Former Stoke City boss Tony Pulis
Former Stoke City boss Tony Pulis (Image: (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images))
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Former Stoke City boss Tony Pulis said he feels cheated over the Potters’ FA Cup final loss to Manchester City.
The Citizens defeated Pulis’ Stoke 1-0 at Wembley in 2011 to kickstart what has been a trophy-laden decade and a half.
But those achievements have now been called into question after news broke on Friday that the club have been found guilty on all but one of the 115 charges brought by the Premier League – charges City have always strenuously denied.
In a column on the BBC Sport website, Pulis said Stoke fans had been asking him: “When do we get our FA Cup?”
He added: “I thought exactly the same. While the process is far from over because Manchester City are expected to appeal, I have to say this verdict and the whole situation has left a very sour taste in my mouth.
“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.”
There’s a reason Pulis feels so strongly.
“Taking my Stoke side to the 2011 FA Cup final was one of the highlights - if not THE highlight - of my 50 years in football as a player and manager,” he insisted.
“That day in May will also live long in the memory of all Stoke fans who followed their team to Wembley dreaming that they would win the greatest club cup competition in world football for the first time in their long history.
“The club we were playing, Manchester City, were on their way to dominating English football.
At that time they had not won a major trophy for 35 years but they were a team that, in transfer fees and wages, cost well above anything Stoke City could ever aspire to.
“Thinking back now, and I can still picture walking out before kick-off to see our end of the ground decked in red and white and hear the amazing rendition of Delilah from our supporters.
“Many of those fans had come from all corners of the world, and had spent or borrowed fortunes to make it, just to say: “I was there.”
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