Senin, 31 Oktober 2011

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club started out as Dial Square in 1886 by workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, south-east London, and was renamed Royal Arsenal shortly afterwards.[3] The club was renamed again to Woolwich Arsenal after becoming a limited company in 1893.[4] The club became the first southern member of the Football League in 1893, starting out in the Second Division, and won promotion to the First Division in 1904. The club's relative geographic isolation resulted in lower attendances than those of other clubs, which led to the club becoming mired in financial problems and effectively bankrupt by 1910, when they were taken over by businessmen Henry Norris and William Hall.[5] Norris sought to move the club elsewhere, and in 1913, soon after relegation back to the Second Division, Arsenal moved to the new Arsenal Stadium in Highbury, North London; they dropped "Woolwich" from their name the following year.[6] Arsenal only finished in fifth place in 1919, but were nevertheless elected to rejoin the First Division at the expense of local rivals Tottenham Hotspur, by reportedly dubious means.[7]
Arsenal appointed Herbert Chapman as manager in 1925. Having already won the league twice with Huddersfield Town in 1923–24 and 1924–25 (see Seasons in English football), Chapman brought Arsenal their first period of major success. His revolutionary tactics and training, along with the signings of star players such as Alex James and Cliff Bastin, laid the foundations of the club's domination of English football in the 1930s.[8] Under his guidance Arsenal won their first major trophies – victory in the 1930 FA Cup Final preceded two League Championships, in 1930–31 and 1932–33. In addition, Chapman was behind the 1932 renaming of the local London Underground station from "Gillespie Road" to "Arsenal", making it the only Tube station to be named specifically after a football club.[9]
Chapman died suddenly of pneumonia in early 1934, leaving Joe Shaw and George Allison to carry on his successful work. Under their guidance, Arsenal won three more titles, in 1933–34, 1934–35 and 1937–38, and the 1936 FA Cup. As key players retired, Arsenal had started to fade by the decade's end, and then the intervention of the Second World War meant competitive professional football in England was suspended.[10][11][12]
After the war, Arsenal enjoyed a second period of success under Allison's successor Tom Whittaker, winning the league in 1947–48 and 1952–53, and the FA Cup in 1950. Their fortunes waned thereafter; unable to attract players of the same calibre as they had in the 1930s, the club spent most of the 1950s and 1960s in trophyless mediocrity. Even former England captain Billy Wright could not bring the club any success as manager, in a stint between 1962 and 1966.[12][13][14]
Arsenal began winning silverware again with the surprise appointment of club physiotherapist Bertie Mee as manager in 1966. After losing two League Cup finals, they won their first European trophy, the 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. This was followed by an even greater triumph: their first League and FA Cup double in 1970–71.[15] This marked a premature high point of the decade; the Double-winning side was soon broken up and the following decade was characterised by a series of near misses. Arsenal finished as First Division runners-up in 1972–73, lost three FA Cup finals, in 1972, 1978 and 1980, and lost the 1980 Cup Winners' Cup final on penalties. The club's only success during this time was a last-minute 3–2 victory over Manchester United in the 1979 FA Cup Final, widely regarded as a classic.[12][16]
The return of former player George Graham as manager in 1986 brought a third period of glory. Arsenal won the League Cup in 1986–87, Graham's first season in charge. This was followed by a League title win in 1988–89, won with a last-minute goal in the final game of the season against fellow title challengers Liverpool. Graham's Arsenal won another title in 1990–91, losing only one match, won the FA Cup and League Cup double in 1993, and a second European trophy, the Cup Winners' Cup, in 1994.[12][17] Graham's reputation was tarnished when he was found to have taken kickbacks from agent Rune Hauge for signing certain players,[18] and he was dismissed in 1995. His replacement, Bruce Rioch, lasted for only one season, leaving the club after a dispute with the board of directors.[19]
A group of people on a red open-topped bus wave to a crowd of onlookers.
Arsenal's players and fans celebrate their 2004 League title win with an open-top bus parade.
The club's success in the late 1990s and first decade of the 21st century owed a great deal to the 1996 appointment of Arsène Wenger as manager. Wenger brought new tactics, a new training regime and several foreign players who complemented the existing English talent. Arsenal won a second League and Cup double in 1997–98 and a third in 2001–02. In addition, the club reached the final of the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup (losing on penalties to Galatasaray), were victorious in the 2003 and 2005 FA Cups, and won the Premier League in 2003–04 without losing a single match, an achievement which earned the side the nickname "The Invincibles".[20] The club went 49 league matches unbeaten in that season, a national record.[21]
Arsenal finished in either first or second place in the league in eight of Wenger's first eleven seasons at the club, although on no occasion were they able to retain the title.[12] As of March 2011, they were one of only four teams, the others being Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea, to have won the Premier League since its formation in 1992.[22] Arsenal had never progressed beyond the quarter-finals of the Champions League until 2005–06; in that season they became the first club from London in the competition's fifty-year history to reach the final, in which they were beaten 2–1 by Barcelona.[23] In July 2006, they moved into the Emirates Stadium, after 93 years at Highbury.[24]
Arsenal reached the final of the 2010-11 Carling Cup, losing 2-1 to Birmingham City. The club has not gained a major trophy since the 2005 FA Cup.[25]

