Scholes demands City's 2012 title as Rooney refuses retrospective medal

Paul Scholes has declared he would eagerly accept a retrospective Premier League title if Manchester City are stripped of their 2012 championship, placing him in direct public disagreement with former Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney, who has rejected the idea outright.

City were found guilty by an Independent Commission of 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules between 2009 and 2018. The club have appealed the verdict and maintain their innocence, but potential sanctions range from a fine or points deduction to expulsion from the division — and, at least theoretically, the loss of titles won during that period.

In 2012, City pipped United to the title on goal difference, sealing the championship with Sergio Agüero’s stoppage-time goal against Queens Park Rangers on the final day — a moment that arrived just as United believed they had won the league following their own victory at the Stadium of Light.

Scholes, who holds 11 Premier League titles, was unequivocal when the subject was raised on The Good, The Bad & The Football. “F*g yeah. I only played 14 times somewhere in the last six months of the season. But yeah, I would take it,” he said, responding to the suggestion that he might not want such a medal. “We lost on goal difference that year. Do you not think the rest of our team, our teammates, the manager and the staff are working their bollocks off all year to try and win the league? And just because a team did it wrongly, cheated, that we wouldn’t want it?”

The former midfielder had previously made his position clear on social media. “Keep hearing ex-teammates saying they want trophies taking off them [City] but don’t want their medals,” Scholes wrote. “F that, I’m a greedy b*** I want my medal.”

Rooney, one of those team-mates Scholes appeared to be referencing, has taken the opposite view. Speaking to Match of the Day host Kelly Cates, he said: “I look at it from the players’ point of view. I’m assuming all the players didn’t know what was going on. They went onto the football pitch and won the league, while we finished second. We didn’t finish first. Why would we want a medal for finishing second?”

Rooney had previously added that he would not feel comfortable accepting a winner’s medal under those circumstances, a stance that puts him at odds with Scholes and, reportedly, former United defender Rio Ferdinand, who has also indicated he would welcome the recognition.

The question of whether runners-up could be retrospectively elevated to champions remains unresolved. Legal and sporting precedent makes such an outcome appear unlikely in the near term, and no formal decision on sanctions has yet been reached while City’s appeal is ongoing.