Editing Manchester City F.C. (section)

===Early years and first trophies===
[[File:St Marks 1884.jpg|thumb|right|270px|St. Marks (Gorton) in 1884&nbsp;– the reason for the [[cross pattée]] on the shirts is now unknown.<ref name="mcfcoffhist">{{cite web |title=Club History&nbsp;– The Club – Manchester City FC |url=https://www.mancity.com/fans-and-community/club/club-history |publisher=mancity.com |access-date=9 September 2010 |archive-date=7 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907013909/http://www.mancity.com/fans-and-community/club/club-history |url-status=live }}</ref>|alt=Fifteen men posing across three rows. Eleven of the men are wearing a football kit with a Maltese Cross on the breast. The other four are wearing suits and top hats.]]
City gained their first honours by winning the [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]] in [[1898–99 Football League#Second Division|1899]]; with it came promotion to the highest level in English football, the [[Football League First Division|First Division]]. They went on to claim their first major honour on [[1904 FA Cup final|23 April 1904]], beating [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]] 1–0 at [[Crystal Palace National Sports Centre|Crystal Palace]] to win the [[FA Cup]]; the Blues narrowly missed out on a [[Double (association football)#England|League and Cup double]] that season after finishing runners-up in the [[1903–04 Football League#First Division|league campaign]], but they still became the first club in Manchester to win a major honour.<ref>James, ''Manchester City – The Complete Record'', p32</ref> In the seasons following the FA Cup triumph, the club was dogged by allegations of financial irregularities, culminating in the suspension of seventeen players in 1906, including captain [[Billy Meredith]], who subsequently moved across town to [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]].<ref>James, ''Manchester:The Greatest City'', pp 59–65.</ref> A fire at [[Hyde Road (stadium)|Hyde Road]] destroyed the main stand in 1920, and in 1923 the club moved to their new purpose-built stadium at [[Maine Road]] in [[Moss Side]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Maine Road through the ages |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/3011895.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=11 May 2003 |access-date=10 September 2011 |first=Chris |last=Bevan |archive-date=7 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907005325/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/3011895.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:ManCity1904.jpg|thumb|right|270px|The Manchester City team which won the FA Cup in [[1903–04 FA Cup|1903–04]].|alt=A group of thirteen men, eleven in association football attire typical of the early twentieth century, and two in suits. A trophy sits in front of them.]]
In the 1930s, Manchester City reached two consecutive FA Cup finals, losing to [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] in [[1933 FA Cup final|1933]], before claiming the Cup by beating [[Portsmouth F.C.|Portsmouth]] in [[1934 FA Cup final|1934]].<ref>Ward, ''The Manchester City Story'', pp. 31–33</ref> During the 1934 run, the club broke the record for the [[List of record home attendances of English football clubs|highest home attendance]] of any club in English football history, as 84,569 fans packed Maine Road for a sixth-round FA Cup tie against [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]] – a record which stood until 2016.<ref>{{cite web |title=FA Cup special: Thrills, spills and a cast of thousands at Maine Road |last=James |first=Gary |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/sport/football/manchester_city/s/1418817_fa-cup-special-thrills-spills-and-a-cast-of-thousands-at-maine-road?order=liked#comments |publisher=menmedia.co.uk |date=22 April 2011 |access-date=23 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112175959/http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/sport/football/manchester_city/s/1418817_fa-cup-special-thrills-spills-and-a-cast-of-thousands-at-maine-road?order=liked |archive-date=12 November 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=McNulty |first=Phil |date=2 November 2016 |title=Spurs' Wembley curse strikes again |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/37839379 |access-date=13 June 2020 |website=BBC Sport |archive-date=26 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026082942/https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/37839379 |url-status=live }}</ref> The club won the First Division title for the first time in 1937, but were relegated the following season, despite scoring more goals than any other team in the division.<ref>{{cite web |title=England 1937/38 |work=league table from RSSSF |url=https://www.rsssf.org/engpaul/FLA/1937-38.html |access-date=29 December 2005 |archive-date=28 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228002704/http://www.rsssf.com/engpaul/FLA/1937-38.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Twenty years later, a City team inspired by a tactical system known as the [[Revie Plan]] reached consecutive FA Cup finals again, in [[1955 FA Cup final|1955]] and [[1956 FA Cup final|1956]]; just as in the 1930s, they lost the first one, to [[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle United]], and won the second. The 1956 final, in which the Blues defeated [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]] 3–1, saw City goalkeeper [[Bert Trautmann]] continuing to play on after unknowingly breaking his neck.<ref>Rowlands, ''Trautmann – The Biography'', pp. 178–184</ref>