Manchester City Trivia
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7correct to beat the crowd
60 free Manchester City trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Manchester City have been a church team in West Gorton, a Second Division outfit playing to 8,000 people, the only reigning champions ever relegated, a third-tier club beaten by Gillingham to a penalty shoot-out, and then, within a generation, the first English men's side to win a domestic treble and four league titles in a row. This quiz covers the whole arc. The early questions take in the 1904 FA Cup, Billy Meredith's toothpick, the record 84,569 crowd at Maine Road, Bert Trautmann's broken neck and the Mercer-Allison team of Bell, Lee and Summerbee. Then it moves through the decline, the Dickov equaliser at Wembley in 1999, the Abu Dhabi takeover, Robinho, Tevez's billboard, Agüero in the fourth minute of stoppage time, and the Guardiola years of 100 points, Rodri in Istanbul, Haaland's 52 goals and the 130 charges. Supporter culture gets its due too: Blue Moon, the Poznań, inflatable bananas and 'typical City'. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the club, its grounds, finals and players, so the dates, scores and records will stand up in any pub on the blue side of Manchester.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Manchester City were founded in 1880 under what name?
St. Mark's (West Gorton)
St. Mark's (West Gorton). The church side grew out of efforts to steer local men away from 'scuttling', the mass gang fights that plagued the area.
Q 02From 1887 until it became Manchester City in 1894, the club carried which Manchester district's name?
Ardwick
Ardwick. The club took that name after moving out of Gorton, since its new ground stood in the neighbouring district.
Q 03City won their first major honour, the FA Cup, in 1904 by beating which club 1-0 at Crystal Palace?
Bolton Wanderers
Billy Meredith scored, and City became the first Manchester club to win a major trophy.
Q 04Early star Billy Meredith, who later crossed to United, was famous for chewing what during matches?
A toothpick
A toothpick. The fallout from a 1905 bribery accusation against him exposed illegal extra payments to City's players.
Q 05City moved to Moss Side in 1923 after fire destroyed the main stand at which previous ground?
Hyde Road
Hyde Road. The cramped ground had no room to expand, so City built a far bigger stadium on a new site instead.
Q 06Maine Road's record 84,569 crowd in 1934 watched an FA Cup tie against whom?
Stoke City
Stoke City. City went on to beat Portsmouth in that year's final, just a year after losing the 1933 final to Everton.
Q 07The season after City won their first league title in 1937, what happened to them?
Got relegated
Got relegated. Their 80 league goals were the most in the division, yet they finished 21st of 22 and went down.
Q 08Goalkeeper Bert Trautmann famously played on in the 1956 FA Cup final after unknowingly doing what?
Breaking his neck
Breaking his neck. With no substitutes allowed, he kept going after colliding with Birmingham's Peter Murphy, and only an X-ray three days later revealed the break.
Q 09Before joining City in 1949, Bert Trautmann had served in which role in the German forces?
Paratrooper
Paratrooper. About 20,000 people protested against his signing, but Manchester's communal rabbi, Alexander Altmann, publicly appealed for him to be given a chance.
Q 10City's 1955 and 1956 FA Cup final teams were built around a tactical system named after which player?
Don Revie
Don Revie. The plan copied Hungary's deep-lying centre-forward Nándor Hidegkuti, whose side had thrashed England 6–3 at Wembley in 1953.
Q 11Which 1965 managerial duo won City the league, FA Cup, League Cup and Cup Winners' Cup?
Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison
Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison. They took over a Second Division side and won that division in their very first season.
Q 12City won the 1969 FA Cup final 1-0 at Wembley against which club?
Leicester City
Leicester City. They reached Wembley while fighting relegation, and went down to the Second Division that same season.
Q 13City won the 1970 European Cup Winners' Cup final 2-1 in Vienna against which Polish side?
Górnik Zabrze
Q 21Which former England manager took charge of City in 2007?
Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson. His side did City's first league double over United since 1969-70, yet the owner still replaced him after one season.
Q 22Which former Thai prime minister owned City before selling to the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008?
Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra. After selling, he stayed on as City's honorary president until the new owners removed him in 2009.
Q 23Which Brazilian did City sign for a British-record £32.5 million immediately after the 2008 takeover?
Robinho
Robinho. Most expected him to join a London rival, and at his City unveiling he mistakenly named that club as the one whose offer he had accepted.
Górnik Zabrze. The final wasn't shown live in Britain because it clashed with that year's FA Cup final replay.
Q 14City's late-1960s away kit was reputedly modelled on the colours of which Italian club?
AC Milan
AC Milan. The red and black was meant to inspire glory, and City won three cup finals wearing it in 1969 and 1970.
Q 15Who back-heeled a goal for City at Old Trafford in 1974, on the day United went down?
Denis Law
Denis Law. The former United hero was too distraught to celebrate, though United would have gone down that day whatever the result.
Q 16Which 1960s City star later acted alongside Pelé and Sylvester Stallone in Escape to Victory?
Mike Summerbee
Mike Summerbee. Off the pitch he co-owned a menswear business with United star George Best.
Q 17Who was City's manager when they dropped into England's third tier for the first time in 1998?
Joe Royle
Joe Royle. A year later he took City straight back up, winning the play-off final at Wembley on penalties.
Q 18Who scored City's stoppage-time equaliser against Gillingham in the 1999 play-off final?
Paul Dickov
Paul Dickov. City were 2-0 down with four minutes left, and he beat Gillingham keeper Vince Bartram, the best man at his wedding.
Q 19Cult 1990s City playmaker Kinkladze came from which country?
Georgia
Georgia. Despite his spectacular goals City were relegated in 1998, and he left for Dutch champions Ajax.
Q 20Striker Shaun Goater, of 'Feed the Goat' fame, was an international for which country?
Bermuda
Bermuda. He started out at Manchester United but never made their first team, then became a goalscoring cult hero at City.
Q 24After signing Carlos Tevez from United in 2009, City erected a blue billboard bearing what slogan?
Welcome to Manchester
Welcome to Manchester. It needled United, and Alex Ferguson hit back by calling City a small club with a small mentality.
Q 25Which manager replaced Mark Hughes in December 2009 and delivered the 2011 FA Cup and 2012 title?
Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini. He was sacked days after losing the 2013 FA Cup final to Wigan, who were relegated from the Premier League that same week.
Q 26Who scored the only goal of the 2011 FA Cup final, City's first major trophy in 35 years?
Yaya Touré
Yaya Touré. He had also scored the only goal of the semi-final, knocking United out at Wembley.
Q 27Against which club did Sergio Agüero score his added-time title-winning goal in 2011-12?
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers. City trailed 2-1 in stoppage time before Edin Džeko and Agüero scored, snatching the title from United on goal difference.
Q 28Which club captain lifted the 2012 Premier League trophy, City's first league title in 44 years?
Vincent Kompany
Vincent Kompany. His header beat United 1-0 in the run-in, sending City top on goal difference with two games left.
Q 29Mario Balotelli's shirt message after scoring in the 6-1 win at Old Trafford in October 2011 read what?
Why always me?
Why always me? A day earlier a firework let off in his house had started a fire, yet that week he became Manchester's face of firework safety.
Q 30City clinched the 2021-22 title by coming from 2-0 down against Aston Villa, then managed by whom?
Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard. For a while his Villa side looked set to hand the title to his old club Liverpool, who finished one point behind City.