Manchester City Football Club Profile

Manchester City Football Club Facts

	Full Name:	Manchester City Football Club
	Nickname:	The Citizens, The Blues, City
	Founded:	1880
	Colours:	Sky Blue and White
	Home Ground:	City of Manchester Stadium
	Manager:	Mark Hughes
	Premier League Titles:	2
	FA Cup Titles:	4

Manchester City Football Club Profile

Manchester City Football Club is one of the richest clubs in the world, and are regular contenders of the English Premier League. The club’s honours include winning the League Championship twice, the FA Cup four times, the League Cup twice and the European Cup Winners Cup once. Although their most successful period seems to have peaked in the late 1960s and early 1970s, they have managed to sign up top players such as Robinho, with hopes of having another glory era. The club is also famous for becoming the first English football club to win a European Winners Cup and the League Cup in the same season (1969 - 70).

Manchester City Football Club History

Manchester City F.C. was founded in 1880 under the name of St. Marks. Founding members Anna Connell and two wardens of St. Mark’s Church started the club to allow members of the church to participate in a winter sport, as cricket was played in summer. After moving to a new home ground in Ardwick, the club had undergone a name change to Ardwick A.F.C. and joined the Football League Second Division in 1892.

One year later, like most football clubs, Manchester City found themselves amidst financial troubles and a string of bad luck, which led to a second name change to Manchester City F.C. They were promoted to the first division in 1899 and won their first FA cup in 1904. They won their second FA cup in 1934, and their first First Division title in 1937, but were relegated the following year.

Their third FA cup victory came almost two decades later in 1956 when they defeated Birmingham City. Poor performances over the next few years led to relegation to the second division in 1963 but this was followed by the club’s most successful period during the late 1960s and early 1970s when they won several major trophies including the European Cup in 1970 under the management team of Joe Mercer and his assistant Malcolm Allison.

In the 1980s, the club was relegated twice from the top flight (in 1983 and 1987) and Manchester City’s fortunes continued to fade. Although Manchester City were founders of the Premier League in 1992, they were relegated to Division One only four years later in 1996. Two seasons later, they had the dubious distinction of becoming the first ever European trophy winners to be relegated to English football’s Third tier.

Under Kevin Keegan, Manchester City returned to the top division and won the 2001-02 Division One Championship. Although they have not won any major trophies since 1976, they have remained in the top tier of English football since 2001.

Sven-Göran Eriksson took over in 2007 which seemed to breathe new life into the struggling club, their season began on a high note, the second half of the season took a major downturn as the club’s owner surprisingly terminated Eriksson’s 3 year contract after only one year.  Former Blackburn Rovers manager Mark Hughes has since been in charge and has managed to revive the club with major sign ups from Robinho, Wayne Bridge and Craig Bellamy.

City of Manchester Stadium

The City of Manchester Stadium is home to the Manchester City Football Club, and is a 5-star rated,  47,726-seater stadium originally designed as part of the City’s bid to host the 2000 Summer Olympics. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair laid the foundation stone in December 1999, and construction began in January 2000. The 2007/2008 season saw a record attendence of 42,077 supporters as the stadium also hosted the 2008 Uefa Cup Final between Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg.

This award-winning stadium was constructed by John Laing for approximately £110 million with Sport England and Manchester City Council contributing to this payment. Manchester City have signed a 250-year lease for use of the stadium which is the twelfth largest in the United Kingdom.

Manchester City Supporters and Rivalries

With an estimated following of over 886, 000 fans in the United Kingdom alone, Manchester City football club has a total of 2 million supporters worldwide. Manchester City fans are the most loyal according to the British Football Association, and have also earned a reputation of being extremely welcoming and gay friendly.

Manchester City’s biggest rivalry is with its closest neighbour Manchester United Football Club, against whom they contest the Manchester derby.