Crest

Unveiled in 1888, Royal Arsenal's first crest featured three cannons viewed from above, pointing northwards, similar to the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich. These can sometimes be mistaken for chimneys, but the presence of a carved lion's head and a cascabel on each are clear indicators that they are cannon.[26] This was dropped after the move to Highbury in 1913, only to be reinstated in 1922, when the club adopted a crest featuring a single cannon, pointing eastwards, with the club's nickname, The Gunners, inscribed alongside it; this crest only lasted until 1925, when the cannon was reversed to point westward and its barrel slimmed down.[26] In 1949, the club unveiled a modernised crest featuring the same style of cannon below the club's name, set in blackletter, and above the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Islington and a scroll inscribed with the club's newly-adopted Latin motto, Victoria Concordia Crescit "victory comes from harmony", coined by the club's programme editor Harry Homer.[26] For the first time, the crest was rendered in colour, which varied slightly over the crest's lifespan, finally becoming red, gold and green. Because of the numerous revisions of the crest, Arsenal were unable to copyright it. Although the club had managed to register the crest as a trademark, and had fought (and eventually won) a long legal battle with a local street trader who sold "unofficial" Arsenal merchandise,[27] Arsenal eventually sought a more comprehensive legal protection. Therefore, in 2002 they introduced a new crest featuring more modern curved lines and a simplified style, which was copyrightable.[28] The cannon once again faces east and the club's name is written in a sans-serif typeface above the cannon. Green was replaced by dark blue. The new crest was criticised by some supporters; the Arsenal Independent Supporters' Association claimed that the club had ignored much of Arsenal's history and tradition with such a radical modern design, and that fans had not been properly consulted on the issue.[29]
Until the 1960s, a badge was worn on the playing shirt only for high-profile matches such as FA Cup finals, usually in the form of a monogram of the club's initials in red on a white background.[30]
The monogram theme was developed into an Art Deco-style badge on which the letters A and C framed a football rather than the letter F, the whole set within a hexagonal border. This early example of a corporate logo, introduced as part of Herbert Chapman's rebranding of the club in the 1930s, was used not only on Cup Final shirts but as a design feature throughout Highbury Stadium, including above the main entrance and inlaid in the floors.[31] From 1967, a white cannon was regularly worn on the shirts, until replaced by the club crest, sometimes with the addition of the nickname "The Gunners", in the 1990s.[30]
In the 2011–2012 season, Arsenal will celebrate their 125th year anniversary. The celebrations will include a modified version of the current crest worn on their jerseys for the season. The crest is all white, surrounded by 15 oak leaves to the right and 15 laurel leaves to the left. The oak leaves represent the 15 founding members of the club who met at the Royal Oak pub. The 15 laurel leaves represent the design detail on the six pence pieces paid by the founding fathers to establish the club. The laurel leaves also represent strength.To complete the crest, 1886 and 2011 are shown on either sides of the motto "Forward" at the bottom of the crest.[32]


Colours


Dark red jersey, white shorts, black socks
Arsenal's original home colours. The team wore a similar kit (but with redcurrant socks) during the 2005–06 season.

