da 888casino： Thirty-five years of hurt, numerous relegation battles, and limited chances at success all came to an end on September 1st 2008, when Manchester City were taken over by Sheikh Mansour of the United Arab Emirates. The Arabian royalty had come to Manchester to deliver success and a sense of achievement with one of English football’s biggest sleeping giants.
da apostaganha： Fans struggled to believe the possibility of success until May 14th 2011 ended one era in the history of Manchester City and commenced another, one that would bring fans on a journey they would never forget. Yaya Toure’s 74th minute strike in front of the 35,000 City fans at Wembley ended thirty-five years of pain and misery for the club’s long serving die-hard City fans.
Years of torment, pain, and even more disturbing was the success of near neighbours being rubbed into the faces of the blues, seen some City fans question whether success would actually come to the club that had its own title of ‘Typical City’. For those who are unaware of this saying, it was labelled at the club after their strange ability to deliver the unexpected from near impossible situations. For example, between 1995 and 2003 Manchester City spent only two seasons in the same division after a succession of relegation and promotion battles that kept the club’s fans on the edge of their seats – but also a step closer to a heart attack.
A return to the Premier League in 2002 saw Kevin Keegan stabilize the club as a mid-table team but with restricted development due to the lack of financial backing in the first team and surrounding facilities. One fateful day in September 2008 would change all this, as a consortium which included Dr. Sulaiman Al-Fahim opted to switch their attention from Newcastle United to Manchester City and decided to invest in the club.
The Arab delegation previously looked at purchasing a club in England with great potential, an iconic history and a city-based team which an identity could be established. In the summer of 2006, prior to the American takeover at Liverpool, the club was under close scrutiny from the UAE as Mansour looked at the possibility of taking control of the five-time European champions. The deal never materialized but a keen desire to establish his business in England turned towards Newcastle United during the summer of 2008.During that time, current owner Mike Ashley was under-fire from Newcastle fans who sought investment into the club, much to the fury of Ashley himself. A meeting was set up between the Arab group and Newcastle’s board, including Ashley, however nothing would develop once the meeting was agreed. Instead of professionally canceling the business meeting between the two parties, Ashley opted to simply not show up for the meeting with the Arabian consortium patiently awaiting his arrival to outline their plans for the club should a deal be agreed.
For anyone who is educated in the slightest regarding Arab culture, two things they hold in high regard are success and pride. The pride of Al-Fahim and his group was heavily dented and chose to turn their attentions elsewhere without even contacting the club. The attention swiftly turned to Manchester City, whose facilities were described as worse than a local secondary school and in desperate need of investment on and off the field.
City’s owner at the time was Thaksin Shinawatra, who was looking to sell the club as alleged human rights offences during his time as Thailand’s Prime Minister forced him to go into exile and his assets were seized. Secret talks were held in an unknown location and spearheaded by then City CEO, Garry Cook, on behalf of the owner. Little media attention was brought on the deal as the news was, at that point, little more than whispers on forum sites.
However, unlike many other whispers, there was genuine truth to the talk of new ownership. Both parties became quickly intrigued about concluding a deal as soon as possible once the takeover was discussed. An eight-figure deal was agreed and just over a year after his purchase of the club, the former Thai politician, sold his stake in the club. A full 100% of the club’s shares would be bought out in the coming months once Shinawatra’s majority was taken control of.
The arrival of Mansour on September 1st 2008 would have had all City fans questioning their new owners ambitions and plans for the club, however by the end of the day there was no disputing where exactly they lay. Less than 24 hours after the purchase of the club, the new owners broke the British transfer record for Real Madrid star Robinho. £32.5million was forked out by the club almost like a gift to the City fans and instantly started a love affair between the two. For those who are forgetting what this was like, it would be the equal to West Ham right now suffering from mid-table finishes to soon be demanding Premier League titles after signing Neymar from the wilderness.
It’s easy to look back now with the investment the owners have placed into the club and say it was successful, especially with four major honours, Champions League football, an extended stadium and state of the art training complex surrounding the club. But one thing is for sure, things may have been oh so very different had one of England’s brightest businessmen acted in a professional manner to deliver his hometown club a large chunk of success and to fans deserved of such success.