Manchester City have been found guilty of serious breaches of the Premier League‘s financial rules between 2009/10 and 2017/18.
Fans had been waiting for a long time to hear the outcome of the independent commission, with Man City contesting 115 charges. According to reports, they have been found guilty of 114 of those.
In a statement confirming the verdict, the Premier League revealed:
The independent Commission found that between Seasons 2009/10 and 2017/18:
– Manchester City arranged ‘sham’ contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partners, as well as relying on ‘sham’ agreements with others, to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs
– The club filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators
– Manchester City was significantly in breach of both the Premier League’s and UEFA’s spending limits
– During the Premier League’s investigation, Manchester City committed multiple breaches of its duties of co-operation and utmost good faith towards the League (three of the four alleged breaches were upheld)
The statement later revealed that Man City were found to have artificially inflated the club’s revenue — and reduce costs — by more than £900million during the time frame. Man City have a right to appeal and will reportedly exercise that.
But the football world is already thinking about the potential punishments. One of the main talking points is what will happen to Man City’s titles. If the Citizens are stripped of their league titles between 2009/10 and 2017/18, will the runners-up be crowned new champions? Or will the titles be voided with no champion?
It isn’t as simple as that, though. Across the nine-season period, Man City will have impacted many other teams with their Premier League results. So we’ve looked at how the Premier League tables will have looked if Man City’s results were voided. Not to see who would win the league, but to see who missed out European football, or even suffered relegation because of their results against Man City.
2009/10
- Man City finish: 5th
Man City finished fifth in the 2009/10 Premier League, missing out on Champions League football to Tottenham Hotspur. That particular battle was famously won thanks to Peter Crouch’s goal in a 1-0 win for Tottenham at the Etihad in May, and there would be no change in the Champions League places.
Aston Villa would also have still qualified for the Europa League qualifying play-offs — jumping from sixth to fifth — while Liverpool would have joined them. The Reds had to go through the third qualifying round, a spot that would have been taken by Everton. Despite the increase in position, Everton would have been one of the teams to be affected most, losing six points from their two wins over Man City.
On the other side of things, Chelsea would have finished seven points clear at the top of the table. The Blues lost both matches to Man City, while second-placed Manchester United won the two Manchester derbies.
2010/11
- Man City finish: 3rd
This is a big one. And one of the reasons why talks of punishments and voidings are so difficult. If Man City’s results from the 2010/11 Premier League season were voided, Blackpool would not have been relegated.
The Tangerines finished 19th in the Premier League, but were just one point from safety, with Wolverhampton Wanderers safe. But while Blackpool had lost both of their matches to Man City, Wolves did pick up a win. And Birmingham City drew both of their games against the Citizens. So while Blackpool would keep their points tally, Wolves would lose three and Birmingham two. That would see Blackpool climb to 16th, outside the bottom three. Wolves would join Birmingham and West Ham United in the Championship, if the bottom three teams still went down.
Tottenham would have also secured another season in the Champions League, albeit only by Man City’s removal. Spurs finished fifth in the table, six points behind fourth-placed Arsenal — with Man City third. Arsenal would also have taken direct passage to the group stage, with Tottenham in the qualifying route. Liverpool would have then qualified for the Europa League play-off round, rather than missing out on European football altogether.
2011/12
- Man City finish: 1st
The 2011/12 season brought the first of three titles Man City won during the nine-season period. And so we’d naturally have new title winners in Man Utd — finishing a record 20 points clear at the top. Whether that will be the actual outcome of any potential punishment remains to the seen. It would also be good news for Tottenham, who would qualify for the Champions League group stage.
Spurs missed out on the Champions League despite finishing fourth, due to sixth-placed Chelsea winning the competition. The north London club had to settle for a spot in the Europa League group stage — with only four Premier League clubs allowed in the Champions League at the time. Not only would Tottenham have moved up into the Champions League spots, they’d have actually finished second — leapfrogging Arsenal, who took three points against Man City.
Newcastle United would have been bumped up to the Europa League group stage (despite finishing fourth in the hypothetical table), while Everton would have claimed the play-off spot.
2012/13
- Man City finish: 2nd
There’s a running theme in these early seasons of Tottenham benefiting most from Man City’s results being voided. Man City finished second in 2012/13 so their removal would see all teams shift up once — lifting Tottenham from fifth to fourth. It would be Champions League qualifying for them, with Arsenal jumping straight into the group stage.
