Manchester City F.C.
The club joined the Football League in 1892, and won their first major honour, the FA Cup, in 1904. Manchester City had its first major period of success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, winning the league title, FA Cup, League Cup, and European Cup Winners Cup under the management of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison.
After losing the 1981 FA Cup final, the club went through a period of decline, being relegated to the third tier of English football for the only time in their history in 1998. They regained promotion to the top tier in 1999โ2000 and have remained in the Premier League since 2002โ03.
Manchester City received major financial investment after its August 2008 takeover by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan through the Abu Dhabi United Group, starting a new era of success, winning the FA Cup in 2011 and the Premier League in 2012. Under the stewardship of Pep Guardiola between 2016 and 2026, the club won 20 honours, including the Premier League in 2018 with a record 100 points, becoming the first English men's team to win a domestic treble, claiming the three main domestic trophies as well as the Community Shield.
The club also won a continental treble in 2023, and four consecutive league titles between the 2020โ21 and 2023โ24 seasons โ an English football record.
Manchester City topped the Deloitte Football Money League at the end of the 2021โ22 season, making it the football club with the highest revenue in the world, approximated at โฌ731 million. In 2022, Forbes estimated the club was the sixth-most valuable in the world, worth $4.250 billion. Manchester City are owned by City Football Group Limited, a holding company valued at ยฃ3.73 ($4.8) billion in November 2019 and majority-owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group.
Manchester City have been accused of breaching financial rules set by UEFA and the Premier League since 2018. A total of 115 breaches over nine seasons from 2009 to 2018 were investigated by the Premier League, which formed an independent commission. The independent commission found the club guilty of all but one of the charges in 2026.
History
Early years and first trophies
City gained their first honours by winning the Second Division in 1899; with it came promotion to the highest level in English football, the First Division. They went on to claim their first major honour on 23 April 1904, beating Bolton Wanderers 1โ0 at Crystal Palace to win the FA Cup; the Blues narrowly missed out on a League and Cup double that season after finishing runners-up in the league campaign, but they still became the first club in Manchester to win a major honour.
In the seasons following the FA Cup triumph, the club was dogged by allegations of financial irregularities, culminating in the suspension of seventeen players in 1906, including captain Billy Meredith, who subsequently moved across town to Manchester United. A fire at Hyde Road destroyed the main stand in 1920, and in 1923 the club moved to their new purpose-built stadium at Maine Road in Moss Side.
In the 1930s, Manchester City reached two consecutive FA Cup finals, losing to Everton in 1933, before claiming the Cup by beating Portsmouth in 1934. During the 1934 run, the club broke the record for the highest home attendance of any club in English football history, as 84,569 fans packed Maine Road for a sixth-round FA Cup tie against Stoke City โ a record which stood until 2016.
The club won the First Division title for the first time in 1937, but were relegated the following season, despite scoring more goals than any other team in the division. Twenty years later, a City team inspired by a tactical system known as the Revie Plan reached consecutive FA Cup finals again, in 1955 and 1956; just as in the 1930s, they lost the first one, to Newcastle United, and won the second.
The 1956 final, in which the Blues defeated Birmingham City 3โ1, saw City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann continuing to play on after unknowingly breaking his neck.
First golden era and subsequent decline
After being relegated to the Second Division in 1963, the future looked bleak with a record low home attendance of 8,015 against Swindon Town in January 1965. In the summer of 1965, the management team of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison was appointed. In the first season under Mercer, Manchester City won the Second Division title and made important signings in Mike Summerbee and Colin Bell.
Two seasons later, in 1967โ68, City claimed the league championship for the second time, beating their close neighbours Manchester United to the title on the final day of the season with a 4โ3 victory at Newcastle United. Further trophies followed: City won the FA Cup in 1969 and a year later triumphed in the European Cup Winners' Cup, defeating Gรณrnik Zabrze 2โ1 in the 1970 final.
This was the club's only European honour until their triumph in the 2022โ23 UEFA Champions League. The Blues also won the League Cup that year, becoming the second English team to win a European trophy and a domestic trophy in the same season.
