Manchester City Trophies & Titles

For better or worse, Manchester City is a football club that has come to influence the sport and the Premier League in general in a big way. Although it would be untrue to suggest that the Cityzens had not enjoyed any success prior to the arrival of the Abu Dhabi United Group as owners, with league title and FA Cups sitting in the cabinet alongside other trophies well before then, there is little question that the takeover by Sheikh Mansour and his countrymen in 2008 completely changed the club’s direction. For opposition fans, everything they’ve won since has been tainted, but for supporters that is dismissed as little more than jealousy.

League Titles

Manchester City’s association with the top-flight was not really one to write home about prior to the 2008 takeover. Although the club had won a couple of titles around 50 years earlier, they never looked likely to trouble the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea as being all-time title winners until they began to spend billions of pounds on new signings.

First Division & Premier League

From that moment on their success was all but guaranteed, even if supporters of their rivals would point to the likes of the 115 charges of financial misconduct launched against the club by the Premier League as reasons for their wins not being valid.

It is interesting to note that Manchester City have only really been challenged by one of three teams for the title over the years, with the fact that one of them was Manchester United being even sweeter for the club’s supporters. The first win of the Premier League era actually saw the two teams finish on the same number of points, only for City to be declared champions on account of their superior goal difference. Something of a rivalry also developed between the Cityzens an Liverpool, with the Manchester club twice winning the title by a single point over the Merseysiders.

Here is a look at City’s top-flight success from over the years to show how they have done in the First Division and then the Premier League:

Second Division

It is, perhaps, relevant to the level that Manchester City found themselves at for many years prior to the takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group that the club once held the record for most Second Division titles, which remained the case until Leicester City overtook them at the end of the 2023-2024 season.

When Manchester City won the Second Division by a single point over Oldham Athletic in 1909-1910, there were actually three clubs that finished on 53 points. As well as Oldham, Hull City and Derby County also threatened to take the title away from City but ultimately missed out. When they won it at the end of the 2001-2002 campaign, the competition was known by its current moniker of the Championship, but it was essentially the same tournament.

Here is a look at their Second Division performances:

Cups & Trophies

As well as picking up a decent number of league titles over the years, Manchester City have also been able to give the supporters something to celebrate in the form of cup wins. Some competitions, such as the FA Cup, have much more prestige to them than others. Even so, if the captain gets to lift the trophy over their head whilst supporters celebrate then it is absolutely right to include the victory in our list. After all, some clubs can only dream of appearing in the likes of the Premier League, so should their relative successes be ignored because they didn’t win the top-flight?

League Cup

With eight wins in the League Cup, it is the trophy that Manchester City have won more than any other with the exception of the top-flight title. Although seen as the third-most important of the domestic trophies, it is still worthy enough of one to be targeted by clubs in order to kick-start their season. It is the earliest competition’s final to be played in a campaign, which is why many managers will look to win it in order to instil a desire to enjoy more success within their players.

It is interesting to note that Manchester City played a different opponent each time they won the League Cup. For a time, they shared the most wins in the competition with Liverpool when they won it for the eighth time, only for Liverpool to win it two more times in the years that followed City’s eighth win. The two clubs had both set a record of winning it four times in succession.

Here is a look at how City have won the League Cup each time, with the scores always putting Man City’s first:

FA Cup

In terms of trophies that mean something, there is little question that the FA Cup sits at the top of the pile when it comes to domestic cups. Although it has lost some of its lustre in the modern era, it was considered to be almost as important as the First Division title in the early years of football. It has even more importance attached to it on occasions when the team is able to win it as part of a league and cup double, which Manchester City have managed more than once in the club’s existence.

As with the League Cup, all of Man City’s wins in the FA Cup came against different opponents. When they defeated Watford 6-0 in the FA Cup final in 2019, they set a record for the biggest win in the final of the tournament. Not only that but they also completed a domestic treble, having already won the Premier League title and the FA Cup, which had not been done in the men’s game prior to that point.

Here is a look at their final performances over the years:

Charity Shield / Community Shield

There will always be people that treat the Community Shield, as it is known nowadays, as something of a joke. The feeling for many is that it is not a ‘major’ trophy, yet the fact is that you can only qualify for it by winning either the FA Cup of the Premier League, so it’s far from a joke trophy.

In the competition’s early years, when it was known as the Charity Shield before the Football Association was forced to rename it because not enough money was given to charity from the game, it would be the winner of the Football League against the winner of the Southern League. If a team does the double, the second-place team from the league plays in the Charity Shield.

Here is a look at Manchester City’s Charity Shield / Community Shield wins over the years:

Year	Opposition	Score
1937	Sunderland	2-0
1968	West Bromwich Albion	6-1
1972	Aston Villa*	1-0
2012	Chelsea	3-2
2018	Chelsea	2-0
2019	Liverpool**	1-1 (City won on penalties)
2024	Manchester United	1-1 (City won on penalties)

• *The 1972 Charity Shield should’ve been played between First Division Champions Derby County and FA Cup winners Leeds United, but both teams declined the invitation. Instead, Manchester City took one place, having finished fourth in the First Division, and Aston Villa took the other after winning the Third Division
• **Manchester City won both the FA Cup and the Premier League in the 2018-2019 season, so second-place Liverpool played them in the Community Shield

Champions League

When Pep Guardiola was given the Manchester City job, most people believed that it was in order to bring the Champions League to the Etihad. The Spaniard had won it more than once whilst Barcelona manager, but failed to win it as the Bayern Munich coach, so it was felt that his arrival at the richest club on the planet would allow him to spend the money necessary in order to ensure winning the biggest club competition around. The Cityzens had never won it when it was known as the European Cup and before the rebrand, but now they had Guardiola in the manager’s seat and as much money as they needed.

The club reached the final of the Champions League at the end of the 2020-2021 season, looking to do the Premier League and Champions League double when drawn to play against fellow top-flight side Chelsea. The fact that they had finished 19 points ahead of the London side meant that they were very much seen as favourites, but in the end Chelsea left the Estádio do Dragão thanks to a 1-0 win.

Having lost 1-0 to Chelsea a couple of years before, Pep Guardiola was determined not to miss out on the Champions League trophy again. They took on Inter Milan in the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, where rivals Liverpool had defeated another club from Milan, AC Milan, in spectacular fashion in the Champions League final in 2005. It wasn’t a thrilling match, but the Cityzens emerged with a 1-0 win thanks to a 68th minute goal from Man of the Match Rodri.

Here is a look at City’s Champions League wins:

Season	Opponent	Score
2022-2023	Inter Milan	1-0

Other Noteworthy Trophies

Whilst the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League, as well as the Community Shield, will always be considered the most important trophies that a team can win, whatever their names, there are other competitions that sides can look to add to their trophy cabinet.

The trophies that city won in addition to their domestic success were mostly competitions that they made it into on account of winning something else first. The UEFA Super Cup pitted them as Champions League winners against the Europa League winners, whilst the FIFA Club World Cup saw them take on the reigning champions of the Copa Libertadores.

Here is a look at the ones that Man City have won: