 In 1987 – 88 , the club came close to returning to the top division when they missed out on promotion on the final day of the season . Following relegation back to Division Three , after Geoffrey Richmond became chairman in January 1994 the club 's fortunes were lifted . He helped to take them to their first appearance at Wembley and subsequently into the Premier League , where they played for two seasons . Following Richmond 's self @-@ proclaimed " six weeks of madness " and the collapse of television channel ITV Digital , the club suffered its first spell in administration . Another period under administration followed , and City dropped through the leagues of professional English football back to the bottom tier of The Football League , until promotion in 2012 – 13 brought them back up a division . In January 2013 , City became the first club from the fourth tier of English football since 1962 to reach the Football League Cup final , and the first fourth @-@ tier club ever to reach a major Wembley Cup Final . 
