Just published on the Arsenal History site: 100 seasons in the top divison: a key turning point 1933/4
By Tony Attwood
If you are a regular reader of my ramblings, you will probably have realised that although the media have lost interest, the Premier League’s charges against Manchester City have remained on the table since they were first levelled against the club two years and eight months ago.
Ever since then, we have had occasional newspaper stories to the effect that “Across the Premier League, senior figures are now bracing themselves,” for a verdict. Although being “braced” for that long must be quite tiring.
What no one has ever said is that “maybe it will never be settled,” and the authorities have told the media to forget about it on the grounds that fans still go to games, the media has lost interest, so why not let them get away with a warning?
Another of the many points that has never been answered (although quite possibly never asked) is why no one thought that the affair to drift on like this. This explains why there was no timetable set for the length of time an appeal could be delayed. And perhaps the most important of all, did Manchester City really threaten to bring down the whole Premier League if the accusations were not withdrawn? If so, and the evidence suggests they did, surely that is enough to have them thrown out of the league. How can any organisation keep within it a member that has stated that if it doesn’t get its own way, it will bring the organisation to its knees?
The Guardian over a year ago said that it was preparing us for the result of the case with the headline “Win or lose, Manchester City case poses perilous threat to Premier League power” and we are still there, waiting, watching, wondering who has blinked.
Until recently, you could still access a range of bets tailored breathlessly to City’s financial charges, including HOT MARKETS on deductions, fines and even relegation (a miserly 6-1: these people really do know their wishful-thinking demographic).
And yet for all the articles such as “115” – or “129/130”, as it’s become known in football circles – this has been the moment when the Premier League reached its ultimate crisis and seemingly turned away, hoping we might all forget. And this despite the parallel associated party transaction (APT) case, finally ending in a settlement between City and the Premier League.
That sentiment still takes some by surprise, given how muted the reaction to that announcement was in early September, particularly in contrast to the fuss surrounding the dispute. Maybe everyone expects us all to forget.
Meanwhile, the Independent newspaper has taken the line that it is actually all over, and both sides have agreed to new legislation while forgetting the past cases. That is very likely and shows very rich clubs that, from now on, they can get away with anything.
The worry has been that because of the ManC case, a small club could be bought by an overseas investor, do “impossible” deals with another club the owners also control, and with no controls over the finances of that secondary club. There is still nothing that can stop this.
But the key point emerging from what statements are made is that everyone involved is tired of the fight with ManC, and has recognised that ManC will continue the fight until the League gives up. It has even been whispered that last season’s third-place finish and the club’s form this season are part of the deal, in which case we really will hear no more about it all with APT being scrapped and ManC agreeing not to claim compensation for the case, or for the deals it claims it hasn’t been able to do because of the case. Thus, what has gone out the window is the founding principle of partnership and majority voting. No one now knows what happens when the next dispute erupts.
Certainly, what most clubs don’t want is for the Premier League to look like the Scottish League, just one team winning the league all the time (13 titles in the last 14 years for Celtic). Such dominance reduces TV revenues for all the other clubs since fans become disinterested in leagues where the outcome is known before the start.
Only the size of the investment in the clubs and the fact that it is too big to allow the owners to back out has kept the case running.
What most clubs seem to want is a form of anchoring, and so this season we have the ongoing Profit and Sustainability Rules, alongside “Squad Cost Rules” and “Top to Bottom Anchoring Rules,” running somehow in the background (although how far in the background is hard to say).
And all the while ManC continue their appeal. You could call it “a mess,” but that would be an understatement of gargantuan proportions..
