For Liverpool supporters, the news that an independent tribunal has found Manchester City guilty on virtually all financial breach charges brings a complicated mix of vindication and frustration.
While rivalry can tempt any fan into hyperbole, an objective look at the sporting and commercial ledger reveals just how heavily those contested years skewed the history of the Premier League.
On the pitch, the impact boils down to the finest margins in English football history. Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool constructed teams capable of recording 97 points in the 2018-19 season and 92 points in 2021-22, only to finish second both times by a single point.
In the 2013/14 campaign under Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool missed out on the title by two points. Even if formal sanctions never retrospectively award titles to runners-up, the sporting reality remains clear.
Without an adversary operating beyond permitted financial parameters, Liverpool realistically would have added at least two, and arguably three, Premier League titles to their 2019/20 victory.
In the domestic cups, tight League Cup finals and FA Cup semi-finals against City also stripped away further silver lining.
The commercial consequences are equally profound. Finishing first rather than second in the Premier League carries a direct difference in merit payments, but that is merely the tip of the iceberg.
Missing out on multiple titles carries a massive compounding cost. Each title unlocks performance bonuses from kit manufacturers, strengthens commercial leverage for sponsorship renewals, and drives worldwide merchandise sales.
Analysts estimate that multiple missed titles and deep domestic cup runs cost the club tens of millions of pounds in direct prize money, alongside an estimated £100 million or more in broader commercial revenue over a decade.
For Liverpool, that gap mattered. Operating strictly within a self-sustaining model meant that every pound not earned directly restricted squad reinvestment.
An extra £150 million across that peak era could have secured bigger transfer targets, extended squad depth, and prevented the burnout that occasionally hampered late-season campaigns under Jurgen Klopp.
Retrospective parades or asterisks in record books cannot replace the communal joy of celebrations denied in the moment. The verdict offers institutional validation, but for those who lived through the agony of 97-point heartbreaks, the true cost remains unrecoverable.
