Manchester City are in fifth place when it comes to the most ups and downs in their history. Through the years, they’ve been promoted 11 times and suffered 10 relegations between several spells in the top three divisions in England—only Leicester City, Birmingham City, Grimsby Town and Notts County have more changes of tier to their names.

Without the late 1990s and early 2000s, City wouldn’t have been anywhere near the top of that list. They were relegated from the Premier League in 1996 and, while they did manage to survive a season in Division One in the following campaign, they were beginning their descent into freefall.

From 1997-98 to 2001-02, City moved either up or down; six consecutive seasons ended in promotion or relegation. While some teams, such as Bolton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion would yo-yo between the top two divisions in England, City did it over the less conventional three. If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well.

Joe Royle spent three-and-a-bit seasons in the Maine Road dugout during that time and oversaw two relegations and two promotions. However, he put the groundwork in place for the club to somehow avoiding hitting the self-destruct button—they nearly lost the Division Two play-off final to Gillingham in 1999, saving it only in second-half stoppage time. He also got them close to being ready for the Premier League again, even if he did just fall short of surviving in it in 2000-01.

They were relegated and began 2001-02 in Division One. Again.

City’s return to the top flight, in their final divisional change before some stability finally took hold, is still regarded as one of the most entertaining seasons in the club’s recent history. That’s even after Sheikh Mansour’s investment allowed fans to experience two Premier League titles, two League Cup victories, a successful FA Cup campaign and a trip to the Champions League semi-finals.

It was all down to Kevin Keegan’s “let’s-just-not-bother-defending-that-much” approach—fans went to matches that year knowing full well that there were likely to be goals at both ends of the pitch. What ensured a successful campaign was that City’s attacking players were far and away the best in the league, so what they let in turned to be largely insignificant.

Despite finishing as champions of Division One by 10 points and being just one short of hitting a tally in triple figures, City had the worst defensive record of the top six. They scored 108 times in the league—32 more than the next best, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and better than any other team since Leicester’s 109 in that tier in 1956-57.

It’s not a patch on the divisional record—Middlesbrough’s 122 in 1926-27—but that came at a time when the default formation had five forwards and just two or three defenders. Even Keegan wasn't that gung ho as a manager.

City’s achievement in the more modern second tier came down to the quality of their attacking players and a midfield that had a creative core. Strikers Shaun Goater, Darren Huckerby, Paulo Wanchope and Jon Macken scored 65 times in the league between them—the Bermudian netted every game-and-a-half in the division.

Behind them were the likes of Eyal Berkovic, Shaun Wright-Phillips and cult hero Ali Benarbia. The Algerian was signed on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain after a heavy 4-0 defeat at West Brom and immediately became a fans’ favourite.

He was the club’s most creative player since Georgi Kinkladze had lit up Maine Road in City’s descent from the top flight, and fans were cursing his age—even at 33, he was running the show every week despite being in the twilight of his career. His touch was sensational, his passing range and ability was superb, and his vision to unlock opposition defences was up there with the best.

Benarbia slotted into the team straight away. In fact, on the morning of his debut—a 3-0 home victory over Birmingham—the midfielder had only landed in Manchester from Paris an hour or two before kick-off, not that anyone could have told from the way he dominated the match; he could do it in his sleep.

Both he and Berkovic were terrorising defences in Division One. In truth, the pair were playing at a standard below their own and went on to show what they could do in the top flight in the following campaign—until the Algerian’s years caught up with him, and the Israeli fell out with Keegan and joined Portsmouth.

Many thought there wouldn’t be enough fight in that team, especially with so much creativity in its spine. If anything, though, there was probably too much aggression—City’s disciplinary record was awful in 2001-02, as they saw 10 red cards across all competitions. Despite that, they were still winning matches with relative ease, even a man down on their opposition.

Millwall were dispatched 2-0 in a heated game in January, even though Benarbia was sent off inside seven minutes. Norwich City also left Maine Road with nothing after a 3-1 home victory and a dismissal for Danny Tiatto 12 minutes in.

The only disappointment for the entire campaign was that City didn’t seal promotion themselves. Their place in the top two was assured when Wolves lost 1-0 to Millwall on a Friday evening. At least Keegan’s side assured the championship in front of their fans in the next match, a 5-1 battering of Barnsley.

Many will write off that City team because they were outside of the Premier League. True, their opposition week by week wasn’t of top-flight standard, but they made waves in the cup competitions. Ipswich Town were a Premier League side back then and were humbled 4-1 at Portman Road in the FA Cup fourth round.

Even a 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United in that competition came after an unfortunate red card for Richard Dunne and a blatant but unpunished foul in the buildup to Nolberto Solano’s winning goal. City were very much in that match, even with only 10 men.

City were a top-flight team in the second tier—unlike when they had dropped out of the Premier League previously and struggled to get back up.

After a shaky start, where performances and results were hit and miss, Keegan’s team set about dominating the league. The manager didn’t care if his team conceded the odd goal because they were playing such destructive and attacking football that they were bound to outscore their opponents more often than not.

By the turn of the year, the fans felt like the pressure was off. They knew their team was going to play well and, on the odd occasion Keegan’s side fell short, the supporters could bank on a good performance the following week.

Even in the recent successful era at the Etihad Stadium, that sense of security ahead of matches hasn’t been that common.

The 2001-02 campaign may not have been in the top flight, and the achievement wasn’t up there with what’s happened at the club in more recent years, but the fans are right to look back on it as one of the best campaigns they’ve enjoyed. Keegan had made football fun again.

That sense was probably heightened by the dross that surrounded it.