If there’s one thing gambling brand Paddy Power is known for (beyond the obvious) it’s their comedy chops when it comes to making topical adverts around sport — and that’s exactly what they’ve done with a brand-new spoof of Manchester City’s new Netflix documentary.
Man City’s Together: Treble Winners documentary, charting how the Manchester club went on to win the coveted English trio of trophies, was finally released on Tuesday 2 April, and while Blues will no doubt be enjoying a behind-the-scenes look at their greatest season ever, there is a big elephant in the room…
As we’re sure you’re all aware, City still have a whopping total of 115 charges for breaking FFP (Financial Fair Play) rules looming over their heads, with breaches spanning a total of nine years between 2009 and 2018.
With that in mind, even when the Netflix documentary was first announced, pretty much every man and his dog was making the joke that it should be under the ‘true crime’ genre and now Paddy Power have taken that one further by mocking up an alternative trailer for the series as just that. Roll the VT.
Man City's documentary about winning the treble is out on Netflix today.
Paddy Power’s alternative twist on Man City’s new Treble documentary on Netflix.
It’s giving Making A Murderer meets Dirty Money (both great watches, by the way). We particularly enjoyed the ‘Head of FFP’ bloke and, yes, we obviously noticed the colour of the scarves.
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Having gone viral many times before for similarly humorous spins on footy drama like Rhodri Giggs poking fun at his wife and brother’s affair, José Mourinho making digs at Man United and staying ‘humble’ as ‘The Special One’, this is just one in a long line of spoofs from Paddy Power.
It was only last year that they promoted the start of the 2023/24 campaign by taking the mick out of the increasingly concerning oil money that’s taking over football and the fickle fans that are quick to hop on board when it’s their club benefitting from the buyouts.
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Having a pop at Man City‘s questionable bookkeeping is just another day at the office and they’re by no means the only ones raising a bemused eyebrow – especially when it seems curious to many fans that Everton have already been penalised for their own FFP breaches.
In fact, while FFP isn’t mentioned directly even once in the new six-part docuseries, both Everton and Nottingham Forest have already been deducted points in the Premier League after being found guilty of breaking regulations in much smaller circumstances and over less time.
Even Man United were forced to pay a fine for what they labelled a ‘minor technical breach’ back in July 2023, citing the pandemic and its after-effects as having played a role in their failure to meet regulations.
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As for the Netflix show itself, the only nod towards the lingering questions surrounding the club is an out-of-context moment from manager Pep Guardiola assuring that he would not be going anywhere after he was asked if he would leave the club were they to be found guilty.
Meanwhile, a timeline for when the club and football supporters can expect to see the situation surrounding Man City and FFP remains very unclear as there are a lot of finances to sift through; there also seems to be plenty of debate as to what punishment they will/should receive if found guilty.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
3rd April 2024 
