On Friday 24 January 2014, Manchester City entered a new era.
At a special event at the Etihad Stadium, members of our original Ladies team were joined by Nick Cushing’s new-look side, with then-Men's first team manager Manuel Pellegrini and Elite Development Squad coach Patrick Vieira both in attendance.
Having initially been formed in November 1988, a formalisation between our original Ladies team and the Club was finalised in 2012 and, two years later, we were ready for our first season in the WSL as a professional outfit.
The future was bright, and the plush surroundings of the Etihad indicated the exciting journey this squad were about to embark on.
More than 300 competitive fixtures, over 200 wins, almost 800 goals and eight major honours later, that rollercoaster journey continues apace.
Including detailed reflections from players and managers past and present, below is a potted history of all the twists and turns the past decade has had to offer…
“There’s nothing sweeter than lifting that first trophy for the Club.”Steph Houghton
City had more than held our own in our final season before the professional relaunch, finishing fourth in the second tier in 2013.
However, under the guidance of former Academy coach Nick Cushing and City Ladies’ Head Coach Leigh Wood, the Club looked to add some star quality to the current squad's strong nucleus.
England international Jill Scott was first through the door in November 2013, followed soon after by her fellow Lionesses in Karen Bardsley, Toni Duggan, Izzy Christiansen and Steph Houghton.
But as Houghton - our record appearance holder and only ever-present since the professional relaunch - admits, there was an element of risk to match the obvious opportunity.
“It was a tough decision to be honest,” she reflects.
“I was Arsenal captain at the time and we’d won two trophies which is why I went there.
“But when my agent spoke to me about City and the pull of full-time football, and starting with a project, that’s what sold it to me. I’ve never looked back since.
“Me and KB [Karen Bardsley] had the same agent, so I knew KB was thinking about it. My first message was to Jill [Scott] because there were a few rumours about her signing.
“It’s weird because we started at Sunderland then went our different ways but to be back in the same team was a big factor.
“Having those kinds of people, Toni Duggan, Jill, KB, Izzy Christiansen, if you’re looking at the spine of the team it’s a good start to be honest. That was a big factor in coming.”
But a good start is exactly what City didn’t have, with four defeats in our first five competitive fixtures.
Duggan, the scorer of our first professional goal, continues: “I know things take time and as a player you want things to be instant but there were definitely times in the training ground where I was thinking, ‘what have we done’.
“But we stuck together, trusted the process and with more experience you can now look back and say things won’t just happen overnight.”
Five of City’s squad were training full-time, with the rest of the team then joining them for a pitch session after work commitments. Two worlds had collided, and it would take time for them to gel into the well-oiled machine we know and love today.
But the experience was still something that every player relished, as Chelsea Nightingale, a member of both our original Ladies team and first professional side adds.
“It was hard at first, with changes happening left, right and centre, but to be a part of it all was something I’d worked for and dreamed of since being a little kid.
“Getting a ball at my feet, I was so happy and willing to do whatever it took to take the opportunity with both hands.”
City would recover to finish our first WSL campaign in fifth place, but the real opportunity to make our mark came in the Continental Cup.
After winning our group and edging past Chelsea at Ewen Fields in the last four, a spot in the Conti Cup final against an Arsenal side who had won the last three editions of the tournament beckoned.
Rather poignantly, it was a member of our original Ladies team, Krystle Johnston, who provided the cross for the game’s only goal, converted by one of the faces of the new era, Christiansen.
City had made a statement and claimed silverware in our first-ever professional season.
Houghton reflects: “The move where Krystle crossed it to Izzy is a move we’d practiced so much at Platt Lane.
“People were throwing their bodies on the line and that was a year’s worth of hard work and frustration for a lot of people but it was worth every single moment.
“There’s nothing sweeter than lifting that first trophy for the Club.”
But the final word on 2014, rather prophetically, goes to Duggan: “The Conti Cup, I remember that and I always will, it was a relief.
“It was a marker to everyone else as well of what we could achieve so early on in the journey.”