Man City's longest delay cost £5,000. A 73-second one cost £140,000 as the fines climbed

The longest delay Manchester City caused last Premier League season cost them £5,000. One of the shortest cost them £140,000. A sanction agreement the league published Friday lists 10 matches from 2025/26 in which City held up a kick-off or a second-half restart without good reason, and the fines climbed with every repeat, no matter how long the wait actually was.

The first came at home against Manchester United on Sept. 14, 2025, when the restart after halftime was two minutes and 37 seconds late. The fine was £5,000. A week later at Arsenal, a delay of two minutes and seven seconds drew £15,000. The only late kick-off on the list, one minute and 18 seconds against Burnley on Sept. 27, was £20,000.

From there every delay was between one minute and nine seconds and one minute and 33 seconds, and the price kept going up: £40,000 at Brentford, £60,000 at Aston Villa, £80,000 against Bournemouth, £90,000 against Sunderland and £100,000 against Wolves in January.

The agreement itself deals with the last two. City were fined £120,000 for a restart that was one minute and nine seconds late against Fulham on Feb. 11, and £140,000 for one of one minute and 13 seconds against Crystal Palace on May 13. In both cases the base fine was £100,000 for a delay of between one minute and one minute 30 seconds, plus £20,000 and £40,000 "to reflect the aggravating nature of the Club's repeat offending."

Added up, the 10 fines come to £670,000. That is less than City paid for the previous two seasons. AP reported they were fined more than £1 million for nine breaches in 2024/25, and the Manchester Evening News reported that those fines ran from £40,000 for the first delay to £210,000 for the eighth. In 2023/24 it was £2 million for 22 incidents, according to the same paper.

The league said the rule exists so that "the broadcast of every Premier League match is kept to schedule." City accepted every breach and said they will "continue to take steps to seek to improve compliance with Rule L.33." The agreement was ratified by three members of the Independent Judicial Panel on July 20, 2026, and only made public now.

The league also published a separate agreement over the Premier League 2 knockout semifinal City hosted against United on May 8, 2026. The rules require the home club to play semifinals and finals at its own stadium, but the match was played at the Joie Stadium instead of the Etihad, with United's agreement.

City cited development works at the Etihad, which the agreement says "were at a critical programme stage and had experienced prior delays." They were fined £20,000 and gave up home advantage the next time they reach a PL2 knockout semifinal or final.

Both fines have to be paid within 14 days of the agreements being signed. Using the figures reported for 2023/24 and 2024/25, City's bill for late kick-offs and restarts over the last three seasons now comes to more than £3.6 million.