Manchester City kicks off Cityzen's Weekend
Doors of City Football Academy thrown open to thousands of fans for the first time
Free two-day fan event to celebrate the launch of the Club’s new badge and website, the new season’s home kit and to welcome new manager Pep Guardiola
Projection of new badge on Manchester Town Hall marks the start of the festivities
Manchester City have marked the start of an exciting new era in the Club’s history. The Club has thrown its doors open to thousands of fans for Cityzens Weekend, a free, two-day event that brings together fans from around the world to celebrate the launch of the new Club badge, introduce new manager, Pep Guardiola, to the fans and reveal the new kit for the first time. The new Club website will also be launched over the weekend.
Tickets for the weekend were made available exclusively to Cityzens members, with thousands of tickets being snapped up within hours of release.
The festivities started this evening as the new Club badge, which was unveiled to fans on Boxing Day 2015, was formally launched with a projection onto Manchester’s iconic Town Hall*. The evening also saw the launch of the Club's new website, mancity.com, designed to bring fans at home and overseas closer to the Club through more video and social content, an improved mobile experience and a modern design.
The Etihad Campus will continue its transition on Friday as the new badge, which was roundly welcomed by fans on its reveal, is installed throughout the Etihad Stadium and City Football Academy.
Cityzens Weekend will provide fans with a special behind-the-scenes experience at the CFA with activities and entertainment to suit all ages. Fans will receive unique insights into the Club as representatives, past and present, take to the CFA Hub stage to recount their City experiences. There will also be more opportunities to hear from well-known City voices in the specially built ‘Blue Moon Tavern’.
Players from Manchester City men’s and women’s teams will be attending on the Sunday as the weekend culminates with Pep Guardiola’s presentation to fans for the first time, under the shadow of the new badge.
As well as hosting thousands of fans at the CFA, the Cityzens Weekend will be a truly global event with fans across the world being able to follow the action via the Club’s media platforms, including the new Club website. Activity from across the weekend, including Pep’s introduction to the fans, will be broadcast live on both the new website and Facebook Live. Fans will also be able to submit questions to Pep across the Club’s social media platforms.
Manchester City supporter clubs from the UAE, New York, Melbourne and Shenzhen will be taking part in the event via live link-ups to the festival site and supporter clubs from across the UK will go head-to-head in a football tournament at the CFA.
The local community will play a key role in the weekend with the Club’s outreach programme, City in the Community, leading football sessions across the weekend for local children and Cityzens members. The Club will also be showcasing the important work that it does within the community and the benefit it brings to the lives of many, as City in the Community gears up to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
"At Manchester City, we are embarking on an exciting new chapter in our history and we wanted to create an event that would allow thousands of fans to celebrate and participate in this, both here in Manchester and around the world. Cityzen's Weekend will provide the perfect setting for fans to welcome our new manager, Pep Guardiola, to the Club and see the new kit and badge come to life across the Etihad Campus. We look forward to welcoming fans over the weekend and entering this new era together."
Ferran Soriano, Chief Executive Officer of Manchester City
ENDS
*Cityzens Weekend - Media Content
Photos, footage and quotes from across the weekend (including photos from this evening’s Town Hall projection) will be available via the online Media Zone
About Manchester City Football Club
Manchester City FC is an English Premier League club whose roots began in East Manchester in 1880 as St Mark’s West Gorton. It officially became Manchester City FC in 1894 and has since then gone onto win the European Cup Winners’ Cup, four League Championship titles, including two Premier League titles, and five FA Cups. Manchester City FC is one of four teams comprising the City Football Group and counts New York City FC, Melbourne City FC and Yokohama F-Marinos among its sister clubs.
Under manager Pep Guardiola, one of the most highly decorated managers in world football, the Club plays its domestic and Champions’ League home fixtures at the Etihad Stadium, a spectacular 55,000 seat arena that City have called home since 2003. Today, the Stadium sits on the wider Etihad Campus, which also encompasses the City Football Academy, a world-leading first team training and youth development facility located in the heart of East Manchester. Featuring a 7,000 capacity Academy Stadium, the City Football Academy is also where Manchester City Women’s Football Club and the Elite Development Squad train on a daily basis and play their competitive home games.