Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City FC is a football club based in Manchester, United Kingdom. Having being formed in 1880 as West Gorton Street Marks, they went on to become Ardwick F.C. in 1887 and moved to Hyde Road, before finally becoming Manchester City F.C. in 1894. Won first honours in 1899 when winning the Second Division. They went on to claim their first 'major' honour in 1904, beating Bolton Wanderers to claim the F.A. Cup. In 1923 they moved to Maine Road in Moss Side, Hulme, Manchester. They claimed the First Division title in 1937 for the first time. They claimed the League for the second time in 1968 in their "golden era" of football, accquiring much silverware in the late 60s and early 70s under manager Joe Mercer with the deadly contingent of Francis Lee, Colin Bell and Mike Summerbee. Their most significant moment in Europe was capturing the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1970 by beating Gornick Zabrze 2-1 in Vienna.

At the current time they reside in The City of Manchester Stadium, a newly constructed state of the art 48,000 seater stadium situated in East Manchester. In the 2002-2003 season they came 9th in the premiership and qualified for the 2003-2004 UEFA Cup. The highlight of the season was a 3-1 derby victory over their Manchester rivals Manchester United to end 13 years of waiting to beat them. Shaun Goater grabbed two as well as Nicolas Anelka scoring. They opened their new stadium with a 2-1 win over Football Giants F.C. Barcelona with goals scored by Nicolas Anelka and Trevor Sinclair. Their current squad contains the likes of Nicolas Anelka, David Seaman, Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, Paul Bosvelt, Trevor Sinclair and Claudio Reyna, as well as former England manager Kevin Keegan as manager. In the pre-season of 2002-2003 they spend £13,500,000 ($20,000,000) on Nicolas Anelka. Their rise was rapid; from being in the third tier of English football in 1999; to being in European competition, having a stunning stadium and having world class players in their squad and being amongst the top ten sides in England.

Honours : -

"Old" First Division/Premier League Champions - 1936/37, 1967/68. Runners-up - 1903-04, 1920-21, 1976-77.

"Old" Second Division/"New" First Division Champions - 1898-99, 1902-03, 1909-10, 1927-38, 1946-47, 1965-66, 2001-02. Runners-up - 1895-96, 1950-51, 1988-89, 1999-2000.

"New" Second Division Play-off Winners - 1998-99.

F.A. Cup Winners - 1903, 1934, 1956, 1969. Runners-up - 1926, 1933, 1955,1981.

Football League Cup Winners - 1970, 1976. Runners-up - 1974.

European Cup Winners' Cup Winners - 1970.