Manchester City have become the first football club in the world to launch on Facebook Messenger.

The Club have launched a brand new Messenger Bot to give supporters a City perspective on the latest news and topics surrounding the team.

Subscribers to the Messenger Bot can choose to receive posts form a range of topics and will also include breaking news, exclusive photos, behind-the-scenes videos, smartphone wallpapers, match highlights and more.

Diego Gigliani, Senior Vice President of Media and Innovation at City Football Marketing, said: “We are delighted to announce another digital first for Manchester City. Messaging platforms have huge global audiences and our fans all over the world are spending more and more time on them.

“Messaging apps are on the path to becoming one of the most important ways of delivering content directly into fans’ hands, as seen already in China with WeChat, and we wanted City fans to be the first to benefit from this experience on Facebook Messenger.

“We are committed to experimenting with new ways of engaging with our increasingly global, digital and mobile fan base and Facebook Messenger is yet another example of this.”

Other recent digital innovations for City include the first ever Premier League game broadcast live in virtual reality, the launch of an official Manchester City Giphy page, the Etihad-branded video series ‘Global City Fans’ with over 7 million views on YouTube alone, and the installation of a 360-degree camera in the players’ tunnel.

Image: Reuters / Andrew Yates Livepic