How football has changed since Oasis’ last gig, from their beloved Man City’s 115 charges to Chelsea signing 133 players

OASIS announced one of the most eagerly-anticipated reunions in British music history on Tuesday morning.

The legendary rock band will play a series of shows next summer as brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher put their differences to one side, 15 years after splitting up in acrimonious circumstances.

Getty

Oasis split in the summer of 2009 after a backstage fight[/caption]

Liam and Noel Gallagher announced the reunion on TuesdayEPA

Since the band broke up, the Gallaghers’ beloved Manchester City have gone from strength to strength.

After winning their first top-flight league title in 44 years in 2012 and regaining it in 2014, the arrival of Pep Guardiola has brought six triumphs in as many years.

And it is not just at the Etihad where huge changes have occurred, but across the football landscape as a whole.

Here are 15 ways the game has [or has not] changed since Oasis‘ split.

Man City charged

The Gallagher brothers have watched their beloved Man City win EIGHT Premier League titles since the band split.

Yet a number of those could be in jeopardy if they are found guilty of the 115 charges – which they vehemently deny – facing them.

A hearing into alleged financial irregularities is scheduled for November, with relegation from the Premier League potentially on the cards should they be on the wrong end of the ruling.

Manchester City are facing allegations of financial irregularitiesReuters

Chelsea sign 133 players

Back in 2009, Chelsea were still in the early years of their Roman Abramovich era, spending at will and competing for Premier League titles.

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Nowadays, they are continuing to splash the cash but with less on-field success under new American owner Todd Boehly.

All told, they have spent more than £2.5BILLION and signed a remarkable 133 PLAYERS.

More than £1bn of that has come since Boehly took over just two years ago.

Chelsea have spent an astonishing amount over the past 15 yearsGetty

Cristiano Ronaldo returns to Man Utd

Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United to join Real Madrid just two months before Oasis’ final gig.

He spent nearly a decade in Spain, establishing himself as one of the all-time greats, before enjoying three years in Italy with Juventus.

In 2021, he returned to Man Utd for a second spell and scored 27 goals in 54 games, but ultimately left just over a year later after falling out with manager Erik ten Hag.

From England to Spain to Italy and back, Ronaldo is now winding down his career in Saudi Arabia with Al-Nassr.

PA

Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Manchester United in 2021 after 12 years away[/caption]

Leicester win Premier League

Leicester‘s last 15 years have been an astonishing rollercoaster ride.

In the season before Oasis split, the Foxes had just been promoted into the Championship.

Five years later they made it into the Premier League and within two years their fairytale was complete as they became champions in the most breathtaking fashion.

And their story did not end there. They narrowly avoided the drop, won the FA Cup, got relegated and promoted back to the Premier League all within the following decade.

PA

Leicester’s last 10 years have been a remarkable rollercoaster[/caption]

England reach back-to-back Euros finals

In 2009, England were coming off the back of failing to qualify for the Euros.

They had not reached the semi-final of a major tournament since 1990 and things continued to look bleak when Fabio Capello’s men were thrashed 4-1 by Germany in the last-16 of the World Cup 12 months later.

Enter Gareth Southgate in 2016, who led England to the semi-finals of World Cup 2018, before back-to-back Euros finals.

Unfortunately, he departed this summer without a trophy, but the progression from laughing stocks to the nearly men of international football is stark.

Gareth Southgate reached successive Euros finals as England head coachGetty

Record transfer fees and wage increases

The money in football has risen to astonishing heights over the last 15 years.

Ronaldo’s world record transfer from Man Utd to Real Madrid had just been completed for £80m in 2009.

Eight years later and that record had more than doubled to £198m when Neymar moved from Barcelona to PSG.

And it is not just transfer fees that have soared. Wages have also gone to stratospheric levels.

Carlos Tevez was the highest-paid player in the Premier League when Oasis split, receiving £250,000 per week.

Nowadays that would not even see him make the top 10 in England’s top flight.

The record transfer fee more than doubled from 2009 to 2017AFP or licensors

AFP

Carlos Tevez was the best-paid Premier League player 15 years ago on £250,000 per week[/caption]

Tottenham fail to win a trophy

A lot has changed in football over the last 15 years but some things remain the same.

