First Division Champion (Historic)

Lore & Background

City won the First Division title for the first time in 1937, but were relegated the following season. They claimed the league championship for the second time in 1967–68, beating Manchester United to the title on the final day of the season with a 4–3 victory at Newcastle United. The club also won four consecutive league titles between the 2020–21 and 2023–24 seasons – an English football record.

In Their Own Story

Inside, the air was thick with thirty-one years of waiting; City needed only a draw to seal their first league title since 1937. The dressing room was a study in controlled chaos—boots tapping a nervous rhythm against the floorboards, the low hum of strategy, and Colin Bell staring into the middle distance, eyes fixed on a future that suddenly felt within reach. When the final whistle pierced the damp Manchester air, it didn't just end a match; it shattered a generational drought. Maine Road erupted in a tidal wave of blue and white. Fans spilled onto the pitch, not as spectators anymore, but as participants in history, their faces glowing under the camera flashes, capturing the moment a city held its breath for three decades before exhaling pure, unadulterated joy.

Reader's Guide

The club's first major period of success came in the late 1960s and early 1970s under Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison, winning the league title, FA Cup, League Cup, and European Cup Winners Cup. Under Pep Guardiola between 2016 and 2026, the club won 20 honours, including the Premier League in 2018 with a record 100 points, becoming the first English men's team to win a domestic treble, and a continental treble in 2023.

Did You Know?

• City won the First Division in 1937 but were relegated the following season, though this is not unique; Ipswich Town also did this in 1962.
• The 1967–68 title was secured by two points over Manchester United, not on goal difference.
• City became the first English men's team to win a domestic treble in 2019.