As a city, Manchester is known for quite a lot of things. Among them, the local football scene is probably the one thing Manchester is known throughout the whole world. Manchester United and Manchester City are two teams that have dedicated fans all over the world and they dictate the way the football as a sport and as an industry is developing. If you are a football fan, you might find those facts about Manchester City to be pretty interesting and entertaining:
- Even though City is known throughout the world with their current name, which they have been known throughout much of their history the team was established as Ardwick F.C. in 1880.
- The oldest player to have every participated in a match of the Premiere League was Manchester City’s goalkeeper John Burridge. He was 43 years, 4 months and 26 days when he came out on the field against Newcastle United on April 29 1995.
- On the other hand, the youngest player to ever come on the field in Manchester City’s colors is Glyn Pardoe, who competed against Birmingham City in 1962 at the frail age of 15 years 314 days.
- Manchester City won the FA Cup at the beginning of the 20th century, in 1904, which was their first FA Cup. Just a couple of years later, in 1906, nearly half of all players on the team were put on suspension, severely hampering the team’s ability to keep its prize-winning status. The reasons for the suspension remain quite unclear even today, but according to some specialists on football history (and folklore) it was all because of some sort of financial irregularities.
- The 1937-8 season was one of the most important and spectacular for Manchester City. They were the only team then that managed to keep a positive goal difference – 80-77.
- The 1969-70 season was the most successful in Manchester City’s history up to this day. That year they managed to win the FA Cup (1969), European Cup Winners’ Cup (1970) and the League Cup (1970).
- Joe Mercer was City’s most successful and beloved manager. His career with the team began in 1970, when they won the Old European Cup.
- In terms of goals scored, it is hard to forget the legendary 1958/9 season, when Manchester City players managed to score over a 100 goals – a thing that was unseen up to this moment. At the same time they again managed to keep a positive goal difference, with a little under 100 goals that went in their net.
- The most valuable player who the City ever had is none other but the man and legend Eric Brook who joined Manchester City in 1928. He played for the team until 1938 and managed to appear a total of 494 matches. In those, he scored 178 times, making a name for himself as the most memorable figure to be ever related to Manchester City.
Next time you have the chance – go see City playing. It is a sigth that’s going to be totally worth it.