if we can talk about the women's team chairman for a return to the top of the tree for them but again Agony On the last day of the season um how do you reflect on on what laded this season losing the league on go difference on the last day of the Season it is a it is you know a very painful painful thing because you know to get to that point where you effectively had the most points in the league but tied with another team and to lose on go difference the championship is is truly a cruel cruel brutal way to lose now again the flip side of it it it shows you we have a wonderful wonderful team that went all the way and was just maybe an inch away from winning the lead uh we have a great coach a wonderful Squad of players very talented so I think again great season no nothing to take away from this group they've done a phenomenal season and the cruel end but uh a lot to be happy with a lot to be proud of and certainly sets us up nicely for next year I'm going to mention like I did with the men couple of players hope you don't mind but bunny Shaw the earling Harland of the of the women's team there are parallels there phenomenal goal scorer and and a great season for her you know the number of goals she scored the contributions she has in both goals and assists how she's become an integral part uh of the the team and and and one of the best players of the league I think is a it was great for for the women's game it's great for for our women's team and our club and we're delighted to have her how do you think the women's game is progressing generally and what are the next steps for City in that sphere if you sit with my daughter right now and you ask her who's your favorite player she'll answer you female or male great but more importantly if you ask my son the same question he'll answer you in the same way way male or female I think that shows you how this game has changed not 10 years ago maybe three years ago three years ago if I had asked both of them they would have answered you automatically naming a male player without even the follow on question I think that for me tells me everything about how uh this game is evolving and there's a good buy uh from the women's team I think we've got we can't go any further without mentioning Steph Horton who was there the day the team turned professional fully professional again 10 years ago um and and has had a wonderful career England Captain 100 and odd caps Steph has been a a tremendous leader for our club for the team she's one of the most decorated players in England I think U you know nothing but great appreciation that we have towards Steph and her contributions to the club thank you Steph for everything you've you've done for us and uh and delighted that you will always be part of this club you are a legend and a leader and as this women's team and women's football continues to evolve I think your role in it will never never be forgotten and and we would like of course as always to keep you and she will be continuously part of the group there's going to be a special Mosaic for for step in our new a women's team training facility uh that will be again unveiled soon and I'm very excited for Steph and of course for our women's team to have their new facilities I'm sure everyone delighted to to hear that she's going to be honor honored in that way and part of that campus is the is the youth setup so a two-part question really how important is it for the ecosystem of City for everyone to still be on in the same place at the C crucial crucial you know I look back that decision many years ago to to have one campus with everybody there uh men's team women's team academy youth everybody in one place I think was unquestionably one of the best decisions we we took I think it creates what you have today which is an ecosystem an environment that is conducive for for success and excellence and and I think the results are clear clear to see in every aspect of football at the CFA and so that leads me perfectly onto the fa youth cup so the most visible of all trophies at that age group if you know not a league but a knockout how how pleased were you very pleased wi 4-0 at the final 20,000 people attended that game so we had 20,000 fans uh attend there I mean that's that's that tells you everything so another I would say very important trophy for us to have at the club shows our commitment shows the talent we have and we continue to develop at the club I mean you look at our record over the last five six s 10 years it's pretty consistent in every age group and that shows you we have I think a very very strong system of talent development that continues to to outperform in England and in Europe and we may see some of them of course in the USA this summer preseason tour so how again a two-part question how excited are you to be going back to the United States and how excited will you be to see these youngsters given their chance which pep normally does on a on a preseason to very excited very excited because we've we're the most watched football team in the United States I mean this is incredible today you look at Manchester City competing with every other football team in the world today is the most watch team in the United States that says it all I think if you look at the last top 10 football games watched this season in the United States six of them had Manchester City we could just move on to CFG now there's only really one place we can start in terms of CFG and that's Jona what an achievement for them five years ago down the leagues now now about to play Champions League football when you talk about a system and how the system works and to many of the points we discussed earlier I think Jona kind of personifies this group and how uh a club can be well-managed to the point to substantially outperform they have the 16th highest wage bill in La Liga 16th out of 20 and they went head-to-head with Real Madrid and Barcelona till the end and they finished third and they made it to this champions league for the first time