Most football clubs would be very satisfied if they ended up
with a second place Premier League finish and qualifying for the knockout
stages of the Champions League, but not Manchester City. In fact, chairman
Khaldoon Al Mubarak said, “it is hard to look back on the 2014/15 season
without a degree of disappointment”, as there was no title to show for their
efforts.
However, he did point out, “The fact that we consider last
season to be below par for Manchester City is a testament to how far we have
come in the last seven years”, adding “this is a level of ambition that we
should not shirk or shy away from.”
Although City may not have met all the owners’ demanding
objectives in terms of filling the trophy cabinet, they certainly performed off
the pitch. As chief executive Ferren Soriano said, “The 2014/15 season marked a
historical step in Manchester City’s journey. The club delivered an annual
profit for the first time since its acquisition in 2008.”
In fact, City reported a pre-tax profit of £10.4 million
(£10.7 million after tax), compared to the previous year’s loss of £22.9
million, a year-on-year improvement of £33.3 million. Revenue rose by £5
million (2%) to a record £352 million, marking the seventh straight year of
revenue growth, with commercial income up £7 million (4%) to £173 million and
broadcast revenue up £2 million (2%) to £135 million, though match day revenue
was £4 million (9%) lower, largely as a result of the stadium expansion works.
Profit on player sales was £14 million higher, but the main
driver of the better figures in 2014/15 was a reduction in costs, as the wage
bill was cut by £11 million (5%) to £194 million and player amortisation was £6
million (8%) lower. Against that, other expenses rose £8 million (12%) to £76
million and depreciation was £2 million higher.
This year also benefited from having no exceptional items,
while 2013/14 was adversely impacted by the £16 million settlement with UEFA
for failing to meet Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, though this was
partly offset by £7 million insurance proceeds. Finally, there was a £2 million
loss on disposal of fixed assets, while other operating income was £1 million
lower.
Of course, these days the Premier League is a largely
profitable environment, largely thanks to the ever increasing TV deals, with
City being one of just five clubs in the top flight to lose money in 2013/14.
Only three clubs have to date published their accounts in 2014/15 with both
City and Arsenal reporting healthy profits, though Manchester United’s absence
from the Champions League contributed to them slipping into the, ahem, red with
a £4 million loss.
Once-off profits on player sales can also be very important
to the bottom line. While City made less than £200,000 from this activity in
2013/14, this rose to £13.8 million last season, helping the club’s return to
overall profitability. This was largely due to the sales of Matija Nastasic to
Schalke 04, Jack Rodwell to Sunderland, Javi Garcia to Zenit Saint Petersburg
and Gareth Barry to Everton.
This has not been a great money-spinner for City recently,
but next year’s accounts will benefit from a number of players leaving the
club, which has generated sales proceeds of around £48 million (Alvaro Negredo
to Valencia £24 million, Rony Lopes to Monaco £9 million, Karim Rekik to
Marseille £3.5 million, Scott Sinclair to Aston Villa £2.5 million and Dedrick
Boyata to Celtic £1.5 million) and £5 million of loan fees (including Edin
Dzeko to Roma £2.9 million and Stevan Jovetic to Inter £2 million). Dzeko’s
loan was made permanent in October, bringing in an additional £8 million.
After deducting accumulated amortisation, all those deals
could bring in over £40 million of profits in 2015/16 with a further £10
million due if the other loan deals are made permanent (though that might only
hit the 2016/17 books).
Other clubs have been generating sizeable profits from this
activity, as can be seen in 2013/14: Tottenham £104 million (largely Gareth
Bale to Real Madrid), Chelsea £65 million (David Luiz to PSG), Southampton £32
million (Adam Lallana to Liverpool) and Everton £28 million (Marouane Fellaini
to Manchester United).
After years of heavy spending in order to build a squad and
the facilities required to compete at the highest level, City’s losses have
been steadily reducing since the record £197 million peak posted in 2011,
effectively halving each year (2012 £99 million, 2013 £52 million and 2014 £23
million) before reaching profitability in 2015.
Al Mubarak described the transition to profitability as “a
long planned milestone”, being part of “a strategy predicated on long-term
sustainability and the ongoing development of momentum year-after-year.” The
figures certainly seem to support this viewpoint, marking out an almost perfect
v-shaped recovery.
Another impressive aspect of these results is that they have
not been enhanced by some of the fancy footwork that has been seen in previous
years, most notably in 2013 when the sale of intellectual property lowered the
loss by £47 million.
Against that, City would actually have been close to
profitability last year without the £16 million UEFA fine.
The other side of player trading is obviously player
purchases, which is reflected in the accounts via player amortisation, as transfer
fees are not fully expensed in the year a player is purchased, but the cost is
spread evenly over the length of the player’s contract. City’s initial spending
spree saw player amortisation shoot up from just £6 million in 2007 to a peak
of £84 million in 2011, before falling away in the last three years to £70
million in line with less frenetic transfer activity.
In addition, City have frequently extended player contracts,
so any remaining written-down value in the accounts for those players has been
amortised over the term of the new contract. This has had the advantage of
reducing the annual amortisation charge in recent years, but has the
disadvantage of extending the period for which these players’ transfer fees are
amortised.
Clubs that are regarded as big spenders logically have the
highest player amortisation charges, so United’s massive outlay under Moyes and
van Gaal has driven their annual expense up to £100 million. The next highest
in the Premier League is Chelsea £72 million (2013/14), followed by City £70
million, while Arsenal’s relatively restrained spending has left them with £54
million of player amortisation in 2014/15.
The accounting for player trading is horribly technical, but
it is important to grasp how it works to really understand a football club’s
accounts. The fundamental point is that when a club purchases a player the
costs are spread over a few years, but any profit made from selling players is
immediately booked to the accounts, which helps explain why clubs like City can
spend so much and still meet UEFA’s Financial Fair Play targets.
As a result of all this accounting smoke and mirrors, clubs
often look at EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Depreciation and Amortisation)
for a better idea of underlying profitability. In City’s case this metric
clearly shows their improvement, as it has steadily risen from a negative £71
million in 2011 to an impressive £83 million in 2015.
This is only behind Manchester United, whose amazing ability
to generate cash is reflected in their EBITDA of £120 million (and they are
projecting an astonishing £165-175 million for 2015/16 following their return
to the Champions League and their new kit deal).
However, to better place City’s £83 million EBITDA into
context, it is still a third higher than Arsenal’s £64 million, while the next
best are Liverpool £53 million, Chelsea £51 million and Tottenham £39 million
(all 2013/14 figures).
City have increased their revenue by over 300% (£265
million) since 2009 from £87 million to £352 million. The majority of the
growth has come from commercial income, which has surged £155 million to £173
million, so is almost 10 times as much as the £18 million in 2009.
In the same period, broadcasting income has nearly tripled
from £48 million to £135 million with £54 million coming from improved Premier
League TV deals and £33 million from Champions League participation. Match day
receipts have more than doubled from £21 million to £43 million.
That’s very impressive, but the growth in 2014/15 was only
2% (£5 million), which is less than analysts had anticipated and also worse
than Arsenal, who grew by 10% (£31 million). However, it was better than
Manchester United, whose revenue fell by 9% (£38 million), due to their failure
to qualify for Europe.
This should not be overly concerning for City, as there is
more to come in every revenue stream: TV – through higher Premier League and
Champions League deals; commercial – from renegotiating the shirt and kit
sponsorship; and match day – after expanding the stadium.
Despite United’s decline, they still have the highest revenue
in the Premier League in 2014/15 with £395 million, which is £43 million more
than their “noisy neighbours”. However, City are the second highest in England,
ahead of Arsenal £329 million, Chelsea £320 million and Liverpool £256 million
(the latter two being 2013/14 figures).
