Claim: Manchester City F.C. was purchased by a UAE based private equity company known as the Abu Dabi United Group.

Manchester City Football Club is a football club in Manchester , England . Founded in 1880 as St. Mark 's -LRB- West Gorton -RRB- , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894 . The club moved to the City of Manchester Stadium in 2003 , having played at Maine Road since 1923 .   The club 's most successful period was in the late 1960s and early 1970s when they won the League Championship , FA Cup , League Cup and European Cup Winners ' Cup under the management team of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison . After losing the 1981 FA Cup Final , the club went through a period of decline , culminating in relegation to the third tier of English football for the only time in their history in 1998 . Having regained their Premier League status in the early 2000s , the club was purchased in 2008 by Abu Dhabi United Group and has become one of the wealthiest in the world . Since 2011 the club have won five major honours , including the Premier League in 2012 and 2014 .   By 2015 -- 16 , Manchester City had the fifth-highest revenue in the footballing world with an annual revenue of $ 463.5 million . In 2016 , Forbes magazine estimated they were the world 's sixth most valuable football club , worth $ 1.92 billion .