Man City Fans Prepare Anfield Response After Premier League Verdict

Manchester City will take around 2,000 travelling supporters to Liverpool on Sunday, with the first major away-day response to last week’s Premier League verdict expected at Anfield.

Key takeaways

• City were found to have breached financial regulations covering the period from 2009 to 2018, and the club lodged an appeal last week.
• Supporters remain divided between anger at the club’s leadership, trust in chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and chief executive Ferran Soriano, and a desire to await the full appeal process.
• Possible consequences remain unclear, including whether City could lose honours, face relegation or receive other sporting sanctions.
• The Manchester City Supporters Union has said it will consult its members and urged fans to support one another through the uncertainty.
• Sunday’s match at Liverpool is likely to bring chants and hostility from rival supporters after the ruling.

Fans confront an uncertain future

The ruling has placed City supporters in the middle of a crisis that reaches far beyond the boardroom. The club’s “We’re Not Really Here” chant, heard through title celebrations, Wembley trips and two Champions League finals since the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008, is now set to carry a very different edge.

Former England forward Gary Lineker said supporters are the ones who suffer when clubs are caught in such situations. Former City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips also said he was devastated for the fanbase and hurt by the damage to the club’s name.

There is no single reaction across a support base that includes millions of followers and more than 400 supporters’ clubs worldwide. The supporters’ union said it would speak with members and the wider fan community, adding that fans must stay united during an unsettled period.

David Mooney said his main emotion was anger, accusing the club’s hierarchy of misleading supporters and showing contempt for City. Others still back Al Mubarak and Soriano, who have maintained the club did nothing wrong. Some fans believe the Premier League’s rules protect the established elite, commonly labelled the “Red Cartel” of Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. Soriano has referred to a Premier League conspiracy theory in a message to club staff.

City supporter Nobbins said the fanbase was conflicted. He said supporters naturally want to believe the chairman and chief executive, but the strength of the official judgement makes that difficult to reconcile. His view is that no final conclusion should be reached before every appeal has been decided.

Steven McInerney said he was anxious about what the case could mean for the club’s future and whether City could continue in their current form. He said he felt let down after expecting a more balanced outcome, but added that backing the team was what supporters are meant to do and that he did not feel guilty for it.

Old scars, new pressure

For older City supporters, the threat of a fall through the divisions is not unfamiliar. Between 1982 and 2002, the club suffered five relegations and spent the 1998-99 season in the third tier. When visiting fans ask where City followers were during the difficult years, the traditional reply is that they were there then too.

Some supporters even look back fondly on lower-league trips to clubs such as Chesterfield and Gillingham, preferring them to another costly journey to Wembley for a domestic cup final. But fans born after 2000 have largely known City only as a serial trophy winner, making the prospect of a severe punishment far more daunting.

The concerns are not solely about relegation or honours. Fans fear every past celebration and achievement will now be questioned by rival supporters, regardless of whether individual City followers supported the owners’ conduct.

Many supporters retain goodwill towards the ownership because the Abu Dhabi era brought sustained success, redevelopment around the Etihad Stadium, a new training complex and investment in east Manchester. They reject the suggestion that they have ignored every concern surrounding the club.

In February 2025, seven supporter groups wrote to City over rising prices and the risk of local fans being pushed out. Two months later, supporters protesting during the Leicester City home match stayed in the concourses for the opening 10 minutes. The club subsequently froze ticket prices, a decision supporter representative Kevin Parker said showed the hierarchy had listened.

Now the situation is reversed: City’s leaders are asking supporters to trust them while the appeal continues. The next test comes at Anfield, where the travelling end has often sung “We’re Not Really Here” in previous visits. On Sunday, amid the prospect of taunts and an unresolved case, the chant may sound more pointed than ever.