The club continued to challenge for honours throughout the 1970s, finishing one point behind the league champions on two occasions and reaching the final of the 1974 League Cup. One of the matches from this period that is most fondly remembered by supporters of Manchester City is the final match of the 1973โ74 season against arch-rivals Manchester United, who needed to win to have any hope of avoiding relegation.
Former United player Denis Law scored with a backheel to give City a 1โ0 win at Old Trafford and confirm the relegation of their rivals. The final trophy of the club's most successful period of the 20th century was won in 1976, when Newcastle United were beaten 2โ1 in the League Cup final.
A long period of decline followed the success of the 1960s and 1970s. Malcolm Allison rejoined the club to become manager for the second time in 1979, but squandered large sums of money on several unsuccessful signings, such as Steve Daley. A succession of managers then followed โ seven in the 1980s alone. Under John Bond, City reached the 1981 FA Cup final but lost in a replay to Tottenham Hotspur.
The club were twice relegated from the top flight in the 1980s (in 1983 and 1987), but returned to the top flight again in 1989 under Mel Machin. Howard Kendall guided the club to top flight safety in 1990 and the club finished fifth in 1991 and 1992 under the management of active player Peter Reid. However, this was only a temporary respite, and following Reid's departure Manchester City's fortunes continued to fade.
City were co-founders of the Premier League upon its creation in 1992, but after finishing ninth in its first season, Peter Swales, club chairman since 1973, was replaced by club legend Francis Lee in February 1994 in a movement supported by fans. Despite this, they endured three years of struggle under Brian Horton and Alan Ball Jr. before being relegated in dramatic fashion in 1996.
After two seasons in the First Division and four different permanent managers, Lee resigned from his role as chairman midway through the 1998 season, although remained as a shareholder, as City fell to the lowest point in their history, becoming the second ever European trophy winners to be relegated to their country's third-tier league after 1. FC Magdeburg of Germany.
Recovery and two takeovers
After relegation, the club underwent off-the-field upheaval, with new chairman David Bernstein introducing greater fiscal discipline. Under manager Joe Royle, City were promoted at the first attempt, achieved in dramatic fashion in the Second Division play-off final against Gillingham. A second successive promotion saw City return to the top division, but this proved to have been a step too far for the recovering club, and in 2001 City were relegated once more.
Kevin Keegan replaced Royle as manager in the close season, and achieved an immediate return to the top division as the club won the 2001โ02 First Division championship, breaking club records for the number of points gained and goals scored in a single season in the process. The 2002โ03 season was the last at Maine Road and included a 3โ1 derby victory over rivals Manchester United, ending a 13-year run without a derby win.
Additionally, City qualified for European competition for the first time in 25 years via UEFA fair play ranking. In the close 2003โ04 season, the club moved to the new City of Manchester Stadium. The first four seasons at the stadium all resulted in mid-table finishes. Former England manager Sven-Gรถran Eriksson became the club's first foreign manager when appointed in 2007.
After a bright start, performances faded in the second half of the season, and Eriksson was sacked on 2 June 2008; he was replaced by Mark Hughes two days later.
By 2008, Manchester City were in a financially precarious position. Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had taken control of the club the year before, but his political travails saw his assets frozen. Then, in August 2008, City were purchased by the Abu Dhabi United Group. The takeover was immediately followed by a flurry of bids for high-profile players; the club broke the British transfer record by signing Brazilian international Robinho from Real Madrid for ยฃ32.5 million (โฌ42.5 million).
There was not a huge improvement in performance compared to the previous season despite the influx of money however, with the team finishing tenth, although they did well to reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. During the summer of 2009, the club took transfer spending to an unprecedented level, with an outlay of over ยฃ100 million on players Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz, Kolo Tourรฉ, Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, and Joleon Lescott.
In December 2009, Mark Hughes โ who had been hired shortly before the change in ownership but was originally retained by the new board โ was replaced as manager by Roberto Mancini. City finished the season in fifth position in the Premier League, narrowly missing out on a place in the Champions League but qualifying for the UEFA Europa League.
