MANCHESTER CITY FC

ManchesterCity Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in   

Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's (West Gorton), they became Ardwick Association FootballClub in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894. The club has played at the City of Manchester Stadium since 2003, having played at Maine Road from 1923.

 The club's most successful period was in the late 1960s and early 1970s when they won the League Championship, FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup under the management team of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison. After losing the 1981 FA Cup Final, the club went through a period of decline culminating in relegation to the third tier of English football in 1998 for the first time in their history. The club has since regained top flight status where they have spent the majority of their history. In 2011, Manchester City qualified for theChampions League and won the FA Cup.

Abu Dhabi firm buys Manchester City

 

 DUBAI: Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment (ABUG) has taken over the Premier League football club Manchester City from its owner, Thaksin Shinawatra, former prime minister of Thailand.

The club ownership exchanged hands after a deal between the Abu Dhabi firm and the former Thai leader, Arabian Business magazine reported.

Soon after, the new owners sanctioned a bid to sign Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov before the close of the transfer window which he reportedly accepted. City's offer for Berbatov is reported to be in excess of USD 58 million and would set a new British transfer record.

ADUG will be represented on the new board of Manchester City by Hydra Properties CEO Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim. Al Fahim, who led negotiations, confirmed today the deal had been struck.

"We will release details later, but this is a great event for both the club and Abu Dhabi. Our goal is very simple to make Manchester City the biggest club in the Premier League, and to begin with, to finish in the top four this season," he said.

Al Fahim stressed that the Group will solve all the club problems and clear any pending payments, and will comprehensively support the club by bringing in some of the best football players in the world.

Manchester City's future has been uncertain following legal problems faced in Thailand by Shinawatra, who will stay on as honorary president of the club without any administrative responsibilities.

About Etihad Stadium

Etihad Stadium is a multi-purpose facility designed to cater for major sporting and entertainment events, as well as social, business and private functions.
The stadium is situated in the heart of Melbourne’s Docklands, just minutes from the CBD. Etihad Stadium is the only football stadium in the Southern Hemisphere with a fully retractable roof.
Since opening on March 9, 2000 well over 25 million people have passed through the venue's turnstiles.
On the opening night, Essendon led by Kevin Sheedy and James Hird defeated Port Adelaide 24.12.156 to 8.14.62.
The stadium now hosts in the vicinity of 50 AFL matches a season; in summer, A-League club Melbourne Victory becomes a regular participant at the venue. The venue also regularly stages international sporting events such as Rugby League World Cup matches, Rugby Union Tests and in 2008 Etihad Stadium hosted its first soccer World Cup qualifier.
The venue has also hosted many concert spectaculars featuring international performers such as Andre Rieu, Robbie Williams, Barbra Streisand, Bon Jovi, Kiss, U2, ACDC, Bruce Springsteen and many others.
Etihad Stadium now has five AFL tenant clubs – Essendon, Western Bulldogs, St Kilda, Kangaroos and Carlton.


Naming Rights:
On March 1, 2009 the venue officially became known as Etihad Stadium.
Etihad Airways, based in Abu Dhabi, is the national airline of the United Arab Emirates. It commenced daily non-stop flights from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi and beyond from March 30, 2009.
The venue had previously been known as Colonial Stadium and Telstra Dome.


Largest Attendance at Etihad Stadium:
Catholic Jubilee Mass
November 15, 2000
70,000 people


Largest Entertainment event attendance at Etihad Stadium:
Robbie Williams
December 18, 2006
64,619 screaming fans
Series of Concerts
February 11, 13 & 15 2010
ACDC
181,495 patrons


Largest Sporting event attendance at Etihad Stadium:
Wallabies v British & Irish Lions
July 7, 2001
56,605 Rugby fans


Largest AFL Attendance at Etihad Stadium:
St Kilda v Geelong, Round 14
July 5, 2009
54,444

ABOUT ROBERTO MANCINI

Roberto Mancini (Italian pronunciation: [roˈbɛrto manˈtʃini]; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager, formerly an international player and current manager of Premier League club Manchester City. As a player Mancini was best known for his time at Sampdoria, where he played more than 550 matches, and helped them win theSerie A league title, four Coppa Italias and the Cup Winners Cup, whilst being capped 36 times by Italy.

As a player, he gained a penchant for becoming a future manager and would often give team talks at half-time and ultimately became an assistant to Sven-Göran Erikssonat Lazio in the twilight of his playing career. After his retirement, Mancini embarked on a successful managerial career. A cup specialist,Mancini had never failed to reach a semi-final of a major national cup competition, from 2002 to 2011. He also guided the Italian clubs he managed to a record 5 consecutive Coppa Italia finals from 2004 to 2008, with Lazio once in 2004 and with Inter in the following four seasons.

