Tony Pulis has explained that he feels “cheated” by Manchester City, after the club were found guilty of 114 breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules on Friday. After a three-year wait, football fans worldwide learned the outcome of the Cityzens’ long and drawn out saga with officials from the English top flight.
In 2023, the club were slapped with 115 charges regarding infractions of EFL financial rules and regulations over a nine-year period spanning 2009 and 2018. And on Friday, the bombshell dropped that the club had been found guilty of all but one of those charges.
As a result, Premier League players, managers and clubs now wait anxiously to see what punishment will be cast City’s way. While there has been speculation over potential fines, points deductions and transfer embargoes, more severe penalties include stripping City of their titles from the period affected by the breaches, as well as full-blown expulsion from the league.
As for Pulis, however, no punishment will be strong enough to allow City to atone from the misery they put him through in the not too distant past. The seasoned head coach was at the helm of Stoke City for the 2011 FA Cup final.
City ultimately beat the Potters 1-0 at Wembley on that fateful day, Yaya Toure scoring the winning goal in the 74th minute of play. As a result, Pulis and Stoke made the long journey back to the Midlands empty-handed, while City lifted the fifth FA Cup of their rich history.
However, now that the news has broken that said final took place in the period where City have been ruled guilty of foul play, Pulis can’t help but feel cheated by the result. Writing in his BBC Column, the 68-year-old said: “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.
“But I still feel cheated. Whatever happens next, we won’t ever get that day back and the chance to celebrate around Stoke-on-Trent with the cup and medals we so honestly fought for. After breaking the rules, Manchester City got to do that instead.”
Pulis also highlighted that game-winner Toure was reportedly earning 10 times the amount that the Stoke player were receiving in compensation at the time, and that alone, he cost City more than the entire value of the Potters’ starting XI.
That’s given the Sky Blues coughed up around £24million to sign Toure from Barcelona in July 2010. Manchester City are expected to appeal their verdict, given the club have consistently plead their innocence since being slapped with charges in 2023.
That means that any punishment could still be a while away yet, considering the Premier League will not take definitive action until the case closed. In turn, Pulis – and the other teams, players and fan bases who feel aggrieved by City over the years – will have to wait a little while longer until they see the closure they demand.
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