Manchester City are one game away from a first ever UCL win which would boost the profile of the City Football Group that controls several clubs around the world.
What do Manchester City, NYCFC, Melbourne City, Montevideo City Torque, French side Troyes and Belgium’s Lommel have in common?
The are 100% owned by the City Football Group with the company also holding key shares in the likes of other clubs such as Girona (LaLiga), India’s Mumbai City, Brazil’s EC Bahia and Serie B side Palermo.
Who are CFG?
The City Football Group is a UK based holding company that primarily administers association football clubs, owning stakes in clubs in the United States, Australia, India, Japan, Spain, Uruguay, China, Belgium and France. The group is owned by three organisations; of which 81% is majority owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group, 18% by the American firm Silver Lake and 1% by Chinese firms China Media Capital and CITIC Capital.
High profile
With continued domestic success in the Premier League over recent years, Manchester City, led by the expert hand of Pep Guardiola are the leading light of the group and the Mancunian club group lends its name to the consortium.
Man City are on the cusp of securing their first ever Champions League title with just Inter Milan standing in the way of European glory in the 10 June Istanbul final. A win in European football’s biggest club competition would further boost City’s global profile.
New York City FC are a high profile soccer team in MLS and fall under the Yankee Global Enterprises umbrella which is also owned by the City Group (CFG).
Ideology
CFG see the natural evolution of club brands being to expand globally, and that doing so could include the creation of franchise clubs in foreign leagues. The group maintain that their ambition is to “increase participation in football on and off the field, to find and develop the best footballing talent, and to deliver an exciting and forward playing game.”
The group also uses its global reach and scouting network as a platform to nurture and harness talent by using clubs in lower leagues as platforms and pathways to the group’s bigger profile teams.
CFG has also invested in women’s football and also eSports with four of the club’s in the portfolio already having a women’s team.