City’s 2013/14 revenue of £347 million placed them 6th
highest in world football as per the Deloitte Money League, though Real Madrid
continued to lead the way with £460 million, followed by United £433 million,
Bayern Munich £408 million, Barcelona £405 million and Paris Saint-Germain £397
million.
In their annual report City claim to have “the highest
annual growth in revenues of the top 10 clubs”, but this does not automatically
mean that they will overtake the leading contenders, as they too are making good
progress. For example, both Spanish giants have announced good revenue growth
in 2014/15: Real Madrid up 5% to €578 million, Barcelona up 16% to €561
million. Against that, their revenue in Sterling terms will be impacted by the
weakness of the Euro.
Furthermore, United are estimating revenue of £500-510
million in 2015/16 following their return to the Champions League and the
record Adidas kit deal, which would make them the first English club to break
through the half-billion pounds barrier.
If we compare City’s revenue to that of the other nine clubs
in the Money League top ten, we can immediately see where their largest problem
lies, namely match day income, where City are substantially lower than their
rivals, e.g. they were £61 million behind United (£47 million compared to £108
million).
On the plus side, City look to be fine on broadcasting and
pretty good on commercial. City’s spectacular commercial growth means that they
are ahead of most clubs, though are still lower than those that have
traditionally been successful in monitising their brand: Bayern Munich £78
million, Real Madrid £28 million and Manchester United £23 million. The £108
million shortfall against PSG is largely due to the French club’s “friendly”
agreement with the Qatar Tourist Authority.
Unsurprisingly, commercial income is the largest revenue
stream, accounting for around 50% of total revenue, followed by broadcasting
38%. Match day income contributes only 12%, following the 2014/15 reduction.
City have grown commercially at a far faster rate than all
their domestic rivals (861% since 2009) with their revenue rising to £173
million in 2014/15, but they are still behind Manchester United, whose
commercial juggernaut produced £197 million – and that is before United’s
blockbuster new deal with Adidas that commences in 2015/16.
However, City are miles ahead of all other English clubs
commercially, e.g. even after Arsenal reported 34% growth last season, their
£103 million was still £70 million lower than City. It’s a similar story at the
other English clubs: Chelsea £109 million, Liverpool £104 million, then a big
drop to Tottenham £42 million and Aston Villa £26 million.
Critics will argue that City’s commercial success is built
on friendly deals with Arab partners, but the fact is that City are now signing
up many other deals not linked to their owners with 22 additional partnerships
last season alone, including Nissan, SAP, City and Coco Joy (the official
coconut water partner, oh yes).
Al Mubarak argues that the commercial growth “is also in
large part due to the City Football Group strategy that has been rolled out
over the last two years…(that) creates global scale.” This involves joint
initiatives with New York City FC, Melbourne City FC and Yokohama F Marinos.
There is obviously some truth in that, but it is also down
to the fact that sponsors simply like to be associated with success on the
pitch. Either way, Brand Finance have rated City as the fourth most valuable
football brand globally and the second most valuable in the Premier League.
In any case, the groundbreaking 10-year £400 million deal
with Etihad Airways, covering shirt sponsorship, stadium naming rights and the
campus development, now looks to be behind the market, as other clubs have
since raised the bar. It is estimated that the shirt sponsorship element of
City’s deal is worth £20 million a season, which would put City’s deal way
below their competitors: Manchester United – Chevrolet £47 million ($70
million); Chelsea – Yokohama Rubber £40 million; and Arsenal – Emirates £30
million.
In fact, there has been talk of City renegotiating the
Etihad deal upwards to reflect their higher commercial value after two Premier League
titles and regular Champions League participation. Some reports have speculated
that the value could even double to £80 million a season.