in their history after coming from the second division just a couple years ago it is extraordinary I think in footballing terms to achieve what they have achieved given what I've just described in La Liga with Real Madrid Barcelona Atletico Madrid and the other big clubs in in Spain having the 16th highest wage bill so 15 teams ahead of them and then to get to the Champions League qualification is is is incredible incredible in Jona you've seen it to Perfection with with michell as the coach Kik as the football director great you know management team there great board and then the players really everybody there outperformed every single person in that group you don't get to that result without outperforming as a group and it's something uh I think that is remarkable for for Jona the city the people of Jona and the fan base of that club if we can just go to New York you got a stadium being built there obviously finally finally finally and yeah we we talked about it a lot over the years when's it coming when's it coming it's here now how is how is it progressing how exciting is that for New York how exciting is it for the United States soccer listen you know you've I've always been very very committed to us football US soccer I think we've always been very committed to MLS Building New York a city football team uh to what it is today uh I think is a testament to that commitment we continue to be very committed to that we've had a great partnership with the New York Yankees as our partners in New York City it's a big investment and it's an investment that's well Justified for the fans and playing in Yankee Stadium and and City Field while while great for the last couple of years is not a sustainable solution the solution was always going to be a purpose-built football club for the team uh New York is going to have its football stadium and it's going to be fantastic and I want to talk to you about multi Club ownership a just a little bit later but first of all can we just look at some of the other achievements Melbourne women won a third title the men made the playoffs Mumbai won the Indian Super League playoffs for the second time in in three years I mean there's so many of them I to write them all down Monty Vio made the urug Guan Cup Final Yokohama made the Asian Champions League final and shenzen lifted the Chinese the China League one I mean that's quite a list of success isn't it the model works the model works we have a great system we have a great management team we have great clubs as part of the group and I think from from from our perspective City football group is no longer a test of viability it's now a fully functional operating sports and entertainment machine that continues to grow from strength to strength and is is sought after to to be partnered from from everywhere east west north south I mean this is where we are today we are a premere we are pioneers in what we've achieved and uh and I'm you know delighted for the for for the group and our shareholders not all plan sailing though I mean of course LL and palmo didn't win promotion then and T in in France you had to deal with some backlash from the fun yes of course I mean listen when you have a big group like ours to be able to be successful in every single one of the teams every season is virtually impossible you're going to have challenges uh here and there every year year and it's not about the challenge it's about how you respond to the challenge of course you know we will look back at and then and there's many Lessons Learned in this we have a lot to to think about today but what we know what we do know is we're going to fix it we're going to fix it we know how to fix it we know how to put the right resources behind it will come back and I have no doubt about that L will the same and both you know ended the seasons close to being promoted but weren't able to cross that line disappointed for sure for for the clubs and their fans but we know what to do I think what I what I say is to to those fans is we know what to do you've seen us do it all over the world we will figure it out we will focus because we don't like to lose and we don't like to fail you just move on finally to to business since we last chatted the there's been a a bumper Financial period for City reported uh record revenues I think and I've written it down again 712 million 80 million in profit double the previous year how pleased are you with that and how sustainable is is is that growth I'm very pleased I'm very pleased with the results these results are very sustainable because we have now a very clear Foundation that's been built over many years we have a a financial and economic machine as long as we keep managing well and being prudent you know that growth in terms of Revenue in terms of profitability I think we're on a we're on a on a trajectory that's been there for years now and continues to go from strength to strength th those revenues and profits are not taken away anywhere they're being plowed back and more into the into the business into infrastructure into facilities into players how H how how is how do you see that progressing is that is that you know since day one shik Mansour as the the largest shareholder of the group has been very focused on growth and value appreciation and in doing so every pound of profit has stayed within the group to support growth and development the result of it is we always are investing we're always investing we're investing in infrastructure we're investing in the development of these clubs we're buying new teams we continue to grow and grow and in Manchester in particular you CFG are a significant shareholder in Co-op live what was the thinking behind getting involved in in that part of business it's part of that strategy of investing in Manchester you know from continuing to invest in that entire ecosystem around thead from the CFA to obviously man life Manchester life to now uh the co-op the expansion uh of thead stadium that entire Entertainment District that