Assistant sports editor Gavin Brown recalls crying in front of the television on June 7, 1990, when his beloved Swindon Town were relegated two divisions for financial irregularities, just ten days after winning promotion to the top flight for the first time in the club's history. He draws a parallel to reports that Manchester City have been found guilty in 114 of 115 alleged breaches of financial rules.
Emotional resonance for supporters
Brown describes the anger, embarrassment, and sense of injustice that fans feel, noting that supporters are the ones who cannot avoid suffering. He acknowledges the difficulty in quantifying a suitable punishment for City if they are found guilty following any appeal.
Stripping titles does not strip the moment, and awarding them to other teams would be a hollow victory. A huge financial penalty seems futile for an ownership group with deep pockets, while demotion appears closer to appropriate but still does not change the past.
Comparison with Swindon's case
Swindon admitted 36 charges of breaching league rules, 35 relating to illegal payments to players. They were reinstated one division on appeal, and the punishment became a sliding-doors moment for the club, which went up in 1993 into an already changing footballing world.
Noel Gallagher, a prominent City fan, said of the achievements: 'I suppose in the eyes of everybody else in England it would... But I know what I saw and I know what I felt.'
Impossible to find fitting punishment
Brown concludes that Swindon fans never got to see what might have been, but City supporters already have, making a punishment that fits the crime potentially impossible.
