Our Community

Manchester City’s community story began in 1880 when the Connell family of St Mark’s Church in Gorton harnessed the power of football in a bid to unite their community.

By providing the opportunity to regularly play the sport, they generated a positive change in behaviours and attitudes in a neighbourhood that was experiencing a range of social issues.

It is this philosophy and spirit that still runs through all the day-to-day activity of City in the Community (CITC), the Club’s Foundation.

Established in 1986, City in the Community (CITC) has been using football to create opportunities, build futures, and touch lives in a unique way.

By placing the game at the heart of its plans the Club’s Foundation makes a big difference to local employment, crime prevention, social inclusion and the health and wellbeing of fans, friends and neighbours.

In the 2014/15 season, working with more than 40,000 people each year, City in the Community delivered 21 football-based programmes, totalling a huge 53,000 hours of community work.

In its first eight months since opening its doors, the new City Football Academy - which lies at the heart of the Etihad Campus and close to the original St Mark’s parish - has helped the numerous dedicated schemes expand and has further stimulated the ‘football effect’ that remains right at the core of everything the Club aims to achieve.

Every week, 30 hours of pitch time is dedicated to local youngsters and adults at the same grounds where the Premier League players train and work.

However, it is not just in Manchester where CITC programmes continue to go from strength to strength. We’ve also seen the global impact grow in cities both where we have Clubs and further afield.

In November 2014, City introduced our charitable football initiative, Cityzens Giving, which gave fans the power to choose how funds are allocated to youth-led charity football projects in six cities across the world.