The seismic change to English football came about because the rags and the dippers -amongst others- wanted it: enter the Premier League.
Alongside the new league came the most powerful broadcasting company ever to dominate televised football in this country: enter Sly Sports.
The rags, more than any other club before or since, were the major beneficiaries of this new-found wealth and influence: they could (and did) buy the best player in every position, no other Prem club could compete with the rags when it came to buying players. The cartel was born.
An immensely unlikeable Scottish bully-boy was in charge of Sly Sports' favourite toy and was thus given free rein to do whatever he chose to do with the tacit approval of the Premier League. This snarling, ill-bred authoritarian would spit venom and ugly, foul-mouthed abuse to referees, their linesmen, and any other soul unfortunate enough to disagree with him. His club were favoured by all and sundry, especially those at Sly Sports. His club were given an endless supply of money to ensure they stayed at the top of the pyramid for as long as Rupert Murdoch's men wanted them there.
Approximately 30 years down the line the status quo remains relatively undisturbed. Yes, we joined the likes of Chelsea by having an obscenely rich benefactor come to our rescue, but unlike Chelsea we had a legitimate mega-wealthy oil baron to fund our success, not some shadowy figure with connections to a network of criminal oligarchs operating undercover somewhere within the bowels of the Kremlin - like some kind of latter-day Magwich.
But like most other clubs that make up the Premier League, we are pretty much cold-shouldered by Sly Sports and the broadcasting media in general.
In many parts of Europe we are respected and well liked because of our footballing philosophy and the way our club has flourished under our owners. People congratulate us for the way the Sheik has used his own money to galvanise the Etihad and the entire surrounding areas.
Contrast this with the hostility, repulsion and animosity we appear to receive from the British media day in day out.