Full name Manchester City F.C. Location Freetown, Sierra Leone Founded 2004 Chairman Armani Kamara | Website Club home page Founder Armani Kamara Headquarters Freetown, Sierra Leone | |
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League Sierra Leone National First Division | ||
Manchester City F.C. (Sierra Leone), known as just Manchester City F.C. or Manchester City (Salone) in their home country, is a Sierra Leonean football club based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, currently a member of the Sierra Leone National First Division, the second highest division of football league in Sierra Leone.
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Founded in 2004, the club is an offshoot of the local Manchester City F.C. supporters club, which as of 2009 was the largest non-UK based Manchester City supporters club in the world. Previously not self-sufficient, the club funds itself via using the team mini-bus, donated by UK-based supporters, as a rental taxi/coach service although all kit is donated by other Manchester City (UK) supporters clubs and the English club themselves.
History
Following a chance meeting with a British national Manchester City fan, Armani Kamara – who made the connection while selling bric-a-brac on the Freetown beaches – created a Manchester City (UK) supporters club in his home town of Freetown. Shortly after, off the back of the popularity of his supporters club, he made the decision to create two teams – a senior team and an affiliated youth side – which began playing in local leagues. Quickly, the Manchester-based side themselves offered to help out, and donated official match-worn 2003–04 season kits. Within a year, the youth side won its first competition, a local area cup competition.
In 2008, the club won its first national honour – the Sierra Leonean FA Youth Cup, only four seasons into its existence.
The senior team slowly worked its way into the national league system but was soon stymied when they were suspended for failing to turn up to away games, the club being too poor to pay for travel to games outside of walking range. After an appeal to the British club and its other supporters branches, this problem was swiftly resolved by the donation of a Toyota Coaster mini-bus, as well as a number of other items of equipment, including an updated set of match-worn kit, plus training kit and other items such as textbooks, in a donation effort spearheaded by club legend Paul Lake. The bus fulfilled a secondary purpose of providing funding for the club, as the club rent it out as private transport on days when the bus is not in use by the team itself.