The Football History Boys

Manchester City - They're a club that people have come to either love or hate. That 'Agueroooo' moment is etched in everyone's recent memory as they stole the Premier League title from Manchester United in 2012. However, because of the massive financial investment involved, people have come to see them as an updated Chelsea under Roman Abramovich. 'The Crest Dissected' is a series we run at TFHB to follow a club's history through from it's beginnings, today I'm taking a look at Manchester City and seeing if that claim that they "have no history" is true or not.  Manchester City in their current form were officially founded in 1880 as a church football team. Reverend Connell of St Mark's church in West Gorton saw an opportunity to combat gang violence and alcoholism in young people. Along with William Beastow and Thomas Goodbehere, St Mark's were formed. [1] It is around this time we find the club appearing in newspapers, an exampl

There has been a running theme in a lot of my recent posts to TFHB and our new sister site The Sporting History Boys - and that has been the Victorians. The formation of modern sport throughout the era has really captured both of our imaginations as we have learned just how football came into being. For a sport is arguably the only truly 'global' game, it is of immense intrigue to us as to just where it began and why it became so popular. In the past we have discussed the relationship of class and identity within football spheres and the role spectators played in shaping the game we watch today. This piece however is to look at the sport's first team - Sheffield FC and how they influenced the modern establishment of association football. For those who have read our numerous pieces on the 'sporting revolution' you will quick to point out that we usually set a start date for the period at 1863, but Sheffield FC pre-dates even this. So should we adjust our dates or i