Manchester City came a long way from being a lower-league club to eventually becoming a Champions League winner. City was not always the world-beater they are today as they had to overcome a lot to get to where they are. The takeover helped a lot, but their case is rather unique as they built their club patiently and eventually became one of the most dominant clubs in Europe.
A Little Bit of History
Manchester City was founded in 1880 but officially came to be known as Manchester City seven years later. Their first major accomplishment came in 1899 when they managed to win the Second Division and finally got promoted to the First Division, which was the highest tier of English football back then.
The Citizens won their first major piece of silverware in 1904 when the won the FA Cup beating Bolton Wanderers in the final. They finished second on the table and narrowly missed out on the League Cup in the same year. Nevertheless, they became the first club from Manchester to win a major trophy, something that they rub into their neighbours from the red side of Manchester even to this day.
From First to Second Division
During their early days, Manchester City became an established member of the English First Division. However, their first trip back to the Second Division happened in 1901, when they dropped down but immediately came back up.
This sort of thing would happen a few times for them as they dropped down in 1908, 1925, 1949, 1962, and 1982. Luckily for them, each time, they didn’t stay down for long. The longest they spent in the Second Division was three years on two occasions.
In those early days of the Citizens’ history, the club also won the First Division twice. First time in 1936 and then another time in 1967.
City in the Premier League
In 1992 the Premier League was established as the top tier of English football. Back then, it still needed to reach the popularity that it has gained today, but it was still one of the more popular and best leagues in Europe.
Manchester City started off as an established league member, but truthfully a mediocre club. They were neither a title contender nor a relegation candidate. But they were able to go by without any significant problems.
Until 1995, when they were relegated to Division 1. Things got even worse two years after that, as in 1995, they were playing Division 2 football. Man City would then dig deep and manage back-to-back promotions to get back to the Premier League yet again in 2000/01. They went back one more time the very next year, but came back again and since then have been a stable Premier League contender.
The Takeover
The main point in Man City’s history is the famed takeover of the Abu Dhabi United Group. In 2008, City were in a very bad financial position. The owner back then, Thaksin Shinawatra, who had become the owner of the club only a year prior, had his assets frozen due to political issues.
It opened up the doors for the Abu Dhabi United Group to swoop in and make a bid for the club. Their £200 million bid was accepted immediately, making Man City one of the richest clubs in the world.
The takeover did not only marked the end of City’s financial woes, it meant that the club was able to finally make wider strides and even challenge for the Premier League title.
The first major signing was former Real Madrid striker Robinho. Kolo Toure, Carlos Tevez, Gareth Barry, and Emmanuel Adebayor followed suit. As far as the staff goes, Roberto Mancini was added to replace the former manager Mark Hughes and immediately helped City to a fifth-place finish.
The City Era
Ever since the famed takeover, Manchester City became the most dominant club in England. They won their first title in 2011/12 thanks to a spectacular last-minute goal from Sergio Aquero. City were down versus Sanderlend 2:1, which also meant that they would lose the title race. But two quick goals in extra time from Edin Dzeko and Aguero in the space of two minutes meant that Man City would become the EPL champions.
City did not stop there and continued to add titles. After relinquishing the first place to their rivals Manchester United, they retained the title in 2013/14. It was also the first title of Pep Guardiola’s reign at the Blue side of Manchester. However, Pep needed some time to settle down and went three years without a title in England.
Between 2017 and 2022, Guardiola won five out of six titles with City. He got the team to such a level that no other team was able to compete with them. But all this time the trophy that they wanted the most eluded them. You know which one we are talking about.
The Treble Winning Season
Last season Manchester City became only the second English club to win a treble. After their town rivals Manchester United did in 1998/99, City were able to do the same.
Everything started with the addition of Erling Haaland. The towering Norwegian came for just £85.5 million from Dortmund. He went on to break the Premier League single-season scoring record by bagging 36 goals. In total, he scored an incredible 52 goals in all competitions during the entire length of the season.
Guardiola also changed his tactics. It included moving John Stones into the midfield. Also, he had to let go of Joao Cancelo and loan him out to Bayern Munich.
First, they broke down Arsenal in the race to the Premier League title by chipping the points margin between them in each match week. Then they defeated Manchester United in the FA Cup final by 2:1.
Finally, the cherry on top and the crown jewel of the season was lifting the Champions League trophy. They outlasted Inter Milan and managed to win thanks to a Rordi banger 1:0.
Man City’s Top Goalscorer
We mentioned Haaland’s record-breaking season last term. But he is not the first name to rise so much interest in the Blue side of Manchester. Before Haaland, there was Sergio Aguero, currently the top Manchester City scorer of all time.
The Argentine forward was able to score 260 goals in 389 appearances for the club. The second player on the list is Eric Brook, who scored 177 goals between 1928 and 1940. He also needed a lot more games to do so. He performed this feat after playing 494 matches for the Citizens.
The list also contains one of the current City players, Kevin De Bruyne, who is 13th all-time. He has scored 96 in 353 matches after coming in during the 2015 season.
The Future of Manchester City
Pep Guardiola’s plans are not going to change significantly for the coming season. It is actually scary to think that City have the strength to win the treble yet again if not even a quadruple.
City will be gunning for their fourth Premier League title in a row. They have lost their long-term captain in Ilkay Gundogan and one of their attacking options in Riyad Mahrez. But have enough in their squad to compensate for those losses. Mateo Kovacic will fill in the midfield gap. While the addition of Josko Gvardiol, which is still not complete but could very be soon, will strengthen the City’s defence marginally higher.
The same thing goes for the Champions League. Pep finally got to taste a win, and he wants more. He knows how to adapt and if things start to go awry at the start of the season. He will most likely make the necessary changes to adapt to the competition.
