Get to know more about Southampton’s opponents on Sunday, Manchester City, with ten facts about the club from the Etihad Stadium.
1 – Manchester City hold the record for highest home attendance by an English club. City packed 84,569 fans into Maine Road for their game against Stoke City in 1934.
2 – Manchester City is one of four clubs that are part of the City Football Group. City have an affiliation with Melbourne City, Yokohama F. Marinos and New York City.
3 – City adopted a red and black away kit colour in the 1960s after former assistant manager Malcolm Allison felt adopting the colours of AC Milan would inspire City to glory. The theory worked, as they won the 1969 FA Cup, 1970 League Cup and 1970 European Cup Winners’ Cup in red and black stripes.
4 – On occasion, when Manchester City have reached a major cup final, the club have opted to ditch the normal club badge and instead have shirts bearing the badge of arms of the city of Manchester as a symbol of pride.
5 – Manchester City goalkeeper John Burridge is the oldest player to have ever played in the Premier League. At 43 years and 162 days he was between the sticks as City took on QPR on 14th May 1995.
6 – In 1937/38, City became the only club to ever be relegated in England with a positive goal difference, as they ended the campaign with 80 goals scored and 77 conceded.
7 – For the first seven years of their history, Manchester City were known as Ardwick FC. The club reformed in 1894 after financial troubles for Ardwick during the 1983/84 campaign.
8 – Manchester City hold the record for the fewest goals scored at home in a regular Premier League season. The Citizens scored just ten goals at home during the 2006/07 campaign.
9 – City’s title win in 2011 came courtesy of the smallest winning margin in Premier League history. Roberto Mancini’s side finished above Manchester United with a superior goal difference of eight thanks to their 3-2 win against QPR on the final day.
10 – Manchester City have twice held the British transfer record. The first was in 1979 when Steve Daley joined from Wolves for £1.45 million. They then held the record again in 2008 when Robinho joined from Real Madrid for £32.5 million.
source: southamptonfc.com
