What would the Premier League have looked like without Man City?

Manchester City have reportedly been found guilty of most of the charges laid against them for breaching Premier League financial rules with an official verdict into their conduct expected soon.

The champions were referred to an independent commission in February 2023 following a four-year investigation with the alleged breaches taking place over a nine-season period from 2009 to 2018.

If found guilty, City will face a series of punishments ranging from fines, points deductions and even the possible expulsion from the Premier League but they will also have the opportunity to appeal against the verdict.

There is also the possibility of retrospective punishment, meaning they would be stripped of honours won during the seasons the finanical breaches occured.

No sanctions have been decided as of yet, nor has the official verdict on Man City’s charges been announced, but it has been reported by The Athletic that the club will be found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges laid against them.

Should that prove to be the case and retrospective punishments are applied to Man City’s previous honours, which titles and trophies would they lose?

In September of 2008 Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group purchased Manchester City for £200m making them the richest club in the world at the time but it would be a few years before that wealth translated to success on the pitch. City’s first Premier League title came in 2011/12 and remains one of the most famous results in football history.

They were battling Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United on the final day of the campaign and with United having beaten Sunderland, City needed to defeat Queen’s Park Rangers to win the title. They trailed until the 92nd minute when Edin Dzeko equalised before Sergio Aguero’s famous winning goal secured them a first Premier League title as they pipped United on goal difference.

open image in gallery

Sergio Aguero helped Manchester City win the Premier League in 2012 (Getty)

2013/14

Manchester City followed up their first Premier League title with a second one just two years later. They only led for 14 days throughout the season but scored an impressive 102 goals as they beat Liverpool to the top spot.

The Reds only won one of their final three fixtures as City, now managed by Manuel Pellegrini, came through to clinch the trophy by two points.

Manchester City won the Premier League title in 2017/18 in Pep Guardiola's second season in charge (Getty)

2017/18

Chelsea twice took the crown either side of a remarkable Leicester City triumph in the three seasons between City’s Premier League title wins. They next topped the table in the 2017/18 in what was the first league title win under Pep Guardiola. The Spaniard had taken charge of City the previous year after he was brought in to turn City into serial winners.

He achieved his goal and his first league title also came with a plethora of records with City becoming the first ever Premier League winners to reach 100 points in a single season. Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United were their closest challengers but of the three titles City won during the period covered by the charges this one was the most one-sided victory.

If any retrospective charges do strip Man City of their Premier League titles during the period between 2009-2018 then the beneficiaries, assuming second place teams would be given the title, would be Manchester United (twice) and Liverpool.

Over that same period City also won four domestic cup trophies which would very likely be taken off them as well leading to a couple of surprising outcomes.

City defeated Stoke City in the 2010/11 FA Cup which would hand Stoke their very first FA Cup win while Sunderland would benefit from being a losing finalist in the 2013/14 Carabao Cup - a trophy they have also never won.

Liverpool and Arsenal would also be handed retrospective cup triumphs as City defeated both teams in the Carabao Cup in 2015/16 and 2017/18 respectively.