The footballing world was shaken to its core just over a week ago as the news filtered through that a verdict had been made on the back of a comprehensive four-year investigation into City’s financial practices.
Between the years 2009 and 2018, City were found to have arranged ‘sham contracts’ with several commercial partners as part of a scheme to disguise secret funding in excess of £830million.
During their title-winning campaigns in 2011/22, 2013/14 and 2017/18, the club recorded a total of £360m in sponsor fees – and only £43m of that sum was legitimate, with the remainder coming from their owners.
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City have strenuously denied any wrongdoing and on Friday it was announced that the eight-time English champions had lodged an official appeal against the decision.
In the days following the guilty verdict, fans, pundits and former players alike have weighed in with their two cents regarding potential punishments that City could and should face.
But speaking on the Stick to United podcast, former United and England striker Rooney said he wouldn’t feel entirely ‘comfortable’ going down as a title winner in 2012, when the Red Devils were pipped to the coveted trophy on an unforgettable final day.
City won eight trophies between 2009 and 2018 (Picture: PA)
Rooney wouldn’t feel ‘comfortable’ collecting a medal from the 2011/12 season (Picture: Getty)
‘I’ve heard Rio [Ferdinand] has come out saying about getting another Premier League medal… I wouldn’t really feel comfortable accepting another Premier League medal, if I’m being honest,’ Rooney, United’s all-time record goalscorer admitted.
‘I don’t think we deserve it, we didn’t do enough that season to win the league. I think we were six or seven points clear with four or five games to go and we threw it away.
‘I’ve seen everything that has come out over the past few days and listening to people and I was putting myself in a Man City player’s shoes… they’re players, they’re doing everything they can to try and win the Premier League title and in their mind they have done it.
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‘If those players have no understanding of what is going on above them, if that happened to me… I would be absolutely devastated.’
Rooney added: ‘It might happen, they might take them [medals] away, but I wouldn’t want it [a medal] because I don’t think as a team we deserved it that year because obviously we didn’t finish first.
‘So when I see team-mates saying, “I want a medal”, I’m happy with the five I’ve won. I wouldn’t want this one.
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‘Should they get it stripped for what the owners have done? Yeah maybe, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable accepting it.’
Just two days on from Rooney’s remarks, though, the legendary forward’s long-time Old Trafford team-mate, Scholes, made it clear he held a radically different view on the matter.
He told his followers on Instagram: ‘Keep hearing ex-teammates saying they want trophies taking (sic) off them but they don’t want their medals… f*** that I’m a greedy b****** I want my medal.’
Scholes demanded a winners’ medal from the 2011/12 season (Picture: Instagram)
In a brief statement shared on the club’s website on Friday, City professed their innocence while confirming that an appeal had been lodged, citing ‘clear material errors’ on ‘multiple grounds’.
‘Manchester City Football Club can confirm that at 7pm on Thursday 1st October 2026 the club lodged its comprehensive Appeal against the opinion of the Premier League Commission, in relation to the Premier League disciplinary matter,’ the statement read.
‘The club’s firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe.
‘The club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case.
‘We will continue to respect due process and are necessarily restricted in what we can say further until all proceedings are complete.’
