Noel Gallagher has admitted surprise and sadness at Manchester City’s financial-rule situation, after reports that the club had been found guilty of all but one of the 115 Premier League charges brought against them in February 2023.
Key takeaways
- Gallagher said City supporters had been repeatedly assured that the allegations were being firmly denied.
- The Oasis singer described the reported verdict as “shocking”.
- He felt particular sympathy for supporters and players rather than those dealing with the matter away from the pitch.
- Gallagher insisted City’s achievements were won in matches, including Sergio Agüero’s title-winning goal in 2012.
- He accepted that the case may alter how the club’s success is viewed elsewhere in England.
A difficult weekend for a City supporter
The Manchester-born musician, a regular at the Etihad Stadium, spoke on the Let Me Talk podcast after a dramatic Friday for English football. City had long rejected the charges, which concern alleged financial irregularities and had hung over the club since the Premier League brought its case in 2023.
Gallagher said he had first heard the news on the radio and was taken aback, largely because of the assurances supporters had received from the club throughout the process.
“I was a little surprised when I heard it,” he said. “The club had assured us all this time that they categorically denied any of these charges.”
He called the prospect of City being found guilty on every count bar one “shocking”, but his strongest feeling was one of regret for those attached to the team rather than the administration. “It is quite sad, really,” he said. “Sad for the fans and for the players.”
The memories remain on the pitch
The discussion turned to whether a ruling of that scale could cast a shadow over City’s landmark moments, notably Agüero’s late strike against Queens Park Rangers which sealed the 2011-12 league title.
Gallagher’s view was that supporters can only answer for what they witnessed from the stands. City won their football matches on the grass, he said, and the players won that game and that championship there.
Questions over whether certain players should have been at the club were matters for the offices rather than the crowd, he added. Supporters had been present, knew what they saw and remembered what they felt.
He conceded that, in the eyes of many across England, the allegations and reported outcome could colour the club’s past. For Gallagher, however, the memory of those occasions remains intact. Pep Guardiola, who led City for ten seasons before leaving at the end of last term, may be gone from the dugout, but the argument around the club’s era is plainly far from leaving the terraces.
