breaking fee of 32.5 million pounds. It was seen as a massive coup and just one of many to come.
Playing in sky blue and white, Manchester City has the most loyal of fans and was once voted in third in a loyalty poll to Liverpool and Portsmouth. It’s reported that the buy-out by the Abu Dhabi United Group was worth around 200 million pounds, money which could help to build a team Manchester City has always aspired to be. Manchester, and the rest of the world, awaits action and success on the field with huge anticipation as would their ancestors of over a century ago.
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