Who Would Replace Man City If They Were Expelled?

WHO WOULD REPLACE MANCHESTER CITY IF THEY WERE EXPELLED FROM THE PREMIER LEAGUE? 👀💥

Manchester City's reported guilty verdict on 114 of the 115 Premier League charges has raised another huge question beyond points deductions and potentially historic sanctions:

What would actually happen to Manchester City's place in the Premier League if the club were expelled?

The short answer is: there is no simple automatic replacement.

The Premier League has confirmed that expulsion is an available sanction for serious breaches, but it has never happened in the competition's history.

That means there is no established Premier League precedent saying that a particular club would simply take City's place.

Could the Championship's best team replace City?

Potentially — but it would not be accurate to say this is guaranteed.

Under the normal promotion system, three Championship clubs are promoted to replace the three Premier League clubs relegated at the end of a season. Premier League membership is formally transferred through the league's shareholding system.

But an expelled club would create an entirely different situation.

The Premier League would have to determine how the vacant membership was dealt with rather than simply treating City's expulsion as an ordinary relegation.

And what if City were expelled during a season?

That's where things could become chaotic.

City's fixtures, results, league position, points and the impact on every other club would all have to be addressed.

The Premier League has previously stated that its rules give the relevant authorities broad disciplinary powers, including expulsion in extreme cases. But there is no Premier League precedent for an in-season expulsion of a club.

Would City's remaining fixtures disappear?

Would previous results remain?

Would opponents receive points automatically?

Would the league table simply be recalculated?

Those questions would need to be settled as part of the unprecedented situation.

Could another Premier League club simply move into City's place?

Not necessarily.

The normal system is based on promotion and relegation, not on replacing an expelled club with the next team in the table.

So if City were expelled, the club finishing 18th would not automatically be reprieved, nor would the Championship runner-up automatically receive City's place simply because the vacancy existed.

The Premier League's governance structure would have to determine the appropriate mechanism.

The most realistic scenario?

If expulsion happened before a new season, one obvious possibility would be for the Premier League and the wider English football authorities to fill the vacant membership through the promotion structure or another mechanism permitted by the rules.

But that is a scenario — not a confirmed rule.

And that is what makes the prospect so extraordinary.

The Premier League has never had to answer the question:

“What happens when one of the 20 member clubs is expelled?”

Manchester City could therefore be facing not just a potential points deduction or financial punishment, but a situation capable of forcing the Premier League to confront an issue it has never previously had to resolve.

For now, though, expulsion remains only one of the possible sanctions.

City are expected to appeal the reported findings, sanctions have not yet been determined, and the club maintains that the Premier League process remains ongoing and subject to confidentiality.

But if the most extreme punishment were eventually imposed, one thing is certain:

The Premier League would have to decide who takes Manchester City's place — because there is no established “next club in line” waiting to inherit it.