Tony Pulis Not Expecting Man City to Phone and Return Stoke’s FA Cup

Tony Pulis does not expect Manchester City to telephone Stoke and offer them the 2011 FA Cup, although he believes his former side were denied something that can never be returned.

Pulis led Stoke into their first FA Cup final at Wembley, where they lost 1-0 after Yaya Toure scored the only goal for City.

Following reports that Manchester City had been found guilty of 114 of the Premier League’s 115 financial charges, Stoke supporters began asking their former manager one obvious question: “When do we get our FA Cup?”

Pulis admitted that he had wondered the same thing.

“I don’t expect Man City to phone me or the club up and offer back the 2011 FA Cup and the winners’ medals their players received,” he wrote in his BBC Sport column.

He also said he did not genuinely expect trophies to be reassigned, suggesting that a points deduction and substantial fine appeared more realistic.

Pulis nevertheless believes Stoke were cheated out of an opportunity that cannot be recreated by changing the name engraved on a trophy.

“Whatever happens next, we won’t ever get that day back and the chance to celebrate around Stoke-on-Trent with the cup and medals we so honestly fought for,” he said.

The financial difference between the finalists was considerable. Pulis noted that Toure reportedly cost City more than Stoke’s entire starting XI and earned approximately ten times the salary of any Stoke player.

City have consistently denied wrongdoing and are expected to appeal the reported guilty findings. Their punishment has not yet been determined.

Returning the trophy would therefore be premature, legally complicated and unlikely to provide Stoke with the celebrations they missed 15 years ago.

It would, however, give Manchester City an opportunity to make one of the more awkward telephone calls in FA Cup history.