Andy Burnham Will Publish Details of Manchester City Meetings

Political scrutiny of Manchester City's ownership has intensified after Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledged to publish details of his meetings with senior club figures. The commitment follows criticism of his response to an independent commission's finding that the club breached Premier League financial rules between 2009 and 2018.

According to the commission, Manchester City used commercial contracts it characterized as sham arrangements to channel more than £830 million secretly into its football operations. The club denies wrongdoing, has appealed the verdict, and is awaiting the announcement of sanctions.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for the release of all details of meetings between Burnham and senior Manchester City officials. Questions about their relationship have arisen partly because Burnham served as mayor of Greater Manchester from 2017 until earlier this year, during a sustained period of success for the club.

Speaking on The Rest Is Politics podcast, Burnham confirmed that he would disclose the requested information.

"I've been asked by the leader of the opposition to publish details of my meetings, which I'm happy to do and I'm going to," Burnham said.

He said the disclosure would cover his work with the club during his previous role as mayor.

"I will quite clearly put out there everything that I have done working with them in my previous role as Mayor of Greater Manchester," Burnham said.

Burnham also said his meetings with club officials were not recent and identified one significant meeting during his time in office.

"None of it is recent, actually, in terms of the meetings I had. I only had one significant meeting, actually, and that was in 2021," Burnham said.

The controversy follows Burnham's earlier comments to the BBC, in which he expressed concern about the possibility of Manchester City's owners selling the club after the verdict. He subsequently rejected criticism that his reaction had minimized the seriousness of the commission's findings.

Burnham's initial response was described as "astonished" by some Premier League clubs, according to BBC Sport sources.

Those sources also said clubs were "concerned" about possible political interference in the appeal process.

Burnham defended his earlier remarks, arguing that he had been discussing economic investment rather than the club's football-related charges.

"I don't think I misspoke," Burnham said.

He explained that his attention had been focused on the Labour Party conference when he gave the interviews that prompted criticism.

"What I would say is my mind hadn't been on all of the issues. My mind had been on Labour Party conference and I was doing interviews in relation to it," Burnham said.

He also disputed the suggestion that his comments had combined the club's financial case with its economic contribution to Greater Manchester.

"And also, I didn't link those two things. You know, the questions linked those two things. What I would say is they're very separate.

The football issues are different from the investment issues. People will try and conflate those two things, but they shouldn't, in my view. The football issues, the findings of the independent commission are serious, as I said in the interview," Burnham said.

During his mayoralty, Burnham supported investment from the Gulf as a means of expanding Greater Manchester's economy. City investment and the allegations concerning its football operations, he argued, were separate matters.

The commission's investigation proceeded independently of the Premier League. It held a 42-day hearing in 2024 before announcing its verdict last month.

The commission found Manchester City guilty of all charges except one concerning the club's failure to cooperate with the Premier League investigation. Its report stated that "a number of important club witnesses gave false evidence in key respects and that some knowingly gave untrue and dishonest evidence".

A separate independent appeal board will consider Manchester City's challenge to the verdict. The club continues to deny any wrongdoing, and sanctions have not yet been announced.

Manchester City returned to action after the verdict with a 3-0 victory over Liverpool on Sunday.