Quote Originally Posted by Rollo
Billionaire Russian Oil FC beats Billionaire American Food Processing FC to the title.

I think it strange that the World Service has had people complaining all over the world that "City" have bought a title when United pretty well much did exactly the same thing with the initial IPO in 1991. Football in England has really been a "big business" thing ever since the creation of the Premier League. Heck even BSkyB had a tilt at trying to buy Man Utd in 1999 before the Monopolies Commission blocked it.
The difference is that United only ever spent 'their' money, not from a billionaire investor and nowhere near the levels that City or Chelsea ever spent. Uniteds wealth was earned from being successful and having a huge fan-base (a huge fan-base even before the Fergie era), and their most successful team was made up of academy players who cost next to nothing.

The Abu Dhabi United Group would never have bought Man City if they hadn't been given the Manchester City Council stadium.