Every saint has a past: how man at heart of City’s first scandal became a United hero | Sean Ingle

Billy Meredith helped win City their first major honours more than a hundred years ago, was banned by the FA – then went and repeated the trick on the red side of Manchester When the Manchester City decision finally dropped, the Guardian’s verdict was damning. “FOOTBALL SENSATION – MANCHESTER CITY’S GRAVE OFFENCES – HEAVY PUNISHMENTS”, the headline read. “It is now proved that the club had for years systematically broken the rules of the Football Association by very unscrupulous means.”