Does 'Sky Blue' Thinking Come With A Flaw?

What do non-league football side Hyde FC have in common with the New York Yankees? 

On the face of it, you’d think very little. The former plays in the fifth tier of the English football pyramid, the latter are the New York Yankees, a baseball franchise with no need for introduction.

Both entities though, play a role as part of Manchester City FC’s empire building project. 

City’s rescue mission of neighbours Hyde, who were close to bankruptcy just a few years ago, involved paying off the club’s debts, a rebrand of their humble stadium Ewen Fields, a change of kit colours and, naturally, dropping the ‘United’ moniker which had been in existence for 91 years.

City’s youngsters and reserves also use Hyde’s facilities from time to time, but all this pales in to relative insignificance when compared with a recent announcement which sees the English Premier League club link up with the Yankees to create New York City Football Club, a franchise worth around £66m which will compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) from 2015.

Manchester City are no longer a football club, they are a brand.

Too many years stood hesitantly in United’s shadow, the Sky Blues are making up for lost time.

Gone are the days of Maine Road where the talk of the terrace may centre on whether Colin Bell’s hamstring may last ninety minutes.

City are on another planet, but want to make sure they conquer this one first. They have the multi-million pound sponsorship with Etihad Airways, they have recently partnered Nike in a deal believed to be around £72m over six years and they have a commercial department which is working overtime.

Backed by billions of pounds, City can’t spend quickly enough. There used to be a time when to be a powerhouse football club, teams would spend their money on the world’s best players who, aside from being able to shift thousands of replica shirts in Asia, were actually quite good at winning trophies.

Take a look at Real Madrid’s ‘Galacticos’ which contained Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Ronaldo and, of course, our very own David Beckham.

Beckham’s subsequent move to the USA with LA Galaxy showed the appetite for ‘soccer’ and the untapped revenue potential across the Atlantic. City want a slice of that American pie.

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For the average City fan, this may all be a bit too much to comprehend, though. For the amount of money they spent acquiring, and paying, players, the season just gone was a bit of a disaster. 

 

Roberto Mancini was promptly sacked after his side tamely relinquished the Premier League title to rivals United, were beaten in the FA Cup final by Wigan Athletic and dumped out of European competition in the first round. 

City are currently on a post-season tour of the States, in an effort to promote their brand, but it is hard to fathom exactly who would want to buy in to something stacked full of cash, but with, on recent form, little to back it up.