English football fans are dealing with a similar scenario to the one you and I considered extensively in 2011 and 2012, but substantial differences exist. Manchester City have been found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules on 114 occasions. It is the most egregious subversion of the game in England and is different to other high-profile cases across Europe, including here in Scotland.
Some caveats, the formal verdict is not out and an appeal process is available to the club, however, that specifically excludes The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which found in City’s favour when Uefa challenged them. It appears unlikely an appeal would do anything more than delay the matter.
While considering a response, football must answer the fundamental question: Why did Manchester City act in this way, and did they receive a sporting advantage from doing so? I suggest that receiving a sporting advantage was the only reason for their actions, so the most onerous sanctions should be sporting. There should be a financial penalty – appropriate for the cost of the legal process and the monies missed out by other teams – but for such a wealthy club, that is no hardship.
Rangers failed to register player contracts for over a decade, in breach of Scottish Football Association (SFA) and Scottish Premier League (SPL) player registration rules. They also failed to pay or withhold employment taxes , ultimately leading to a successful claim against the club (in administration) by HMRC, although little of the money was recovered.
These two things happened in parallel, and although they were related to the same player contracts, they had completely different consequences. The SFA issued a paltry fine against the club (in administration) and, in 2017, refused to participate in a review into the handling of the events surrounding the matter. They also gave evidence to an SPL investigation that they were satisfied with the non-registration of player contracts, which inhibited options available to the SPL. In refusing to participate in an indepedent investigation, the SFA avoided addressing the issuing of a Uefa licence to Rangers in 2011, when they qualified for the Champions League, despite having outstanding social taxes, which was a material breach of that licence.
This was a dereliction of duty. Football in Scotland refused to wash its hands and it remains tainted. At the very least, Rangers directors should have been called out for their behaviour and banned for life from the game. There were no significant football consequences, and if it happens again, a poor precedent has been set.
Not to be confused with the SFA’s behaviour, the club were unable to pay their debts and went into administration. In what could only be described as an extraordinary period, the administrators tried to sign a football player (Daniel Cousin) but failed to agree a way forward with creditors. Rangers subsequently went into liquidations. A ‘basket of assets’ was sold to Sevco Scotland, which applied for membership to the SFA, the SPL and ultimately, the Scottish Football League (SFL).
Sevco were awarded associate membership of the SFA, but only Rangers supported their application to join the SPL. Kilmarnock abstained and all other clubs voted against accepting their application. The SFL voted to accept their application to join the Third Division, despite lobbying from their own chief exec to allow Sevco direct access to The Championship.
Rangers fans were faced with the liquidation of their club, which they preferred to overlook. I understand. If the boot was on the other foot, I would tell myself whatever it took to believe Celtic were still with me. Pretty much everyone else prefers the facts as they are. If the boot was still on the other foot, Rangers fans would do exactly the same.
The leagues, the SFA and the media were all incentivised to overlook the facts. On one occasion, I was invited onto the radio to discuss the matter, but only on condition I agreed to the ‘same club myth’ – I declined. Others lost their jobs over this issue.
So what to do with Manchester City? A points penalty which effectively relegates them seems likely, but I struggle to see how it would extend to relegation through multiple layers. Newco Rangers started in the fourth tier of Scottish football, but there was no relegation (and no relegation mechanism). This is not an equivalent scenario.
It is important that, unlike in Scotland, the Football Association and Premier League are open to independent audit on the matter. Sporting advantage clearly happened, say so clearly and embrace the consequences. Your game will be better for it.
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Stv sport managed to get ferguson to say he has family connections to Sevco but he won’t talk about moving there out of respect for bologna all wrapped up in a scotland press conference, bbc had bullie gilmour on how he is now a senior squad member
So the terror plot the guys back out in a day apparently they were stealing diesel 😂😂
But Trumps services were on their case!
In regards to compensation… we took the deal… end of !!
Don’t keep boring us with ..he said this and he done this …we may not like it but take my word …..it’s finished!
Get over it !
Oh .. I don’t agree with it bye the way !
billy.
82 touches. no goals no assists.
he is no paul mcstay. or indeed callum mcgregor.
most overrated player since the last hun wan
saint stivs
September 28, 2026 8:30 pm
passing the time.
Football Without Fans – Port Glasgow CSC, No.1 Branch
By David Faulds 11 January, 2024 No Comments
https://thecelticstar.com/football-without-fans-port-glasgow-csc-no-1-branch/
https://x.com/NormalIslandNws/status/2104594173060153635
https://x.com/celticwarrior93/status/2104347967822110932
Doron Spielman says the IDF is the most moral army in the world.
There are Israelis who disagree.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yG6YWQ9HPNQ
cant believe the 5 men who were about to carry out the biggest terrorist attack in the uk for decades have been released on bail.
trump said the americans had been tracking them for ages.
what more evidence than that do our security services need to know that these people are an existential threat to all of us?
im away to hide under my bed to hopefully avoid the impending doom now these folk are on the loose 😄
LADTH…
For goodness sake man! Have you seen the price of diesel?
Interrupting with a bit of football news – Benji scored the first goal for Sweden today. Great to see.
LADTH…
For goodness sake man! Have you seen the price of diesel?
—
😄😄
Interrupting with a bit of football news – Benji scored the first goal for Sweden today. Great to see.
—
we need to play him in the position that makes him do what he does best – score goals!
im not sure what that means for the rest of the formation though
The Young Ones could have done a sketch with this …
https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/was-fairford-the-most-embarrassing?r=bc5xc&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
https://substack.com/@ayubahmad/note/c-346856661?r=bc5xc&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
they couldnt have , could they :)
Sergey Lavrov wonders about The Celts – new travels :)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6j9xk474wxgo
On P67’s leader-
Maybe Man City should ask Lord Nimmo Smith for an opinion on whether multiple rule breaking resulted in them gaining any sporting advantage – after all, his Commission found that it didn’t in Rangers’ case.
Might come in useful. It certainly did for Rangers.
https://static.independent.co.uk/2026/09/28/13/28/Screenshot-2026-09-28-at-14-32-44.png?quality=75&width=1250&crop=3%3A2%2Csmart&trim=56%2C0%2C57%2C0&auto=webp
The scale of the destruction…
Square profile picture
The Athletic | Football
@TheAthleticFC
·
19h
Across the nine seasons they were accused of not providing accurate information, Manchester City spent £1.943billion on wages, over £100m more than any other English club. In 17 Abu Dhabi-controlled years to the end of 2024-25, their combined wage bill was £4.963bn.
At Manchester United and Chelsea, the next-highest combined bills in England, the figure is around £600m lower. It is a staggering difference.
Since 2009-10 (the first season the charges relate to), the Premier League has dished out more than £6bn in merit payments to 42 different clubs. City received £559.6m (9%).
They have played in the Champions League every year from 2011-12 onwards, achieving qualification in eight of the nine years the charges spanned.
Such qualification naturally means others missed out. On that particular measure, Tottenham Hotspur were worst hit, landing one spot outside of the Champions League on four occasions during that spell. Their Europa League earnings from those occasions totalled a combined £28.8million; City made £141m from the Champions League in the same seasons.
It is not just those fighting for titles or European spots who may feel they’ve missed out. What of the beaten cup finalists? What of the clubs who might have avoided relegation if City’s results were scrubbed out?
📝
@CWeatherspoon_
https://bit.ly/4hPNst5
Across the nine seasons they were accused of not providing accurate information, Manchester City spent £1.943billion on wages, over £100m more than any other English club. In 17 Abu Dhabi-controlled years to the end of 2024-25, their combined wage bill was £4.963bn.
At Manchester United and Chelsea, the next-highest combined bills in England, the figure is around £600m lower. It is a staggering difference.
Since 2009-10 (the first season the charges relate to), the Premier League has dished out more than £6bn in merit payments to 42 different clubs. City received £559.6m (9%).
They have played in the Champions League every year from 2011-12 onwards, achieving qualification in eight of the nine years the charges spanned.
Such qualification naturally means others missed out. On that particular measure, Tottenham Hotspur were worst hit, landing one spot outside of the Champions League on four occasions during that spell. Their Europa League earnings from those occasions totalled a combined £28.8million; City made £141m from the Champions League in the same seasons.
It is not just those fighting for titles or European spots who may feel they’ve missed out. What of the beaten cup finalists? What of the clubs who might have avoided relegation if City’s results were scrubbed out?
koko💙❤️
@KosisoVall
·
16h
Fan account
🚨 Dortmund sporting director on the record about the 2022 Haaland sale:
“Manchester City never wanted the real number out. That was the first condition they put on the table. Not the release clause everyone printed. The full package.
Officially it was reported as £51 million because that was the figure written into the clause and that was the figure they asked us to stand by.
Internally it was a completely different conversation. When you add the guaranteed payments, the structured extras and what was agreed around the player’s camp, we were looking at something close to €250 million all-in.
That is more than PSG paid for Neymar in 2017. City knew that. We knew that. They did not want Europe talking about it.
They were very clear: if Dortmund confirmed anything above the clause, the deal would become politically messy for them. So there was a private understanding.
We stay silent on the real total. They stay silent. A few people in the media were steered toward the £51m line and that became the official story
I am not going to sit here four years later and pretend we sold the best young striker in Europe for pocket money. We did not. City paid what they had to pay to get him. They just did not want the world to see the receipt.”
‘Manchester Cit’s legacy will be gone if they lose the appeal against the Premier League’ Graeme Souness today in one of the newspapers.
I’m not sure he had the same thoughts on his old Club in Ibrox.
Although to be fair it wasn’t just their legacy they lost it was the entire club!
https://x.com/gylesnamopaleen/status/2104815347966574711?s=20
GylesNaMopaleen@gylesnamopaleen
something extraordinary is happening on Garvaghy road as protestants & unionists are now coming out to support the residents.
This is remarkable. It’s like a mini fleadh all sections of the community coming together.
h/t Kevin Scott for clip.
BELLA CALEDONIA@bellacaledonia
The Garvaghy Road and the Celtic Alliance
From bellacaledonia.org.uk
Good morning CQN
A glorious, sunny morning and another fine day to be a Celt.
McPhail Bhoy @ 08:26am re Souness – yip.
Man doesn’t do irony.
I wonder if any of the 115 charges was
“paying a guy while he was the manager of another club.
That guy then buying a player for a fortune from your club …
… for the club he was the manager of
… twice”
In other unrelated news …
Tugay Kerimoğlu and Jean-Alain Boumsong are apparently both well and enjoying retirement
new article posted.