The first question Mr P's pub quiz team here got after he joined it was 'Who took the penalty that Dave Beasant saved in the 1988 Cup Final'. Honest!

We were an answer on University Challenge a moment ago

I thought the legal/ accounty stuff was interesting 😔.

Yayy a Rudi pen!

Has anyone ever thought that as soon as you mention auditors and accountants the guestbook goes dead?

Has anyone ever thought that you are talking cross purposes with someone ;-]

Like ours!

Keefy, a different issue somewhat. FYI the last audited accounts for MCFC were year ending 30/6/2025, so they're bang on time ...

RK The EU has not had it's accounts signed off for some 13 yrs. You cannot expect little old Man Shitty to comply either.

OI, that was my original but ignored point from earlier today! Althpugh, i suspect they have responsibity to verify that commercial income is correct but i don't know whether they are supposed to check against football rules

I bow to the accountants but is it possible to have arrangements that are legally OK and follow accounting standards but break specific fooball related rules? If so would it be a duty of auditors to point that out?

I think their auditors are/were Deloitte and they've just been done for worse than lying to help out City.

$6m, but my point is that this has been going on for yonks (8 years? ...), so why wasn't this flagged by their auditors?

Filing deliberately misleading or untrue statutory accounts is a criminal offence that could result in a custodial sentence for the directors if found guilty. Of course it won't because of who Man City are but this isn't some minor misdemeanour related purely to football but the SFO and HMRC should be paying close attention for whether they need to get involved. HMRC are not normally shy going after football clubs if they sniff blood.

Rangers were arguably the biggest club in Scotland in 2012. Went into administration, were dropped into D4. It only took them a few years to bounce back. If that was the decision for being broke, what will the authorities do to an outfit at the other end of the scale, who blatantly ignored the rules/laws of the game because they have enough money to buy anything they want? The big question is, will these same money bods stick around while the club tries to claw its way back up from wherever they get demoted to? Think of the inflated wages at low level that will happen if these 'bods' do stick around, plus what it will do to clubs around them trying to stay competitive.

DO, have you applied to be a local magistrate ;-)

I think it will slowly dawn upon people that if you break a specific rule, on multiple occasions, seeking to gain an advantage, you will be heavily punished. Southampton spy-gate springs to mind. Once Premier League have finished with Man City, it will be the FA's turn, then the SFO.

Good thread on what's been going on,[Link]

Transferring money from an oil rich state to a deprived (?) area of Northern England is ok by me and Andy Burnham but a bit socialist surely?

Yeah Porthcawl I asked last night whether we invented the "you know what you are" chant or whether it had existed before we played the franchise. Anyone know?

OI - of course, their investment in East Manchester and their ownership of Man City are two completely distinct and separate things.

scousers yesterday chanting, you know what you are, I've heard it somewhere before

If Man City lose their appeal, then, given the magnitude of their rule breaking, the longevity of it, the obfuscation since the investigation began (which is why it has taken so long), they should be made an example of. All honours won since the financial doping began should be rescinded (whether these are awarded to runners-up is a question for another day), a huge fine and expulsion from the football pyramid. I believe they should then need to apply to the Manchester Football League Division Two (level 13) and restart from there. We committed no crime but had to restart at the bottom - anything less for City would be unreasonable.

Nick "keefy - It has clearly, successfully, bought influence." Me "The people of East Manchester seem quite pleased as well." My reference was very clearly about the investment in East Manchester, which is what on the whole has brought them influence cf. Burnham's remarks. But anyway I'm glad we both agree that the club should be punished and approve of the owners improving conditions in the area.

Just hope it gets sorted this season.