Formed: 1880
Nickname: The Citizens, The Blues, City
UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• UEFA European Cup Winners’ Cup: 1970
Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
• League title: 2 (1968)
• FA Cup: 5 (2011)
• League Cup: 2 (1976)
History
• Founded by churchwardens as St Mark’s Church, West Gorton in an attempt to curb gang violence and alcoholism among men in East Manchester, the club were known as Gorton AFC and Ardwick AFC before settling on their current name in 1894 and initially won promotion to England’s top division in 1899.
• City won their first FA Cup in 1904, beating Bolton Wanderers FC 1-0 in the final, and moved from Hyde Road to Maine Road in 1923; a second FA Cup came in 1934 but their maiden league title in 1937 was followed by relegation the following season – the only time this has ever happened in England’s top flight.
• Another perhaps unrepeatable first came in the 1956 FA Cup final where City beat Birmingham City FC 3-1 even though their goalkeeper Bert Trautmann, a former German prisoner of war who settled in England, was forced to play the final minutes of the match with a broken neck.
• There were more heroics in 1967/68 as, under the leadership of Joe Mercer, a City side featuring legends like Mike Summerbee and Colin Bell claimed the league title; next came the 1969 FA Cup and the following season’s UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, City beating Górnik Zabrze 2-1 in Vienna.
• Past glories were to weigh heavy on City in later years as they sank as low as England’s third tier in 1998, but the club were back in the Premier League within two years. Although they lasted only one season, promotion followed again in 2001/02 and the arrival of wealthy investors in summer 2009 has transformed them into a competitive side in the English top flight.
• In 2011, Roberto Mancini led City to FA Cup glory as well as a third-place finish, which secured UEFA Champions League football for the first time in the club’s history.
Club records
Most appearances: Alan Oakes (680)
Most goals: Eric Brook (177)
Record victory: City 12-0 Liverpool Stanley FC (4 October 1890)
Record defeat: four defeats by eight-goal margins, most recently 8-0 v Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (First Division, 23 December 1933)
From: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/clubs/club=52919/profile/index.html
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