Ilkay Gundogan became the seventh Manchester City captain to lift the FA Cup trophy, and he joins a long list of previous club heroes.
From Billy Meredith in 1904 to the 1956 final where goalkeeper Bert Trautmann famously carried on with a broken neck, there has been a fair share of drama attached to Man City‘s successes.
Even more recent trailblazers like Carlos Tevez and Vincent Kompany have helped to keep the tradition of magnificent leaders at the club alive.
So Gundogan’s brace put him on a list of heroic captains past – and now present – to have taken the world’s oldest club football trophy back to Manchester in sky blue ribbons.
Mail Sport‘s Lewis Steele looks back at the seven magnificent captains who have lifted the FA Cup trophy for Manchester City…
Ilkay Gundogan is the seventh Manchester City captain to lift the famous FA Cup trophy
Billy Meredith was the first to achieve the cup for the blue side of Manchester back in 1904
Billy Meredith (1904) – Man City 1-0 Bolton
Played at Crystal Palace, City saw off second-tier Bolton in front of Prime Minister Arthur Balfour and cricketer WG Grace.
Captain Billy Meredith represented both Manchester City and Manchester United in his career and scored the game’s only goal to win his team their first major trophy.
The trophy from that match was purchased by City owner Sheik Mansour for £760,000 at auction and is now on show in the National Football Museum.
The original was stolen from a shop in Birmingham when Aston Villa won it.
Sam Cowan (1934) – Man City 2-1 Portsmouth
When this game finished, City goalkeeper Frank Swift fainted in relief and his mother also collapsed in the stands at seeing her son drop.
He was presented the trophy and medal days later back at Wembley.
Matt Busby was playing for City and started the move for their equaliser, with Fred Tilson scoring a double.
Tilson had told Swift not to worry about a first-half mistake because he was sure he would score a brace in the second half, which he did.
Captain Sam Cowan made more than 400 appearances for City.
Sam Cowan made more than 400 Man City appearances, and met the Mayor after FA Cup win
Roy Paul (1956) – Man City 3-1 Birmingham City
Remembered as the Bert Trautmann final after the goalkeeper broke his neck with 17 minutes remaining.
With no substitutes allowed in those days, Trautmann played on so as to not let his team down and made two key stops.
As Roy Paul lifted the trophy, the Duke of Edinburgh commented on how Trautmann had a ‘crooked neck’.
The goalkeeper, who has several books and films about him, joined the celebrations, despite having the broken neck!
In 1956, Roy Paul lifted the FA Cup for Man City after their 3-1 win over Birmingham City
The final was famous for goalkeeper Bert Trautmann breaking his neck and continuing on
Tony Book (1969) – Leicester 0-1 Man City
Pep Guardiola’s Treble-chasing side might go down as Manchester City’s greatest ever team, but this one runs them close.
It starred names such as Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee, Francis Lee, Neil Young, Mike Doyle, Glyn Pardoe and captain Tony Book.
The skipper is pictured on the shoulders of Doyle, whose grandson Tommy played for Sheffield United on loan from City this season.
Young scored the only goal of this final past Peter Shilton on a memorable day for Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison’s iconic side.
Captain Tony Book led one of Man City’s greatest ever sides to a 1-0 win over Leicester in 1969
Carlos Tevez (2011) – Man City 1-0 Stoke
Manchester City’s first trophy of the modern era, after 35 years without a major honour.
Yaya Toure was the hero of both the semi-final and final, netting in 1-0 wins over Manchester United and Stoke.
A banner at Old Trafford that read ‘35 years’ was swiftly removed and 100,000 City fans packed the streets for the trophy parade.
Carlos Tevez captained Roberto Mancini’s City team, although he was stripped of that honour a few months later after a fallout with the Italian manager.
Carlos Tevez was Roberto Mancini’s captain at the time of Man City’s FA Cup success in 2011
Vincent Kompany (2019) – Man City 6-0 Watford
In an ode to the 1969 final 50 years on, skipper Vincent Kompany donned a red and black scarf to lift the trophy at Wembley, completing a domestic Treble for City.
The Belgian is perhaps City’s most well-known modern day skipper, as the first to win the Premier League.
This final is the joint-largest win in an FA Cup final, tied with Bury’s 6-0 win over Derby in 1903.
Raheem Sterling thought he had scored the first FA Cup final hat-trick since Stan Mortensen for Blackpool in 1953, but one of his goals was later awarded to Kevin De Bruyne.
Vincent Kompany skippered Man City to a record-equalling highest FA Cup final win margin
Gundogan joined the long list of Man City heroes that had gone before him on Saturday
Ilkay Gundogan (2023) – Man City 2-1 Man United
Big-game player Ilkay Gundogan scored a brace in the first final between both Manchester clubs.
The German, and vice-captain Kevin De Bruyne, were not presented with medals as the FA were said to have run out.
Gundogan scored after 12 seconds and then added another not long into the second half.
Ruben Dias, another City leader, said of Gundogan: ‘He’s such a special player but when you get to know him, he’s even more special as a person. I’m on the side of Gundo staying at City!’
