MANCHESTER CITY FC

MANCHESTER CITY FC



Full Name: Manchester City Football Club
City: Manchester
Founded: 1880
Stadium: City of Manchester Stadium (47,500)
Colors: Blue, White
Previous Names: West Gorton (St Marks) (1880-84), Gorton AFC (1884-87), Ardwick AFC (1887-94)
Nicknames: Man City, The Blues, The Citizens
Rivals: Manchester United
Stadium: City of Manchester Stadium
Official Website: mcfc.co.uk

Description:

The club was founded by members of the St Marks Church in West Gorton, a neighborhood of East Manchester. Briefly merged with Gorton Athletic, then renamed to Gorton AFC after the breakup of the merger. Moved to the neighborhood of Ardwick (also in East Manchester) in 1887, resulting in a name change. Ardwick joined the Football League in 1892 after one season in the rival Football Alliance. Financial problems two years later led to a reorganization and a new name - Manchester City Football Club. At this time they were playing in the Hyde Road ground. In the 1920s they moved further south to the Maine Road stadium, which they occupied for eighty years before moving to the City of Manchester Stadium in East Manchester. Blues fans are credited with launching the inflatables craze in British football in the late 1980s. The City of Manchester Stadium was built for the 2003 Commonwealth Games, which were held in Manchester. Manchester City's emblem includes an eagle and a ship, both symbols of the city of Manchester, as well as the club's motto - Superbia in Proelio (Pride in Battle). The Citizens nickname is a play on City and isn't actually used all that often. Previous stadiums - Clowes Street (1880-81), Kirkmanshulme Cricket Ground (1881-82), Queens Road (1882-84), Pink Bank Lane (1884-87), Hyde Road (1887-1923), Maine Road (1923-2003).

Manchester City FC History

Manchester City F.C. is a football club based in Manchester, United Kingdom. Having been formed in 1880 as West Gorton Saint Marks, it went on to become Ardwick F.C. in 1887 and moved to Hyde Road, before finally becoming Manchester City F.C. in 1894.

Winning the Second Division in 1899 gave the club their first honours. They went on to claim their first 'major' honour in 1904, beating Bolton Wanderers to claim the FA Cup. In 1923 they moved to Maine Road in Moss Side, Manchester.

They first claimed the First Division title in 1937. The next time was in 1968 - their "golden era" of football, acquiring much silverware in the late 60s and early 70s under manager Joe Mercer with the deadly contingent of Francis Lee, Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee and Mike Doyle. Their most significant moment in Europe was capturing the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1970 by beating Gornik Zabrze 2-1 in Vienna.

One of the highlights of the last season in the old Maine Road stadium (now demolished) was a 3-1 derby victory over their Manchester rivals Manchester United to end a run of 13 years without a win. A goal from Nicolas Anelka and two from Shaun Goater, gave City full points. In 2003 they moved to The City of Manchester Stadium, a newly constructed state of the art 48,000 seater stadium situated in East Manchester, which they lease from the local council. In the 2002-2003 season they came 9th in the Premiership and qualified for the 2003-2004 UEFA Cup through the "fair play league".

They opened their new stadium with a 2-1 win over Spanish giants F.C. Barcelona with goals scored by Nicolas Anelka and Trevor Sinclair.

Their current squad contains the likes of Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, David James, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Paul Bosvelt, Trevor Sinclair and Claudio Reyna. Stuart Pearce is the caretaker manager.

Over the previous two seasons, veteran goalkeepers Peter Schmeichel and David Seaman have seen out their careers here.

In the pre-season of 2002-2003 they spent £13,500,000 (US$20,000,000) on Anelka. Their rise was rapid; from being in the third tier of English football in 1999, to being in European competition, having a large stadium, with top facilities and having world class players in their squad. In February 2005, a report by accountants Deloitte & Touche ranked Manchester City as the 16th richest club in the world in terms of income.

None of this, however, has diluted their distinguishing characteristic of comical unpredictability. A brilliantly-headed own-goal scored from some distance when playing Queens Park Rangers in 1998 was not only voted by their fans as the goal of the season, it was also instrumental in Manchester City's subsequent relegation.

Fortunately, their supporters display great wit and loyalty. When Arsenal F.C. played some of the best football ever seen at Maine Road and scored four goals in the first forty-five minutes, the stoic City fans responded with a chant of "boring, boring Arsenal". Manchester City will never face that accusation.

2 Years later when they played the same team and found themselves 5-0 down with a minute to spare, City scored a goal to make it 5-1. City fans responded with a chant of "You're not singing anymore" to the buoyant Arsenal fans.

Oasis are known to be huge supporters of Manchester City and have played at Maine Road.

Stadium information

Since 2002 the club moved from Maine Road to the City of Manchester Stadium, a newly constructed state of the art 48,000 seater stadium situated in East Manchester, which they purchased from Manchester City Council after the Commonwealth Games were held there in 2002.

Since moving to the stadium, Manchester City FC have spent about GB£35 million on upgrading it and lowering the field of play from ground level (during the Commonwealth Games) to below ground level, adding an additional tier of seating around the entire pitch and also building the new North Stand.


HONORS

League Titles:

* Football League First Division (1937, 68)
* Football League Second Division (1899, 1903, 10, 28, 47, 66)

Cup Titles:

* Charity Shield (1937, 68, 72)
* FA Cup (1904, 34, 56, 69)
* Football League Cup (1970, 76)

International Titles:

* European Cup Winner's Cup (1970)