5 amazing facts about Manchester City you probably didn't know 

Currently, Manchester City sit comfortably at the top of the Premier League having won a staggering 16 matches in a row. Pep Guardiola’s team have put aside every team that has tried to stop them, and how.

The Citizens have also managed to book their place in the league cup semi-finals and the Champions League knockout stage.

However, things were not as rosy as it seems now before they were taken over by Sheikh Mansour. Before the cash injection, Manchester City belonged to the lower echelons of the Premier League, flirting with occasional relegations to being mid-table quality at best.

Here are 5 facts that even long-standing City fans wouldn’t want to remember:

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#5 Watching David James play as a striker

It was the last day of the 2004/05 Premier League season, Stuart Pearce, the then manager of the Citizens, made the head-scratching decision of playing goalkeeper David James up front.

Manchester City were facing Middlesbrough and needed a win that day to qualify for the Uefa Cup ahead of their opponents on the day. With two minutes of normal time remaining, Pearce did the unthinkable in a bid to unsettle their opponents.

The eccentric manager switched midfielder Claudio Reyna for goalkeeper Nicky Weaver and ordered James to play upfront, despite having a decent forward Jon Macken on the bench. After that what took place was pure comedy.

James made a couple of horrendous challenges inside the penalty box as he made a complete nuisance of himself. Things got dramatic for the Citizens as Borough defender Frank Queudrue handled the ball inside the penalty area, resulting in a penalty for City.

As fate would have it, Robbie Fowler missed the resulting spot kick. However, James had one moment to vindicate his manager’s decision, as the ball fell to him at the edge of the box. Instead of connecting with the volley, James completely missed the ball, resulting in a comically horrific challenge on a Borough defender.

What a day to be alive for City fans!

#4 Fewest goals scored at home in a Premier League season

Lowest number of goals scored at home in the 2006/07 season

With goal scorers like Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus in the team being ably assisted by the likes David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne, most of the current Manchester City fans would have no idea what it felt like having to cheer the likes of Georgios Samaras and Darius Vassell.

During the 2006/07 season, die-hard City fans holding a season ticket at the stadium had to go through this trauma. Matches at the Etihad became an epitome of boredom that season as the home team scored just 10 goals (a league low) in 19 league matches, with none coming after New year’s day.

Joey Barton finished as the club’s top scorer with 6 goals as the team surprisingly finished in 14th place. The then manager Stuart Pearce was shown the door at the end of the season as City were taken over by Thai businessman Thaksin Shinawatra.

#3 Getting relegated after winning the league a season before

Wilf Wild: City's longest-serving manager also responsible for the worst title defence

Traditionally Manchester City have not defended titles well. Hence it would be a big challenge for Guardiola to defend his title if Manchester City win the league this season.

The worst title defence came in the 1937/38 season when Manchester City got relegated after winning the league title just 12 months before.

It was City’s first title in their history which was sweetened more by the fact that their arch-rivals Manchester United had just been relegated. However, a year later, it was their turn to face the music as they finished second from bottom with 36 points culminating in the worst defence of the title.

Surprisingly, City began their relegation season better than their title-winning campaign when they had won just 2 of their first 10 games. However, City could not recover as they had done in their previous season, losing 1-0 to Huddersfield on the final day to head to the second division.

Ultimately, it took them another 10 years to return to the first division although football had lost seven years to World War II.

#2 Only team to be relegated with a positive goal difference

From being league champions in 1936/37 to getting relegated in 1937/38

Manchester City’s campaign in 1937 threw up some interesting fugures as they finished the league as the top scorers with 80 goals in 42 games. The following season, City also conceded 77 goals, leaving legendary manager Wilf Wild astonished at such a dramatic turnaround.

In doing so, the Sky Blues became the only team in history to finish the season with a positive goal difference (+3) and subsequently get relegated in the same season.

To make it worse for the City fans, United clinched promotion that same season and Matt Busby, incidentally a former City player took reigns at Old Trafford after the war was over and the rest is history.

#1 “The Berti”

The only time City fans could see Berti on the pitch

31st August 2008, Manchester City signed two players- One became a City legend and the other a cult hero despite lasting just one season. We are talking about two South Americans, Pablo Zabaleta and Glauber Berti, both of whom signed on the same day yet had vastly contrasting careers at City.

Berti’s cult status came from the fact that the one cap Brazilian just played six minutes of the 2008/09 campaign and yet was voted the Man of the Match in that game by the City fans.

That season Berti appeared 20 times on the bench remaining unused each time, leading to City fans refer to the substitute bench as “The Berti” in his honour. Finally, City fans got to see the Brazilian in action on the last day of the 2008/09 campaign against Bolton, as he replaced Wayne Bridge in the 84th minute.

Berti’s every touch was cheered loudly and every throw-in was met with a standing ovation by the City fans. Berti was voted as the Man of the Match at the end of the game.

A true cult hero!