Brian Marwood, left, alongside England manager Gareth Southgate. Getty Images
Brian Marwood, left, alongside England manager Gareth Southgate. Getty Images

Brian Marwood: Manchester City focused on global expansion after 10 years of rapid growth under Abu Dhabi ownership



“If someone had been able to project what is happening now nine or 10 years ago, I would have said yes, we are happy,” said Brian Marwood.

Manchester City’s Football Administration Officer was reflecting on the last decade and the next at a much-changed club.

“I think we are very much in a good place. The first team have won three league titles, one FA Cup, three League Cups, two Community Shields and [have a] regular place in Champions League football so if you were asking yourself 10 years ago ‘would you accept that in 10 years’ time?’, you would probably say yes, you would. But when we look back and say: ‘Could we have done better in the Champions League?’ Yep, we could. Could we have won another league title? Yes, we could.”

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Read more:

Vincent Kompany interview: Abu Dhabi takeover transformed Man City overnight

Joleon Lescott interview: Reflecting on Manchester City's 2012 Premier League title triumph

A decade at Manchester City: 10 key moments since the Sheikh Mansour takeover

Richard Jolly: Man City need to draw on results of recent past to make 10-year anniversary a happy one

GALLERY: The 10 most important Manchester City signings under Abu Dhabi ownership

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If he begins by answering about the men’s first team – and off the field, he cites the creation of the women’s team, the academy and a role as a community club – there is a reason. “With any strategy, there is a short term, medium term and a long term,” said Marwood, who joined City in 2009. “The short term, clearly we had to get the first team right.”

As he admits, recruits came for two reasons. “One was the finance and the other was a vision, we were selling them a story: come and create history,” he explained. “Some bought into that and some didn’t, some purely bought into the finance. Now the dynamic of that has changed and other clubs are spending more than we are on salary and transfer fees.”

Marwood believes City have a different appeal now, underlining a theme of Pep Guardiola’s. “I think this is unique,” he added. “We want people to really come for the right reasons, to immerse themselves in the culture of this.”

That sense of a shared culture is important. Marwood cited the career of Patrick Vieira, the former New York City manager who had four roles in the City Football Group, as he suggested future vacancies could be filled by those who have developed in City’s global family.

“I believe in succession planning,” said 58-year-old Marwood, who had a 15-year career as a footballer than included spells at Hull City, Sheffield Wednesday and Arsenal. “I believe if you have been through this process, this system, I think it helps you to integrate far greater than coming in from the outside.”

He has a worldwide focus which should expand in the next decade. “We are looking at more clubs,” he confirmed. “There is a hunger, there is a desire, there is an ambition to do more, to create these types of environments everywhere in the world. I think 2012, 2013 we started to drive that forward.

"My focus now is primarily to create and develop the new clubs in the group and I think that New York was a blank piece of paper so to start a football club from that basis was quite exciting.”

It is about starting from scratch, but also building from foundations in Manchester. The capacity of the Etihad Stadium was raised to 55,000 in 2015 and Marwood said: “We want to grow the fanbase. We have expanded the stadium and perhaps somewhere down the line we may consider doing that again if we feel there is a requirement. I think there will be a lot of good news stories in the next 10 years.”

Yet, for all the ambitious plans off the field and in various continents, the best could come on the field in Europe.

“History will tell you with the great sides that have become Champions League winners,” said Marwood, whose previous roles included marketing manager for Nike. “They are regarded as then another step above being just domestic winners so of course that is an ambition.”

About Proto21

Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group

Match info

Huddersfield Town 0

Chelsea 3
Kante (34'), Jorginho (45' pen), Pedro (80')

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Results:

CSIL 2-star 145cm One Round with Jump-Off

1.           Alice Debany Clero (USA) on Amareusa S 38.83 seconds

2.           Anikka Sande (NOR) For Cash 2 39.09

3.           Georgia Tame (GBR) Cash Up 39.42

4.           Nadia Taryam (UAE) Askaria 3 39.63

5.           Miriam Schneider (GER) Fidelius G 47.74

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
​​​​​​​Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km

MATCH INFO

Alaves 1 (Perez 65' pen)

Real Madrid 2 (Ramos 52', Carvajal 69')

Fifa Club World Cup:

When: December 6-16
Where: Games to take place at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi and Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain
Defending champions: Real Madrid

Chelsea 2 Burnley 3
Chelsea
 Morata (69'), Luiz (88')
Burnley Vokes (24', 43'), Ward (39')
Red cards Cahill, Fabregas (Chelsea)

MATCH INFO

Leeds United 0

Brighton 1 (Maupay 17')

Man of the match: Ben White (Brighton)

DUBAI%20BLING%3A%20EPISODE%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENetflix%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKris%20Fade%2C%20Ebraheem%20Al%20Samadi%2C%20Zeina%20Khoury%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
'Nightmare Alley'

Director:Guillermo del Toro

Stars:Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara

Rating: 3/5