Paddy Power has signed Coleen Rooney as the face of its “seven-figure Justice Refund” campaign, linked to the ongoing investigation around Manchester City, the eight-time English Premier League winners.
The club is still under investigation by the Premier League after being hit with 115 charges for alleged breaches of financial fair play rules between 2009 and 2018.
Although the charges were originally levelled in February 2023, there has still been no decision from the league’s official body and no timescale given as to when an announcement could be expected.
Paddy Power has stepped in to deliver its own verdict.
The popular sports betting site in the UK has announced that it will be refunding all outright Premier League bets placed since 2011 to over 100,000 users who had backed teams which finished runners-up to Manchester City.
The result is that anybody who used the sports betting app to back Manchester United to win the title in 2011-12, 2017-18 and 2020-21, Liverpool in 2013-14, 2018-19 and 2021-22, or Arsenal in 2022-23 and 2023-24 will have their stakes returned.
Why Did Paddy Power Choose Coleen Rooney?
Coleen Rooney is the wife of former England international Wayne Rooney, who scored a record 253 goals in 13 seasons playing for City’s local rivals Manchester United.
A media personality in her own right, Rooney is introduced as Paddy Power’s “top investigator” in the latest of their social media videos, which are known for their humorous take on current issues within football.
The Man City FFP saga has been dragging on far too long, so time for Coleen Rooney to investigate…
18+ GambleAware pic.twitter.com/7GPdXdvIhQ
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) August 14, 2025
In addition to dealing with some “side projects”, including complaints from Arsenal fans about match balls and referees conspiring against the Gunners, she delivers her assessment of the Manchester City FFP case.
“As the investigation is still ongoing, we can’t be sure that Man City have broken FFP rules,” she says, speaking at Power Tower.
“The uncertainty is not fair on fans and only leaves one reasonable course of action.
“Paddy Power should just be sound and do the biggest Justice Refund of all time.”
Why Paddy Power Chose To Act
Speaking away from the camera. Coleen Rooney said: “Fans invest so much into football, emotionally and financially, and sometimes it feels like they don’t get much back.
“This was a fun way to shine a light on that, whilst actually giving something back to the people who make the game what it is.”
Paddy Power added: “This FFP investigation has been dragging on for years and years, with fans being left completely in the dark.
“So, if those running the game won’t get it sorted, we thought it was about time someone stood up on the side of supporters.
“That’s why we’ve issued our biggest-ever Justice Refund, to give something back to those fans who have been waiting, and waiting, for any white smoke on the investigation to emerge from the Premier League.”
Paddy Power launched a similar refund campaign at the 2022 World Cup, when Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo was denied a goal that was officially credited to team-mate Bruno Fernandes.
After reviewing the game, Paddy Power announced it was overruling that decision and issued a Justice Payout out on Ronaldo scoring the first goal against Uruguay and goalscorer at any time bets, as well as one-plus shot on target wagers.
Jim Munro is a betting industry and gambling expert who has been a national newspaper journalist for over 30 years, predominantly at The Sunday Times and The Sun, where he wrote a weekly soccer betting column. Jim also worked on the launch of Virgin Bet with Gamesys and was subsequently head of editorial at LiveScore, the sports media and betting group.
