What Manchester City's Financial Verdict Means for the Women's Side

Amelie Kirk

1 day ago

4 min read

When an independent commission officially found Manchester City guilty of a multi-year financial cover-up, confirming a scheme that masked massive funding streams across a nine season period. While the spotlight naturally falls on the Premier League side, a pressing question arises for supporters of the women's game: how will this legal and financial fallout impact Manchester City Women?

To understand what might happen next, it helps to break down what Manchester City actually did, how the club is structured and where the real risks lie for the women's side.

So what did Manchester City actually do?

The Premier League has strict financial rules in place to make sure clubs compete fairly and don't just rely on unlimited owner spending.

Instead of just spending normally, the independent commission allegedly found that the club operated a massive disguised funding scheme spanning a nine-season period. They used a series of ‘sham’ commercial agreements with state-backed companies, making it look on paper like the club was bringing in massive amounts of independent sponsorship money. In reality, out of roughly £950 million booked in sponsorship revenue from those deals, over £830 million was secretly pumped in directly by the club's ownership group, while the actual companies paid only a tiny baseline fraction.

By artificially inflating their commercial income and hiding where the funds were actually coming from, the club managed to bypass Premier League and UEFA spending restrictions. The commission also alleged that the club made concerted efforts to obstruct the investigation.

Will all of Manchester City’s teams be punished?

The short answer is no. To understand why, we have to look at the corporate ecosystem and how Manchester City is actually run.

At the top of the organisation sits City Football Group (CFG) as the ultimate parent holding company. Beneath this corporate umbrella, the men's professional team and Manchester City Women operate as legally distinct corporate entities. This structural separation creates an important firewall between the two sides.

The charges brought forward by the Premier League target the men's club operations and compliance with historical financial rules. Because the Women's Super League operates independently under the governance of The Football Association (The FA), men's Premier League sporting sanctions do not cross over. Punishments such as heavy fines, points deductions or even relegation apply exclusively to the men's team. The women's team cannot legally inherit sporting penalties for infractions they did not commit, meaning their position in the WSL remains secure from direct league-table deductions.

How Manchester City Women’s team will take a hit

While the women's team won't get hit with points deductions, their money troubles could come from a different angle. Like most teams in the Women's Super League, Manchester City Women doesn't make enough on its own to cover all its costs. Instead, it relies heavily on financial backing from the parent group. Their training facilities and wage budgets are all built on a foundation funded by the cash coming in from the top level of the club.

This is where the long-term risk comes into play. If the men's team faces severe punishments like relegation and struggles to bounce back immediately, the primary revenue engine for City Football Group takes a major hit. Matchday crowds, TV broadcast income and global sponsorships would all experience a sharp downturn.

When the parent company brings in less revenue, corporate strategy typically shifts toward financial restraint. This may impact the women’s side in areas such as transfer investments, operational staff budgets and youth academy funding. Additionally, retaining or signing elite talent requires significant financial investment. If parent-company subsidies face restrictions, matching the rising wage demands across the top tier of women's football becomes substantially more challenging, which could create complications during future contract negotiations for star players like Lauren Hemp who will be out of contract in the summer of 2027.

Sponsor Stability

Another critical variable is commercial stability. Global partners such as PUMA hold massive, club-wide agreements that cover both the men's and women's operations. If ongoing legal battles and potential sporting relegation create prolonged reputational damage, major brands may reevaluate their sponsorship commitments or hesitate to renew when contracts expire.

To counter this vulnerability, the women's team has actively built its own independent commercial gravity. Initiatives like securing dedicated stadium naming rights for the Joie Stadium and forming standalone partnerships with brands like Revolut help insulate the women's side. However, these independent streams are still supplementary to the primary financial backing provided by the ownership group.

Potential Solutions

If financial pressures from the parent group ever necessitate a structural shift, several alternative paths exist for the women's team. Down the line, the team could theoretically be spun off or partially sold to external investors. The rise of specialised women's football investment funds and multi-club ownership groups focused exclusively on the women's game provides a viable marketplace for independent capital.

However, none of these long-term defensive measures may be necessary. Manchester City has formally lodged a comprehensive appeal against the independent commission's verdict. If the club's legal team successfully overturns or substantially weakens the findings, the crisis will dissipate.