Manchester City

Who are Manchester City?

Manchester City are an English football club from Manchester that compete in the Premier League, the top division of English football.

Established in 1880 as St. Mark’s (West Gorton), it became Ardwick Association FC in 1887 and Manchester City seven years later.

The Citizens’ home ground is the Etihad Stadium in the east area of the city, to which it moved back in 2003, having played at Maine Road since 1923.

Manchester City became part of the Football League in 1892 and claimed their first major honour with the FA Cup 12 years later.

The club had their first major period of success in the late 1960s, lifting trophies of the League Cup, European Cup Winners Cup, FA Cup and League under the management of Malcolm Allison and Joe Mercer.

After losing the FA Cup Final in 1981, the Citizens went through a period of decline, peaking in relegation to the third level of English football for the only time in their history in 1998.

They since clinched promotion to the top tier in the 2001–02 season and have remained a fixture in the English Premier League since 2002–03.

In 2008, Manchester City were purchased by Abu Dhabi United Group for £210m and received considerable financial investment in both club facilities and playing staff, including the £150m Etihad Campus in east Manchester.

Under the leadership of Pep Guardiola, the side won the Premier League three years ago, becoming the only PL team to attain 100 points in a single campaign.

In 2019, they lifted four trophies, completing an unparalleled sweep of all domestic trophies in the country and becoming the first English men’s club to win the domestic treble.

The club’s revenue was the fifth-highest of a football outfit in the world in the 2018–19 campaign at €568.4 million. Two years ago, Forbes estimated the Citizens were the fifth most valuable in the world at $2.69bln.

The club are owned by the City Football Group, a British-based holding company rated at £3.73bln. in the autumn of 2019 following a 10 per cent stake sale to Silver Lake.

What are the predictions for next season?

It’ll be interesting to see if Manchester City apply the same method that helped them win the Premier League title last season given the focus on attack-minded stars in the summer transfer market, signing £100 million man Jack Grealish and chasing Harry Kane.

Manchester City – 2021/22 campaign (odds)

Bookies have listed Manchester City at 11/10 to become champions of England once again this season.