Manchester City’s glittering era now faces a financial reckoning

Manchester City’s transformation from a struggling second-tier club into one of English football’s dominant forces has been overshadowed by a verdict finding them guilty of scores of financial rule breaches.

The ruling follows an 18-year period in which the Abu Dhabi United Group’s takeover brought vast investment and fundamentally changed the club’s fortunes.

Before their 2011 FA Cup final victory over Stoke, City had gone 35 years without a major trophy and lived in the shadow of neighbours Manchester United. In the 128 years before the takeover, they had won only nine major honours and been crowned champions of England twice.

Their brief golden period in the late 1960s and early 1970s included the league title, the FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup. But City then returned to obscurity, reaching their lowest point when two relegations in three seasons in the late 1990s took them into the third tier for the first time.

They recovered quickly, helped by crowds regularly exceeding 30,000, but struggled to make an impact in the Premier League until Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, vice-president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, bought the club.

The new wealth was immediately visible. Robinho arrived from Real Madrid in the final hours of the 2008 summer transfer window, while City then took Carlos Tevez from United. The signings of Yaya Toure, David Silva and Sergio Aguero laid the foundations for a first league title in 44 years.

Aguero’s 94th-minute goal against Queens Park Rangers on the final day of the 2011/12 season delivered the title in one of the Premier League’s most dramatic finishes. City have since won eight Premier League titles in 13 seasons.

Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini both led City to league success, but Pep Guardiola’s appointment in 2016 lifted the club to another level. After winning three La Liga titles and two Champions League trophies in four years at Barcelona, Guardiola spent three seasons at Bayern Munich following a sabbatical.

City persuaded him to stay for a decade, and he guided them to six English top-flight titles in seven seasons between 2017/18 and 2023/24, including an unprecedented four in succession.

In 2023, City won the Champions League for the first time by beating Inter Milan 1-0 in Istanbul. They became only the second English club to complete a treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, matching United’s previously unique achievement.

The financial case

UEFA and the Premier League began investigating City after German publication Der Spiegel alleged the club had attempted to bypass Financial Fair Play rules through backdated cash injections from Abu Dhabi-based sponsors. City said the allegations came from an “illegal hack” and described the publication of internal emails as part of an “organised and clear attempt” to damage their reputation.

UEFA later banned City from European competitions for two seasons and imposed a €30 million (R558 million) fine, finding they had overstated sponsorship revenue submitted between 2012 and 2016. City appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which overturned the ban and reduced the fine to €10 million. CAS said most alleged breaches were either unproven or time-barred, but upheld a significant penalty for failing to co-operate.

After a four-year investigation, the Premier League referred City to an independent commission in 2023 over more than 100 alleged breaches involving financial information, Financial Fair Play, profitability and sustainability rules, and co-operation with investigations. City denied wrongdoing and said they had a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position”.

Guardiola said the club had already been “condemned”, but vowed to stay as City fought to clear their name.

The commission hearing began in central London and later concluded, with the panel retiring to consider its verdict. Guardiola stepped down after 10 years and 20 trophies as manager, leaving the Etihad in May.

On Tuesday, the commission found City guilty of all charges relating to serious financial breaches and all but one concerning their failure to co-operate with the league’s investigation. The club immediately announced plans to appeal.

Guardiola posted on X on Wednesday: “Let me be clear: we will get through this together. I love you all.”

City may still overturn the verdict, but failure would leave their greatest era permanently marked by an asterisk.