Manchester City has been one of the top clubs in the Premier League with 18 winning matches in a row, but things were more difficult for them before the cash injection. Manchester City used to belong to the lower echelons of the English professional football league, being mid-table quality at best. Now, you can follow full schedule, match info and standings at https://dabong.net.
In this article, we provide some facts that every City fan would want to know:
#1: In the 1960s, Manchester City adopted a red and black away kit colour from AC Milan. The idea was of former assistant manager Malcolm Allison who thought that the colors would inspire City to glory. And it actually worked, in red and black stripes, Manchester City won the 1969 FA Cup, 1970 League Cup and 1970 European Cup Winners’ Cup.
#2: Manchester City is the only English club that holds the record for highest home attendance. In 1934, they packed 84,569 fans into Maine Road for their game against Stoke City.
#3: In 1937/38, Manchester City became the only club to ever be relegated in England with a positive goal difference. When they ended the campaign, they had 80 goals scored and 77 conceded. In 1937, they finished the league as the top scorers with 80 goals in 42 games. They also conceded 77 goals, leaving legendary manager Wilf Wild astonished at such a dramatic turnaround. The club became the only team in history to finish the season with a positive goal difference (+3) and get relegated in the same season.
#4: Manchester City has the oldest player to have ever played in the Premier League. Their goalkeeper John Burridge was 43 years old and 162 days at their game against QPR on 14th May 1995.
#5: The club is one of four clubs that are part of the City Football Group. The other three clubs are Yokohama F. Marinos, Melbourne City and New York City.
#6: Whenever the club have reached a major cup final, they would opt to ditch their normal club badge and have shirts bearing the badge of arms of the city of Manchester. They see it as a symbol of pride.
#7: The club holds the record for the fewest goals scored at home in a regular Premier League season. During the 2006/07 campaign, all the fans of the club holding a season ticket at the stadium had to go through this trauma. Matches at the Etihad became boring that season as the home team scored just 10 goals in 19 league matches. Joey Barton was the top scorer with 6 goals and the club then finished in 14th place. At the end of the season, Manchester City were taken over by Thaksin Shinawatra.
#8: Manchester City were primarily known as Ardwick FC for the first seven years of their history. Then in 1894 after financial troubles for Ardwick during the 1983/84 campaign, the club reformed.
#9: The club’s title win in 2011 had the smallest winning margin in Premier League history. Thanks to their 3-2 win against QPR on the final day, they finished the season above Manchester United with a superior goal difference of eight.
#10: In their history, Manchester City have held the British transfer record twice. The first was when Steve Daley joined from Wolves for £1.45 million in 1979. The second time was in 2008 when Robinho joined from Real Madrid for £32.5 million.
#11: In the 2004/05 Premier League season, Stuart Pearce made the shocking decision of playing goalkeeper David James up front. At the last game of the season, Manchester City needed a win when they were facing Middlesbrough to qualify for the Uefa Cup. When there were only two minutes of normal time remaining, Pearce switched midfielder Claudio Reyna for goalkeeper Nicky Weaver and ordered James to play upfront.
James made a couple of horrendous challenges inside the penalty box and things got dramatic for the club as Borough defender Franck Queudrue handled the ball inside the penalty area. Then Manchester City got a penalty. However, they missed the goal, but James had one moment to vindicate his manager’s decision. This made an unforgettable day for City fans.
#12: Manchester City do not have the tradition of defending titles well. They got relegated after winning the league a season before. The worst title defence came in the 1937/38 season when the club got relegated after winning the league title just a year before. It was also the club’s first title in their history when their arch-rivals Manchester United had just been relegated.
However, just 12 months later, they finished second from bottom with 36 points. That was the worst defence of the title ever. It was surprising as the club began their relegation season better than the season before when they won the title. However, unlike their previous season, the club lost 1-0 to Huddersfield on the final day to head to the second division. They needed 10 years to return to the first division.
#13: Manchester City signed two players on 31st August 2008. They are two South Americans players, Pablo Zabaleta and Glauber Berti. Afterwards, one of the players became a legend and the other a cult hero. Both of them signed on the same day but had contrasting careers at the club. “The Berti” came from the fact that the player just played six minutes of the 2008/09 season and was voted the Man of the Match in that game by the club fans.
Also, at the same season, Berti was on the bench 20 times remaining unused each time. Finally, fans of the club got to see the Brazilian player in action on the last day of the 2008/09 season in a game against Bolton. Although he just played for a short time as he replaced Wayne Bridge in the 84th minute, he was cheered loudly and every throw-in was met with a standing ovation by the fans. He was then voted as the Man of the Match in the game.