This season was the team's first one playing in the Premier League under the stewardship of
Kevin Keegan who, having taken over the helm as manager from
Joe Royle after the club had been relegated to the
Football League First Division fifteen months earlier, had led the club to an immediate promotion back to the top flight. In fact, the
previous season had seen Manchester City promoted in style, with the team breaking many prior club records as it became the new First Division champions. This successful campaign allowed Keegan to delve into the transfer market in the summer and he brought in a number of high-profile players - such as striker
Nicolas Anelka, defender
Sylvain Distin and goalkeeper
Peter Schmeichel - in an effort to ensure that the team was strong enough to remain in the Premier League now that it was back there again. By spending the £13m transfer fee required to bring Anelka to Manchester City from
Paris Saint-Germain the club broke its previous transfer record. Sylvain Distin also transferred over to Manchester City from PSG for £5m, while Peter Schmeichel joined the club on a free transfer from
Aston Villa. Some of the other players Keegan brought in during the newly introduced summer
transfer window were
Marc-Vivien Foé, who joined the club on a season-long loan from
Lyon,
Vicente Matías Vuoso (from
Independiente) and
Mikkel Bischoff. Additionally,
Robbie Fowler,
David Sommeil and
Djamel Belmadi were also signed by Keegan a few months later during the 2003 January transfer window. The new year would also see the man that had been the main impetus behind the hiring of Kevin Keegan, chairman
David Bernstein, fall out with his new hire and leave the club following a boardroom dispute over finances and managerial structure that followed closely on the back of the previous week's resignation of the club's managing director. The initial cause of this dispute had occurred back in January concerning the protracted transfer saga of Robbie Fowler (which Bernstein had originally brokered). He was succeeded as club chairman by former deputy chairman
John Wardle. {{cite news This season's campaign would finally see Manchester City win its first
Manchester Derby in over 13 years, allowing Peter Schmeichel to establish an exceptional record where he has never been on the losing side in a derby game. During his nine years playing with
Manchester United the Reds were unbeaten against Manchester City, while in his single final season playing with the Blues, City won the derby game played at
Maine Road and drew the one played at
Old Trafford. This was also to be Manchester City's last season playing at its historic Maine Road ground before moving to its current home at
City of Manchester Stadium. Consequently, the last game of the season was also the last game ever played at the club's old ground, and
Marc-Vivien Foé would have the distinction of being recorded in the soccer
annals as the player who scored the last ever goal for Manchester City at Maine Road. == Team kit ==