Manchester City Football Club
Manchester City Football Club can trace its origin to a team formed in 1880 by members of St Mark's Church in Ardwick, Manchester. In 1887, the team renamed itself as Ardwick AFC and moved into a new venue on Hyde Road. Five years later, ahead of the 1892–93 season, the Football League Second Division was created with Ardwick one of the founding members. In 1894, the club was reformed as Manchester City with the hope that it could represent the whole of Manchester.
City won their first honour in 1899 as Second Division champions, gaining promotion to the First Division. They struggled to maintain a place in the First Division and were relegated twice in the next decade but won the Second Division title again in both 1903 and 1910. The club's first major honour was winning the FA Cup in 1904. They defeated Bolton Wanderers 1–0 at the old Crystal Palace Stadium.
In 1923, City lost their Hyde Road ground after it's buildings were destroyed by fire and they moved to Maine Road which at the time could hold 85,000 spectators. The club won its second FA Cup in 1934 and its first League Championship in 1937. During World War II, City played in the Northern Division of the Wartime League and shared Maine Road with rivals Manchester United after Old Trafford was bombed. In the 1950s, City reached the FA Cup Final twice in succession, losing to Newcastle United in 1955 and then defeating Birmingham City 3–1 in 1956. In the Birmingham match, goalkeeper Bert Trautmann unknowingly broke his neck when he collided with an opponent. He played on, although he complained of a "stiff neck" and it was three days later that x-rays revealed the fracture. He recovered and continued to play for City till he retired in 1964.
City enjoyed success in the late sixties under the management and coaching duo of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison, winning the championship in 1968, the FA Cup in 1969 and then the European Cup Winners Cup in 1970.
When the FA Premier League was founded in 1992, replacing the First Division, City were founder members and took part in the first-ever Monday Night Match. City struggled in the 1990s, being relegated twice to find themselves in the third tier. However, they earned back-to-back promotions and returned to the Premier League in 2000. In 2003, City left Maine Road and moved into the City of Manchester (now Etihad) Stadium. A dramatic event occurred in 2008 as the club was sold to the Abu Dhabi United Group which has invested heavily to ensure City's place among the elite of European football, alongside the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Since then, City have nearly always been been in strong contention for major honours, especially following the appointment of Pep Guardiola as team manager in 2016. Apart from Liverpool's title in 2020, City have won the Premier League title in all seasons since 2017. They won the European Cup for the first time in 2023, defeating Internazionale Milan 1–0 in Istanbul.
Famous players at the club have included Billy Meredith, Frank Swift, Peter Doherty, Bert Trautmann, Mike Summerbee, Colin Bell, Francis Lee, Asa Hartford, Uwe Rosler, Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland.