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Richer Than God: Manchester City, Modern Football and Growing Up
Richer Than God is an authoritative, provocative, investigative account of Manchester City's history, culminating in its transformation as Sheikh Mansour seeks to spend the formerly miserable Manchester club into the European elite. When Conn asked an American working in Abu Dhabi whether its economy had been at all affected by the global recession, he 'My friend, we're richer than God'. It is also a tale of that of a six-year-old boy transfixed by his sky-blue heroes, coming of age as a writer with the mature understanding that both his club and the game are businesses. Why should modern football continue to claim the unquestioning loyalty of fans, when there is so much in the game to question?
449 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 7, 2012
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373 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
August 15, 2014
I really enjoyed this - even as a United fan. Conn has struck the right balance between memoir and investigative journalism, and his fan mindset doesn't influence the remainder of the book. A fascinating insight into the tumultuous changes City has seen.
May 2, 2014
One of the best books about modern football that I have ever read. Thoughtful, absorbing, enlightening. Read it.
November 22, 2012
I was taken by surprise by this book a bit, but in a good way. I expected it to be they usual team book that details a championship season and provides a little context of team history.
That is not what this book did. David Conn grew up a big fan of Manchester City. He goes into very interesting detail about the History of Manchester, England, which I now know was a real starting point for the Industrial Revolution. Today, Manchester is much like our old steele towns and has some of the highest unemployment in England.
Conn also takes this opportunity to really dive into some interesting territory. He explains and criticizes the enormous amount of money involved in the Premier League and argues persuasively that it is the same reckless behavior that got banks in trouble. He does this by detailing the immense amount of money dumped into the team by its new Abu Dhabi owners. He then contrasts that with the Glazer family and their "debt-ridden" takeover of Manchester United. I believe Conn intentionally found every reference to Glazer and tried to include at least two of the following words within every sentence the name appears: Debt-ridden, "borrowed money," twat, bank fees, "interest saddled to the team," unconscionable (yes, even unconscionable), and finally a running tally of all the interest owed by the team that increased every time he brought up a new topic. David Conn hates the Glazers even though the Glazers are destroying his team's biggest rival. Hates them passionately.
Conn also chronicles the history of Manchester City FC and details its frustrating history and tortured fan base. He describes the championship season in some detail, but focuses on his money thesis and history the most.
He really educated me about Manchester and its region, the history of the team I have followed loosely from across the pond since '05 or so, and showed me exactly how every rule designed to keep teams around for community benefit have been destroyed to make way for obscene money in English Football.
It is higher than a 3, but not a 4, so consider it 3.5.
That is not what this book did. David Conn grew up a big fan of Manchester City. He goes into very interesting detail about the History of Manchester, England, which I now know was a real starting point for the Industrial Revolution. Today, Manchester is much like our old steele towns and has some of the highest unemployment in England.
Conn also takes this opportunity to really dive into some interesting territory. He explains and criticizes the enormous amount of money involved in the Premier League and argues persuasively that it is the same reckless behavior that got banks in trouble. He does this by detailing the immense amount of money dumped into the team by its new Abu Dhabi owners. He then contrasts that with the Glazer family and their "debt-ridden" takeover of Manchester United. I believe Conn intentionally found every reference to Glazer and tried to include at least two of the following words within every sentence the name appears: Debt-ridden, "borrowed money," twat, bank fees, "interest saddled to the team," unconscionable (yes, even unconscionable), and finally a running tally of all the interest owed by the team that increased every time he brought up a new topic. David Conn hates the Glazers even though the Glazers are destroying his team's biggest rival. Hates them passionately.
Conn also chronicles the history of Manchester City FC and details its frustrating history and tortured fan base. He describes the championship season in some detail, but focuses on his money thesis and history the most.
He really educated me about Manchester and its region, the history of the team I have followed loosely from across the pond since '05 or so, and showed me exactly how every rule designed to keep teams around for community benefit have been destroyed to make way for obscene money in English Football.
It is higher than a 3, but not a 4, so consider it 3.5.
May 9, 2014
David Conn is one of my favourite football writers, ever since I bought The Football Business and devoured page after page of insight and thinly disguised scorn into the scurrilous results when money clashes with the national sport and the losing positions of all normal supporters. Brilliant, angry writing, a tone that continues in his regular articles for The Gaurdian. It's an fascinating topic to cover, and Conn has lent his inquiring mind to most, from the despair-riddled recent years at Fratton Park to the impact of the Glazers on Manchester United (and hey, it isn't good).
