Manchester City FC is an English football club from the city of Manchester. It is widely accepted that Manchester City F.C. was founded in 1880 by Anna Connell and two churchwardens of St. Mark's Church, in Gorton, a district in east Manchester. Prior to this however, St. Mark's played cricket from 1875 and the side evolved out of that cricket team.  In 1887, they moved to a new ground at Hyde Road in Ardwick just to the east of the city centre, and were renamed Ardwick A.F.C.  Ardwick joined the Football League as founding members of the Second Division in 1892. Financial troubles in the 1893–94 season led to a reorganisation within the club, and Ardwick were reformed as Manchester City F.C.  City gained their first honours by winning the Second Division in 1899; with it came promotion to the First Division. They went on to claim their first major honour on 23 April 1904, beating Bolton Wanderers 1–0 at Crystal Palace to win the FA Cup; City narrowly missed out on a League and Cup double that season after finishing runners-up in the League. In the seasons following the FA Cup triumph, the club was dogged by allegations of financial irregularities, culminating in the suspension of seventeen players in 1906, including captain Billy Meredith. A fire at Hyde Road destroyed the main stand in 1920, and in 1923 the club moved to their new purpose-built stadium at Maine Road in Moss Side.  In the 1930s, Manchester City reached two consecutive FA Cup finals, losing to Everton in 1933, before claiming the Cup by beating Portsmouth in 1934. The club won the First Division title for the first time in 1937, but was relegated the following season, despite scoring more goals than any other team in the division. 

They were promoted in 1947, relegated in 1950 and promoted once again in 1951 before establishing themselves in the top tier inspired by a tactical system known as the Revie Plan. Based on the tactics used by the great Hungarians it involved Don Revie playing as a deep-lying centre-forward.  City reached consecutive FA Cup finals  in 1955 and 1956; they lost the first one, to Newcastle United, and won the second against Birmingham City. After relegation to the Second Division in 1963, the future looked bleak with a record low home attendance of 8,015 against Swindon Town in January 1965. In the summer of 1965, the management team of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison was appointed. In the first season under Mercer, City won the Second Division title and made important signings in Mike Summerbee and Colin Bell. Two seasons later, in 1967–68, Manchester City claimed the League Championship for the second time, clinching the title on the final day of the season with a 4–3 win at Newcastle United. Further trophies followed: City won the FA Cup in 1969, before achieving European success by winning the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1970, beating Górnik Zabrze 2–1 in Vienna. City also won the League Cup that season.  The club continued to challenge for honours throughout the 1970s, finishing just one point behind the league champions on two occasions and reaching the final of the 1974 League Cup. The final trophy of the club's most successful period up to that point was won in 1976, when Newcastle United was  beaten 2–1 in the League Cup final. They would not win another major honour for over thirty years. 

The 1980s brought relegation twice (1983, 1987) and promotion twice (1985, 1989) and a return to the inconsistencies of the past. The ninties proved even more traumatic with the club  relegated twice in three years and  spending the 1998–99 season in the third tier of English football. Kevin Keegan was appointed manager and led City back to the Premiership in 2002. The following season, City finished in ninth place and finally left Maine Road, their home since 1922, to move into the brand new City of Manchester Stadium.   Manchester City sensationally became  the wealthiest football club in the world after it was bought by the Abu Dhabi United Group in September 2008.   This investment finally began to pay dividends in 2010-11 when City, managed by Roberto Mancini, defeated Stoke City 1-0 in the FA Cup Final, their first major trophy in thirty-six years.  The following season City won the Premier League title on goal difference on a dramatic last day of the season when they came from behind to beat QPR with two injury time goals. After a shock defeat against Wigan in the 2014 FA Cup Final, City won the Premier League title again and the League Cup in 2014-15 under Manuel Pellegrini.  Another League Cup win in 2016 could not save Pellegrini his job, and it was the appointment of Pep Guardiola as his replacement that ushered in a golden era for City.  They were Premier League champions in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, FA Cup winners, 2019, and 2023, and League Cup winners in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021. Manchester completed a  sensational season by winning the 2023 Champions League title in Istanbul againist Inter Milan.