Glory Days for the Waifs and the Strays

On12 May 2019, Manchester City became the first team to retain the Premier Leaguetitle for a decade. Twenty years earlier, the same club was slogging its wayout of Division Two, having sunk ignominiously to the third tier, its glorydays well behind it. Ordinarily,the tale of a sleeping giant awaking to stomp over the competition would becelebrated far beyond the core fan base.But City’s success is tiedinextricably to its takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008, an eventthat altered the club’s horizons beyond any plausible recognition. Theinjection of billions of pounds into the club amid accusations that Abu Dhabiis ‘sportswashing’ its reputation tarnished City’s treble-winning season in2022/23, as have serious charges of financial impropriety from the PremierLeague. GloryDays for the Waifs and Strayscharts this route from noble rags to uncomfortable riches and unpacks what itmeans when a team’s lowest lows and highest highs occur improbably within ageneration.It amounts to a story like no other in modern football: thedistance travelled from there to here, the greats on either side of the whiteline and the uniquely divisive means by which this has been achieved. ManchesterCity have defined an era in English football. This is the tale of how thathappened and why it matters.