Steven Gerrard says Manchester City should be stripped of titles: 'Make them suffer'

Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has urged the Premier League to strip Manchester City of the titles won during the nine-year period in which the club broke the competition's financial regulations. Gerrard, who led Liverpool in the 2013/14 season when they finished as runners-up to City, believes the punishment must be severe and spread over several years to set a clear precedent.

• Gerrard wants City stripped of the trophies won between 2009 and 2018, when the club breached financial rules.
• The former Liverpool captain opposes relegation because it would be unfair to other clubs in the Championship.
• He proposes a points deduction over multiple seasons and a transfer ban as an exemplary punishment.
• Gerrard says he would not accept a retrospective Premier League winner's medal: it would not feel the same.
• Manchester City deny the charges and have already appealed the verdict.

What has happened between Manchester City and the Premier League

English football has been rocked by the verdict of the independent commission that examined financial irregularity charges against Manchester City covering the years 2009 to 2018. In that period, the club won the Premier League three times. The commission found City guilty of every charge related to breaches of the league's financial regulations.

Manchester City maintain their innocence and have appealed the decision. The final punishment has not yet been announced, an uncertainty that has kept supporters and rivals of Pep Guardiola's team on edge.

Steven Gerrard's demand: take away City's titles

Asked about what sanctions he would consider appropriate, Gerrard was direct in an interview with The Overlap. The former midfielder explained that, because of his own career, he feels directly affected by what has happened: he was the Liverpool captain who finished second behind City in the 2013/14 campaign.

A historical precedent needs to be set, whether that is with an asterisk throughout all those years of achievements. It does not matter if the titles are stripped or not: as soon as that asterisk is there, everyone knows that happened because of what we all know happened.

His position does not involve punishing the players who won those trophies. Gerrard made it clear he would not ask footballers to hand back their medals, because that would not be right. In his view, the punishment should fall on the club and its competitive strength.

Why Gerrard rules out relegation for Manchester City

One of the options under discussion has been administrative relegation or a huge points deduction. However, Gerrard came out against sending City down to the Championship. His argument is that it would be unfair to the other clubs in the second tier, since Pep Guardiola's side would probably come straight back up.

For the former player, the most reasonable solution is a punishment that affects City in the top flight: sporting sanctions applied over several seasons that limit their room for manoeuvre without disrupting competition in the lower divisions.

The punishment Gerrard proposes: points and a transfer ban

Gerrard detailed the kinds of measures he would see as appropriate to penalise Manchester City. In his opinion, the Premier League should combine a points deduction over several years with a ban on signing players.

It needs to be a transfer ban and a points deduction over a period of time. Make them suffer like they have made everyone suffer over the nine or ten years that they have done it.

The former Liverpool captain urged the Premier League to be strong in its decision-making. At the same time, he stressed that this is not personal for him, nor an attack on the players who wore the City shirt during that era, whom he described as outstanding.

The medal he would not accept and the memories taken away

Gerrard also addressed the possibility of being awarded a retrospective winner's medal. He was emphatic: he would not want it and would not accept it. For him, that recognition would not carry the same value as winning it on the pitch.

It would not feel the same, it would not be the same. I have come to terms with the fact that I never won the Premier League and that I was short in that department.

When faced with the argument that no retrospective punishment will erase the memories of City fans and players, Gerrard responded by flipping the question. He asked people to think about the memories the Manchester side may have taken away from everyone else over nearly a decade.

Frequently asked questions about the Manchester City case