LONDON (UK) – Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who owns Manchester City, is also now the new owner of the oldest existing version of the FA Cup trophy. He purchased the silverware during a recent auction, the Premier League club said on Friday.
The Football Association Challenge Cup trophy is the forerunner of the FA Cup and it was awarded to winning teams from 1896 to 1910 after the original was pinched from a shop in Birmingham after Aston Villa won the title.
It was the first trophy City won more than a century ago by trouncing Bolton Wanderers 1-0 in the 1904 final. This made them the first professional club Manchester to clinch a major honour.
“This cup is a visible reminder of the rich and long history of English football to which City is inextricably entwined,” Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in a statement.
“Winning this actual trophy in 1904 was a turning point for the club and for the city of Manchester in that it firmly cemented football in the heart of its community.
“Sheikh Mansour’s view is that a trophy of such cultural significance must be shared with the people of Manchester, the English football family, and those who love the English game.”
The former owner of the trophy, West Ham United co-owner David Gold, sold it for 760,000 pounds ($1.03 million) during an auction last year with the winning bidder remaining anonymous.
During his stint as chairman of Birmingham City, Gold himself had bought the trophy for 478,000 pounds in 2005.