Defiant yet anxious: Manchester City fans react to guilty verdict on 114 Premier League charges

Manchester City have been found guilty of all but one of the 115 financial charges brought against them by the Premier League, relating to alleged rule breaches between 2009 and 2018. The verdict, leaked on 25 September, ends years of anticipation for supporters who had long known the ruling was coming — even if that did little to soften the blow.

The streets around the Etihad Stadium were largely deserted on a Friday afternoon during the international break, a quiet backdrop to one of the most significant moments in the club’s recent history. “It’s usually full of City fans around here,” said one woman passing the ground with her daughter. “Where are they all? I think it’s shame.”

For Jonny Reed, manager of nearby supporters’ pub Mary D’s Bar, the verdict carried implications well beyond football. “It’s been going on so long that we were hoping it would get dismissed at some point,” he told the Manchester Evening News. “It’s come to the forefront and we’ll have to deal with it now. There’s other avenues the owners of the club will look at and we have a chance to appeal, which I definitely think we should.”

Reed’s concern extended to the economic fabric of the area. “In this area the jobs that are created by the club, the infrastructure, the hotel, restaurants, bars, the Co-op Live next door — that’s all linked to the club,” he said.

Not everyone outside the ground shared his anxiety. Nineteen-year-old fan Callum Ahmed, eating chips outside the City Chippy, struck a more defiant tone in the hours after the verdicts emerged. “I’m not too worried, I trust the club, I trust the owners that we’ve got,” he said, pointing to recent major investments including the new stand and high-profile signings. “We’re not guilty and I trust we will appeal it — it will go on for a couple more years but we’re not guilty.”

Ahmed also dismissed suggestions that the looming verdict had played any part in former manager Pep Guardiola’s departure from the club.

City have consistently denied any wrongdoing throughout an investigation that began in 2018. The charges span a period during which the club enjoyed a sustained rise to domestic and European dominance, culminating in the treble in 2023 and a fourth consecutive Premier League title the following year. The club is expected to appeal, meaning the saga — and its uncertainty — is far from over.