Who Gets Man City’s Titles if They Are Stripped?

Which clubs get the title if Man City are stripped? It is a question that suddenly feels less like a pub argument and more like a problem for football’s lawyers, historians and record keepers after an independent commission found Manchester City guilty of serious breaches of Premier League financial rules.

The verdict, published on September 29, concerns nine seasons from 2009/10 through 2017/18, with the commission finding that City used sham commercial arrangements, submitted misstated financial information and breached spending rules, while also finding multiple failures to cooperate with the Premier League’s investigation.

There is, however, an important piece of housekeeping before anyone starts rewriting the trophy cabinet.

Manchester City have not been stripped of any titles.

The commission’s sanction has yet to be decided, and City have until October 2, 2026 to appeal the findings. The Premier League says a separate hearing will determine the punishment, with possible sanctions including fines, points deductions and other sporting penalties.

The range of possible outcomes is wide, and understanding what each punishment could mean for Manchester City is crucial to the wider debate surrounding the case.

So, for now, Sergio Agüero’s famous 2012 goal still wins City the title, Liverpool’s 2018/19 campaign still finished second, and Arsenal’s 2023/24 heartbreak remains exactly where it was.

Yet if titles were eventually vacated and awarded to the runners-up, the alternative history would be extraordinary.

Which Premier League Titles Could Change Hands?

Manchester City have won eight Premier League titles, with three of those victories falling directly inside the commission’s 2009/10 to 2017/18 period: 2011/12, 2013/14 and 2017/18. Their later titles came in 2018/19, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24.

That contrast matters because there is currently no decision saying every City title since the 2008 takeover will be removed.

If the three league titles within the period examined by the commission were stripped and the runner-up simply elevated, the new winners would be:

The 2011/12 title would return to Manchester United, although few football supporters would ever describe it as an ordinary title change.

City and United finished level on 89 points, with City’s superior goal difference separating them after one of the wildest final days the Premier League has produced. Agüero’s stoppage-time strike against Queens Park Rangers delivered City’s first Premier League crown, while United had to watch their neighbours celebrate.

Take that title away, and Sir Alex Ferguson would gain another EPL title, while United’s official Premier League tally would rise from 13 to 14.

The 2013/14 title would move to Liverpool, who finished second behind Manuel Pellegrini’s City. It was the campaign in which Luis Suárez scored 31 league goals and Brendan Rodgers’ side came within touching distance of ending Liverpool’s long wait for a Premier League championship.

Then comes 2017/18, when Pep Guardiola’s City became the first Premier League side to reach 100 points, finishing 19 points ahead of Manchester United.

Under this hypothetical scenario, José Mourinho’s United would suddenly inherit a title from a season in which City had appeared almost untouchable.

That would make Manchester United the biggest beneficiary of the three titles directly inside the commission’s nine-season period.

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What About City’s Later Premier League Titles?

This is where the whole issue becomes considerably more complicated.

City won another five Premier League titles after the period covered by the commission’s findings, including four in a row from 2020/21 through 2023/24.

If a future sanction went beyond the seasons specifically examined and somehow resulted in all eight City Premier League titles being stripped, the runners-up from those later seasons would enter the picture too.

That would produce this hypothetical list:

Liverpool’s 2018/19 case would be particularly painful to rewrite. Jürgen Klopp’s team collected 97 points, the highest total ever recorded by a team finishing second in the Premier League, yet City finished one point ahead.

Arsenal would also gain two hypothetical premier league title after finishing runners-up in 2022/23 and 2023/24.

The latter would sting most because Arsenal collected 89 points in 2023/24, only two fewer than City’s total, before finally ending their 22-year wait by winning the 2025/26 Premier League title.

That 2025/26 title, importantly, belongs to Arsenal already. City finished second.

Who Gets City’s FA Cup Titles?

The FA Cup creates another interesting list, although the same warning applies: the commission’s current findings do not automatically strip City of every domestic trophy won after 2017/18.

Manchester City have won the FA Cup four times during the modern period relevant to this discussion: 2010/11, 2018/19, 2022/23 and 2025/26.

If every one of those victories were retrospectively vacated and the beaten finalist became champion, the hypothetical winners would be:

The first one is especially interesting because City’s 1-0 victory over Stoke at Wembley in 2011 was the club’s first major trophy of the new era. Stoke would therefore become the unlikely beneficiary of the earliest hypothetical alteration.

Chelsea are the most recent possible beneficiary after City defeated them 1-0 in the 2026 final, with Antoine Semenyo scoring the only goal.

Again, though, Chelsea have not been awarded the FA Cup. City remain the official 2026 winners.

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The League Cup Would Produce Seven more changes

Manchester City’s League Cup collection is even larger, with nine victories overall, including seven from 2013/14 onwards. Their official honours list records wins in 2013/14, 2015/16, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2025/26.

If all seven were removed and the losing finalists were promoted, the alternative record would read:

The 2025/26 final is already firmly in the history books as a City victory, with Nico O’Reilly scoring twice in a 2-0 win over Arsenal.

Sunderland’s 2014 defeat would also become an intriguing piece of alternate history after City came from behind to win 3-1 at Wembley.

Tottenham’s case carries its own strange footnote. City beat Spurs 1-0 in the 2021 final through Aymeric Laporte’s late goal, with Ryan Mason managing Tottenham after José Mourinho’s dismissal shortly before the match.

In the hypothetical record, Mason would therefore have a League Cup on his managerial CV.

Football has a funny way of making alternate history sound almost believable.

Would The Community Shield Be Redistributed Too?

City’s Community Shield victories from this era came in 2012, 2018, 2019 and 2024.

If those were also removed and the defeated teams were retrospectively recognised, the list would be:

City beat Chelsea 2-0 in 2018, defeated Liverpool on penalties in 2019 after a 1-1 draw, and overcame Manchester United on penalties in 2024 after another 1-1 draw.

The Community Shield is also slightly different from the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup, since it is the traditional season curtain-raiser rather than a league campaign or knockout competition.

Then there is the 2026 Community Shield, which does not belong in any potential City-stripping calculation based on the current case. Arsenal, the 2025/26 Premier League champions, beat City 3-0 in August 2026 anyway.

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So, Who actually Gets Man City’s Titles?

For now, nobody.

That is the cleanest answer.

The independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of the charges relating to the financial breaches, yet the punishment remains to be decided and City have the right to appeal by October 2. The Premier League has expressly stated that the sanction will be addressed at a separate hearing.

Even if titles are eventually stripped, there is another question that tends to disappear beneath the excitement of imaginary trophy presentations: the runner-up does not automatically become champion just because the original winner has been punished.

Any redistribution would depend on the precise wording of the eventual sanction and the rules of the relevant competition.

That matters because the Premier League cannot just rewrite the FA Cup, and the FA cannot casually rewrite the League Cup. They are separate competitions with different governing structures.

So the alternative trophy cabinet is fascinating, but it remains alternative history.

If only the Premier League titles won during the nine-season period covered by the commission’s findings were removed, Manchester United would gain two championships and Liverpool one.

If every Premier League title from City’s modern dynasty were somehow vacated, United would gain three, Liverpool three and Arsenal two.

Across the domestic cups, Stoke City, Watford, Chelsea, Manchester United, Sunderland, Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Tottenham would all have reasons to study the record books rather more closely.

For now, though, the trophies remain where they have always been.

The next chapter is not about who receives them.

It is about what sanction, if any, Manchester City ultimately receives.