But, appropriately enough given Manchester is synonymous with music as well as football, City boasts a rich musical legacy of our own.
As well as being the backdrop to countless stunning football moments down the years, both the Etihad Stadium along with our iconic former Maine Road home have also staged numerous memorable concerts.
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No group is more associated with City than Oasis.
Songwriter/guitarist and frontman respectively, Noel and Liam Gallagher are two of the Club’s most passionate and vociferous supporters.
So, it’s only appropriate that the Mancunian rock group also hold the unique distinction of being the only headline act to have appeared both at our former and present homes.
Oasis’s two Maine Road gigs from April 1996 have since become the stuff of legend – not least for the fact that the 80,000 available tickets sold out almost instantly amidst a feeding frenzy.
Nine years later the Gallagher brothers were singing the Blues once again, this over consecutive nights at the Etihad Stadium in front of two more sold out attendances with more than 120,000 fans flocking to watch the band play.
Alongside Oasis however, a host of other global superstars have played to adoring fans both at Maine Road and, more latterly, the Etihad.
From Queen, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones through to Bruce Springsteen, U2, Beyonce, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran to name just a few, the big names have kept coming to perform and drawing the fans.
Queen were the first global act to play a concert at Maine Road back in the summer of 1986, on what was to be their last tour with singer Freddie Mercury fronting the band.
Four years later, live music returned to the venue with a trio of high-profile artists performing at the Maine Road with the Rolling Stones, Prince and David Bowie all appearing over the summer of 1990, the latter supported by Manchester favourites James.
Twelve months on, Scottish art rockers Simple Minds were the headline act but it was to be another five years before Maine Road hosted its final – and era-defining concerts – with Oasis holding sway over those two memorable Moss Side nights.
Of course, City bade an emotional farewell to Maine Road in 2003, moving over to East Manchester to take up residence at our new home at what was then called the City of Manchester Stadium.
One year later, the venue played host to its first live concert, the Red-Hot Chilli Peppers stopping off in Manchester before U2 followed suit the following summer.
Then it was Oasis then took centre stage once more with a memorable double header.
Since then, the Etihad has become something of a regular on Britain’s outdoor summer concert circuit.
Acts as diverse such as Bon Jovi, Take That – who played a remarkable eight nights at the Etihad in 2011 – Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen, Muse, Rod Stewart, George Michael, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Manchester’s Stone Roses are all amongst those to have taken to the Etihad stage.
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Last summer saw a reformed Spice Girls back strutting their stuff across three nights at the Etihad with Metallica and Muse also performing in the summer of 2019.
For now, sadly, the COVID-19 pandemic has put all live music across the globe on hiatus, but hopefully it won’t be too long before the Etihad is rocking once again…
