Domestic Treble Season (2019)

Lore & Background

The club joined the Football League in 1892, and won their first major honour, the FA Cup, in 1904. Manchester City had its first major period of success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, winning the league title, FA Cup, League Cup, and European Cup Winners Cup under the management of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison. After losing the 1981 FA Cup final, the club went through a period of decline, being relegated to the third tier of English football for the only time in their history in 1998. They regained promotion to the top tier in 1999–2000 and have remained in the Premier League since 2002–03. Manchester City received major financial investment after its August 2008 takeover by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan through the Abu Dhabi United Group, starting a new era of success, winning the FA Cup in 2011 and the Premier League in 2012. Under the stewardship of Pep Guardiola, who took charge in 2016 and continues to lead the club, City have won 20 honours, including the Premier League in 2018 with a record 100 points, becoming the second English men's team to win a domestic treble (after Manchester United in 1998–99), claiming the three main domestic trophies as well as the Community Shield. The club also won a continental treble in 2023, and four consecutive league titles between the 2020–21 and 2023–24 seasons – an English football record.

In Their Own Story

The rain at Wembley fell softly as the final whistle blew, the roar of the blue sea drowning out everything else. Vincent Kompany stood still for a moment, the weight of two decades lifting off his shoulders only to be replaced by the sheer magnitude of what he had just achieved. The trophy was heavy in his hands, but it felt lighter than the burden of expectation that had hung over the club for so long. Around him, teammates wept and embraced; they were no longer just a team that challenged, but a dynasty that had conquered everything within their own backyard.

Reader's Guide

Manchester City topped the Deloitte Football Money League at the end of the 2021–22 season, making it the football club with the highest revenue in the world, approximated at €731 million. In 2022, Forbes estimated the club was the sixth-most valuable in the world, worth $4.250 billion. Manchester City are owned by City Football Group Limited, a holding company valued at £3.73 ($4.8) billion in November 2019 and majority-owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group.

Did You Know?

• City gained their first honours by winning the Second Division in 1899.
• The club broke the record for the highest home attendance of any club in English football history in 1934, with 84,569 fans at Maine Road.
• City won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1970, their only European honour until the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League.
• The club's 2018 Premier League title was won with a record 100 points.