38 THE PREM ERAT
he most obvious reaction
to the epoch-changing
Manchester City takeover
by the Abu Dhabi royal
family was the guffaws about how
improbable it all was that City,
perennial second fiddlers to United
and with more cups for cock-ups
than footballing prowess, should
wake up one Monday morning
and discover themselves to bethe richest club in the world.
It is indeed a remarkable leap.
Less than ten years ago, City were
being beaten by York City in the
old second division (third tier) and
deliriously celebrating a late,1-0
victory at Macclesfield Town. Had
City’s fans not loyally filled Maine
Road to its capacity that season, had
the manager,Joe Royle, not scraped
the team up, had the cleverlyassembled side of his successor, Kevin
Keegan, not reclaimed top-flight status
in 2002, and, crucially, had the local
council not built a stadium for the
Commonwealth Games which was
then occupied by City on very
favourable terms, the club would
certainly have made an unlikely
target for an oil sheikh’s whimsy.
However, having become a Premier
League club, and one of the largerOCTOBER 2008: David Conn reports on the incredible takeover
that has made Manchester City the world’s richest club
City Sheikh-up
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