It was interesting at the weekend to see how City fans acted in the first match since the guilty FFP verdict was announced and the Sham FC nickname was born. The online community of City fans, from the TikTok accounts to podcasters and those on national TV, displayed a range of opinions about how the wider City fanbase would and should act from now on. There was some sentiment that maybe the match going City fans would show some remorse or at least try to distance themselves and the club from the ownership, as any punishment will make them suffer the most. City fans have been wronged too.
The big match atmosphere that Man City always face at Anfield was even louder than usual, with a playlist designed by the Liverpool players to call them out as cheats during the warmup, the City coach sneaking in through the back door to avoid the crowds of Liverpool fans waiting for them with flares, banners and songs, and the loudest of boos and cries of cheats throughout the match. City fans came with inflatable bananas, AI-made banners celebrating the ownership, flashed cash, and sang about winning it all by cheating. The players and coaches celebrated at the end of a 3-0 win as if they’d proven a point and are under siege.
We’ve lived through a decade of Pep Guardiola changing the way the game is played in England, with the greatest example of positional play and control, teams all the way down at Sunday League level playing out from the back. Then there are players like KDB, David Silva and Sergio Aguero and their legacy now brought into question. City have won a lot of trophies in that time, have engaged in some of the best rivalries and high-level football we’ve ever seen, from the toe-to-toe battles with Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, against Manchester United and Arsenal. But if it’s all been built from a foundation of cheating, even if those later years have not been investigated, does it mean as much now? The football was still played, the players still performed and the experience off the pitch, good and bad, was felt by fans, but it all feels a little hollow.
It's important to remember that Manchester City have been found guilty of 114 of 115 charges. They cheated, and even though this current squad of players and the coaching staff were not there during the period of the investigation, they are only there now because City have grown into a behemoth of European football that can attract the best players and have the best squad depth, based on the lies and the cheating of that period.
What does this all mean for the rest of this season? Surely the punishment and appeal can’t go on until the end of the season, especially as City are currently on a winning streak that makes them favourites for the title, they are champions-elect. But then again, if there is a massive points deduction mid-season and City focus on the Champions League, what does that mean for the integrity of the competition if they just phone it in against their remaining opponents when all the teams they’ve faced so far have been up against the best version of City on the pitch?
There could be a situation where Manchester City are expelled from the Premier League or relegated through a points deduction but win the Champions League, therefore qualifying for the top European competition next season.
It brings into question a whole host of problems that you wouldn’t have necessarily thought of. We know that other clubs in ‘the big six’ had already put in place the right to seek compensation if Man City was found guilty of the charges, but what about every other club in the Premier League and beyond. There’s the teams who have lost out on titles, promotions, the winning memories for players and fans, the prize money. Think about teams like Stoke and Sunderland, who lost an FA Cup final and a League Cup final respectively during the period of this investigation. Then there are teams who missed out on the title, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. Spurs missed out on qualification for the Champions League.
It’s a big mess all round.
Whichever way you look at it, the Premier League and English football is tainted by the Manchester City charges and it feels a long way back to gain any clarity and a sense of wellbeing in the game.
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