For much of Arsenal's history, their home colours have been bright red shirts with white sleeves and white shorts, though this has not always been the case. The choice of red is in recognition of a charitable donation from Nottingham Forest, soon after Arsenal's foundation in 1886. Two of Dial Square's founding members, Fred Beardsley and Morris Bates, were former Forest players who had moved to Woolwich for work. As they put together the first team in the area, no kit could be found, so Beardsley and Bates wrote home for help and received a set of kit and a ball.[3] The shirt was redcurrant, a dark shade of red, and was worn with white shorts and blue socks.[33]
In 1933, Herbert Chapman, wanting his players to be more distinctly dressed, updated the kit, adding white sleeves and changing the shade to a brighter pillar box red. Two possibilities have been suggested for the origin of the white sleeves. One story reports that Chapman noticed a supporter in the stands wearing a red sleeveless sweater over a white shirt; another was that he was inspired by a similar outfit worn by the cartoonist Tom Webster, with whom Chapman played golf.[34] Regardless of which story is true, the red and white shirts have come to define Arsenal and the team have worn the combination ever since, aside from two seasons. The first was 1966–67, when Arsenal wore all-red shirts;[33] this proved unpopular and the white sleeves returned the following season. The second was 2005–06, the last season that Arsenal played at Highbury, when the team wore commemorative redcurrant shirts similar to those worn in 1913, their first season in the stadium; the club reverted to their normal colours at the start of the next season.[34] In the 2008–09 season, Arsenal replaced the traditional all-white sleeves with red sleeves with a broad white stripe.[33]
Arsenal's home colours have been the inspiration for at least three other clubs. In 1909, Sparta Prague adopted a dark red kit like the one Arsenal wore at the time;[34] in 1938, Hibernian adopted the design of the Arsenal shirt sleeves in their own green and white strip.[35] In 1920, Sporting Clube de Braga's manager returned from a game at Highbury and changed his team's green kit to a duplicate of Arsenal's red with white sleeves and shorts, giving rise to the team's nickname of Os Arsenalistas.[36] These teams still wear these designs to this day.
For many years Arsenal's away colours were white shirts and either black or white shorts. Since the 1969–70 season, they have worn yellow and blue, but there have been exceptions. They wore a green and navy away kit in 1982–83, and since the early 1990s and the advent of the lucrative replica kit market, the away colours have been changed regularly. During this period the designs have been either two-tone blue designs, or variations on the traditional yellow and blue, such as the metallic gold and navy strip used in the 2001–02 season, and the yellow and dark grey used from 2005 to 2007.[37] As of 2009, the away kit is changed every season, and the outgoing away kit becomes the third-choice kit if a new home kit is being introduced in the same year.[38]
Arsenal's shirts have been made by manufacturers including Bukta (from the 1930s until the early 1970s), Umbro (from the 1970s until 1986), Adidas (1986–1994), and Nike (since 1994). Like those of most other major football clubs, Arsenal's shirts have featured sponsors' logos since the 1980s; sponsors include JVC (1982–1999), Sega (1999–2002), O2 (2002–2006), and Emirates (from 2006).[33][34]