Tottenham‘s last trophy triumph came 18 months before Oasis split when they beat Chelsea to lift the 2008 League Cup.

Since then they have finished second in the Premier League, reached a Champions League final and two League Cup finals… but a trophy has still eluded them.

Tottenham have not won a trophy since the 2008 League CupGetty

Messi and Ronaldo win 12 Ballon d’Ors

When Oasis split, up Lionel Messi did not have any Ballon d’Or awards to his name.

His first came four months later and he has gone on to pick up another SEVEN – the last of which came after he led Argentina to World Cup glory.

Yet despite his dominance, he has been pushed all the way by long-time rival Ronaldo who has won the award five times – four of which came after Oasis broke up.

Luka Modric and Karim Benzema are the only players outside Messi and Ronaldo to have won the Ballon d’Or since 2009.

Lionel Messi won eight Ballon d’Or awards between 2009 and 2023Getty

Cristiano Ronaldo has five Ballon d’Or trophies, the first of which came one year before Oasis splitAP:Associated Press

24 Watford managers

Malky Mackay had just begun his second stint with Watford when the Gallagher brothers called it quits.

He was at the helm for two years, longer than all of the 23 managerial spells that have followed over the course of the last 15 years.

From Sean Dyche to Gianfranco Zola, Marco Silva, Claudio Ranieri, Roy Hodgson, and now Tom Cleverley – who had not even made his Man Utd debut when Oasis broke up – it has been non-stop change at Vicarage Road.

Watford have had 24 managerial changes including caretakers since 2009Reuters

VAR

Remember football without VAR?

After Oasis ceased to exist, football remained without VAR technology for another 10 years.

Goal-line technology was introduced in 2014, but it was not until 2019 when VAR came into the Premier League.

It remains up for discussion whether it has helped or hindered the game.

VAR was implemented in the Premier League at the start of the 2019/20 campaignAlamy

Luis Suarez’s biting

Luis Suarez had not even signed for Liverpool when Oasis split. He had just scored 28 goals for Ajax and was about to bag 49 in 48 matches in the 2009/10 season.

He would go on to enjoy a storied career at Liverpool, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, but it is his habit of BITING opposition players that he also made headlines for.

He first sunk his teeth into PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal in 2010, before he came to England and did the same to Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic in 2013.

But he did not learn as he then bit Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup and received a four-month suspension from all football which delayed his Barcelona debut.

Luis Suarez bit Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic in 2013Sky Sports

BBC

He then did the same to Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup[/caption]

Rooney didn’t have hair

Wayne Rooney was at the peak of his powers back in 2009 and about to score 34 goals in the 2009/10 season.

But it is safe to say his hairline was struggling despite the England striker being just 24 years old.

Now in 2024, the new Plymouth boss has a far stronger head of hair thanks to a transplant.

Wayne Rooney was losing his hair in his mid-20sReuters

The Manchester United legend now has a far stronger head of hairPA

Milner set to win Young Player of the Year

In 2009, James Milner was about to kick off his third season with Aston Villa – a Premier League campaign that would earn him the Young Player of the Year award.

A decade and a half on and Milner is still playing in the Premier League.

The Brighton man, 38, a three-time Premier League and Champions League winner, is now just 17 shy of Gareth Barry’s Prem appearance record of 653.

James Milner was named the Young Player of the Year one year after Oasis splitPA:Press Association

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Milner is now closing in on becoming the record Premier League appearance maker[/caption]

Neville and Carragher still enemies

Manchester United legend Gary Neville and Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher were still bitter rivals facing off against one another 15 years ago.

Fast-forward to the present day and they are now good friends working together on a weekly basis for Sky Sports.

Many would have said back in 2009 a Neville-Carragher partnership was less likely than an Oasis reunion.

How times change.

Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville have gone from rivals to friendsGetty Images - Getty

Neville and Carragher are now Sky Sports colleagues and good palsGetty

Lamine Yamal was two years old

Spain superstar Lamine Yamal won the European Championship this summer as he scored in the semi-final and was named the Young Player of the Tournament having started the competition aged 16.

And rewinding to Oasis’ break-up is a good way of demonstrating just how young the Barcelona forward is.

Yamal had just celebrated his second birthday when the Gallagher brothers’ bust-up caused the band to split.

Lamine Yamal had only just celebrated his second birthday when Oasis split upRex