City sheikh things up

Once upon a time the Premiership was dominated by two teams wearing red. Arsenal and Manchester United would battle every year for the right to be called champions.

There was one blip when Blackburn Rovers managed to get their hands on the most valuable prize in English football, but besides that the two red sides dominated the trophy.

Then, in 2003, along came a Russian billionaire who thrust Chelsea into the spotlight. He brought in the best and finally broke the stranglehold that Arsenal and United had on the title.

With the arrival of Chelsea on the scene, Arsenal fell away. The Blues secured three titles in six years, with United taking the others.

It shook the league up a little bit but there were still really only two teams ever going for the title – things were still a bit predictable.

Then in 2008 the blue half of Manchester was given a huge cash injection when the Abu Dhabi United Group, backed by Sheikh Mansour, completed the takeover of the club.

From then until now Manchester City have bought whoever they wanted, when they wanted. And it would seem that they now finally have the winning formula – for the first time since they started spending big they look like title contenders.

They haven’t just beaten big teams this year; they have taken them apart – obviously smashing United 6-1 in their own back yard is probably the best example of this.

The timing of City’s rise to prominence could not have been better. For the first time since the league started there is not only real competition for the title, but also for the Champions League places and Europa League places.

Arsenal, United, City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham will all want Champions League places, and all teams are more than capable of getting them.

And in all honesty the first four teams mentioned in that list have the ability to win the league – although this year it does look more and more likely that it will be a two-horse race between the two Manchester clubs.

This increase in competition can only be a good thing for English football though. The Premiership is already hailed by many as the best league in the world, and it is not hard to see why when so many of our clubs go so far in the Champions League.

Of course many fans will be jealous of City’s new found success, but let’s face it – would you rather have a league where there are two teams battling it out every year, or would you rather have a league where there are any number of teams who could get their hand on the title.

James Haggis