Stadiums

A grandstand at a sports stadium. The seats are predominantly red.
The North Bank Stand, Arsenal Stadium, Highbury
For most of their time in south-east London, Arsenal played at the Manor Ground in Plumstead, apart from a three-year period at the nearby Invicta Ground between 1890 and 1893. The Manor Ground was initially just a field, until the club installed stands and terracing for their first Football League match in September 1893. They played their home games there for the next twenty years (with two exceptions in the 1894–95 season), until the move to north London in 1913.[39][40]
Widely referred to as Highbury, Arsenal Stadium was the club's home from September 1913 until May 2006. The original stadium was designed by the renowned football architect Archibald Leitch, and had a design common to many football grounds in the UK at the time, with a single covered stand and three open-air banks of terracing.[41] The entire stadium was given a massive overhaul in the 1930s: new Art Deco West and East stands were constructed, opening in 1932 and 1936 respectively, and a roof was added to the North Bank terrace, which was bombed during the Second World War and not restored until 1954.[41]
Highbury could hold over 60,000 spectators at its peak, and had a capacity of 57,000 until the early 1990s. The Taylor Report and Premier League regulations obliged Arsenal to convert Highbury to an all-seater stadium in time for the 1993–94 season, thus reducing the capacity to 38,419 seated spectators.[42] This capacity had to be reduced further during Champions League matches to accommodate additional advertising boards, so much so that for two seasons, from 1998 to 2000, Arsenal played Champions League home matches at Wembley, which could house more than 70,000 spectators.[43]
An interior view of a football stadium. There are no players on the pitch but there are spectators in the stands.
The Emirates Stadium filling up on the day of Dennis Bergkamp's testimonial
Expansion of Highbury was restricted because the East Stand had been designated as a Grade II listed building and the other three stands were close to residential properties.[41] These limitations prevented the club from maximising matchday revenue during the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century, putting them in danger of being left behind in the football boom of that time.[44] After considering various options, in 2000 Arsenal proposed building a new 60,355-capacity stadium at Ashburton Grove, since renamed the Emirates Stadium, about 500 metres south-west of Highbury.[45] The project was initially delayed by red tape and rising costs,[46] and construction was completed in July 2006, in time for the start of the 2006–07 season.[47] The stadium was named after its sponsors, the airline company Emirates, with whom the club signed the largest sponsorship deal in English football history, worth around £100 million;[48] some fans referred to the ground as Ashburton Grove, or the Grove, as they did not agree with corporate sponsorship of stadium names.[49] The stadium will be officially known as Emirates Stadium until at least 2012, and the airline will be the club's shirt sponsor until the end of the 2013–14 season.[48] From the start of the 2010–11 season on, the stands of the stadium have been officially known as North Bank, East Stand, West Stand and Clock end.[50]
Arsenal's players train at the Shenley Training Centre in Hertfordshire, a purpose-built facility which opened in 1999.[51] Before that the club used facilities on a nearby site owned by the University College of London Students' Union. Until 1961 they had trained at Highbury.[52] Arsenal's Academy under-18 teams play their home matches at Shenley, while the reserves play their games at Underhill, home of Barnet FC.[53]

Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City 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 Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894. The club has played at the City of Manchester Stadium since 2003, having spent most of their existence at Maine Road.
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. 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. The club has since regained top flight status where they have spent the majority of their history. In 2011, Manchester City qualified for the Champions League and won the FA Cup.


Manchester City F.C.
A crest depicting a shield with a eagle behind it. ON the shield is a picture of a ship, the initials M.C.F.C. and three diagonal stripes. Below the shield is a ribbon with the motto "Superbia in Proelia". Above the eagle are three stars.
Full nameManchester City Football Club
Nickname(s)City, The Citizens, The Blues
Founded1880 as St Mark's (West Gorton)
GroundEtihad Stadium
Sportcity, Manchester
(Capacity: 47,805[1])
OwnerSheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
ChairmanKhaldoon Al Mubarak
ManagerRoberto Mancini
LeaguePremier League
2010–11Premier League, 3rd
WebsiteClub home page
Home colours
Away colours
Third colours





Players

As of 31 August 2011.[53]

