City the Football Franchise.

Image Courtesy of Getty Image

Cc. Wilson Oluoch 

Is City the greatest football franchise? Well, if not, it looks to be. 

And here is why I think so.

Money talks. And with the continuing monetization and commercialization of football, those with the largest bank accounts and huge financial backing only look to continue dominating. No need to dive deep into the details for this, it is all out there for everyone to see.

A 2013 establishment, City Football Club is the owner of football related businesses in the major cities of the world. This includes football clubs, academies, and marketing companies among others. The organization’s ambition is to increase participation in football both on and off the field, to find and develop the best footballing talent, and to deliver an exciting and forward playing game. 

Manchester City FC in the Premier League, New York City Football Club in the MLS and Melbourne City FC of the A-League are the core outfits under the group. Other clubs operating under the group are Yokohama F. Marinos (competes in J1 League- Japanese top tier league), Montevideo City Torque (plays in the Uruguayan Primera Division), Girona of La Liga, Mumbai City FC (Indian Super League), Lommel SK (competes in the Belgian second tier football), and Troyes (French Ligue 2). It is fair to note that most of these male teams operate both female and reserve football teams as well that both compete in their respective leagues.

This evolution is being overseen by Emirati politician and deputy prime minister of the UAE, Sheikh Mansour who is also a member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi. He has overseen Manchester City’s rapid rise to the elite of European Football since he took over in 2008. City’s domestic success under Sheikh Mansour undoubtedly puts him on the list of European football’s most successful owners of all time. Despite recently coming short of the missing piece on their cabinets after a good final against Chelsea in Porto, I personally feel it is not that far away. City have only gotten better by the years.

The City Football Group places importance on branding and player development. This, they do by focusing on their teams sharing a common identity and an associated brand, that aligns with the traditional identity of Manchester City - a key way of helping the Manchester club build up its foreign support. Efforts to continue their success in bringing through youth talent has led to the buying of promising players in their early teenage years, many of whom would go on to be sold for a large profit. 

Another core philosophy of City Football Group since its inception has been the mutual supporting of clubs through combined scouting and player sharing. CFG clubs therefore provide invaluable services to each other by using their own local scouting networks to share information on players between clubs. With their combined knowledge, the group boasts that it has extensive information on over half a million players around the world. Having such a network working for them allows local clubs to sign players early in their development and placing them in any of their subsidiary clubs.

Player movements is not the only thing within CFG, as coaching staff also move around within their network. Also, all of City Football Group's clubs are given access to extensive databases of Manchester City's (Pep Guardiola) tactics and coaching methods, enabling them all to follow the group directive to use the same style of football, a style occasionally referred to as the City Way. There is not a manager’s team out there I love watching than Pep’s sides. “I loathe all that passing for the sake of it, all that tiki taka. It's so much rubbish and has no purpose. You have to pass the ball with a clear intention, with the aim of making it into the opposition's goal. It's not about passing for the sake of it. Don't believe what people say. Barça didn't do tiki-taka! It's completely made up! Don't believe a word of it! In all team sports, the secret is to overload one side of the pitch so that the opponent must tilt its own defence to cope. You overload on one side and draw them in so that they leave the other side weak.”

City Football Group are on the brink of breaking into the top most elite levels of football and some might argue that money will not be enough to take them there, that is merely dwelling on past history. City Football Group, and their crown jewel especially, Manchester City Football Club is and has been planning on its future and my take is that nothing will stop them. Their business model is taking over football.