Manchester City F.C. was founded as St. Marks (West Gorton) in 1880 by Anna Connell and two wardens of St. Mark's Church, who also worked in the nearby iron factory, in Gorton, a district in east Manchester. In 1887, they moved to a new ground at Hyde Road, in Ardwick just to the east of the city centre, and were renamed Ardwick A.F.C. to reflect their new location. Ardwick joined the Football League as founding members of the Second Division in 1892. Financial troubles in the 1893-94 season led to a reorganisation within the club, and Ardwick were reformed as Manchester City F.C.
Manchester 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. Manchester City went on to claim their first major honour on 23 April 1904, beating Bolton Wanderers 1-0 at Crystal Palace to win the FA Cup; City narrowly missed out on a League and Cup double that season after finishing runners-up in the League. 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 Manchester City 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. Manchester City 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.
20 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 Manchester City beat Birmingham City 3-1, is one of the most famous finals of all-time, and is remembered for City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann continuing to play on after unknowingly breaking his neck.
After relegation 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 1967-68, Manchester City claimed the League Championship for the second time, clinching the title on the final day of the season with a 4-3 win at Newcastle United. Further trophies followed: Manchester City won the FA Cup in 1969, before achieving European success by winning the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1970, beating Górnik Zabrze 2-1 in Vienna. Manchester City also won the League Cup that season, becoming the second English team to win a European trophy and a domestic trophy in the same season.
Manchester City continued to challenge for honours throughout the 1970s, finishing just 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 1973–74 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 1-0 win at Old Trafford and confirm the relegation of their rivals. The final trophy of the club's most successful period was won in 1976, when Newcastle United were beaten 2-1 in the League Cup final.
A long period of decline followed the success of the 1960s and 1970s. Malcolm Allison rejoined Manchester City to become manager for the second time in 1979, but squandered large sums of money on unsuccessful signings, such as Steve Daley. A succession of managers then followed – seven in the 1980s alone. Manchester City reached the 1981 FA Cup final but lost in a replay to Tottenham Hotspur. Manchester City were twice relegated from the top flight in the 1980s (in 1983 and 1987), but recovered to finish fifth in Division One twice in succession under the management of Peter Reid. However, this was only a temporary respite, and following Reid's departure Manchester City's fortunes continued to fade. Manchester City were founders of the Premier League upon its creation in 1992, but were relegated to Division One in 1996. After two seasons in Division One, Manchester City fell to the lowest point in their history, becoming the first ever European trophy winners to be relegated to English football's third tier.
After relegation, Manchester City underwent off-the-field upheaval, with new chairman David Bernstein introducing greater fiscal discipline. Manchester City were promoted at the first attempt, achieved in dramatic fashion in a playoff against Gillingham. A second successive promotion saw Manchester 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 arrived as the new manager in the close season, bringing an immediate return to the top division as Manchester City won the 2001-02 Division One championship, breaking club records for the number of points gained and goals scored in a season in the process.
The 2002–03 season was the last at Maine Road, and included a 3-1 derby victory over rivals Manchester United, ending a run of 13 years without a derby win. Manchester City also qualified for the UEFA Cup through the "Fair Play ranking", earning the club's first entry into European competition in 25 years.
In the 2003 close season the club moved to the new City of Manchester Stadium. In March 2005, Kevin Keegan left Manchester City, and Stuart Pearce took over as caretaker, leading his side to an eight-match unbeaten run at the end of the season as they just missed out on European qualification. Pearce was rewarded by being given the manager's position on a permanent basis. The 2005–06 season started brightly for Manchester City; the club held a top-six position until November. However, form deteriorated in the second half of the season and Manchester City finished 15th.
In the 2006–07 season Manchester City struggled to score goals, particularly at home. The team created a new record for the fewest goals scored at home in a season in the top flight (beating Sunderland's 14 in 2002–03 and Woolwich Arsenal's 11 in 1912–13), scoring only 10 goals (having missed two penalties in the last two home matches) as Manchester City finished in fourteenth place. The season's troubles culminated in the sacking of manager Stuart Pearce and his coaching staff.
Pearce's successor, Sven-Göran Eriksson, took over Manchester City in July 2007, a year after resigning as England's coach. Manchester City won the first three games of the season (including the local derby to Manchester United), with no goals against, but were finally halted on the fourth game against Arsenal. However the team's performances at home saw them win ten consecutive home games from the opening home win against Derby on the 15th August, until Manchester City lost to Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the Carling Cup on December 18 over four months later. After that, despite doing the double over Manchester United, performances were far weaker than in the earlier half of the season. When it became clear with two matches still to play that Chairman Thaksin Shinawatra intended to sack Eriksson at the end of the season, it prompted protests from Manchester City fans. Two of their largest supporters' organizations were highly critical of Shinawatra's conduct in the matter, and said that he risked alienating the fans. With the club in some turmoil, Manchester City lost their last game of the season at Middlesbrough 8-1, but still qualified for the UEFA Cup through the Fair Play ranking. Eriksson took the team on a tour of Thailand and Hong Kong in mid-May, but was officially sacked on 2 June 2008.
Eriksson was replaced by Mark Hughes two days later on the 4 June 2008.
On transfer deadline day of the 08-09 season, Manchester City pulled off a massive coup by beating Chelsea to the signing of Real Madrid's Brazil star Robinho for a British transfer record-breaking £32.5 million. The season started reasonably well, but a string of defeats left the team just above the relegation positions at the end of 2008, although they had reached the knockout stage of the UEFA Cup. |