In September 2026, Manchester City, the most successful English football club of the last decade, were reported to have been found guilty of 114 of 115 charges of breaking Premier League financial rules. The club denies any wrongdoing and has appealed. This lesson explains the case and gets students talking about money, rules and fair play in sport. This A2 version tells the story simply, with vocabulary for rules, money and punishment.
Level: A2 · Time: 45 to 90 minutes. Pick the activities that suit your class. They work in almost any order.
Lesson Activities
- Warmer: What’s Happening Here? – Reveal the photo tile by tile. What is he holding? Why is he happy? (It’s Manchester City’s captain lifting the Premier League trophy in 2012, one of the titles now in question.)
- Prediction: True or False? – Students guess which 10 statements about the case are true, then check after reading.
- Vocabulary: Pre-teach the Key Words – Match 10 words from the text to their meanings before reading (break the rules, pretend, guilty, appeal, punishment, fine, title…).
- Reading: Manchester City in Trouble – A short graded news story with 10 gaps and a word bank.
- Discussion: Football, Money and Rules – 10 conversation questions about football, rules, fines and money in sport.
- Speaking: Ranking – If City lose their appeal, what is the fairest punishment? Students rank nine options, from a fine to losing past titles, then compare with a partner.
Teacher Tips
- For a shorter lesson, use the warmer, the reading and the discussion cards.
- Grammar focus: the reading uses the past simple for the story (bought, spent, broke, pretended) and could / will for the future. Ask students to say what could happen next.
- The case is still ongoing. Check the latest news before class, as the punishment or the appeal result may have been announced.
- Follow-up: students write a short news report or hold a class debate: “Should City lose their titles?”
Teaching a stronger group? Try the B2 version of this lesson.