There are also rumours that City are trying to negotiate
upwards their £12 million kit supplier deal with Nike, even though their
current six-year contract only started in 2013. There is certainly room for
improvement, as this is now well behind other clubs’ latest deals: United £75
million (Adidas), Arsenal £30 million (PUMA) and Liverpool £25 million
(Warrior).
City’s share of the Premier League television money was
£98.5 million in 2014/15, up £2 million from the previous season. This was even
before the increases from the mega Premier League TV deal in 2016/17. My
estimates suggest that City’s second place would be worth an additional £51.5
million under the new contract, increasing the total received to an incredible
£150 million. This is based on the contracted 70% increase in the domestic deal
and an assumed 30% increase in the overseas deals (though this might be a bit conservative, given some of the deals announced to date).
The other main element of broadcasting revenue is European
competition with City receiving €46 million for reaching the last 16 in the
Champions League. Although this was €11 million higher than 2013/14, in
Sterling terms this was only worth an additional £2 million (£33 million
compared to £31 million), due to the weakening of the Euro.
It is worth noting the importance of the TV (Market) pool to
the Champions League distributions. Half of this is based on how far a club
progresses in the Champions League, so City benefited from other English clubs
not doing so well in 2014/15 as the prior year. The other half is dependent on
where a club finished in the previous season’s Premier League: 1st place 40%,
2nd place 30%, 3rd place 20% and 4th place 10%. As City won the title in
2013/14, compared to finishing runners-up the year before, they received a
higher percentage in 2014/15.
In addition, there was more money available in the UK market
pool in 2014/15, as this did not have to be shared with a Scottish club in
2014/15 (as was the case in 2013/14 with Celtic). The allocation also depends
on how many clubs reach the group stage from a country, which explains why
Juventus received such an enormous slice of the Italian market pool, as they
only had to share it with one other club, while the UK pool was split between
four clubs.
The financial significance of a top four placing is even
more pronounced from the 2015/16 season with the new Champions League TV deal
worth an additional 40-50% for participation bonuses and prize money and
further significant growth in the market pool thanks to BT Sports paying more
than Sky/ITV for live games. This could be worth an additional €20 million to
City.
Match day income fell 9% (£4 million) to £43 million in
2014/15, partly because of temporarily reduced seating capacity due to stadium
expansion works, which reduced the average attendance from 47,091 to 45,365,
and two fewer home games following shorter campaigns in the domestic cups.
Although this revenue stream had been on a rising trend,
City’s £43 million is less than half the money generated by Arsenal £100
million and United £91 million, partly due to City season tickets being among
the cheapest in the Premier League.
For the 2015/16 season the Etihad Stadium capacity has been
increased by 7,000 seats to 55,000 after adding a third tier to the South Stand
and adding three new rows of pitchside seats, which should result in higher
match day income. The club sold out its full allocation of more than 35,000
season tickets with a 9,000 waiting list. City have also received planning
permission for potential further expansion up to 62,000 by doing the same for
the North Stand.
City’s wage bill decreased by 5% (£11 million) from £205
million to £194 million, the second year in a row that wages have been cut. A
large part of the decrease was due to smaller bonus payments, as no silverware
was secured, with chief executive Ferran Soriano renegotiating a number of contracts
with a lower basic salary, but higher bonus payments.
This lowered the wages to turnover ratio to a “healthy” 55%,
the fourth successive year that this metric has improved from the peak of 114%
in 2011. In fact, this is now one of the lowest in the premier League, better
than Arsenal’s 58%, but still higher than United’s 51%.
The magnitude of City’s wages reduction has raised a few
eyebrows, especially as the number of football staff was slashed from 222 to
112 in 2014. This is essentially due to a group restructure, where some staff
are now paid by group companies, which then charge the club for services
provided.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of City’s reported wages,
they have been overtaken by United, whose wage bill was £203 million in 2014/15.
