Manchester United Supporters Trust demands City expulsion after 114-charge guilty verdict

The Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) has called for Manchester City to be expelled from football after the club was reportedly found guilty of 114 of the 115 Premier League financial charges brought against them.

In a formal statement, MUST described the alleged conduct as “industrialised cheating on an unprecedented scale” and argued that any punishment must go beyond a temporary sanction. The trust said a single season outside the Premier League would leave much of the competitive advantage City had built during the period in question firmly intact.

“If these findings are upheld, this cannot be dismissed as an accounting error or an accidental breach of complex rules,” the statement read. “It would amount to industrialised cheating on an unprecedented scale.”

The Premier League has not yet released an official statement on the verdict, and City themselves continue to maintain their innocence. No punishment has been formally announced, though relegation, a points deduction, and a significant fine have all been discussed as possible outcomes. Any sanction could be subject to further delay should City, as widely expected, lodge an appeal.

MUST drew a pointed contrast between two models of ownership they consider damaging to the game. The trust criticised the Glazer family’s stewardship of Manchester United — citing debt-loading, dividend extraction, and associated costs — before turning to what it called the opposite extreme: owners who use external wealth to “financially dope their clubs and cheat rules designed to protect fair competition.”

“The punishment therefore has to remove the advantage gained, not simply impose a temporary inconvenience,” the statement continued. “There is also a fundamental question of ownership and trust.”

MUST added that if the findings survive appeal, football must consider whether the ownership that presided over the alleged wrongdoing retains the right to run the club going forward — a question, the trust said, that goes to the heart of what football clubs owe their communities.

City’s transformation into one of the most powerful clubs in world football during the period covered by the charges makes the stakes of any final ruling exceptionally high, both for the club and for the Premier League’s credibility as a self-regulating body.