Tony Pulis says Stoke should get a Manchester City trophy after guilty verdict

Former Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has said one of Manchester City’s trophies should be handed to Stoke following reports of a guilty verdict over the club’s financial conduct.

Pulis made the comment in a column for the BBC, telling readers he felt “cheated” by City after the 1-0 FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City in 2011, a match decided by a Yaya Tour-e9 goal. The verdict relating to Manchester City was reported by sports outlets including the Daily Post and Complete Sports.

In his column Pulis reflected on the quality of City’s squad in 2011 and the wider consequences of the club’s later success. He said, “We lost, but to a team that have been found guilty of breaking the financial rules set out by the Premier League.” He added that City had “collected a stack of titles and went on to completely dominate English football for more than a decade,” comments reported by Complete Sports.

Pulis said he does not expect Manchester City to hand back medals or titles, but that he thinks heavy fines and points deductions are more likely outcomes. He wrote, “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.” Both the Daily Post and Complete Sports carried those remarks.

The Daily Post’s report noted that an available estimate placed Yaya Tour-e9’s transfer fee above the combined value of Stoke’s starting lineup at the 2011 final. That detail was included in the Daily Post account of Pulis’ column.

Pulis also suggested that clubs affected by Manchester City’s success would be considering their legal options, and he said Stoke supporters would demand the trophy be passed to his old side. That point and the line about supporters were reported by Complete Sports.

The Daily Post said Manchester City were waiting to hear the full sanctions and had confirmed they would appeal. That report did not appear in Complete Sports’ coverage of Pulis’ column.

Background facts mentioned in both reports include Manchester City’s 1-0 win over Stoke in the 2011 FA Cup final, decided by a Yaya Tour-e9 goal, and the wider media coverage of the club’s recent guilty verdict on financial charges. City has not yet had any sanctions finalised in public reports cited by these outlets.

Links to the original coverage: Daily Post: dailypost.ng, Complete Sports: completesports.com.

Featured image: Ank kumar via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.