It is striking how the wage bills at the leading clubs are converging around
the £200 million level with Arsenal up to £192 million in 2014/15 and Chelsea
£193 million in 2013/14. It should be noted that one of the clauses in UEFA’s
FFP settlement with City stated that they could not increase their wage bill
during the next two financial periods (2015 and 2016) – though performance
bonuses are not included in this calculation.
Of course, there is a big gap to the other Premier League
clubs with the nearest challengers (in 2013/14) being Liverpool £144 million,
Tottenham £100 million and Newcastle £78 million.
Although there is a natural focus on wages, other expenses
also account for a considerable part of the budget at leading clubs, especially
at City with £76 million, now ahead of United and Arsenal (both £72 million).
These cover the costs of running the stadium, staging home games, supporting
commercial partnerships, travel, medical expenses, insurance, retail costs,
etc.
In City’s case, there is also the impact of the restructure
whereby some staff are now paid by group companies with the costs included in
external charges, as opposed to wages. This helps explain the steep growth in
external charges, which have risen from £42 million in 2013 to £69 million in
2015.
After an initial period of major investment following the
club’s purchase by Sheikh Mansour, which peaked with £155 million of gross
spend in 2010/11, City had been reducing their activity in the transfer market
(relatively speaking), as explained in the annual report: “Consistent with the
commitment made in 2009/10 that transfers of the scale seen in previous years
would be unlikely to be repeated, the club is continuing to benefit from
greater stability in the first team squad.”
Well, yes, that may have been the case – until this summer’s
£142 million outlay, when City brought in Kevin De Bruyne (£54 million from
Wolfsburg), Raheem Sterling (£44 million from Liverpool), Nicolas Otamendi
(£28.5 million from Valencia), Fabian Delph (£8 million from Aston Villa) and
Patrick Roberts (£5 million from Fulham). These purchases are not included in
the 2014/15 accounts.
Interestingly, City’s gross spend in the last five years of
£462 million (averaging £92 million a season) is almost exactly the same as the
£456 million spent in the previous five years – though most of this (£407
million) was incurred in the three years after the new regime arrived in
September 2008.
Of course, there are two sides in a market and City managed
to recoup £41 million through player sales, giving a net spend of £101 million.
Obviously this is still on the high side and most clubs can only dream of such
a level of expenditure, but it’s not quite so dramatic as the gross spend
figure widely reported. It is also worth noting that this is the highest annual
player sales figure achieved to date by City.
To an extent City have been playing catch up this summer, as
UEFA had imposed restrictions on their transfer spending last year.
Nevertheless, City still have the highest net spend over the last two season of
£151 million, though Manchester United are pretty much at the same level with
£145 million, as Moyes and Van Gaal have both endeavoured to reinvigorate their
squad following the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Both Manchester clubs are a long way ahead of the other
Premier League clubs in terms of net spend with the closest challengers being
Arsenal £74 million (around half as much), Newcastle United £62 million and
Liverpool £57 million.
City have stated that they are “operating with zero
financial debt”, which is true, but their own net debt calculation includes £67
million of debt from finance leases (for future obligations under the lease of
the Etihad Stadium). Nonetheless, this is not a problem, especially as it is
covered by £75 million of cash to give net funds of £8 million.
However, it is worth noting the impact that the transfer
market has had on City’s liabilities. They owe an additional £29 million in
transfer fees to other clubs, though this is more than compensated by the £42
million that other clubs owe City.
The really prominent figure is the £113 million that City
have included for contingent liabilities (up from £42 million in 2012), which
is for “additional transfer fees, signing-on fees and loyalty bonuses… that
will become payable upon the achievement of certain conditions contained within
player and transfer contracts”, i.e. number of appearances, success on the
pitch, etc. To place this enormous sum into perspective, contingent liabilities
at other leading clubs are significantly smaller: United £26 million, Arsenal
£9 million and Chelsea £3 million.
Where City are doing well compared to their peers is on net
financing costs, as their annual payment of £5 million (mainly stadium finance
lease charges) is a lot lower than United £35 million and Arsenal £13 million.
