Gary Neville: Premier League ‘dragged through the mud’ by Man City verdict

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·1 October 2026

Gary Neville: Premier League ‘dragged through the mud’ by Man City verdict

Gary Neville believes the Premier League has been “dragged through the mud” by Manchester City’s guilty verdict.

An independent commision found City guilty of 114 breaches of the league’s rule over a nine-year period.

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It was revealed on Tuesday that City were guilty on all charges related to breaching the English top flight’s financial rules, while they are also guilty of all but one charge of failure to cooperate with the investigation.

It was found that City “clearly intended to circumvent” the regulations between 2009 and 2018, primarily by disguising owner funding as sponsorship revenue. They overstated their revenue by £854.5 million and understated their expenditure by £66.2 million, adding up to £920.7 million in financial misstatements.

Neville: Premier League ‘dragged through the mud’ by Man City verdict

Former Manchester United full-back Neville thinks the whole saga has affected the reputation of the Premier League. “To listen to this, it is chilling,” the pundit said on the Stick To Football podcast.

“We always think that we’ve got an enormous integrity, the Premier League, that we are the sort of league that sets the standard, and that it’s other leagues that have got corruption, fraud, doping scandals, match-fixing, referee scandals.

“This is now coming to our country. This is now coming to our league. This is the greatest export that we have in our country. At the moment we’re being dragged through the mud.”

Jamie Carragher has called on the Premier League to throw the book at City, insisting that the club should be stripped of the titles they won over this period and the club’s owners should be removed from their positions.

“I do think Manchester City’s titles they’ve won in this time, or trophies, should be taken off their list,” the former Liverpool defender told Sky Sports.

“Whether other clubs should get them is slightly different. But what Manchester City have done is, they’ve not just hurt their own players in terms of no one looks at their trophies and medals now in the same way…

“I’ve been very lucky to win a few medals. I never look at the medal years later. But my mind goes back to a moment, I get a feeling in my stomach. I remember the referee blowing a final whistle of a big game.

“Those players will never get that feeling and it was robbed by Manchester City. That’s what they haven’t got. I don’t think any player will care if you go and give them a medal, and he puts it in the house, in his trophy room, he’ll never look at it.

“It’s not about medals, it’s about feelings, and that’s what Manchester City have robbed.”

Carragher added: “The club are going to get punished,” he said. “You’ve got supporters, players, the club and owners. For me this is all about the owners, the people who are at the top of the club.

“Man City are a wonderful club and have been for a hundred years and will be for hundreds of years going forward. But in terms of what we’re finding out now, I don’t know how the owners can continue in English football.

“We talk about a fit and proper test for owners. What they’ve done for 10 years – and left this stain that will be there for the next 10 years – it starts because they don’t like the word no. When you see the statements – the one from [CEO Ferran] Soriano last night – it’s beggars belief what you’re hearing.

“They have so much power and finance behind them, nobody ever tells them no. Until they move away from the club, I don’t know how this stain is removed from the club.

“City will move on – they will have great teams in the future. But I don’t see how the ownership can continue after what’s happened here and their reaction to it. How can they be surprised? They’ve got irrefutable evidence – well where is it? Put it out there.”

Read – Premier League confirm Man City hid £920m in ‘sham’ revenue