But Liverpool would also leapfrog Everton into fifth, taking the Europa League spot. The Reds drew both of their matches with Man City, but Everton took four points from the defending champions at the time. The two Merseyside clubs would have finished level on points, with Liverpool above on goal difference.
There would be no change at the other end of the table, though Sunderland would have only escaped relegation on goal difference, rather than by three points.
2013/14
- Man City finish: 1st
Liverpool would have won the league title in 2013/14 were it not for Man City, but it’s not as straightforward as that. The Reds would finish three points clear at the top of the table, with Arsenal now second. Chelsea were the biggest losers, dropping to third after taking six points from their two games against Man City. Liverpool would lose three points, while Arsenal only one.
Everton would have completed the top four, securing a Champions League qualifying place. Their Europa League group stage spot would have passed on to Tottenham. But then there’s the complication of Tottenham’s Europa League qualifying spot. Spurs received that because Man City won the League Cup (and qualified for the Champions League due to winning the league). Again showing just how complicated everything is, and how many things would be impacted.
2014/15
- Man City finish: 2nd
Ready for a shock? Tottenham would have qualified for the Champions League had Man City’s results not counted in 2014/15. Spurs finished fifth this season, six points behind fourth-placed Man Utd. With Man City’s expulsion, Tottenham would climb to fourth but also cut the gap to Man Utd to three points.
Liverpool would have stayed in the Europa League group stage, but they would have been overtaken by Southampton. The Reds beat Man City once, while Southampton lost both matches. Saints finished seventh and earned a spot in the Europa League qualifiers as the domestic cup winners (Chelsea and Arsenal) secured European football by their league finish. Swansea City would have replaced Southampton in the Europa League third qualifying round.
There wouldn’t have been any changes to the relegated sides, but Burnley would have finished bottom rather than 19th. The Clarets took four points from their two games against Man City, while basement club Queens Park Rangers only managed one draw.
2015/16
- Man City’s finish: 4th
Man City snuck into the Champions League play-off round after a fourth-placed finish in 2015/16, ahead of Man Utd on goal difference. So their rivals would take that spot, starting the shift up. Southampton and West Ham would have qualified for the Europa League group stage, with Liverpool taking a qualifying spot. That’s despite the Reds losing six points from their two wins against Man City.
Chelsea would have been the biggest beneficiaries, rising from 10th to eighth — not that it would have brought anything extra. With Leicester City shocking everyone to win the title, and Man City underwhelming, this was one of the least-impacted seasons. A lot of teams lost points, but there were no real shifts in positions.
2016/17
- Man City’s finish: 3rd
The 2016/17 season was the first time Arsenal had failed to finish inside the Premier League’s top four for 21 years. The Gunners finished fifth, as they did in 1995/96. Without Man City, though, Arsenal would have finished third. They would have only lost one point, leapfrogging fourth-placed Liverpool who took four from their two games against Man City. Chelsea were the biggest team hit, having beaten Man City home and away, but they would still have won the title by five points — rather than seven.
Things get a bit more complicated outside the top four, though. With Arsenal now in the Champions League, their Europa League group stage spot (as fifth-placed finishers and FA Cup winners) would have to be passed down. In the real world, it was officially passed down to sixth-placed Man Utd. But because Man Utd had qualified for the Champions League by winning the Europa League, the Premier League lost its spot.
Everton, jumping up to sixth in the new table, would have taken the FA Cup winners’ spot in the Europa League group stage. Bournemouth would have replaced them in the qualifying rounds, passed down by Man Utd winning the League Cup.
2017/18
- Man City finish: 1st
The final season reflected in the charges was perhaps the biggest one. Man City made history in becoming the first Premier League team to reach 100 points in a season, achieving it on the final day. So obviously that would be lost, and Man Utd would have finished top of the table. Tottenham would have finished second, only missing out on title by one point due to Man Utd’s win in the Manchester derby.
Chelsea would have qualified for the Champions League with Man City dropping out of the league, moving from fifth to fourth. Arsenal would have stayed in the Europa League group stage, joined by Burnley. The Clarets initially finished seventh and were placed in the Europa League second qualifying round due to Man City winning the League Cup. But they would have taken the FA Cup winners’ (Chelsea) spot in the group stage — due to the Blues qualifying for the Champions League. Like in 2013/14, the question of Man City’s European spot as League Cup winners causes chaos.