Mancini's first managerial role was at a cash stricken Fiorentina at only 35 years old and managed to win a Coppa Italia, but left with Fiorentina facing bankruptcy. Months later, he took over as manager at Lazio, where again he inherited financial constraints and was forced to lose a number of key players. With limited resources during his two season tenure, he still managed to win another Coppa Italia, reach a UEFA Cup semi-final, and secure a lucrative Champions League place.

In 2004, Mancini was given the chance to manage a major club, being offered the manager's job at Internazionale. During his tenure at Inter, the club won three consecutive Serie A titles (an Inter club record) and a European record 17 consecutive league game victories stretching nearly half a season, and became Inter's most successful manager in 30 years.Despite his domestic success, many pundits saw the repeated failure to win the coveted Champions League as the main reason for his sacking in 2008.

After being out of football for over a year, Mancini was appointed Manchester Citymanager in December 2009 and his team-building achievements at Lazio and Inter were a factor in his appointment.In the 2010-11 season, his first full season at City, Mancini guided the club to Champions League football and the FA Cup, and has moulded City into a sound defensive unit He maintains a tradition of wearing a scarf of his club's colours, something which has been continued at Manchester City.

Trillion-dollar wealth of new Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan

This is the trillion-dollar man behind the mega-rich Arabs promising to build a global super-team at Manchester City.

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the brother of the ruler of Abu Dhabi, the biggest of the United Arab Emirates.

Within an estimated family fortune of $1trillion (£555billion) he is set to make the £11.7billion spending power of Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich look like chicken feed.

The club's new owners are set to bankroll a mind-boggling £540million spending spree - including an audacious £135million swoop for Cristiano Ronaldo from arch rivals Manchester United.


Middle East business group Abu Dhabi United's spokesman says they will try to snatch the World Player of the Year in January.

And we can reveal the staggering wealth of the tycoon behind the group whose sensational developments threaten to turn football on its head.

His mega-deep coffers have been boosted by the surge in oil prices - for it is said every time the price of a barrel goes up a dollar, Abu Dhabi makes another $500million a day.

The Sheikh has spent £210million buying a 90 per cent stake in Manchester City - fired into action by the intense rivalry Abu Dhabi has with its smaller yet even more successful Emirate neighbour Dubai.

In a similar competitive move into the sporting world, Abu Dhabi splashed out £91million for a five per cent stake in Ferrari three years ago in the hope Formula One will give it a Grand Prix.

And the Emirate has also bought one of New York's best-known skyscrapers, the Chrysler Building, for Û800million last year.

Now Sheikh Mansour plans to take City to dizzy heights and put even mighty Manchester United in the shade by turning his new plaything into the biggest club on the planet.

Other big-money transfer targets are thought to include Liverpool's Fernando Torres and Arsenal's Cesc Febregas.

Former Arsenal legend Thierry Henry and Valencia's goal-getting Spanish Euro 2006 striker David Villa are also believed to be on City's shopping list. It follows the stunning £33million transfer-deadline signing of Real Madrid's Brazilian superstar forward Robinho from under the noses of high-rollers Chelsea.

But a deal to lure Ronaldo from arch rivals Manchester United in the next transfer window would prove the biggest scalp - despite his wish to move to Spain.

Dr Sulaiman al-Fahim, frontman of the Abu Dhabi United Group, said: "Ronaldo has said he wants to play for the biggest club in the world, so we will see in January if he is serious. Real Madrid were estimating his value at Û160m but to actually get him, will cost a lot more. But why not? We are going to be the biggest club in the world, bigger than both Real Madrid and Manchester United."

The deal could spark a wave of similar takeovers by oil-rich foreign backers. Financial advisor Amanda Stavely, who brokered the Abu Dhabi deal, explained why the Middle East consortium were keen.

"The Premier League without doubt as a sporting brand is a great opportunity," she said. "We should be very proud of British football. "Any outside or foreign investor can only be excited to get involved in a world-class league. Manchester City sells itself."

The Abu Dhabi United Group is among of a new breed of investors known as sovereign wealth funds.

These off-shoots of governments, mainly from the Middle East, have grown massively wealthy on the back of soaring oil prices. And with oil rising from 23 a barrel in 2002 to $147 this year, they are running out of things to buy at home.

There is concern that countries with undemocratic political systems, as well as human rights records, are able to buy our prized-assets.

But with the credit crunch leaving many in the West strapped for cash and oil prices still high, the trend is only set to continue

GULF RIVALS RICHES

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates but it lives in the shadow of its bigger and richer neighbour Dubai - the Persian Gulf's jewel in the crown.