'I feel cheated - when do Stoke City get our FA Cup?'

What the report says

BBC Sport columnist and former Stoke City manager Tony Pulis says the Premier League’s finding that Manchester City breached the majority of the financial rules they were accused of breaking has reopened old wounds for clubs that lost out to them during their rise. In a column published after Friday’s verdict, Pulis reflects on Stoke’s 1-0 defeat to City in the 2011 FA Cup final and says many Stoke supporters now feel aggrieved that the trophy went to a club later found guilty of rule breaches. He stresses that Manchester City are expected to appeal, so the process is not finished.

Pulis says the result at Wembley, where Stoke reached the final for the first time, had once been accepted as a hard-fought defeat against a richer side with star players and an elite manager. But he argues the verdict gives that match a different meaning, because City’s success was part of a period between 2009 and 2018 when they dominated English football. He notes that Stoke’s owners, the Coates family, and the club’s supporters had invested heavily emotionally and financially in the occasion.

The column raises the question of what punishment City could face and whether any affected clubs might have legal options. Pulis says he does not expect trophies to be returned, but believes a points deduction and a fine are more likely. The piece frames the issue as broader than one FA Cup final, pointing to the lasting frustration felt by clubs who believe they competed on an uneven financial footing.