That is what all Stoke City fans have been asking me since the news broke on Friday that Manchester City had been found guilty of breaking the majority of the 115 financial rules they have been accused of breaching. 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. 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.
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.
Think 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." For me, experiencing that game and occasion with Stoke City's owners, the Coates family, was really touching too. Continuously, over many decades, they have helped to finance their own community's local professional team.
For Peter, Denise, John and all the family and friends who in good times and bad found the money and spirit to back the club, it was their one day in the sun. It was the same for all of us connected with Stoke. This was our day, that day that many smaller clubs and their fans pray for.
Although we lost 1-0, our players were fantastic and gave, as always, a fully committed performance against the odds. Yaya Toure, who scored the winning goal, was reportedly earning 10 times what we were paying any of our players and, on his own, had cost more than our entire starting 11 when they had signed him from Barcelona in 2010. After the game, my disappointment was buried in the fact we had played a team full of superstars, and faced an elite coach in Roberto Mancini, and had just fallen short.
Today, I feel very differently, as I am sure people connected with the other clubs affected by City's successes in the same period, between 2009 and 2018, do too. We lost, but to a team that have been found guilty of breaking the financial rules set out by the Premier League. In doing so, they did not just beat Stoke in an FA Cup final, they collected a stack of titles and went on to completely dominate English football for more than a decade.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
