The Blue Moon Years (1967–1972)

Lore & Background

After being relegated to the Second Division in 1963, the future looked bleak with a low home attendance of 8,015 against Swindon Town in January 1965 (though not the record low, which was around 4,000 against Bradford City in 1935). In the summer of 1965, the management team of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison was appointed. In the first season under Mercer, Manchester City won the Second Division title and made important signings in Mike Summerbee and Colin Bell.

Two seasons later, in 1967–68, City claimed the league championship for the second time, edging out their close neighbours Manchester United on goal average. City secured the title with a 4–3 win at Newcastle United on the final day, while United had already completed their season earlier. Further trophies followed: City won the FA Cup in 1969 and a year later triumphed in the European Cup Winners' Cup, defeating Górnik Zabrze 2–1 in the 1970 final.

This was the club's only European honour until their triumph in the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League. The Blues also won the League Cup that year, becoming one of several English teams to win a European trophy and a domestic trophy in the same season.

Reader's Guide

The club continued to challenge for honours throughout the 1970s, finishing one point behind the league champions on two occasions and reaching the final of the 1974 League Cup. One of the matches from this period that is most fondly remembered by supporters of Manchester City is the final match of the 1973–74 season against arch-rivals Manchester United, who needed to win to have any hope of avoiding relegation. Former United player Denis Law scored with a backheel to give City a 1–0 win at Old Trafford and confirm the relegation of their rivals. The final trophy of the club's most successful period of the 20th century was won in 1976, when Newcastle United were beaten 2–1 in the League Cup final.