Carragher: Man City Should Be Stripped of Titles and Owners Removed

Carragher: Man City Should Lose Titles and Owners Must Go

Jamie Carragher believes Manchester City should be stripped of the trophies won during the years they have been found guilty of financial breaches, and says the club's owners should be removed from their positions after an independent commission found City guilty of serious Premier League financial rules breaches. City deny the charges and will appeal by Friday October 2.

Key call: Carragher wants City's titles and trophies from 2009/10 to 2017/18 taken off their record
Owner stance: He says the owners cannot continue in English football after the findings
City response: CEO Ferran Soriano called the process a "Premier League conspiracy theory" in a video to players and staff
Appeal deadline: City have until Friday October 2 to appeal against the ruling
Trophies in question: Three Premier League titles, one FA Cup, three League Cups and one Community Shield won between 2009/10 and 2017/18
Player impact: Carragher says City players' careers will carry an asterisk and "sham" label

What was said

"I do think Manchester City's titles they've won in this time, or trophies, should be taken off their list."
— Jamie Carragher, Sky Sports pundit

"Whether other clubs should get them is slightly different. But what Manchester City have done is, they've not just hurt their own players in terms of no one looks at their trophies and medals now in the same way... I've been very lucky to win a few medals. I never look at the medal years later. But my mind goes back to a moment, I get a feeling in my stomach. I remember the referee blowing a final whistle of a big game. Those players will never get that feeling and it was robbed by Manchester City. That's what they haven't got. I don't think any player will care if you go and give them a medal, and he puts it in the house, in his trophy room, he'll never look at it. It's not about medals, it's about feelings, and that's what Manchester City have robbed."
— Jamie Carragher on the human cost for rival players

"The club are going to get punished. You've got supporters, players, the club and owners. For me this is all about the owners, the people who are at the top of the club. Man City are a wonderful club and have been for a hundred years and will be for hundreds of years going forward. But in terms of what we're finding out now, I don't know how the owners can continue in English football. We talk about a fit and proper test for owners. What they've done for 10 years - and left this stain that will be there for the next 10 years - it starts because they don't like the word no. When you see the statements - the one from [CEO Ferran] Soriano last night - it's beggars belief what you're hearing. They have so much power and finance behind them, nobody ever tells them no. Until they move away from the club, I don't know how this stain is removed from the club. City will move on - they will have great teams in the future. But I don't see how the ownership can continue after what's happened here and their reaction to it. How can they be surprised? They've got irrefutable evidence - well where is it? Put it out there."
— Jamie Carragher on the club's ownership

"I'd be furious and I actually feel for the Man City players. As a team, what they've done is wrong. The Premier League have called it a sham five times in their statement. But in terms of individual players, some of them are coming out to bat for the club, that's normal right now. It must be very difficult for them to see anything that's going on and to almost feel like a lot of their career is going to have an asterisk with it, or people are just going to call it a sham. I think of Kevin De Bruyne, who's one of the greatest players I've ever seen. He could have played for any team in the world and he still would have been one of the best players. He was fantastic. But he chose his club to be Manchester City. Now, one of those reasons he may have chosen, maybe was his wages, that maybe were inflated because of the situation around Man City and what they've been charged with. But if he sits there at the end of his career now and the whole world looks at his Manchester City career of 10 years of service and look at it as a sham, and I keep using that word, that's the word the Premier League used, I'd be furious. Absolutely furious that around the world people are looking at my career like that because of what's going on upstairs. Those people have continually told those players - because I have spoken to certain players about it - that everything was fine. They were not going to get done for anything. We keep talking about Liverpool or Manchester United, all these players who maybe could get Premier League titles now. And that's absolutely spot on, but I've actually been thinking about the Manchester City players and how they feel. What Manchester City's hierarchy are coming out with in the last couple of days as well, they're just gaslighting the players, their ex-players, their supporters, because those people want to believe them so much. They've got such strong relationships with them, they want to believe it right now. I think the longer this goes on, the more you'll see less support from maybe ex-City players and more frustration about maybe how their careers are going to be viewed by the outside world."
— Jamie Carragher on the City players and hierarchy

Carragher's central argument is that the punishment must go beyond the club and reach the ownership. He accepts City will remain a major force, but insists the stain cannot be removed while the current owners stay. His distinction between medals and feelings is the most emotive part of his case, and it lands a blow on the idea that simply handing out retroactive medals to runners-up would fix anything.

He is less sure about whether those honours should be passed on to the teams and players who finished second. That nuance matters because it separates the call for City's records to be scrubbed from any automatic redistribution. Carragher is also pointed on the City squad, naming Kevin De Bruyne as the example of a great player whose legacy is now clouded by events above him.

The numbers

2009/10 to 2017/18: the period in which City won the trophies Carragher says should be removed
3 Premier League titles won in that period
1 FA Cup won in that period
3 League Cups won in that period
1 Community Shield won in that period
Friday October 2: the deadline for City to appeal against the ruling
Five times: the number of times the Premier League used the word "sham" in their statement, according to Carragher

Why Carragher is targeting the owners, not just the club

The former defender is careful to separate the institution from the people running it. He describes City as a wonderful club with a hundred-year history and a future beyond this saga. That framing puts the blame squarely on the top of the pyramid and raises a direct question about the Premier League's fit and proper persons test. If the owners are the ones who benefitted and the ones who set the tone, Carragher argues, then removing points or titles is only half the sanction.

His reading of the hierarchy's public statements is just as blunt. He calls the video message from CEO Ferran Soriano "beggars belief" and says the people above the players have been telling them everything was fine. In Carragher's view that is not communication, it is gaslighting, and it explains why current and former players are rushing to defend the club. He predicts that support will fade as the reality of an asterisk on their careers sets in.

The tactical and competitive knock-on is obvious. If City's titles are annulled or vacated, the records of Kevin De Bruyne, the current squad and the great City sides of that era are rewritten. For the clubs who finished second - Carragher specifically mentions Liverpool and Manchester United as potential beneficiaries of Premier League titles - the argument is about justice, not nostalgia. But Carragher's point is that no ceremony can return the feeling of winning it on the day. That is the gap the appeal and any subsequent sanctions cannot close.

Talking points

Should City's 2009/10 to 2017/18 trophies be permanently removed from the record, or is stripping titles a step too far while an appeal is pending?
If City are stripped, should the Premier League award those titles to the runners-up - specifically Liverpool or Manchester United - or leave the seasons blank?
Can the owners pass a fit and proper persons test if the findings stand, or is the test itself the problem Carragher is really exposing?
Is Carragher right that current City players are being gaslit, or are they simply defending teammates and employers in public?

What happens next

Manchester City have until Friday October 2 to formally appeal against the ruling. Until that deadline passes, the sanctions - and any decision on whether titles are stripped or handed to runners-up - remain unresolved. The club continue to deny the breaches, and CEO Ferran Soriano's video message to players and staff shows the hierarchy is preparing for a fight, not a retreat.

Frequently asked questions

Should Man City be stripped of their titles?

Jamie Carragher believes they should. He says the titles and trophies City won between 2009/10 and 2017/18 should be taken off their list, though he is less certain whether they should be given to the runners-up.

What did Ferran Soriano say about the Man City charges?

According to the source article, the City chief executive called the process a "Premier League conspiracy theory" in a video message to players and staff.