Manchester City FC

Manchester City FC, English men’s professional football (soccer) club based in Manchester. Manchester City achieved consistent top-division success and claimed multiple titles after Sheikh Mansour ibn Zayed Al Nahyan purchased a controlling share in the club in 2008. Under manager Pep Guardiola the club became the first to win four consecutive Premier League championships, from 2020–21 to 2023–24, and won its first UEFA Champions League trophy in 2023.

Founding and early history

Manchester City traces its history to a football team founded in 1880 by members of St. Mark’s Church in Manchester. That team became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City Football Club (FC) in 1894. From 1894 to 2008 the club moved among the upper tiers of English football, regularly suffering relegation and winning promotion.

It was champion of football’s second tier seven times, and it won the Football League First Division championship twice (in the 1936–37 and 1967–68 seasons). Manchester City also won the Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup) four times (1903–04, 1933–34, 1955–56, and 1968–69), the English League Cup twice (1969–70 and 1975–76), and the European Cup Winners’ Cup once (1969–70).

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Notable players from this era include Bert Trautmann, who was goalkeeper for Manchester City from 1949 to 1964, and midfielders Alan Oakes (played 1959–76) and Colin Bell (played 1966–79).

After winning back-to-back promotions following the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 seasons that enabled the club to ascend to English football’s top-tier Premier League, Manchester City was once again relegated to the sport’s second tier after a lackluster 2000–01 season. The club returned to the Premier League in 2002, however, and has remained there.

In 2003 Manchester City moved from Maine Road, the stadium where it had played since 1923, to the City of Manchester Stadium (now the Etihad Stadium).

2008 financial takeover

The Abu Dhabi United Group, owned by Sheikh Mansour ibn Zayed Al Nahyan, purchased a controlling stake in Manchester City FC in 2008 from Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister of Thailand who had bought into the club in 2007. Mansour, a senior member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family and one of the foremost businessmen of the United Arab Emirates, invested heavily, and the team’s performance soon improved.

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Manchester City won the FA Cup in 2011, its first major trophy since Mansour’s takeover. On the last day of the 2011–12 Premier League season, the team snatched the league title away from Manchester United on goal difference with the help of a stoppage time goal by Sergio Agüero against Queens Park Rangers FC. It won the Premier League again in 2013–14 and the English League Cup in 2013–14 and 2015–16.

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After the appointment of manager Pep Guardiola in 2016, Manchester City expanded on its success. After a trophyless first season, the club set the all-time Premier League points record with 100 points as well as single-season Premier League records for goals scored and goal differential, among others, during a title-winning 2017–18 season. It repeated in 2018–19 and won the Premier League title again in 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, and 2023–24. The club’s four consecutive championships were a historic first in the Premier League.

Manchester City won the FA Cup in 2018–19, 2022–23, and 2025–26 to take its total tally to eight. The club was also the League Cup winner in 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, and 2025–26.

Manchester City reached the UEFA Champions League final for the first time in its history during the 2020–21 season, though it lost to Chelsea FC. Manchester City won the Champions League title in 2022–23.

Notable players who joined Manchester City in 2008 and afterward are center back Vincent Kompany, midfielders Yaya Touré, David Silva, and Kevin De Bruyne, and forwards Sergio Agüero and Erling Haaland. In 2021 Manchester City was among the first clubs to withdraw from a controversial plan to form a new European Super League.

Charges of violating financial regulations

In 2023 the Premier League brought 115 charges against Manchester City for alleged violations of financial regulations during 2009–18 as well as for failing to cooperate with investigators. The club denied the charges, which were heard by an independent commission in 2024. In September 2026 the commission found Manchester City guilty of 114 charges and concluded that the club’s owner, the Abu Dhabi United Group, had artificially inflated its revenue and reduced its operational expenses by more than £900 million during the nine-season period through “sham” commercial contracts and disguised funding schemes intended to circumvent the Premier League’s rules on spending limits.

Manchester City Women’s Football Club

The Manchester City Women’s Football Club was founded in 1988. Affiliated with Manchester City FC from its creation, the women’s team formalized its partnership with the men’s team in 2012 and entered the Women’s Super League (WSL; top-tier women’s professional league in England) in 2013, winning the league championship in 2016. The team also won the Women’s FA Cup in the 2016–17, 2018–19, and 2019–20 seasons. In the 2025–26 season the women’s team achieved a historic double, winning both the WSL and Women’s FA Cup.