Every trophy Manchester City won across 14 seasons is suddenly up for argument. On Friday 25 September 2026, news broke that an independent commission had found the club guilty on 114 of the 115 charges the Premier League brought in February 2023. The most serious allegations, over inaccurate financial information, cover the nine seasons from 2009-10 to 2017-18. The charges for failing to co-operate with the investigation run through to 2022-23.
In that time, City won 17 major trophies: seven Premier League titles, three FA Cups, six League Cups and the 2023 Champions League. No sanction has been set yet, and City are almost guaranteed to appeal. That has not stopped rival fans and anyone following the story through online football betting asking the obvious question. If the titles go, should they pass straight to the runners-up?
Here is who would benefit, trophy by trophy.
The Premier League: Liverpool and United level on 23
Seven titles would change hands, and only three clubs would receive them.
The 2011-12 title would go to Manchester United, who finished level on 89 points and lost it on goal difference to Sergio Aguero's stoppage-time winner against QPR. Liverpool would take 2013-14, when they finished two points behind on 84.
United would also be handed 2017-18, despite finishing 19 points adrift of City's record 100. Liverpool's claim to 2018-19 is far stronger. They lost once all season and finished on 97 points, one behind.
The 2020-21 title would go to United, who were 12 points back on 74. Liverpool would take 2021-22 after missing out by a single point on 92. Arsenal would inherit 2022-23, having finished five points short on 84.
Three extra titles apiece would take Liverpool and Manchester United to 23 each, still level at the top of the all-time list. Liverpool's wait for a first title since 1990 would have ended in 2014 rather than 2020. Arsenal, champions again in 2025-26, would move to 15.
The FA Cup: a first for Stoke and Watford
Three finals would produce three new winners. Stoke City lost 1-0 in 2011 and Watford were beaten 6-0 in 2019. Neither club has ever won the FA Cup, and Watford have never won a major trophy of any kind.
The 2023 cup would go to local rivals Manchester United, beaten 2-1 at Wembley in the first all-Manchester final. That would give United four of the reallocated trophies in total, the same number as Liverpool.
The League Cup: six finals, six different clubs
City's League Cup run produced a different beaten finalist every time.
Sunderland would take the 2014 trophy after losing 3-1, which would be their first major honour since the 1973 FA Cup. Liverpool, beaten on penalties after a 1-1 draw in 2016, would add yet another. Arsenal lost 3-0 in 2018, and Chelsea went down on penalties after a 0-0 draw a year later.
Aston Villa, beaten 2-1 in 2020, would get their first major trophy since the 1996 League Cup. Ryan Mason’s Tottenham lost 1-0 in 2021, so handing them that final would have ended their drought four years before they won the Europa League in Bilbao.
The Champions League is UEFA's call
City beat Inter 1-0 in Istanbul on 10 June 2023, Rodri scoring the only goal. If that title were reallocated, it would give Inter a fourth European Cup. It is not the Premier League's to take, though. UEFA runs the competition, and the case City lost was brought under the Premier League's own rulebook.
Why the runners-up may get nothing
Precedent suggests reallocation is far from automatic. When Marseille were stripped of the 1992-93 French title over match-fixing, it was left vacant. After the Calciopoli scandal in 2006, Juventus lost two Serie A titles. The 2004-05 title was never reassigned, while the 2005-06 title went to Inter.
Timing complicates the City case further. The financial charges stop at 2017-18. In all, 10 of the 17 trophies, including four league titles and the Champions League, were won after that, in seasons covered only by the charges over co-operation. Those are harder to tie to the financial breaches.
Until a sanction is set and any appeal heard, all 17 remain in City's cabinet.