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.PositionPlayer
2EnglandDFMicah Richards
3EnglandDFWayne Bridge
4BelgiumDFVincent Kompany (captain)[54]
5ArgentinaDFPablo Zabaleta
6EnglandDFJoleon Lescott
7EnglandMFJames Milner
10Bosnia and HerzegovinaFWEdin Džeko
11EnglandMFAdam Johnson
12EnglandGKStuart Taylor
13SerbiaDFAleksandar Kolarov
15MontenegroDFStefan Savić
16ArgentinaFWSergio Agüero
18EnglandMFGareth Barry
No.PositionPlayer
19FranceMFSamir Nasri
20EnglandMFOwen Hargreaves
21SpainMFDavid Silva
22FranceDFGaël Clichy
24EnglandDFNedum Onuoha
25EnglandGKJoe Hart
28Côte d'IvoireDFKolo Touré
30RomaniaGKCostel Pantilimon (on loan from Politehnica Timişoara)[55]
32ArgentinaFWCarlos Tévez
34NetherlandsMFNigel de Jong
37Faroe IslandsGKGunnar Nielsen
42Côte d'IvoireMFYaya Touré
45ItalyFWMario Balotelli

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.PositionPlayer
9TogoFWEmmanuel Adebayor (at Tottenham until the end of 2011–12 season)
14ParaguayFWRoque Santa Cruz (at Real Betis until the end of 2011–12 season)
26ColombiaGKDavid González (at Aberdeen until December 2011)
33Republic of IrelandDFGreg Cunningham (at Nottingham Forest until December 2011)
38BelgiumDFDedryck Boyata (at Bolton until the end of 2011–12 season)
No.PositionPlayer
40SlovakiaMFVladimír Weiss (at Espanyol until the end of 2011–12 season)
43EnglandFWAlex Nimely (at Middlesbrough until December 2011)
50NorwayMFAbdi Ibrahim (at N.E.C until the end of 2011–12 season)
62Côte d'IvoireMFAbdul Razak (at Portsmouth until December 2011)
EnglandMFMichael Johnson (at Leicester until the end of the 2011–12 season)

Retired numbers

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.PositionPlayer
23CameroonMFMarc-Vivien Foé (posthumous honour)

Since 2003, Manchester City have not issued the squad number 23. It was retired in memory of Marc-Vivien Foé, who was on loan to the club from Lyon at the time of his death on the field of play whilst playing for Cameroon in the 2003 Confederations Cup.[56]

Halls of Fame

Manchester City Hall of Fame

The following former Manchester City players and managers are inductees in the Manchester City F.C. Hall of Fame,[57] and are listed according to the year of their induction:


Last updated: 31 March 2011
Source: list of MCFC Hall of Fame inductees

National Football Museum Hall of Fame

The following former Manchester City players and managers are inductees in the English Football Hall of Fame (a.k.a. the National Football Museum Hall of Fame) and are listed according to the year of their induction within the various categories:


Last updated: 30 March 2011
Source: list of NFM Hall of Fame inductees

Scottish Football Museum Hall of Fame

The following former Manchester City players and managers are inductees in the Scottish Football Hall of Fame (a.k.a. the Scottish Football Museum Hall of Fame) and are listed according to the year of their induction within the various categories:


Last updated: 30 March 2011
Source: list of SFM Hall of Fame inductees

Management team


Current Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini with assistant manager Brian Kidd

PositionName
ManagerItaly Roberto Mancini
Assistant managerEngland Brian Kidd
First team coachItaly Fausto Salsano
First team coachEngland David Platt
First team coachItaly Attilio Lombardo
Goalkeeping coachItaly Massimo Battara
Fitness coachItaly Ivan Carminati
International academy directorEngland Jim Cassell
Under-21 elite development managerEngland Andy Welsh
Head of Platt Lane AcademyEngland Mark Allen
Academy team managerEngland Scott Sellars

Notable managers

The following managers have all won at least one major trophy (excluding Community Shields) with Manchester City (totals include competitive matches only):[63]
Table correct as of 30 August 2011

