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Manchester City F.C. are a football club based in Manchester, United Kingdom. Having being formed in 1880 as West Gorton Saint Marks, they went on to become Ardwick F.C. in 1887 and moved to Hyde Road, before finally becoming Manchester City F.C. in 1894.
Winning the Second Division in 1899 gave the club their first honours. They went on to claim their first 'major' honour in 1904, beating Bolton Wanderers to claim the FA Cup. In 1923 they moved to Maine Road in Moss Side, Hulme, East Manchester.
They first claimed the First Division title in 1937. The next time was in 1968 - their "golden era" of football, accquiring much silverware in the late 60s and early 70s under manager Joe Mercer with the deadly contingent of Francis Lee, Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee and Mike Doyle. Their most significant moment in Europe was capturing the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1970 by beating Gornick Zabrze 2-1 in Vienna.
At the current time they reside in The City of Manchester Stadium, a newly constructed state of the art 48,000 seater stadium situated in East Manchester, which they rent from the local council. In the 2002-2003 season they came 9th in the Premiership and qualified for the 2003-2004 UEFA Cup. The highlight of the season was a 3-1 derby victory over their Manchester rivals Manchester United to end a run of 13 years without a win. A goal from Nicolas Anelka and two from Shaun Goater, gave City full points.
They opened their new stadium with a 2-1 win over Spanish giants F.C. Barcelona with goals scored by Nicolas Anelka and Trevor Sinclair.
Their current squad contains the likes of Nicolas Anelka, Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, Paul Bosvelt, Trevor Sinclair and Claudio Reyna. Kevin Keegan is the manager.
Over the previous two seasons, veteran goalkeepers Peter Schmeichel and David Seaman have seen out their careers here.
In the pre-season of 2002-2003 they spent £13,500,000 (US$20,000,000) on Anelka. Their rise was rapid; from being in the third tier of English football in 1999, to being in European competition, having a large stadium, with top facilities and having world class players in their squad.