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Man City Premier League charges: Jamie Carragher says club’s titles should be stripped and owners removed | Football News
Jamie Carragher believes Manchester City should be stripped of the titles they won during the years they have been found guilty of financial breaches – and says the club’s owners should be removed from their positions.
City have been found guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of Premier League financial rules by an independent commission.
The club continue to deny the breaches, with chief executive Ferran Soriano calling the process a “Premier League conspiracy theory” in a video message to players and staff. The club have confirmed they will appeal against the ruling and have until Friday October 2 to do so.
During the period between the 2009/10 season and 2017/18 season, City won three Premier League titles, one FA Cup, three League Cups and one Community Shield.
“I do think Manchester City’s titles they’ve won in this time, or trophies, should be taken off their list,” Sky Sports pundit Carragher said.
However, Carragher is less convinced whether those honours should then be passed onto teams and players who finished second to City in those competitions. Ultimately, he says, the most important part of winning in football – the feeling at the time – has been taken from those players, clubs and their fans by City’s actions.
“Whether other clubs should get them is slightly different,” said Carragher. “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.”
Carragher says while he expects Man City as a club to be punished, the owners must pay for their involvement by losing their leadership roles.
“The club are going to get punished,” he said. “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.
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Jamie Carragher says he’s ‘not surprised’ that Man City have been found guilty on all charges related to serious breaches of Premier League financial rules.
“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.”
Carra: If I was a City player ‘I’d be furious’
Carragher also discussed what the news means for the legacy of City’s greatest players of the period and the current squad, saying he is sympathetic to their situation, even if some former players are continuing to defend City’s actions right now.
“I’d be furious and I actually feel for the Man City players,” said Carragher. “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.
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Dave Reed takes a look the independent commission’s key findings on the ‘Disguised Funding Scheme’ used by Manchester City.
“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.”
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Esteban Ocon is fighting to save his Formula 1 career after the Haas team announced they would split with the Frenchman at the end of the year.
Ocon, who won the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix for Alpine, joined Haas in 2025. He has been in F1 since 2016 and has also driven for the Manor and Force India teams.
There are no obvious berths for Ocon on the grid in 2027 but he insisted: “This is absolutely not the end of my Formula 1 career.”
The 30-year-old added in a statement on social media: “I leave this project with my head held high and proud of my performances in what were not always the easiest of circumstances for various reasons and factors outside of my control.
“My immediate focus is the next race weekend. I will continue to work hard with the team, maximise every opportunity, and keep extracting every bit of performance from the car.
“There are still many races to go this season and, as always, I will give it my everything behind the wheel for myself and for my team.
“I am still motivated. I am still hungry.”
Ocon has been outperformed by team-mate Oliver Bearman since joining forces with Haas last year.
This year, the Briton is 13th in the championship, three places and 13 points ahead of Ocon. Bearman has out-qualified Ocon 13-6 at an average advantage of 0.144 seconds.
Last year, Bearman finished 13th and Ocon 15th, separated by just three points, and in qualifying it was 18-7 at 0.175secs
Haas team principal Ayao Kumatso said: “Esteban’s professionalism and commitment have proved valuable as we continue to grow as an organisation.
“Together this year we tackled the challenge of a major regulation change, where Esteban’s driving experience and inputs were significant as we’ve worked hard to develop the VF-26 across the season.”
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Sparta Prague forward Kess Elmore is a surprise first call-up for Northern Ireland’s 2027 Women’s World Cup play-off with Portugal.
Elmore, 27, is a former England youth international and is one of five new call-ups in Michael McArdle’s squad.
Galway United full back Lucy-Jayne Grant is included for the first time, as are the Irish Premiership trio Naomi McLaughlin, Jane McMaster and Charlotte Havern.
Havern has had a strong campaign for champions Cliftonville, while McMaster has stood out for Linfield and McLaughlin has impressed for Glentoran after a mid-season switch back to the league from Aberdeen.
There are several absentees through injury, including Kelsie Burrows, Laura Rafferty, Nadene Caldwell, Megan Bell, Joely Andrews, Danielle Maxwell and Caragh Hamilton.
Northern Ireland host Portugal at Inver Park on Friday, 9 October before the return leg in Portimao four days later.
The sides last met in Euro 2025 qualifying when Portugal ran out 4-0 winners in Liera before a narrow 2-1 victory at Mourneview Park.
If McArdle’s side can upset Portugal, who are ranked 28 places higher than NI, then they would face Iceland or Croatia in the next play-off round.
While the majority of teams who win the second play-off round will progress to the finals in Brazil, Northern Ireland’s ranking means they would likely face an additional inter-continental play-off round in February, as the lowest European side, if they are to make a first World Cup.
Northern Ireland squad
Goalkeepers: Jackie Burns (Burnley), Lauren Perry (Montrose), Maddy Harvey-Clifford (Cliftonville)
Defenders: Rebecca Holloway (Birmingham City), Rebecca McKenna (Birmingham City), Ellie Mason (Charlton), Natalie Johnson (Norwich City), Fi Morgan (Celtic), Abi Sweetlove (Linfield), Emily Cassap (Sunderland), Lucy-Jayne Grant (Galway United ), Jane McMaster (Linfield)
Midfielders: Aimee Kerr (Glentoran), Mia Moore (Glentoran), Brenna McPartlan (Burnley), Keri Halliday (Hearts), Connie Scofield (Sheffield United), Naomi McLaughlin (Glentoran), Charlotte Havern (Cliftonville).
Forwards: Lauren Wade (Hearts), Casey Howe (Celtic), Leyla McFarland (Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland), Cora Chambers (Linfield), Kess Elmore (Sparta Prague).
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Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards says he felt “absolutely devastated” after reading the Premier League’s “damning” guilty verdict on the club’s financial charges.
An independent commission found that City arranged “sham contracts” with a number of commercial partners as part of a scheme to disguise secret funding of more than £830m.
The league confirmed City have been found guilty of all charges related to breaches of financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, and all but one in relation to failure to co-operate with the investigation.
The club continue to deny any wrongdoing and have until 2 October to submit an appeal.
During that nine-year period the Sky Blues won the Premier League three times, with Richards part of their title-winning squad in 2011-12.
“The reports were troubling,” he said on The Rest is Football podcast. “I saw the words which were used by the Premier League in ‘sham contracts’ and I felt absolutely devastated.
“I was at that club since I was 14 years old, I would die for that club. I achieved my dream at Manchester City, but then to hear these reports, and not only me as an ex-player, but the fans, what they have to go through, absolutely devastating.”
While Richards was part of the City’s youth academy he lived in ‘digs’ with a local family who are long-term supporters of the club.
The 38-year-old added: “My digs man, he rang me and he was literally in tears and asking me about information, which I don’t know. I haven’t got the answers to tell him.
“That’s someone who’s supported the club for 60-odd years and the uncertainty around it is just heartbreaking.
“To have a headline of this nature for a club that I love so much, it’s been difficult. If you listen to the reports, they are damning.
“I feel saddened, I feel angry, I feel a little bit confused because, on the other side, you have City’s side of the story.”
City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in a statement on Saturday that the club is still confident of proving its innocence, while on Tuesday chief executive Ferran Soriano said in a video message, external to staff and players that “irrefutable evidence” had been “ignored” by the commission.
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Esteban Ocon to leave Haas putting F1 future in doubt
Northern Ireland: Jess Kelmore one of five new call-ups for World Cup play-off
Man City: Micah Richards ‘devastated’ after reading Premier League verdict on charges
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