Manchester City narrowly beat Liverpool to two trophies during the era in which they are now under financial investigation.
Shaun Wright-Phillips believes that it would be unfair to strip his former club Manchester City of any titles, and says their rivals such as Liverpool would not want to claim them either.
In the wake of Everton’s 10-point deduction for one breach of the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules, eyes are also on Man City as they undergo their own investigation.
The serial title-winners face 115 charges, so given that the Blues’ punishment is the most severe of this nature in the Premier League era, there is still room for greater sanctions – whether it be a larger deduction, transfer embargo, financial ramifications, or even the threat of their achievements being struck from the record.
“I don’t think it would be fair for Manchester City to be stripped of any of their previous honours should they be found guilty of any of the charges against them,” he began. “It wouldn’t be fair, and I don’t think clubs would want to take those trophies off of City. They wouldn’t feel like they rightfully deserved them.
Regardless of what was happening off the pitch when these allegations first surfaced, the team still had to be managed and the players still had to perform in the way they did to win those titles. Whatever happens off the field shouldn’t take away from everything that the managers, players and fans did for the club. They are the reason why the club has won what they have.”
During the nine-year period of which their alleged financial wrongdoing took place, they won the league three times, League Cup three times, Community Shield twice and FA Cup once.
The title win in the 2013/14 campaign was directly contested with Liverpool, who ended up losing out on the trophy by two points. Two years on – Jurgen Klopp’s first season in charge of the Reds – City then won the League Cup on penalties in a tightly-contested final between the two clubs.
The word expulsion has even been thrown around in discussions about City, though Wright-Phillips feels his former side will be able bounce back from any punishment.
No matter what happens to City I think the fans will all stick together,” he continued. “They have been in darker places, when they were down in Division Two the fans were still there, and I don’t think that will change.
“They just have to keep getting on with things on the pitch at the moment and then cross that bridge when they come to it. Until then, they are not guilty. Nothing has happened so far and clearly if they are fighting it then they feel as though they haven’t done anything wrong.”
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