Second golden era: Pep Guardiola years, financial and non-cooperation charges
Continued investment in players followed in successive seasons, and results began to match the upturn in player quality. After heavy speculation, Roberto Mancini confirmed that a move of Edin Dลพeko from Wolfsburg for a fee of ยฃ27 million (โฌ32 million) had been agreed on 3 January 2011. This was City's second highest transfer figure, after Robinho's move from Real Madrid for ยฃ32.5 million in 2008.
The transfer fee was the sixth highest in Premier League history at the time. City reached the FA Cup final in 2011, their first major final in over 30 years, after defeating derby rivals Manchester United in the semi-finals, the first time they had knocked their rival out of a cup competition since 1975. The Blues defeated Stoke City 1โ0 in the final, securing their fifth FA Cup and the club's first major trophy since winning the 1976 League Cup.
On the last day of the 2010โ11 season, City beat out Arsenal for the third place, thereby securing qualification directly into the Champions League group stage.
Strong performances continued to follow in the 2011โ12 season, including a 5โ1 victory over Tottenham at White Hart Lane and a record-equalling 6โ1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford, but a poor run of form in the second half of the season left City in second place, eight points behind United with only six games left to play.
At this point, United suffered their own loss of form, dropping eight points in the space of four games, while City began a run of successive wins which saw both teams level on points with two games to go. Despite the Blues only needing a home win against Queens Park Rangers, a team in the relegation zone, they fell 1โ2 behind by the end of normal time.
However, two goals in injury time โ the second by Sergio Agรผero in the fourth added minute โ settled the title in City's favour, making them the first team to win the Premier League on goal difference alone.
The following season, City were unable to replicate the previous year's success. After finishing second in the league, eleven points behind Manchester United, and losing the FA Cup final 0โ1 to relegated Wigan Athletic, Mancini was sacked. He was replaced by Chilean manager Manuel Pellegrini. In Pellegrini's first year in charge, City won the League Cup and regained the Premier League title on the last matchday of the season.
The team's league form then slowly declined over the next couple of years, as the Blues finished second in 2014โ15 and then dropped to fourth in 2015โ16, although the 2015โ16 season would see City win another League Cup title and reach the Champions League semi-finals for the first time.
Pep Guardiola, former head coach of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, was confirmed to become Manchester City's new manager on 1 February 2016, with the announcement having been made several months before Manuel Pellegrini left his position. Guardiola's first season in Manchester would end trophyless, with the Blues placing third in the league standings, but the following season proved far more successful, as City won the Premier League title with the highest points total in history and broke numerous other club and English league records along the way.
This would prove to be the start of a period of unprecedented success for Manchester City under Guardiola. Between the 2017โ18 and 2023โ24 Premier League seasons, City won six out of possible seven league titles, only finishing second behind Liverpool in the 2019โ20 season. Guardiola also guided the Blues to silverware in domestic cup competitions, highlighted by four consecutive League Cup triumphs in 2018โ2021.
During the 2018โ19 season, City completed an unprecedented domestic treble of English men's titles. Apart from winning all three of the major English football tournaments, they also won the Community Shield, the first time any team has ever held all four of England's primary football trophies at the same time. On the continental stage, the club achieved breakthrough in 2020โ21, reaching their first-ever Champions League final. In an all-English affair, City lost 0โ1 to Chelsea at the Estรกdio do Dragรฃo in Porto.
The 2022โ23 season turned out to be the greatest in the club's history, as Manchester City won their third consecutive Premier League title, the FA Cup final against rivals Manchester United, and their maiden Champions League title at the Atatรผrk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul against Inter Milan, thereby assembling a rare feat โ the continental treble.
The road to the Champions League victory included wins over European giants Bayern Munich, who were defeated 4โ1 on aggregate, and Real Madrid, who suffered a 1โ5 aggregate loss at the hands of City. In the following season City won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup for the first time and became the first English men's club to claim four consecutive league titles with another Premier League title.
City also advanced to the FA Cup final for the second straight year but lost in a rematch to rivals Manchester United.
In the 2024โ25 season City managed to win only the Community Shield in another rematch against United. They lost that season's FA Cup final to Crystal Palace and finished third in the Premier League. In the following season, Manchester City finished runners-up in the Premier League in Guardiola's final season at the club.
