MAN city

Ownership of Manchester City F.C.
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The Ownership of Manchester City F.C. traces back to 1894, when Ardwick A.F.C. dissolved and were reformed as Manchester City Football Club Ltd.

[edit] Financial structure

The holding company of Manchester City F.C., Manchester City plc, is a private limited company. The club has approximately 54 million shares in issue, of which over 80% are owned by UK Sports Investments Limited, a company controlled by former prime minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra. Dr. Thaksin took control of the club on July 6th, 2007 in a takeover worth £81.6 million, purchasing shares from all existing major shareholders. Dr. Thaksin is chairman of the club, with former chairman and JD Sports founder John Wardle deputy chairman. Two of Thaksin's children, Ms. Pintongta Shinawatra and Mr. Panthongtae Shinawatra are also on the board of directors.

Prior to the Thaksin takeover, the club was listed on the specialist independent equity market PLUS (formerly OFEX), where it had been listed since 1995. On the 6th July 2007, upon acquiring a 75% share in the club, Thaksin delisted the club and re-registered it as a private company.

[edit] History

The modern day Manchester City Football Club became a registered limited company on 16 April 1894.[1] Shares in the club were owned by a number of club figures, who all had one share each.

Peter Swales became chairman in October 1973,[2] and held the position for more than 20 years.

In 1994, Swales was ousted from his chairmanship by former City player Francis Lee, whose paper business F.H Lee Ltd. had made him a multimillionaire. Lee's takeover was preceded a long anti-Swales campaign by supporters, who had formed a movement named Forward With Franny backing his attempt to gain control of the club.[3] Lee gained control of the club by purchasing £3 million of shares at a price of £13.35 per share.[4] Upon becoming chairman, Lee made a series of extravagant claims about his plans for the club, announcing that "This will be the happiest club in the land. The players will be the best paid and we'll drink plenty of champagne, celebrate and sing until we're hoarse".[3] The club floated on the OFEX exchange in 1995, valuing the club at £8 million.[5]

In 1996 Lee appointed his friend Alan Ball as manager, but the appointment proved unsuccessful and the club were relegated. Lee stepped down in 1998, with the club on the brink of relegation to the third tier of English football, a fate which Lee had dismissed at the previous annual general meeting by saying that he would "jump off the Kippax" if the club were relegated.[6] He was replaced as chairman by financial director David Bernstein.

In November 1999 broadcaster BSkyB purchased a 9.9% stake in the club for £5.5 million, plus a further sum for media rights. The deal was part of a series of acquisitions by BSkyB which included a similar stake in Leeds United.[7] A share rights issue announced at the same time as the BSkyB purchase saw JD Sports founders John Wardle and David Makin increase their stake and become the club's largest shareholders.[8]

Bernstein resigned on 5 March 2003, believing that differences of opinion regarding player transfers had undermined his ability to lead the club.[9] Bernstein had favoured a fiscally conservative transfer policy, but manager Kevin Keegan and major shareholder John Wardle wished to spend heavily on new players, such as Robbie Fowler.[10] Wardle became temporary chairman, taking the position on a permanent basis two months later.[11] Bryan Bodek, who had been a board member since February 2000,[12] was appointed as his deputy.

In December 2006, the club issued a statement regarding a possible takeover,[13] prompting press speculation about potential buyers. On 24 April, former Manchester City player Ray Ranson announced interest in making an offer for the club,[14] though the club denied press reports that a bid had been made.[15] On 1 May 2007, it was announced that former Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had been granted access to the clubs accounts.[16] However, the deal was thrown into doubt when Thailand's military government froze £830m of Shinawatra's assets after they investigated allegations of corruption made against him.[17] On the 21st June the Manchester City board accepted an £81.6million offer for the club from Thaksin Shinawatra and advised the shareholders to accept the bid. On the 6th July, Thaksin finally acquired a 75% share in the club, enough to take full control of the club and delist it as full owner.[18] One of his first moves was to schedule a press conference to announce former-England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson as his new manager.[19]


Players & Staff

As of 29 September 2007.[28]

[edit] Current squad
No. Position Player
1 Flag of Sweden GK Andreas Isaksson
2 Flag of England DF Micah Richards
3 Flag of England DF Michael Ball
4 Flag of England DF Nedum Onuoha
5 Flag of France MF Ousmane Dabo
6 Flag of England MF Michael Johnson
7 Flag of Ireland MF Stephen Ireland
8 Flag of Brazil MF Geovanni
9 Flag of Belgium FW Émile Mpenza
10 Flag of Italy FW Rolando Bianchi
11 Flag of Brazil MF Elano
12 Flag of England FW Darius Vassell
15 Flag of Bulgaria MF Martin Petrov

No. Position Player
16 Flag of Croatia DF Vedran Ćorluka
17 Flag of the People's Republic of China DF Sun Jihai
19 Flag of Denmark GK Kasper Schmeichel
20 Flag of Greece FW Georgios Samaras
21 Flag of Germany MF Dietmar Hamann
22 Flag of Ireland DF Richard Dunne (captain)
24 Flag of Spain DF Javier Garrido
25 Flag of England GK Joe Hart
28 Flag of Switzerland MF Gelson Fernandes
29 Flag of Bulgaria FW Valeri Bojinov
33 Flag of Wales FW Ched Evans
36 Flag of England FW Daniel Sturridge
37 Flag of Nigeria MF Kelvin Etuhu

[edit] Out on loan
No. Position Player
14 Flag of Scotland FW Paul Dickov (on loan to Crystal Palace)
18 Flag of England DF Danny Mills (on loan to Charlton Athletic)
26 Flag of England DF Matthew Mills (on loan to Doncaster Rovers)
27 Flag of England MF Ishmael Miller (on loan to West Bromwich Albion)
30 Flag of Italy FW Bernardo Corradi (on loan to Parma)
38 Flag of England DF Shaleum Logan (on loan to Grimsby Town)

[edit] Number 23

Since 2003, Manchester City have not issued the squad number 23. It was retired in memory of Marc-Vivien Foé, who was on loan to the club from Olympique Lyonnais at the time of his death on the field of play playing for Cameroon in the 2003 Confederations Cup.

[edit] Current Staff
Position Name
Manager Flag of Sweden Sven-Göran Eriksson
Assistant Manager Flag of Sweden Hans Backe (Stepped down temporarily due to Family Illness, now back home in Sweden)
First Team Coach Flag of England Derek Fazackerley
First Team Coach Flag of Sweden Tord Grip
Reserve Team Manager Flag of Wales Kenny Jackett (Temporary Assistant Manager, with former Academy coach Ian Miller taking over as Reserve Team Manager )
Youth Academy Director Flag of England Jim Cassell
Goalkeeping Coach Flag of England Eric Steele
Fitness and Conditioning Coach Flag of Italy Stefano Marrone