For context, it’s around the same as Everton, West Ham and Liverpool.
Similarly, other clubs have to carry the burden of sizeable
debt, especially United who still have £411 million of borrowings even after
all the Glazers’ various re-financings and Arsenal, whose £234 million debt
effectively comprises the “mortgage” on the Emirates stadium. There were four
other clubs with debt above £100 million in the Premier League in 2013/14, namely
Cardiff City £135 million, Newcastle United £129 million, Liverpool £127
million and Aston Villa £104 million.
The turnaround in City’s financial performance n the last
two years is underlined in the cash flow statement, which shows that the club
is now generating cash. In 2014/15 they generated an impressive £103 million
from operating activities, spending a net £66 million on transfers, £62 million
on capital expenditure (i.e. infrastructure investment in the stadium expansion
and the City Football Academy) and £5 million on interest/lease payments. This
produced a cash deficit of £31 million that was funded by issuing £84 million
of new shares, leading to an increase in cash balances of £53 million.
Of course, City’s development has been largely funded by
Sheikh Mansour, who has put in around £1.2 billion since the takeover in August
2008 through £0.9 billion of new share capital and £0.3 billion of loans
(subsequently converted to shares). Most of this has gone into the squad (£679
million) with a further £288 million invested into the club’s infrastructure.
Around 10% (£121 million) of the money has been used to finance loans and
leases with a further £76 million required to fund (cash) operating losses.
This leaves £65 million that has simply increased the club's cash.
City now have a very healthy cash balance of £75 million, but this is still a lot lower than Arsenal £228 million and United £156 million.
Although some might believe that this is evidence that City
have bought success, it is in stark contrast to United, whose owners have cost
the Red Devils around £850 million in interest payments, debt repayments and
professional fees, thus restricting the amount they have been able to spend on
improving the squad and the club’s infrastructure.
"Hand in Glove"
As the Manchester United Supporters' Trust said, “If it were
a race, then United are dragging their owners behind them like a tractor, while
Manchester City's owners are providing rocket fuel.”
Financial Fair Play has obviously been one of the most
important challenges for Manchester City, including a €20 million (£16 million)
settlement in 2013/14. The failure to meet UEFA’s break-even targets had actually
resulted in a €60 million (£49 million) fine, but €40m (£33 million) of this
was suspended.
"Captain Sensible"
City would now appear to be out of the woods with Al Mubarak
confirming that there are “no outstanding restrictions”, though UEFA have noted
that this was “subject to ongoing additional controls and audits”, adding, “the
club remains under strict monitoring and has still to meet break-even targets
and is therefore subject to some limitations in 2016.”
In any case, City are already looking to the future with the
opening of the City Football Academy in December 2014. This has been built on
80 acres featuring a 7,000 capacity stadium and 16.5 pitches with two thirds of
the site dedicated to youth football.
Al Mubarak observed, “The signs are all positive. Our
Academy enjoyed one of its most successful years to date with accomplishments
at every age group.” Importantly, he was keen to note that “ten players from
our development system earned first team debuts in 2014/15.”
"Pablo Honey"
It has been a long journey for City, but they have rarely
put a foot wrong in executing their Masterplan. As Soriano said, “Manchester City is
now a profitable, self-sustainable club competing at the highest level in world
football.”
That’s already a fine achievement, but, echoing famous City
fan Noel Gallagher (“I'm part of the greatest band in the world. Am I happy
with that? No, I'm not. I want more!”), Soriano is eager for further progress,
talking of “the potential that exists for Manchester City to reach even greater
heights in the future.”
The other elite clubs might have something to say about
that, but it is fair to say that this version of City is considerably different
from the one that used to suffer from what Joe Royle once called “Cityitis”.
They are well placed to win more honours, but it’s now up to manager Manuel
Pellegrini to deliver.