This book was always going to be a winner then, made more so because Conn grew up supporting City and has followed them through some very dodgy years, the even dodgier year of Thakswin Shinawatra's chairmanship, to the current set-up. His closeness to the club lends a more personal, autobiographical tone to the text. Conn tells us about his upbringing, what City means to him and his feelings about them somehow being transformed into the world's richest football club. It's a good way to approach the story as, at heart, Conn's just a fan, like the rest of us, and his reaction to the club's sensational change in fortunes is utterly authentic. Like many City supporting friends I know, he'll take the Millionaires Club because, hell, it's his team and perhaps they deserve some good fortune, however much fans of other sides choose to accuse them of buying glory, but there's a dark side to the success, such as the influx of pampered footballers (Carlos Tevez doesn't come across especially well) or the incomprehensible jarring clash between City and the deprived part of Manchester within which it's based.
There's some discussion of working conditions within the Emirates, the oil-flooded state to which City are now inextricably tied, more about the impossible levels of disappointment experienced by Conn and many others when a folk hero like Francis Lee returned to rescue the club from unpopular owner, Peter Swales, in the mid-nineties, and wrecked every dream invested in him over the ensuing years.
Despite Conn's widely stated affiliation with the Bitter half of Manchester, this is as objective a look into the club as it gets, intelligently constructed and suffused with heart.
This book was always going to be a winner then, made more so because Conn grew up supporting City and has followed them through some very dodgy years, the even dodgier year of Thakswin Shinawatra's chairmanship, to the current set-up. His closeness to the club lends a more personal, autobiographical tone to the text. Conn tells us about his upbringing, what City means to him and his feelings about them somehow being transformed into the world's richest football club. It's a good way to approach the story as, at heart, Conn's just a fan, like the rest of us, and his reaction to the club's sensational change in fortunes is utterly authentic. Like many City supporting friends I know, he'll take the Millionaires Club because, hell, it's his team and perhaps they deserve some good fortune, however much fans of other sides choose to accuse them of buying glory, but there's a dark side to the success, such as the influx of pampered footballers (Carlos Tevez doesn't come across especially well) or the incomprehensible jarring clash between City and the deprived part of Manchester within which it's based.
There's some discussion of working conditions within the Emirates, the oil-flooded state to which City are now inextricably tied, more about the impossible levels of disappointment experienced by Conn and many others when a folk hero like Francis Lee returned to rescue the club from unpopular owner, Peter Swales, in the mid-nineties, and wrecked every dream invested in him over the ensuing years.
Despite Conn's widely stated affiliation with the Bitter half of Manchester, this is as objective a look into the club as it gets, intelligently constructed and suffused with heart.
January 26, 2016
This is a good read from one of my favourite football writers. Conn details the fall and rise of City, the financial machinations involved in high level football business, spectator sport versus participation, the consistent ineffectiveness of the modern FA, the differences between the development of the modern game in England and Germany, even some brief history of Abu Dhabi.
While I did enjoy a lot of this, the above paragraph highlights one of my issues with the book. At times, it feels very scatter-shot; almost as if Conn is constantly being distracted by another of his pet topics. This often leads to repetition of key points across multiple chapters and makes me think that the book was mostly adapted from a series of articles.
As I said though, I'm a fan of Conn's writing, particularly his socio-economic analysis of the modernization of football through the last thirty or forty years. There's a lot to enjoy here and not a trace of the usual cliche-ridden, huff and puff style of British football writing.
While I did enjoy a lot of this, the above paragraph highlights one of my issues with the book. At times, it feels very scatter-shot; almost as if Conn is constantly being distracted by another of his pet topics. This often leads to repetition of key points across multiple chapters and makes me think that the book was mostly adapted from a series of articles.
As I said though, I'm a fan of Conn's writing, particularly his socio-economic analysis of the modernization of football through the last thirty or forty years. There's a lot to enjoy here and not a trace of the usual cliche-ridden, huff and puff style of British football writing.
December 1, 2013
This is the best of the many books on football that I've ever read, and contains crucial insights into the often massively detrimental effects of the commercialisation of sport.
September 4, 2022
I found this book to be a quite interesting musing on the state of football in the present day, focusing on money and culture. Conn discussed his own coming to terms with the fact that football clubs are not so much elements of local meaning but are instead a business, inherently disconnected from the neighborhoods and cities they’re embedded in.
I am not a Manchester City fan, and came into this book interested in a City fan’s perspective of the sports watching project, as well as just general recent history. Conn discusses this well, focusing on how City squandered their period of potential to require such an investment to take them back to the top league (and beyond). He explicitly articulates the sportswashing aims of the takeover, and discusses human rights abuses and issues of ethics inherent in sponsors owned by the same individuals as the club, which was useful — though I did wish more was done to specify the difference between state ownership and simply bad ownership by rich men; this distinction could have been explored more explicitly.
The book did need some editing: it was repetitive in parts, and most certainly could have accomplished what it has if it were 100 pages shorter. There were chapters the Conn really should’ve just cut as they’re outside of his expertise, such as when he discusses obesity and mental health issues as simplistically connected to football watching and lack of playing, which was tenuous and oversimplified, and did not add to the book.
Like many football books, there were small irksome issues for me as a reader. An example of this: Conn suggests that if his daughters were sons he might have the connection you get taking your children to games, because his daughters were disinterested in going to the footy. Such gendered ideas — the conclusion that his daughters’ gender is the cause of this disinterest rather than simple personal preference — contribute to the difficulties female fans such as myself face when we express interest in the sport. We need to move beyond them.
I am not a Manchester City fan, and came into this book interested in a City fan’s perspective of the sports watching project, as well as just general recent history. Conn discusses this well, focusing on how City squandered their period of potential to require such an investment to take them back to the top league (and beyond). He explicitly articulates the sportswashing aims of the takeover, and discusses human rights abuses and issues of ethics inherent in sponsors owned by the same individuals as the club, which was useful — though I did wish more was done to specify the difference between state ownership and simply bad ownership by rich men; this distinction could have been explored more explicitly.
The book did need some editing: it was repetitive in parts, and most certainly could have accomplished what it has if it were 100 pages shorter. There were chapters the Conn really should’ve just cut as they’re outside of his expertise, such as when he discusses obesity and mental health issues as simplistically connected to football watching and lack of playing, which was tenuous and oversimplified, and did not add to the book.
Like many football books, there were small irksome issues for me as a reader. An example of this: Conn suggests that if his daughters were sons he might have the connection you get taking your children to games, because his daughters were disinterested in going to the footy. Such gendered ideas — the conclusion that his daughters’ gender is the cause of this disinterest rather than simple personal preference — contribute to the difficulties female fans such as myself face when we express interest in the sport. We need to move beyond them.
September 1, 2018
As a newer Man City fan, (The Sheik’s era) reading this book felt like sitting down with a lifelong fan who gave me an incredibly detailed account of their history. Exhaustive, but not exhausting, this book is definitely not for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Even if you are not a Manchester City fan, this gives you a detailed account of how foreign (and domestic) investment into England’s football league has changed the very nature of the game forever.
September 27, 2017
Excellent book about the rise of City. Some parts dwelled too much on specific matches and the players (for someone who is unfamiliar with the team, it's hard to follow along sometimes), but overall a great read. Was mildly disappointed in the continuous mention of "fathers and sons", especially as the game appeals more and more to mothers and daughters and women in general.
March 18, 2019
A great read for Manchester City fans or fans of football in general. I have been going since 2005 and it's fascinating to read the changes the club has gone through that I barely understood then. The author does go on tangents as he seems to get distracted like an excited puppy. He provides great context to everything but sometimes ruins the flow of the narrative
November 24, 2021
One of the best books written by a fan of a club, who remembers dark days and is suspicious of the messiah. Worth reading now that City have won more plaudits and acclaim.
December 7, 2021
Delightful book by a Manchester City fan, pondering the meaning of football in the modern Premier League, overrun with money. Thought provoking.
September 26, 2014
فكرة الكتاب مميزة..مذكرات شخصية إضافة لمسيرة النادي في الخمسين سنة الماضية
يتسائل الكاتب بمنطقية عن ما يربط هذه المجموعة الإماراتية بنادي مانشستر سيتي؟سيتي ليس بالنادي ذو السمعة العالمية..واجه مصاعب كثيرة وهبط لفترات طويلة للدرجات الأدنى..ما يملكه النادي من قبل ليس الا مجموعة وفية من المشجعين تقف على المدرجات تغني للفريق في لقاءات عديمة الجدوى لغيرهم وبعيدة عن الأضواء..ما الرابط بينكم وبين هذا المشجع الوفي للنادي من الستينيات والسبيعينات؟
سيتي لم يمتلك التاريخ المرصع بالإنجازات لذلك كل ما حققه تبقت له ذكرى مميزة..مثلا فوزهم التاريخي على المنافس الازلي مانشستر يونايتد بالخمسة في نهاية الثمانينات..ذكرى تحقيقهم للدوري بجيل ذهبي نادر في منتصف الستينيات..ذكريات بسيطة ومتفارقة في الزمن في ذاكرة مشجعي السيتي
من المميزات ان الكاتب تحصل على فرصة مقابلة خلدون المبارك في دبي ونقل رأيه لما حصل من استثمار ضخم في النادي..شخصياً كنت ابحث عن هذا الرابط المثير والذي جذب هذه المجموعة لمانشستر سيتي تحديداً ووجدت ما اريده في الكتاب
ما اعيبه على الكاتب ان اسلوبه فعلا طويل وتحقيقي (صحفي في الغارديان لكن دراسته الاساسية كانت في القانون) وايضا الحاجة المتكررة لاستخدام المترجم لمعرفة بعض الكلمات (اعتقد انها تستخدم في بريطانيا بكثرة لذلك معرفة اللغة الإنجليزية العادية ما تكفي لفهمها ) +4
