Jamie Carragher's comments about the potential redistribution of Manchester City's Premier League titles are bang on the money — sport is about the journey and the memories you make along the way
The Manchester City boss outside the Premier League
Manchester City are set to appeal the Premier League's guilty verdict in the 115 charges case
It is somewhat ironic that during a period where there is no Premier League action, the biggest story in the competition's history is unfolding.
Eight-time Premier League champion Manchester City has been found guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules over a nine-season period between 2009-10 and 2017-18 by an independent commission following a four-year Premier League investigation. The enormity of this story cannot be stressed enough.
City, which has denied any wrongdoing, stands accused of artificially inflating its revenue streams and reducing its reported expenses, thus allowing the club to circumvent Premier League spending rules. While true City still had to go out and achieve success on the pitch during that period, all of that success is now tainted by the fact that the club did so by allegedly breaking the rules. The sanctions and punishment will be severe if Premier League chief executive Richard Masters' comments are anything to go by.
"This disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history," said Masters in a statement this week. "There are elements of the case that remain to be decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches."
It is not clear what those punishments will be. However, given Masters' comments, it is not unthinkable that City will not be in the Premier League next season. In this writer's opinion, City should be handed the harshest possible sanctions because rule-breaking on that scale cannot go unpunished without severe consequences. The punishment the Premier League hands out must match the breaking of the rules, for which City has allegedly broken many.
It seems possible that City will also be stripped of the titles it won, both during the period of rule-breaking and afterward, since those titles could only have been achieved by cheating. While the international break rumbles on, the coverage of City's rule-breaking continues, and it will do so until it is determined just what sanctions the club will be handed.
Sky Sports had former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher on to discuss City's alleged rule-breaking and the punishment it should face on Wednesday, admitting that the club should be stripped of its titles. "I do think Manchester City's titles they've won in this time ... should be taken off their list," said Carragher.
However, if City's name is taken off the Premier League trophy, should those honors be awarded to the team that finished second? Not in Carragher's eyes. The former Reds defender explained that any redistribution of titles would be a hollow victory for the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United, because the players and staff of those teams were robbed of their moment of glory.
"Whether other clubs should get them, I think, is probably slightly different," continued Carragher. "But, what Manchester City have done is, they've not just hurt their own players ... but the players that we're talking about getting medals ... I've been very lucky, to win a few medals, and I don't look at the medal, I never look at the medal years later. But what happens is, my mind goes back to a moment.
"I get feeling in my stomach, I remember the referee blowing the final whistle of a big game ... that feeling I got. Those players will never get that feeling. And it was robbed by Manchester City ... I don't think any player will care if you go and give them a medal ... he'll never look at it. He won't care, he won't have that feeling, have that memory. And that's why I don't think it makes that much difference whether these players get medals because they've lost the moment. And when you win things as a footballer, nobody remembers the medal, it's what it felt like going for a night out with your mates after, where you went, what you did, the people you bumped into."
A general exterior view of Etihad Stadium, home stadium of Manchester City ahead of the Premier League 2026/27 match between Manchester City and Coventry City
Manchester City has been found guilty of the Premier League charges(Image: (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images))
Carragher's comments are bang on the money. I cannot profess to be an elite athlete. I will never know just what it feels like to achieve the success Carragher did in his sporting career. I can only imagine the euphoria he felt when Jerzy Dudek saved Andriy Shevchenko's penalty in the 2005 Champions League final, which saw Liverpool become European champions once more.
However, his comments resonated with me. For context, I am from Newcastle and live in the North-East of England. The North-East is home to the largest half-marathon in the world, the Great North Run. Having never done it before, I set myself a challenge last year to do it before I turned 30. I committed to training and completed it in 2 hours and 7 minutes, something I would have thought unthinkable the year prior. To me, that was a success as someone who is absolutely not an elite runner (or even a good runner, for that matter).
What made the moment of 'glory' sweeter, though, was the journey and the glory at the end of the run. The medal mattered not. What mattered was that I achieved something. For any individual to commit to a goal, it takes willpower, determination, courage, and the ability to handle setbacks. I look back on that day in 2025 fondly because I did something hard and was able to celebrate with friends and family. I did it again this year, and while my time was worse than last year, I still look back and say I achieved something. I got my moment.
To bring things full circle, the players, coaches, and fans who finished second to City never got their moment. They were robbed of that moment of glory, that moment where they could finally celebrate at the end of a long, arduous journey, a sentiment Carragher shared during his recent media appearance.
"So this thing about giving trophies or medals back, whether you do it or not, it doesn't mean anything because the people, they've lost the feeling," he added. "And it's supporters as well. It's not just players ... they've lost that moment that they remember that they'll take to the grave with them. Who they were with, what happened, the stories and the memories. It's not about medals, it's about feelings."
That final line is perhaps the best explanation for why City deserves such heavy punishment, if the guilty verdict is upheld. City appears to have broken the rules on an industrial scale and robbed rival fans of 'their moment.'
While there will be talk about the Premier League titles Liverpool, Manchester United, and Arsenal stand to receive, should the league redistribute them, there should be a conversation, too, about the domestic silverware City won during its period of rule-breaking.
Clubs like Stoke City and Watford were beaten in the FA Cup final in 2010/11 and 2018/19. Sunderland lost the League Cup final to City in 2013/14. Aston Villa, which ended its trophy drought by winning the Europa League last season, lost the League Cup final to City in 2019/20.
In the end, City's biggest crime may not be the financial rules it allegedly sought to break and undermine at every turn, but rather that it robbed the players and fans it competed against for years of getting 'their moment.'