Amazing progress made under owners that have gone from day one with a specific plan and stuck to it. Incredible story considering 1998-99 saw the club as close to oblivion as it had ever been. Thanks for this. Great detail of a true success story for a club still aiming higher.
ReplyDeleteAs a fan of City from the 2011-12 season, I am one of the "bandwagoners". A "glory hunter" and "plastic fan", if you(no, not you Mr.Curtis) please. But, it has to be said that I hadn't followed football until that season, so there's some mitigation. Alas, Sergio didn't leave me anywhere to go and I became a Blue before I knew it. I was hooked onto the culture and the history of Manchester City and football, in general. I started learning about the various players, managers, governing bodies, fans, stadiums and the rivalries, the heartaches, the ups and the downs. Sometime, somewhere in these past few years, I have wondered whether I was being facile. Whether in finding this club close to your heart was because of its new found strength and dominance in European football. Whether I had been 'proper' in choosing City as my club... after all, if you haven't been through the bad times, you do not deserve the good ones. Right?
DeleteThen as soon as I thought about these things I said to myself that if not anything else, your new found sense of belonging to MCFC started because of one thing : Aguero's goal vs QPR. I haven't asked myself those questions again since then. The sheer sporting brilliance, the whole purpose of sport was captured in that one moment.
Over the past few years, and post-2008 takeover of City, the club have been vilified in all corners of the media with the worst sort of abuse, often bordering on racism and bigotry. In spite of their names being wrongfully sullied, our owners have carried out their Masterplan and kept their word. And articles such as this confirm their purpose and intent on the future of Manchester City FC and the City Football Group, as a whole.
Exciting times, eh!
"hooked onto the culture and the history of Manchester City"
Deletewhat history?
Manchester City won a trophy four years before Manchester United, 26 years before Arsenal and 51 years before Chelsea. They won the FA Cup 61 years before Liverpool and were the first English club to win a domestic and European trophy in the same season.
DeleteHighest Attendance record in the English game at Maine Road vs Stoke City (84,000+)
"The computer was pioneered in Manchester. England's first public library was in Manchester. Rolls met Royce in Manchester. The vegetarian movement began in Manchester. The city was a railway pioneer with several firsts for trains. Manchester gave birth to co-operative movement. The first international art exhibition was held in Manchester. Emmeline Pankhurst launched much of her work to get women the vote from Manchester. Manchester launched the Madchester music scene... The first professional football league was created at a hotel in Manchester and the city is home to The National Football Museum." (Courtesy: http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/topics/marca-s-latest-strop-at-man-united-and-manchester-is-a-step-too-f)
There's much more to Manchester City, but you weren't really asking for an answer, were you?
Fantastic article. One of the most enjoyable reads this year, from a City supporter and a football fans perspective also. Undoubtedly, in 15 - 20 years the 'outside' perspective of City will be that of club run well both on the field and financially.
ReplyDeleteA dream come true for me - 61 years a fan - from Les Mcdowell to Pellegrini. What a journey !
ReplyDeleteStaggering amount of detail, as always. Many thanks for this.
ReplyDeleteIt's frightening what will come in the near future.
I am portuguese and a great fan of Benfica and Liverpool, because I live in Liverpool.
ReplyDeleteMan.City is a good example of new rich clubs with sucess in national league (BPL) but not in europe (for me had team to Semi-Finals of Champions League).
Maybe a better choise of coach made a successful team in Europe.
City today have an very important game against Sevilla, as my club playing in Istanbul against Galatasaray.
Regards from Liverpool!
Money can't buy history...or not?
ReplyDeleteWell, having and spending more money than other clubs has certainly worked for all other Premier League champions - why would it be different for City?
DeleteDo not Chelsea have a loan from RA of over £1 billion? Is this not a debt the clubs carries?
ReplyDeleteOne point I don't quite understand: How were 22 partnerships added last season and yet growth in commercial income is only $7 million?
ReplyDelete