NameFromToGamesWinsDrawsLossWin %Honours
Scotland Tom Maley19021906&10000000000000150000000150&1000000000000008900000089&1000000000000002200000022&1000000000000003900000039&1000000000000005932999959.331904 FA Cup
England Wilf Wild19321946&10000000000000352000000352&10000000000000158000000158&1000000000000007100000071&10000000000000123000000123&1000000000000004489000044.891934 FA Cup
1936–37 First Division
1937 Charity Shield
England Les McDowall19501963&10000000000000592000000592&10000000000000220000000220&10000000000000127000000127&10000000000000245000000245&1000000000000003715999937.161956 FA Cup Final
England Joe Mercer19651971&10000000000000340000000340&10000000000000149000000149&1000000000000009400000094&1000000000000009700000097&1000000000000004382000043.821965–66 Second Division
1967–68 First Division
1968 Charity Shield
1969 FA Cup
1970 European Cup Winners' Cup
1970 League Cup
England Tony Book19741979&10000000000000269000000269&10000000000000114000000114&1000000000000007500000075&1000000000000008000000080&1000000000000004238000042.381976 League Cup
Italy Roberto Mancini2009Present&1000000000000009000000090&1000000000000005100000051&1000000000000001900000019&1000000000000002000000020&1000000000000005667000056.672011 FA Cup

Supporters

Manchester City has a large fanbase in relation to its comparative lack of success on the pitch. Since moving to the City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester City's average attendances have been in the top six in England,[64] usually in excess of 40,000. Even in the late 1990s, when the club were relegated twice in three seasons and playing in the third tier of English football (then Division Two, now Football League One), home attendances were in the region of 30,000, compared to an average for the division of fewer than 8,000.[65] Research carried out by Manchester City in 2005 estimates a fanbase of 886,000 in the United Kingdom and a total in excess of 2 million worldwide.[66]
Manchester City has a number of supporters organisations, of which two have official recognition: the Manchester City FC Supporters Club (1949) (formed from a merger of the Official Supporters Club [OSC] and the Centenary Supporters Association [CSA][67] in July 2010) and the International Supporters Club. There have been several fanzines published by supporters; the longest running is King of the Kippax and it is the only one still published.[68]
The City fans' song of choice is a rendition of "Blue Moon", which despite its melancholic theme is belted out with gusto as though it were a heroic anthem. City supporters tend to believe that unpredictability is an inherent trait of their team, and label unexpected results "typical City".[69][70] Events that fans regard as "typical City" include City's being the only reigning English champions ever to be relegated (in 1938), the only team to score and concede over 100 goals in the same season (1957–58),[71] or the more recent example that City were the only team to beat Chelsea in the 2004–05 Premier League, yet in the same season City were knocked out of the FA Cup by Oldham Athletic, a team two divisions lower.
Manchester City's biggest rivalry is with neighbours Manchester United, against whom they contest the Manchester derby. Before the Second World War, when travel to away games was rare, many Mancunian football fans regularly watched both teams even if considering themselves "supporters" of only one. This practice continued into the early 1960s but as travel became easier, and the cost of entry to matches rose, watching both teams became unusual and the rivalry intensified.
A common stereotype is that City fans come from Manchester proper, while United fans come from elsewhere. A 2002 report by a researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University found that while it was true that a higher proportion of City season ticket holders came from Manchester postcode areas (40% compared to United's 29%), there were more United season ticket holders, the lower percentage being due to United's higher overall number of season ticket holders (27,667 compared to City's 16,481); not highlighted in the report was that within the City of Manchester itself, there were more City season ticket holders (approximately 4 for every 3 United). The report warned that since the compiling of data in 2001, the number of both City and United season ticket holders had risen; expansion of United's ground and City's move to the City of Manchester Stadium have caused season ticket sales to increase further.[72]
In the late 1980s, City fans started a craze of bringing inflatable objects to matches, primarily oversized bananas. One disputed explanation for the craze is that in a match against West Bromwich Albion chants from fans calling for the introduction of Imre Varadi as a substitute mutated into "Imre Banana". Terraces packed with inflatable-waving supporters became a frequent sight in the 1988–89 season as the craze spread to other clubs (inflatable fish were seen at Grimsby Town), with the phenomenon reaching a peak at City's match at Stoke City on 26 December 1988, a match declared by fanzines as a fancy dress party.[73]
In August 2006, the club became the first to be officially recognised as a "gay-friendly" employer by campaign group Stonewall (UK).[74]

