MANCHESTER CITY’S SUCCESS IS OFTEN EASILY DISMISSED
It’s either down to owner Sheikh Mansour’s billions, or manager Pep Guardiola’s genius, or the financial allegations that currently see the club’s lawyers in an arbitration centre arguing against over a hundred charges levelled at them by the Premier League that are vehemently denied. All three are pertinent to City’s rise in world football but, having covered the club on a daily basis for eight years, none of them appear to adequately explain how the rise happened.
City’s wealth has been spent in a game swimming in money that hasn’t seen similar yields for other clubs, Guardiola is only one man and even if the most serious charges City face are proven they would only explain what followed as far as the Big Bang is responsible for every decision taken since in the world. Guardiola is undeniably brilliant, but how do you manage to appoint him in the first place? Then make sure he produces his best? And, once he has, how do you get him to do it again and again, staying more than twice as long in Manchester than he did Barcelona or Munich to produce what is increasingly seen as his (and the club’s) greatest body of work?
It was this dive into details that felt most interesting to tell about one of the most extraordinary stories in sport: how a once-great club lifted itself from its darkest hour in the third division of English football to the summit of Europe in just 24 years - less than a generation. City have created a sporting dynasty in the Guardiola side that has become the first in English football to win four consecutive league titles; they are one of 13 clubs spanning five continents under the umbrella of the City Football Group, a pioneering multi-club model.
This book is an attempt to capture some of the people and ideas that have transformed City in under a quarter of a century, using key dates from the past 25 years to explore changes in everything from recruitment, academy, and use of data, to commerce and HR, to help identify the marginal changes that have had maximum impact. And, as important as the innovations, what has stayed or been kept the same to enable a club to continue to win new support among Guatemalan cryptocurrency traders without alienating the loyal and local fan who has been attending games for 50 years.
Whether City are loved or loathed for their journey to the top, the inescapable truth people have realised is that it has become impossible to ignore them. Despite the legitimacy of their achievements being challenged first by UEFA and then the Premier League, City’s methods and their staff have spread across European football as their work has been recognised. Underlying the organisation and its successes are sporting and business innovation and excellence that have not just worked for City but provided a blueprint for rival clubs to study and adapt in their own environments.
Simon Bajkowski joined the Sports Desk of the Manchester Evening News in 2013; in 2016, with the arrival of Pep Guardiola, he was assigned to all games – home and away – for Manchester City. In 2022, he was asked to become the Chief Manchester City writer – neatly coinciding with the clubs most successful season in football history. He has journeyed with the club almost as an insider, and as very much part of theirmodern, superclub iteration.