Former Stoke City boss Tony Pulis has said he feels ‘cheated’ having lost the 2011 FA Cup final to Manchester City, after the club were found guilty of the ‘vast majority’ of the Premier League’s 115 charges against them for financial rule breaking.Daily Mail Sport reported that the Premier League has succeeded in proving all of the substantive claims against Man City.An appeal from Man City is considered an inevitability, with chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak declaring on Saturday that they remain confident of clearing their name and ‘proving the club’s innocence’.Former Man United stars David de Gea and Rio Ferdinand have already called on Man City to be stripped of their 2011-12 Premier League title following the verdict.Fans of rival clubs have also called for the club to be stripped of trophies won during the period covered by the charges.Man City’s glittering era of success under their Abu Dhabi ownership was launched when they beat Stoke City 1-0 in the 2011 FA Cup final, representing the club’s first major honour since 1976. Tony Pulis admits he feels ‘cheated’ having lost the 2011 FA Cup final to Manchester City, after the club were found guilty of the ‘vast majority’ of the Premier League’s 115 charges Man City overcame Pulis’ Stoke City side 1-0 at Wembley to win their first major trophy since 1976 Yaya Toure scored the only goal of the FA Cup final to win the trophy for Roberto Mancini’s sideYaya Toure scored the only goal of the final in the 74th minute at Wembley. Pulis, who led underdogs Stoke into the final, told the BBC that fans of the club have contacted him to ask whether they will be awarded the FA Cup.The Welshman, whose second spell as Stoke boss lasted from 2006 to 2013, admitted he now feels ‘cheated’ after being beaten by Man City, following Friday’s verdict.’We lost, but to a team that have been found guilty of breaking the financial rules set out by the Premier League,’ Pulis told the BBC.’In doing so, they did not just beat Stoke in an FA Cup final, they collected a stack of titles and went on to completely dominate English football for more than a decade.’So, with those rules having been broken, what will the punishment be?’Well, I know all Stoke supporters will be demanding that City pass the trophy over and every club that has been affected by their actions will be considering their legal options.’I don’t expect Manchester City to phone me or the club up and offer back the 2011 FA Cup and the winners’ medals their players received.’I don’t seriously believe any other trophies and titles will be handed back over either. A points deduction and a massive fine feels far more likely.’ Manchester City have been found guilty of the vast majority of their 115 Premier League rule-break charges The club have maintained that they are innocent throughout the process and are expected to appeal HOW THE TEAMS LINED UP Man City: Hart, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Kolorov, De Jong, Barry, Toure, David Silva, Balotelli, Tevez.Subs: Given, Zabaleta, Boyata, Milner, Johnson, Vieria, DzekoManager: Roberto ManciniStoke: Sorensen, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Huth, Wilson, Pennant, Whelan, Delap, Etherington, Jones, Walters.Subs: Nash, Collins, Faye, Pugh, Diao, Whitehead, CarewManager: Tony Pulis <!- – ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/sport/football/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 – ->
Man City, who have always strongly denied wrongdoing, were charged in February 2023 by the Premier League with a hearing concluding in December 2024. Their statement that February insisted that they were ‘surprised’ by the charges. The Premier League accused Man City of multiple breaches of financial rules and of failing to co-operate with a subsequent investigation. The alleged rule breaking was claimed to have taken place over a 14-year period. The club were accused of failing to report accurate financial information for nine seasons stretching from 2009-10 to 2017-18, as well as failing to provide full details of former manager Roberto Mancini’s pay between 2009-10 and 2012-13.They were also alleged to have failed to provide full details of money paid to players between 2010-11 and 2015-16 and failing to co-operate with the probe from 2018 to 2023.Between the years mentioned, Manchester City won eight Premier League titles, a Champions League, four FA Cups and seven EFL Cups. Daily Mail Sport reported on Saturday that the verdict will trigger a series of legal claims for as much as £800million.In late 2024, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United served formal notices reserving their right to take action in the event that City – who could now face expulsion from the top flight – be found guilty. Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak (left) has insisted his club are innocent of the charges they have been found guilty ofRepresentatives have already begun putting together a case on how much they feel they have a claim for, pointing out that they have lost potential income on the back of City’s cheating.On Saturday, the club hit back in the shape of a strong statement from chairman Al Mubarak, who declared that they remain confident of clearing their name and ‘proving the club’s innocence’.In a lengthy statement, Al Mubarak seemed to make the suggestion that the process had not been fair. He asked fans to study a statement made on Friday by the club closely. That statement read: ‘The club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence.’In his message to fans, he wrote: ‘The Premier League process still has a long way to run, and our confidence and intent in proving the club’s innocence is just as strong as when this began.‘There are so many things that I would like to be able to share with you to help you understand why we feel so confident in our position. But the strict confidentiality of the legal process and our determination to respect it means I cannot do that at the moment. Even this letter underwent several legal checks to make sure it complies.‘While some people have been quick to reach their own conclusions, and there is so much noise swirling around us, nothing has changed. We have faced challenges together before and have prevailed. There remain many who want to undermine the momentum of our club. We will not give them that opportunity.’