Ownership and finances

The holding company of Manchester City F.C., Manchester City Limited, is a private limited company, with approximately 54 million shares in issue. The club has been in private hands since 2007, when the major shareholders agreed to sell their holdings to UK Sports Investments Limited (UKSIL), a company controlled by former Thailand prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. UKSIL then made a formal offer to buy the shares held by several thousand small shareholders.
Prior to the Thaksin takeover, the club was listed on the specialist independent equity market PLUS (formerly OFEX),[75] where it had been listed since 1995. On 6 July 2007, having acquired 75% of the shares, Thaksin de-listed the club and re-registered it as a private company.[76] By August UKSIL had acquired over 90% of the shares, and exercised its rights under the Companies Act to "squeeze out" the remaining shareholders, and acquire the entire shareholding. Thaksin Shinawatra became chairman of the club and two of Thaksin's children, Pintongta and Panthongtae also became directors. Former chairman John Wardle stayed on the board for a year, but resigned in July 2008 following Nike executive Garry Cook's appointment as executive chairman in May.[77] The club made a pre-tax loss of £11m in the year ending 31 May 2007, the final year for which accounts were published as a public company.[78]
Thaksin's purchase prompted a period of transfer spending at the club,[79] spending in around £30 million,[80] whereas over the previous few seasons net spending had been among the lowest in the division. A year later, this investment was itself dwarfed by larger sums. On 1 September 2008, Abu Dhabi-based Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development Limited completed a takeover of Manchester City. The deal, worth a reported £200 million, was announced on the morning of 1 September. It sparked various transfer "deadline-day" rumours and bids such as the club's attempt to gazump Manchester United's protracted bid to sign Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham Hotspur for a fee in excess of £30 million.[81][82] Minutes before the transfer window closed, the club signed Robinho from Real Madrid for a British record transfer fee of £32.5 million.[83] The wealth of the new owners meant that in the summer of 2009, the club was able to finance the purchase of several experienced international players prior to the new season, spending more than any other club in the Premier League.[84]

Stadium

Manchester City's current stadium is the City of Manchester Stadium, also known as Eastlands and the Etihad Stadium since July 2011 because of sponsorship commitments. The stadium is situated in East Manchester and is part of a 200-year operating lease from Manchester City Council after the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The stadium has been City's home since the end of the 2002–03 season, when the club moved from Maine Road.[85] Before moving to the stadium, Manchester City spent in excess of £30 million to convert it to football use. The field of play was lowered by several metres, adding an additional tier of seating around the entire pitch. A new North Stand was also built.[86] The inaugural match at the new stadium was a 2–1 win over FC Barcelona in a friendly match.[87] The current capacity as of summer 2011 stands at 47,805,[1] after various stadium renovations under the new owners since 2008.
Manchester City have used several grounds during their history: after playing home matches at five different stadia between 1880 and 1887, the club settled at Hyde Road, its home for 36 years.[88] After a fire destroyed the Main Stand in 1920, the club started to seek a new site and moved to the 84-000 capacity Maine Road three years later. Maine Road, nicknamed the "Wembley of the North" by its designers, hosted the largest-ever crowd at an English club ground when 84,569 attended an FA Cup tie against Stoke City on 3 March 1934.[89] Though Maine Road was redeveloped several times over its 80-year lifespan, by 1995 its capacity was restricted to 32,000, prompting the search for a new ground which culminated in the move to the City of Manchester Stadium in 2003.

A panorama of the City of Manchester Stadium