UNITED ARE CHAMPIONS
Ferguson denies City the title. 93:20 never happens.
Not a real headline. Imagined from the No-City model and alleged-breach era; no honours are officially reassigned.
Manchester United’s 115 Effect
Ferguson denies City the title. 93:20 never happens.
The front page above is imagined; the recorded story starts here.What really happened
City and United both finished 2011/12 on 89 points. City won the real title on goal difference, and 93:20 became part of Manchester’s football mythology.
The City effect
United lost both derbies that season, so deleting City’s fixtures costs them no points. United’s actual 2012/13 title remains an actual title; the model also changes the top of the 2017/18 table.
What changes?
They lost both derbies in 2011/12. No points are removed from United’s 89; in the hypothetical table, that changes who finishes first.
Actual: 2nd · 89 pts
No-City: 1st · 89 pts
Actual: 2nd · 81 pts
No-City: 1st · 78 pts
These are recalculated league positions, not official honours, qualification decisions or a proposed remedy.
The butterfly effect 🦋
Imagine Ferguson beginning 2012/13 as defending champion. 93:20 still happened in recorded history; it only disappears in this clearly fictional branch.
- May 2012Alternative history
United are first in the No-City table; imagine them as champions.
- 93:20Alternative history
In this imagined timeline the defining image never exists; in reality it happened.
- 2012/13Alternative history
Ferguson would begin as defending champion in this imagined history.
The legacy
How does Manchester’s balance of power feel after Ferguson? What changes in the telling of City’s ascent, or United’s own transition? A different league table can expose the size of that question; it cannot settle what either club would do next.
+4 rewritten honours
A storytelling convention, not an official award or a prediction of who would win without City.
The data / show me the receipts
Every Manchester United Premier League season in the charged-era model, including the ones where nothing changes.
Season-by-season league impact
| Season | Actual | No-City | Impact | Pts vs City |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009/10 | 2nd · 85 pts | 2nd · 79 pts | no position change · -6 points | 6 |
| 2010/11 | 1st · 80 pts | 1st · 76 pts | no position change · -4 points | 4 |
| 2011/12 | 2nd · 89 pts | 1st · 89 pts | +1 league place · no points removed | 0 |
| 2012/13 | 1st · 89 pts | 1st · 86 pts | no position change · -3 points | 3 |
| 2013/14 | 7th · 64 pts | 6th · 64 pts | +1 league place · no points removed | 0 |
| 2014/15 | 4th · 70 pts | 3rd · 67 pts | +1 league place · -3 points | 3 |
| 2015/16 | 5th · 66 pts | 4th · 62 pts | +1 league place · -4 points | 4 |
| 2016/17 | 6th · 69 pts | 5th · 68 pts | +1 league place · -1 point | 1 |
| 2017/18 | 2nd · 81 pts | 1st · 78 pts | +1 league place · -3 points | 3 |
Every league match against City
| Season | Date | Home | Score | Away | Result | Club pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009/10 | 2009-09-20 | Manchester United | 4–3 | Manchester City | W | 3 |
| 2009/10 | 2010-04-17 | Manchester City | 0–1 | Manchester United | W | 3 |
| 2010/11 | 2010-11-10 | Manchester City | 0–0 | Manchester United | D | 1 |
| 2010/11 | 2011-02-12 | Manchester United | 2–1 | Manchester City | W | 3 |
| 2011/12 | 2011-10-23 | Manchester United | 1–6 | Manchester City | L | 0 |
| 2011/12 | 2012-04-30 | Manchester City | 1–0 | Manchester United | L | 0 |
| 2012/13 | 2012-12-09 | Manchester City | 2–3 | Manchester United | W | 3 |
| 2012/13 | 2013-04-08 | Manchester United | 1–2 | Manchester City | L | 0 |
| 2013/14 | 2013-09-22 | Manchester City | 4–1 | Manchester United | L | 0 |
| 2013/14 | 2014-03-25 | Manchester United | 0–3 | Manchester City | L | 0 |
| 2014/15 | 2014-11-02 | Manchester City | 1–0 | Manchester United | L | 0 |
| 2014/15 | 2015-04-12 | Manchester United | 4–2 | Manchester City | W | 3 |
| 2015/16 | 2015-10-25 | Manchester United | 0–0 | Manchester City | D | 1 |
| 2015/16 | 2016-03-20 | Manchester City | 0–1 | Manchester United | W | 3 |
| 2016/17 | 2016-09-10 | Manchester United | 1–2 | Manchester City | L | 0 |
| 2016/17 | 2017-04-27 | Manchester City | 0–0 | Manchester United | D | 1 |
| 2017/18 | 2017-12-10 | Manchester United | 1–2 | Manchester City | L | 0 |
| 2017/18 | 2018-04-07 | Manchester City | 2–3 | Manchester United | W | 3 |
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Where does this story go next?
See the receipts · editorial notes
2011/12 actual: both clubs 89 points; City champions on goal difference. United lost both City matches, so their model total remains 89.
2017/18 actual: United second on 81; hypothetical No-City: first on 78. Neither model result is an official honour.