More Misfortune in Merseyside?

By Michael McCarron

After being referred to an independent commission by the Premier League in March of 2023, for a potential breach of profit and sustainability rules, Sean Dyche’s Everton faced the biggest points’ deduction in Premier League history. A 10 points’ penalty saw Everton drop from 14th to 19th place. Naturally, the decision left the club and fans enraged. The club said that they were:

“Shocked and disappointed by the ruling of the Premier League’s commission.”

Premier League clubs are only permitted to lose a maximum of £105 million over a 3-year period.

At the time, an independent commission found that Everton lost £19.5 million more than what’s permitted and, as a result, faced a 10-point deduction. Essentially, Everton were punished for losing money. Flash forward to 2 months later and Everton are now facing more charges. Nottingham Forest, a team who were preparing to sue Everton 2 months ago, are also under fire from the Premier League and it’s all related to three problematic letters…FFP, or Financial Fair Play to you and me.

So, what are Everton being charged with this time and is it connected to their previous points’ deduction? We are being told these allegations are new and separate. While the prior charges were related to a breach of financial fair play regulations, the current ones are distinct and involve a potential breach of different Premier League financial regulations, although the specifics haven’t yet been publicly disclosed. The Premier League is conducting an investigation, and the details of the charges will be revealed as the case unfolds. If found guilty again, it will be interesting to see how Everton will be punished. Could they face a
further points’ deduction? Last time out the punishment affected the players, management, staff, and fans, but yet the owners – those most responsible – weren’t even fined. From a fan’s perspective, I would rather see the owners fined rather than more points deducted. The reason Everton find themselves in this mess is because of their owners.

What about Forest? Back in November 2023 they were rumoured to be thinking of suing Everton but now this time round they face the same charges – breaches of the League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR). Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo would not be drawn on whether he knew of the club’s financial situation relating to PSR before he took charge at the City Ground. He chose to speak in general terms saying that “all the conversations and meetings we have are private but it’s not my concern.”

Could potential further points’ deductions spice up the relegation battle? Absolutely. With Nottingham Forest on 20 points and Everton with 17, both just above the relegation zone, any possible points’ deduction will be welcomed by the teams below them.

With all this speculation over breaches of financial rules, more questions are being asked about Manchester City and Chelsea’s losses and spending over the past number of years. The Premier League started looking into Manchester City 5 years ago and there is now a growing frustration as to why it has dragged on for so long. It’s possible that Manchester City are being dealt with slowly in comparison to Everton because of the number of allegations against them and the complexities of their case – or maybe they just have more money and influence!

Manchester City are denying every charge against them, so no doubt this process will take time. However, considering Everton’s hefty punishment, City could be in real trouble if even 10 of the 115 charges are proved against them. If they manage to get away scot free there will be uproar and would show that the Premier League is corrupt to the core.

Chelsea’s situation is a bit sticky. Their new owners were the ones to discover the discrepancies and, to be fair to them, they reported it immediately to UEFA, the FA, and the Premier League. UEFA handed them an £8.6 million fine for the historic FFP breaches under Roman Abramovich’s reign. No further charges have been brought against Chelsea so far, but it will be interesting to see how it all washes out.

Edited by Tiffany Murnaghan