Carragher urges City title removals, questions owners' future

Manchester City should be stripped of every trophy they collected between 2009/10 and 2017/18 and their owners “cannot continue in English football”, according to Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher.

Guilty on every charge, appeal deadline looms

An independent commission has found City guilty on all counts of serious breaches of Premier League financial regulations. The club, which maintains its innocence, has until Friday, 2 October, to lodge a formal appeal. Chief executive Ferran Soriano told players and staff in a video message that the findings amount to a “Premier League conspiracy theory”.

During the nine-season span under investigation, 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,” Carragher said.

“Robbed feelings” and a stain on the club

Carragher argued that awarding those honours to the runners-up would be complicated, but insisted the core issue is the emotional loss suffered by rival clubs, players and supporters. “It’s not about medals, it’s about feelings, and that’s what Manchester City have robbed,” he said.

The former Liverpool defender placed responsibility squarely on the club’s hierarchy. “I don’t know how the owners can continue in English football,” he declared, calling their decade-long conduct “a stain that will be there for the next 10 years”. Carragher added that City’s vast resources had previously led him to doubt whether the Premier League could win a legal battle, and he praised the league for succeeding on 114 of 115 charges.

He also dismissed City’s long-standing claims of holding “irrefutable evidence” of their innocence. “Every man and his dog knows if you’ve got irrefutable evidence it would be over in a day or a week – this has dragged on for years,” he said.

Players face an unwanted asterisk

Carragher expressed sympathy for City’s past and present players, warning that their achievements now risk being viewed as illegitimate. “I’d be furious … a lot of their career is going to have an asterisk with it, or people are just going to call it a sham,” he said, citing Kevin De Bruyne as an example of a world-class talent whose legacy could be questioned.

While some former City stars have publicly defended the club since the verdict, Carragher predicted that support may dwindle as the situation unfolds. He accused the hierarchy of “gaslighting the players, their ex-players, their supporters” by insisting nothing was amiss.

What happens next?

City’s immediate priority is their impending appeal, which must be filed by 2 October. The pundit insists that real accountability lies at the very top: “Until they move away from the club, I don’t know how this stain is removed.”