يتسائل الكاتب بمنطقية عن ما يربط هذه المجموعة الإماراتية بنادي مانشستر سيتي؟سيتي ليس بالنادي ذو السمعة العالمية..واجه مصاعب كثيرة وهبط لفترات طويلة للدرجات الأدنى..ما يملكه النادي من قبل ليس الا مجموعة وفية من المشجعين تقف على المدرجات تغني للفريق في لقاءات عديمة الجدوى لغيرهم وبعيدة عن الأضواء..ما الرابط بينكم وبين هذا المشجع الوفي للنادي من الستينيات والسبيعينات؟
سيتي لم يمتلك التاريخ المرصع بالإنجازات لذلك كل ما حققه تبقت له ذكرى مميزة..مثلا فوزهم التاريخي على المنافس الازلي مانشستر يونايتد بالخمسة في نهاية الثمانينات..ذكرى تحقيقهم للدوري بجيل ذهبي نادر في منتصف الستينيات..ذكريات بسيطة ومتفارقة في الزمن في ذاكرة مشجعي السيتي
من المميزات ان الكاتب تحصل على فرصة مقابلة خلدون المبارك في دبي ونقل رأيه لما حصل من استثمار ضخم في النادي..شخصياً كنت ابحث عن هذا الرابط المثير والذي جذب هذه المجموعة لمانشستر سيتي تحديداً ووجدت ما اريده في الكتاب
ما اعيبه على الكاتب ان اسلوبه فعلا طويل وتحقيقي (صحفي في الغارديان لكن دراسته الاساسية كانت في القانون) وايضا الحاجة المتكررة لاستخدام المترجم لمعرفة بعض الكلمات (اعتقد انها تستخدم في بريطانيا بكثرة لذلك معرفة اللغة الإنجليزية العادية ما تكفي لفهمها ) +4
October 20, 2015
A book based on facts and personal views of a beloved football club, by David Conn. A dream book to write for sure for a fan: knowing its history and meeting people behind the club (and other people in football).There is involvement and a strong interest for the subject by the author.
Although, I was wishing for more vibrancy in the writing process. It's a slow read, with a massive quantity of text, page by page. A book like this requires actually some more pictures to keep the readers interest in top.
A book (and author) that definitely earns a high rating due to its research and enthusiasm, but it didn't manage to capture me with the art of writing.
Although, I was wishing for more vibrancy in the writing process. It's a slow read, with a massive quantity of text, page by page. A book like this requires actually some more pictures to keep the readers interest in top.
A book (and author) that definitely earns a high rating due to its research and enthusiasm, but it didn't manage to capture me with the art of writing.
November 30, 2014
David Conn is an amazing writer. While Man City is not my team and finances may not be something I find incredibly interesting, I found myself enthralled in the story of this team. They were up, they were down, they were even more down... then they were up again! I watched Manchester City in the 2011-2012 season. I watched that last game against QPR. I felt the emotion rush through me when they won in that final minute, and to be able to back that up with the history of the club and to understand what was at stake and what had come before... I loved it. Bravo, Mr. Conn. Bravo.
August 2, 2012
I did enjoy this as the references David made fit exactly with my age and experiences. The memorable matches he recalled in City's prior glory days, all touched home. However, his internal conflict over the fact that clubs and their owners are their to make money and not just benefit the club, combined with the demise of Manchester as a great industrial town, I found to be heavy handed and tedious.
July 13, 2014
Probably only for football fans, and Manchester City fans in particular. As I am in both categories I really enjoyed this history of the club's oscillating fortunes over the past 50 years, and the insights into the attitude and practices of City's current owner, Sheik Mansour, one of the richest men in the world.
August 1, 2012
A great book that covers the life of a Manchester City fan and the ups and downs of the last 30years ending in winning the EPL in 2012.
Goes into detail about various takeovers and the new owners
fantastic read
Goes into detail about various takeovers and the new owners
fantastic read
November 27, 2014
In the parts where it grabs your attention it is a really good read, but in other parts it completely loses its way and leaves you unsure what point the author is trying to make. Not a bad book, but could have been better
January 24, 2015
A brilliant book. A lovely drawing together of memories of childhood and reflections on getting older, an examination of the effects of capitalism on football and in particular how this has affected what it means for identity and belonging, and the fascinating history of MCFC. Loved it.
January 19, 2016
A very nice read about Manchester City's past and recent riches.
October 24, 2013
This book is a telling biography of man city, my favorite soccer team and how they got so rich, so fast. I feel like I have learned about the new riches of manchester city better with this book.
Read
December 31, 2016dnf
January 9, 2017
Good
Album
Album
April 10, 2014
Excellent book. Written from the heart and from the mind.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews