Football Teams in Manchester

When it comes to the North of England, there are two cities that will always dominate the conversation: Liverpool and Manchester. Whilst Liverpool boasts the most successful club in England, Manchester boasts two sides that have either held the title in the past or else would like to make a claim to it in the future. Manchester United were made into one of the most successful sides ever when Alex Ferguson arrived at Old Trafford, whilst Manchester City became a footballing behemoth after the takeover of the club, effectively, by Abu Dhabi. There are more than just those two sides in Manchester, of course, as we’ll look at here.

What We Mean by ‘Manchester’

If we’re going to have a look at the football teams that play their games in Manchester, it feels important to outline what we mean by ‘Manchester’. There is, in essence, a difference between Manchester the city and Greater Manchester the wider area. Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county that borders Lancashire, Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, Cheshire and Merseyside, so any football clubs that are considered to be located in one of those counties obviously won’t make out list. There are a number of ‘settlements’ that are considered to be in Greater Manchester, including the likes of Sale, Trafford and Rochdale.

Areas such as Bolton, Wigan and Stockport are also part of Greater Manchester, meaning that any clubs that play their games in those areas will be included on our list. Whether you think this is right or not will largely depend on whether you’re of the opinion that it should be strictly limited to the clubs in the precise city of Manchester, but if you were talking about London then you’d no doubt be willing to include all of the various clubs that are based in the surrounding areas rather than just those that have stadiums within hearing distance of bough bells. Greater Manchester is, it is fair to say, sprawling in nature.

Breaking Down the Teams

The English Football League pyramid is one that goes down to include clubs that you might not even realise existed. To look down to the eight or ninth level of the game would be to get a little bit too lost in the weeds, especially when you consider that Greater Manchester is already a large enough area to look at. As a result, we’ll be focussing on the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two. The nature of promotion and relegation means that we might end up missing out some of the teams that were in non-league but gained promotion, just in case you’re wondering where a specific team is.

Manchester United

Often referred to simply as Man United and boasting the nickname of the Red Devils, Manchester United Football Club was founded as Newton Heath LYR FC in 1878. The name change came about in 1902, with the club moving to Old Trafford eight years later. As with most sides, United won the top-flight league a couple of times during the club’s more formative years, doing so again in the 1950s and 1960s. Whilst Matt Busby truly put the Red Devils on the map, managing them to the first European Cup win managed by an English side in 1968, it was the arrival of Alex Ferguson in 1986 that truly changed the club’s fortunes.

When Alex Ferguson arrived at Manchester United, the club had won the same number of top-flight titles and European Cups as Aston Villa. By the time that he had left, he had transformed them into one of the most successful sides in the country, adding two more European Cups, by now re-branded as the Champions League, and 13 more titles. Add in five FA Cups and four League Cups and you can see why he is considered to be one of the best managers not just in Man United’s history but in the overall history of the sport. The battle between the Red Devils and Liverpool for overall supremacy in England is likely to go on until the end of time itself.

Manchester City

Sometimes referred to as the Citizens or stylised to the Cityzens, Manchester City were once referred to as the ‘noisy neighbours’ by Alex Ferguson. The club’s first taste of major success came in 1904 when they won the FA Cup, repeating that trick in 1934 before winning the top-fight title for the first time three years later. It is fair to say that City’s time battling at the top was somewhat limited, winning one more league and two more FA Cups, as well as two League Cups, before the club disappeared into the ether for several decades. In fact, they struggled to remain in the top-flight for a number of years, let alone challenge for trophies.

All of that was to change in 2008, however, when the club was bought by the Abu Dhabi United Group. Used as a sports-washing operation to clean up the image of a country with an appalling human rights record, the nation-state poured money into City, developing the stadium that they played in and ensuring the playing squad was one of the best in the country. Success was inevitable given the sheer amount of money spent on the project, with the Premier League finally secured in 2012. The club faced 115 charges of Financial Fair Play breaches, which certainly led many to question the validity of their success during the sports-washing era.

Bolton Wanderers

Formed as Christ Church Football Club in 1874, the side adopted the name Bolton Wanderers in 1877 and then 11 years later was one of the founding members of the Football League. Between 1899 and 1911, the club moved between the First Division and the Second Division eight times, demonstrating that it wasn’t quite good enough for one league or poor enough for the other. They did enjoy some sustained success in the 1920s, winning what became known as the ‘White Horse’ FA Cup final in 1923 before winning the trophy again in both 1926 and 1929. From 1911 until 1964, Bolton spent just two seasons outside of the top-flight.

Even so, it would be difficult to describe the Trotters as one of the more successful sides of English football. They have never, for example, won the top-flight in England, nor the League Cup, whilst they were only able to add one more FA Cup win to their name between 1929 and 2024. Boasting rivalries with the likes of Wigan Athletic, Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End, Wanderers have endured numerous ups and downs over the years. One of the club’s claims to fame that they would surely rather not have is that they have spent 73 seasons in the top-flight at the time of writing, but never won the title; longer than any other side.

Wigan Athletic

One of the younger clubs based in the Greater Manchester area, Wigan Athletic was formed in 1932 and considered Bolton Wanderers to be one of its main rivals. In the first nine seasons of Wigan’s existence, the Latics competed in the Cheshire County League before slowly making its way up through the divisions. They were invited to become one of the founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968, quickly winning two titles as well as reaching the final of the FA Trophy. It isn’t unreasonable to say that Wigan haven’t been one of the most successful sides in the history of English football, however.

Though Wigan have never won the top-flight title nor the Championship or equivalent, the club did win the FA Cup in the 2012-2013 season. That was a particularly famous win on account of the fact that they defeated Manchester City after the club had been taken over by the Abu Dhabi Group. Unfortunately, even that win was something of a summary of Wigan’s time in football, being relegated out of the Premier League later in the same season. Another example of the club’s ups and downs can be reflected in the fact that Wigan had new owners in July of 2020, but were put into administration less than a month later.

Salford City

Founded as Salford Central in 1940, making the club the youngest on our list, the Ammies spent most of its early existence playing minor local league football. That all changed in 1963 when the club won a place in the Manchester League. Salford won the Lancashire Amateur Cup in 1971, 1973 an 1975, as well as the Manchester Premier Cup in 1978 and 1979, demonstrating that success doesn’t have to mean winning the top-flight title or nothing else. With that being said, Salford’s existence was not something that most football fans would’ve been able to tell you about until a takeover by former footballers in 2014.

Those former footballers were Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Paul Scholes, each owning a 10% share and seeing Peter Lim, the Singaporean businessman, owning the rest. David Beckham later joined the group by buying 10% off Lim. What followed were numerous promotions, with the ex-Man United players pouring money into the side in a manner that was similar to what the Abu Dhabi Group did at Manchester City, albeit on a smaller scale. They climbed up the divisions, making it into League Two in 2019 after winning the National League play-off final. The nickname of ‘the Ammies’ comes from their 1960s name of Salford Amateurs.

Stockport County

A football club called Heaton Norris Rovers was formed in 1883, being renamed as Stockport County seven years later as an homage to where they were based. The club originally played in red and white kits but changed to blue and white in 1914. The Hatters, as Stockport County are known because of the town’s links to the hat-making industry, joined the Football League for the first time in 1900. They needed to seek re-election in 1904 but failed, spending a season outside of the First Division before being re-elected a year later. At that point, the club embarked on a 106-year spell playing in the Football League.

It was in 2011 that they finally dropped out of the Football League for the first time since 1904, largely thanks to financial mismanagement of the club during the 2000s. Even with this having happened, it was still an impressive spell for a club that was formed by a group of school pupils and that played its home games in parks in the Stockport area. That remained the case until they moved to Green Lane in 1889. Success is obviously relative, with the Hatters having enjoyed their share of small wins over the years. That includes the likes of the Second Division, Fourth Division and the Manchester Senior Cup.