West Ham could be among the clubs with most to gain from the Manchester City financial verdict – but the Hammers may have to wait a while before discovering exactly what it means.
The football world has been rocked by the independent commission finding Manchester City guilty of serious breaches of Premier League financial regulations covering a nine-season period.
The verdict found that City had used what the commission described as “sham” commercial arrangements, submitted misstated accounts and were significantly in breach of both Premier League and UEFA spending limits.
The commission also found that City breached their obligation to cooperate with the Premier League investigation, with three of four alleged non-cooperation charges upheld.
Manchester City have now appealed the verdict, meaning the outcome remains some way off. The appeal is being heard by a new independent three-person commission.
And that is where things become particularly interesting for the Hammers.
Could West Ham gain a Premier League place?
If City’s appeal ultimately fails and they receive a sufficiently severe sporting sanction, relegation is one possible consequence.
A points deduction could theoretically push City into the Championship.
Everton received 4 points for one offence, so in theory 114 offences would be a 456-point deduction at that tariff, which would mean relegation to the Championship.
However, expulsion is a different matter.
If City were expelled from the Premier League, they would not simply be regarded as having finished 20th. They would leave the Premier League altogether, and their eventual place in the English football pyramid would have to be determined.
The Premier League would then potentially have only 19 clubs, creating an unusual problem over promotion and relegation.
Sky Sports has reported that, in such circumstances, the most obvious consequence would be only two clubs being relegated from the Premier League that season rather than a fourth promotion spot from the Championship if the punishment is enforced this season.
If the punishment is not enforced until next season, it means 18th place, which relegated West Ham last season, could be safe.
Everything would depend upon the sanction imposed, the timing of that sanction and the Premier League’s decision on how the competition is restructured.
Could West Ham receive compensation?
This could potentially be even more interesting.
Premier League clubs are already seeking legal advice over whether they could pursue compensation from Manchester City following the verdict.
The argument would be that clubs may have suffered financially because City’s alleged financial breaches allowed them to operate with an advantage they should not have had.
That could potentially encompass clubs which:
- missed out on European qualification;
- finished behind City when they might otherwise have finished higher;
- missed out on prize money;
- lost Champions League or Europa League revenue;
- or suffered other measurable financial losses.
BBC Sport has reported that Premier League clubs are considering compensation claims, with possible repercussions extending beyond sporting sanctions.
A precedent was set when Sheffield United sued West Ham over Carlos Tevez, with an out-of-court settlement of £20m being agreed.
That does not mean West Ham are automatically entitled to a cheque.
The difficult question would be proving exactly what financial loss West Ham suffered and establishing a sufficiently clear connection between that loss and City’s rule breaches.
But if the legal arguments develop, West Ham could potentially have a legitimate interest in the process.
Manchester City could potentially owe more than £527million to Premier League rivals if the club’s alleged financial breaches ultimately lead to compensation claims.
West Ham share of that could be £28.1m, which would be the third-largest based on missed merit payments after Everton and Manchester United.
What about European football?
The Reality: Slaven Bilić’s West Ham finished 7th with 62 points. They were only 1 point behind Southampton (6th) and 4 points behind Manchester City (4th).
The European Impact: Because City took a Champions League spot, Southampton moved into the Europa League group stage directly. West Ham, finishing 7th, were forced into the gruelling Europa League third qualifying rounds.
The Consequence: Plagued by the incredibly early start to the season, West Ham were famously knocked out in the playoff round by Romanian side Astra Giurgiu. This cost the club millions of pounds in guaranteed UEFA participation money, ticket sales, and TV revenue.
What happens next?
For West Ham supporters, there are effectively four things to watch.
1. City’s appeal
This is the immediate issue. City have formally appealed and continue to maintain that they are innocent. Reports suggest the appeal could take three months.
2. The eventual sporting sanction
The independent commission has yet to determine the punishment. Potential sanctions include fines, points deductions and other sporting penalties.
3. Whether historical results are affected
This could determine whether clubs such as West Ham have any realistic claim to additional sporting or financial benefits.
4. Compensation claims
This could ultimately become the biggest financial story for clubs that believe they were disadvantaged by City’s conduct.
The bottom line for West Ham
For now, nothing changes.
Manchester City remain a Premier League club, and their current results stand.
But the verdict has opened the door to a potentially extraordinary chain of events.
If the guilty verdict survives the appeal and City receive a major sporting punishment, West Ham could potentially benefit through league-position changes, European qualification implications and potentially compensation.
At the same time, City’s problems could hurt the Hammers in the transfer market by encouraging City to retain players such as Mukasa.
So while West Ham fans may understandably be looking at Manchester City and thinking “finally, justice” – the reality is considerably more complicated.
For the Hammers, the Manchester City case could eventually be worth millions of pounds, a Premier League survival advantage or even a European opportunity.
But right now, it is still a case of watch this space.
We don’t need to get involved with legal action against City. Very unclassy. Woukd make us look like those pieces of work at Sheffield United who have long since received their comeuppance and karma payout.
Yes 456 point deduction
Yes its corrupt but Andy Burnham is going to try and swing this do the UK doesn’t loss all these billions
So, a sentence yo fit the crime, Chatting to a Villa supporter earlier we agreed that a 46 point deduction each season for the next 10 years might be a satisfactory penalty.
City could still qualify for Eutope via one of the cups, but they’re gonna have to play exceedingly well each seadon do not to get relegated
How to compensate not just all the teams who lost places in Europe but also all the players who lost out on bonuses is a completely different thing, I’m sure the City owners can sling Burnham another Billion yo sort that out
As I said, yes its corrupt, but the alternative?..
City go bust, everyone loses out what they are owed and the UK is a worse place
Oh – and forget compensation. There will be no money to pay the tea ladies after the company owning Manchester City have gone into administration.
We wait patiently. Be prepared for a long wait. Paqueta’s three years of purgatory will seem like a moment compared with this litigation.
Agree John, John and Morty.
Think the Premier League should be ashamed of themselves for not identifying Manchester City owners as not being fit and proper people.
The Manchester City owners should be made to take their money and run away from the game if they are still found to be the cheats as labelled after all appeals.
And the same thing should happen to all of the other clubs that have been in the PL since the introduction of these cock-eyed rules.
PL chiefs should be applauded for taking the Rule Book to more pages than War and Peace. The unfortunate consequence of their actions will be that they will be out of jobs with no recompense as football as web know it ceases to exist.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment, Sean.
Meanwhile – COYI.
If the appeal fails, then the first action should be to ban their current owners from owning or having shares in any English or Welsh club. I don’t think posthumously awarding their trophies to the runners up is right, instead I think there should be no winners in those instances, much like the UCI did with Lance Armstrong’s 7 Tour de France wins.
The biggest claims might be related to final position payments, it’s obvious that a lot of clubs finished one place lower than they would have done otherwise due to unfair competition and that’s over all of the seasons in question.
There’s no way historical results will be affected, it would be far too complicated. Let’s just hope that Manchester City get a realistic and appropriate punishment and forget about any effect on West Ham or other teams