And he says attention has already turned to making it a record-extending five titles in a row next season.
City’s final-day 3-1 victory over West Ham United at the Etihad sealed this year’s trophy – with Pep Guardiola’s side the first since the formation of the English Football League back in 1888 to manage four on the bounce.
Al Mubarak, speaking in his end of season interview on Saturday 1 June, says history suggests the unprecedented accomplishment was a near-impossible task - one requiring significant mental fortitude, determination and resolve to achieve.
“You know, we have to sometimes pause and contextualize,” he said. “Since 1926, five teams have attempted to win four times in a row. Five teams. Huddersfield, Arsenal, you had Liverpool in the 80s and then you had Manchester United attempted it twice.
“None of them succeeded. In over 100 years of English football, never has any team been able to achieve four championships in a row. So once that sinks in, you start really appreciating the magnitude of what was achieved - the difficulty, the challenge, the tenacity required.”
When asked what’s next, the Chairman said: “Five in a row.
“Something that I’m most proud of in this in this club and in this entire organisation that we have from top to bottom, if you ask this question to anyone, they would answer probably with the same answer. Players, executives, physios, board… whoever you ask they will answer the same thing.
“And by the way, that five in a row in our minds happened the second that final whistle [blew] against West Ham. I remember just going down to the pitch and telling almost everybody I saw: ‘Excellent, fantastic result, we are so proud. But now we’re going for five in a row.”
Meanwhile, Al Mubarak has revealed he first knew City would be champions after our narrow 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates back in October.
In a hard-fought match, City were edged out thanks to a late deflected goal from Gabriel Martinelli.
The result was seen by many as a statement win for Arsenal, but Al Mubarak says adversity so often spurs on this City squad who once again showed their mettle to end the season as champions.
“Arsenal away,” he said. “We didn’t play particularly well. We didn’t play particularly bad. I think it was an off game by our standards. But I don’t think we deserved to lose. If you remember, we lost with that deflected goal in the last minutes.
“I said, this is why we’re going to win the league. Today, I know how this team is going to react going forward and I know we’re going to win the league.”
Al Mubarak also spoke about the pride he has in the squad and staff whether in victory or defeat.
While there was a disappointment in our FA Cup final loss to Manchester United, Pep Guardiola and his players gave a guard of honour to our rivals as the collected their medals.
But the squad also showed huge respect when they picked up Premier League medals at the Etihad a week earlier, two moments that were picked out by Premier League chair Alison Brittain and FA chair Debbie Hewitt, who presented the trophies.
“One of the things I am particularly proud of, and I think Pep has brought - two points: last game of the season against West Ham and then the FA Cup final,” he added.
“In the last game of the season, the chair of the Premier League, Alison, went and obviously, delivered the trophy to Pep and then the team.
“She came back afterwards, and we had a conversation and she told me something that I think echoed very much in my heart.
“She said, ‘you know, you have to be very proud. I encountered something that was quite unique giving the trophy to the team’. I said ‘what was it?’ She said, ‘every single member of the team, from coaching staff to players, looked me in the eye and said thank you with a smile and with respect and it’s quite remarkable. Normally in these things, players are in a rush or are too busy.
“A week later, we had the FA Cup final and the chair of the FA, Debbie, also ended up sending me a nice email after the final.
“She said, ‘We saw something very special in the FA Cup final. Obviously, commiserations on losing the game, but never have we seen in the FA Cup final a team put a guard of honour to the winning team. And Manchester City did that.
“The way the players, the coaches, every member of Manchester City, from board members to management, the way we behaved, she said, was a great reflection of how this team is in terms of respect, humbleness and just the attitude.
“And I think this is this is something I’m very, very proud of. It’s about winning, of course, but it’s also about how you behave when you win and how you behave when you lose.
“And that I think we have something very special in this club. And this is why we are successful, and this is why I’m confident we will continue to be successful.”