we're developing we continue to reinvest and what that does we're creating value for the group we're creating jobs for the community we're creating profit because these are all very successful initiatives and Investments the co-op is I think a a superb opportunity in which we saw uh a very clear demand for live live entertainment in Manchester and in England we found a great partner we invested in building arguably in my opinion the best arena in all of Europe state-of-the-art uh infrastructure it's going to transform there's no doubt in my mind life in Manchester by providing an arena with constant entertainment at the highest quality of excellence in terms of delivery for the for our customers or clients or our visitors to to the arena it is undoubtedly I mean whoever's not been there I can tell you you go there it's a it's an absolute game Cher in terms of the technology use in terms of the sound systems that are there in terms of the entertainment the facilities within within the arena an absolute game changer for Manchester and for the entire region and frankly with for for for for England Europe of course while whilst you continue to invest um for the fans the cost of attending games for fans continues to rise is this something under discussion at the highest level at city I'm glad you asked that Chris because this is a um this is a very delicate issue for sure I I I appreciate the feelings of our fans when it comes to a very important aspect which is the the price of a ticket uh and and and this is you know I want to try to explain this a very difficult balance that we have to you know there there's always that tension between investing and growing and meeting more demand and being sustainable and financially viable and at the same time taking care of our core fan base and making sure they have affordable tickets and they'll continue to enjoy their football in the way they've always had and we need to find ways to to generate capital and and revenue and by the way every pound coming out from that Revenue has been reinvested in the team and continues to reinvest in the team so we have to again carefully tread talking very closely obviously to to our fan base to make sure that we're able to strike that balance in an appropriate way so it's a balance and I recognize uh some of our fans uh obviously are not satisfied on the on the pricing side of it we have to find solutions for them that is our job we have to work this out but we also have to grow and we have to find the right commercial avenues for the club to to grow and to generate Revenue which inevitably then comes back to support the team and support the success that we that that you've seen that you will continue to see you've had a lot of high-profile departures from behind the scenes in the past 12 months I mean how how does that make you fa frankly yeah proud it tells you we are very good at what we do at every level when you see and I use the word graduates be it players at the Academy level be it players at the first team level leave and go and have successful careers to coaching staff uh medical staff physial to senior Executives that being that are being sought after from the best teams in the world I think if anything that's a testament that we're on the right track it confirms a that we're doing it right B the people see that we have a system that we have great leadership uh that we have great management and a system that continues to produce Talent at every level in every aspect of the business of football from coaching to playing to managing you know when when you look at people me they get an offer for a great job at another club I think you know uh of course you you you understand it's natural people will take uh other challenges but I think one thing that I will hopefully always feel is that when they leave they leave with appreciation to the time they spent at the club they leave with respect for how that club this club has helped them in their careers and they'll always have I think a positive uh memory of the time we spent we stay friends I think that's important so you know I understand it of course we're we're going to defend and and and the people that we want to keep we will do everything we can to keep and you know sometimes we can't win them all but uh it's it's the Natural Evolution I mean we started this this chat on a on a high note a happy note winning winning four on a row I think we got to end it on a sad note but happy in in in a certain sense and there's this little statue there I'm I've been looking at it throughout throughout this interview um we lost Francis Lee during the year and we unveiled the statue to the to City's Holy Holy Trinity as it were belly and sum ofing how pleased have you been with the reception or how warmed Have You Been by by the reception to the Statue and and how important is that connection with the past it's so important I mean this is the you know this is the history of this club it's a it's a rich history it's a uh these three you know incredible players but not just players incredible people and their contributions to this club and the history of that so important to never forget that and I think having uh this project come from Conant idea to actually now being built and then seeing how the people the fans have responded to this has been has been wonderful you know Sheik Mansour wanted to make sure that he supports the history of the club and that it's a gift to the people of Manchester to the fans of Manchester City to the families of these three special individual uh and a constant reminder that this is a club with a rich history and that we are cust of this history and that what we do in every aspect of our running of this club is in the best interest of of everyone involved in this club in the city of Manchester Francis I had the pleasure of of meeting him many times and seeing him over the years I think his his loss is is tremendous uh but hopefully U this is a way for us all to remember Francis Lee and uh his greatness