Manchester City F.C.: Difference between revisions
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In the late [[1980s]], City fans started a craze of bringing inflatable objects to matches, primarily bananas. The craze had its origins in a match against [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion]] when chants from fans calling for the introduction of [[Imre Varadi]] as a substitute mutated into "Imre Banana". Terraces packed with inflatable wielding supporters became a common sight in the [[1988]]/[[1989|89]] season as the craze spread to other clubs, with the phenomenon reaching a peak at City's match at [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]] on [[December 26]], 1988, a match declared by [[fanzine|fanzines]] as a fancy dress party. |
In the late [[1980s]], City fans started a craze of bringing inflatable objects to matches, primarily bananas. The craze had its origins in a match against [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion]] when chants from fans calling for the introduction of [[Imre Varadi]] as a substitute mutated into "Imre Banana". Terraces packed with inflatable wielding supporters became a common sight in the [[1988]]/[[1989|89]] season as the craze spread to other clubs, with the phenomenon reaching a peak at City's match at [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]] on [[December 26]], 1988, a match declared by [[fanzine|fanzines]] as a fancy dress party. |
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[[Oasis (band) |Oasis]] are known to be huge supporters of Manchester City and have played at Maine Road. Broadcasters [[Mark Radcliffe]], [[Marc Riley]] aka Lard, [[Ant McGinley]] and [[Stuart Hall]] are also life long fans. |
[[Oasis (band) |Oasis]] are known to be huge supporters of Manchester City whilst fellow rock music acts; Doves and Badly Drawn Boy are season ticket holders. Badly Drawn Boy and Doves played at Maine Road after the final match against Southampton to mark the move to the new City of Manchester stadium whilst Oasis have played massive gigs at both Maine Road and more recently at the CoMS in front of a combined total of 180,000 fans over three nights. Broadcasters [[Mark Radcliffe]], [[Marc Riley]] aka Lard, [[Ant McGinley]] and [[Stuart Hall]] are also life long fans together with comedians Eddie Large and Bernard Manning. |
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Boxer [[Ricky Hatton|Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton]] is also a huge supporter of Manchester City; his father was a former player for the club. Hatton always wears a Manchester City club crest on his robes, and his shorts bear the City colours. He also enters the ring to the club tune of [[Blue Moon (song)|Blue Moon]]. |
Boxer [[Ricky Hatton|Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton]] is also a huge supporter of Manchester City; his father was a former player for the club. Hatton always wears a Manchester City club crest on his robes, and his shorts bear the City colours. He also enters the ring to the club tune of [[Blue Moon (song)|Blue Moon]]. |
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Revision as of 09:15, 26 August 2005
| Manchester City crest | |||
| Full name | Manchester City Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Citizens or The Sky Blues | ||
| Founded | 1880, as West Gorton Saint Marks | ||
| Ground | City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester | ||
| Capacity | 48,000 | ||
| Chairman | John Wardle | ||
| Manager | Stuart Pearce | ||
| League | FA Premier League | ||
| 2004-05 | Premier League, 8th | ||
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Manchester City F.C. is a football club based in Manchester, United Kingdom. Having been formed in 1880 as West Gorton Saint Marks, it went on to become Ardwick A.F.C. in 1887 and moved to Hyde Road, before finally becoming Manchester City F.C. in 1894. The club has won the League Championship twice, the F.A. Cup four times, the League Cup twice and the European Cup Winners Cup once. They currently play in the F.A. Premier League, and have spent the majority of their history in the top division.
The current squad contains the likes of Robbie Fowler, David James, Trevor Sinclair and Claudio Reyna. Former England international Stuart Pearce is the manager.
History
In 1892 Ardwick A.F.C. joined the Football League as founder members of Division Two. Financial troubles in the 1893/94 season led to a reorganisation within the club, and Ardwick turned into Manchester City, with Manchester City Football Club Limited formally becoming a registered company on April 16, 1894.
Winning the Second Division in 1899 gave the club their first honours. They went on to claim their first 'major' honour in 1904, beating Bolton Wanderers to claim the FA Cup. In 1923 they moved to Maine Road in Moss Side, Manchester.
They first claimed the First Division title in 1937. The next time was in 1968 - the start of their "golden era" when they acquired much silverware in the late 60s and early 70s under manager Joe Mercer and his assistant Malcolm Allison with England forwards Francis Lee, Colin Bell, and Mike Summerbee, and their captain Tony Book. Their most significant moment in Europe was capturing the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1970 by beating Gornik Zabrze 2-1 in Vienna.
Following the success of the 1960s and 1970s came a long period of decline. The club were twice relegated from the top flight in the 1980s, but recovered to finished fifth in Division One twice in succession under the management of Peter Reid. However, this was only a temporary respite, and Manchester City's fortunes continued to fade through the 1990s, reaching their lowest point in 1998, when City became the first ever European trophy winners to be relegated to the third tier of English football.
Subsequent to relegation, off the field upheaval took place, with a new chairman taking over. City were promoted at the first attempt, achieved in dramatic fashion in a playoff against Gillingham F.C.. Plans to move to a new stadium were announced, and for the first time in many years an air of optimism was present. 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 the 2000/01 season saw City relegated once more. Kevin Keegan arrived as the new manager in the close season, bringing immediate success, as 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. This meant the final season at Maine Road would take place in the top division.
One of the highlights of the last season in the old Maine Road stadium (now demolished) was a 3-1 derby victory over their Manchester rivals Manchester United to end a run of 13 years without a derby win. A goal from Nicolas Anelka and two from Shaun Goater, gave City full points. In 2003 they moved to The City of Manchester Stadium, a newly constructed state of the art 48,000 seater stadium situated in East Manchester, which they lease from the local council. In the 2002-2003 season they came 9th in the Premiership and qualified for the 2003-2004 UEFA Cup through the "fair play league".
In the pre-season of 2002-2003 the club spent £13,500,000 (US$20,000,000) on Anelka. Their rise was rapid; from being in the third tier of English football in 1999, to being in European competition, having a large stadium, with top facilities and having world class players in their squad. In February 2005, a report by accountants Deloitte & Touche ranked Manchester City as the 16th richest club in the world in terms of turnover.
One of the more distinguishing characteristics of the club is a tendency for unpredictability, sometimes bordering on the comical. A brilliantly-headed own-goal scored from some distance when playing Queens Park Rangers in 1998 was not only voted by QPR fans as their goal of the season, it was also instrumental in Manchester City's subsequent relegation. The club is also the only English side to have been relegated whilst being reigning league champions, acheiving this dubious feat in 1938.
Colours and Badge
Manchester City's home colours are sky blue and white. Their traditional away kit colours are either maroon or red and black, however, in recent years several different colours have been used.
The current club badge was adopted in 1997, a result of the previous badge being ineligible for registration as a trademark. The badge is based on the Arms of the City of Manchester, and consists of a shield in front of a golden eagle. The shield features a ship on its upper half, representing the Manchester Ship Canal, and three diagonal stripes in the lower half. The bottom of the badge bears the Latin motto Superbia in Proelio, which translates as Pride in Battle. Above the eagle and shield are three stars.
Stadium
At the end of the 2002-2003 season the club moved from Maine Road to the City of Manchester Stadium, a newly constructed state of the art 48,000 seater stadium situated in East Manchester, which they purchased from Manchester City Council after the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
Since moving to the stadium, Manchester City FC have spent about GB£35 million on upgrading it and lowering the field of play from ground level (during the Commonwealth Games) to below ground level, adding an additional tier of seating around the entire pitch and also building the new North Stand.
The new stadium was opened with a 2-1 win over Spanish giants F.C. Barcelona with goals scored by Nicolas Anelka and Trevor Sinclair.
Supporters
Manchester City supporters consider themselves to have great wit and loyalty. When Arsenal F.C. played some of the best football ever seen at Maine Road and scored four goals in the first twenty-five minutes, the stoic City fans responded with a chant of "boring, boring Arsenal". Manchester City will never face that accusation.
2 Years later when they played the same team and found themselves 5-0 down with a minute to spare, City scored a goal to make it 5-1. City fans responded with a chant of "You're not singing anymore" to the buoyant Arsenal fans. Furthermore, upon being relegated to the third tier of English football (then Division Two, now Football League One) on the final day of the 1997-98 season, some City fans chanted 'Are you watching, Macclesfield?' - Macclesfield Town F.C., near-neighbours of Manchester City, had just been promoted to this division (only a few years earlier, the teams were four divisions apart).
The City fan's song of choice is a rendition of "Blue Moon", which despite its melancholic theme is belted out with gusto as though it were a heroic anthem.
In the late 1980s, City fans started a craze of bringing inflatable objects to matches, primarily bananas. The craze had its origins in a match against West Bromwich Albion when chants from fans calling for the introduction of Imre Varadi as a substitute mutated into "Imre Banana". Terraces packed with inflatable wielding supporters became a common sight in the 1988/89 season as the craze spread to other clubs, with the phenomenon reaching a peak at City's match at Stoke City on December 26, 1988, a match declared by fanzines as a fancy dress party.
Oasis are known to be huge supporters of Manchester City whilst fellow rock music acts; Doves and Badly Drawn Boy are season ticket holders. Badly Drawn Boy and Doves played at Maine Road after the final match against Southampton to mark the move to the new City of Manchester stadium whilst Oasis have played massive gigs at both Maine Road and more recently at the CoMS in front of a combined total of 180,000 fans over three nights. Broadcasters Mark Radcliffe, Marc Riley aka Lard, Ant McGinley and Stuart Hall are also life long fans together with comedians Eddie Large and Bernard Manning.
Boxer Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton is also a huge supporter of Manchester City; his father was a former player for the club. Hatton always wears a Manchester City club crest on his robes, and his shorts bear the City colours. He also enters the ring to the club tune of Blue Moon.
Honours
- Full Members Challenge Cup
- Finalists 1986
- First Division (Old Format)
- Division Two (New Format)
- Play-off winners 1999
- European Cup Winners' Cup
- Winners 1970
Playing Squad
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Players out on Loan
- 36. Irish (F) Karl Bermingham (on loan to Burnley)
- 44. Irish (M) Willo Flood (on loan at Coventry City F.C.)
Number 23
Since 2003, Manchester City have not issued the squad number 23. It was retired in honour of Marc-Vivien Foé, who was on loan to the club from Olympique Lyonnais at the time of his death on the field of play playing for his country Cameroon.
Famous Players
Listed according to year of Manchester City first-team debut (year in parentheses)
- pre-war: Billy Meredith (1894), Eric Brook (1928), Frank Swift (1933).
- 1940s: Bert Trautmann (1949).
- 1950s: Roy Paul (1950), Alan Oakes (1958).
- 1960s: Denis Law (1960), Mike Summerbee (1965), Colin Bell (1966), Francis Lee (1967), Joe Corrigan (1967).
- 1970s: Dave Watson (1975), Kazimierz Deyna (1978).
- 1980s: Trevor Francis (1981), Paul Lake (1987).
- 1990s: Niall Quinn (1990), Uwe Rosler (1994), Paul Walsh (1994), Georgiou Kinkladze (1995), Shaun Goater (1998), Shaun Wright-Phillips (1999).
- 2000s: Marc-Vivien Foé (2002), Peter Schmeichel (2002), Nicolas Anelka (2002).
Records
- Record victory, League, 11-3 vs. Lincoln City F.C. March 23, 1895
- Record victory, F.A. Cup, 12-0 vs, Liverpool Stanley, October 4, 1890
- Record defeat, League, 1-9 vs. Everton F.C., September 3, 1906
- Record defeat, F.A. Cup, 0-6 vs. Preston North End F.C., January, 1897
- Highest attendance, 84,569 vs. Stoke City F.C., March 3, 1934
- Most appearances, League, 561 + 3 sub Alan Oakes 1958-76
- Most appearances, total, 668 + 4 sub Alan Oakes 1958-76
- Most goals scored, total, 178, Eric Brook 1928-40
- Most goals scored, season, 38, Tommy Johnson 1928/29
Famous Manchester City Fans
External links
- Official site
- 4thegame.com's Manchester City page
- fansite with Blue Moon lyrics and more
- mcfc.tv - Manchester City FC news and links with RSS feed
References
- Gary James, Manchester: The Greatest City ISBN 1-899538-09-7
- Ray Goble and Andrew Ward, Manchester City: A Complete Record ISBN 187362641X
- Paul Howarth, [1] fetched August 14, 2005
