Take a glance at the clubs never to have been relegated from the Premier League and you’ll see all the big names.
The likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham are yet to have gone down to the Championship, or second division as it was formerly known.
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But there’s one club missing from that list: Everton.
The Toffees have only known life in the Premier League since its inception in 1992.
In fact, Everton have remained in the top flight of English football since the 1954/55 season.
But a 10-point deduction from the Premier League as a result of breaking its profit and sustainability regulations (PSR) has threatened to squeeze Everton out of the top flight.
It is the heaviest points deduction in Premier League history and dropped Everton from 14th all the way down to 19th, level on points with last-placed Burnley but only ahead on goal difference.
Despite the sanctions, Everton have vowed to appeal what it described as a “wholly disproportionate” punishment in a stinging statement.
The Merseyside outfit also said it would watch the outcome of other cases concerning the league’s Profit and Sustainability rules with “great interest”, an indirect reference to Manchester City and Chelsea’s future hearings.
Yes, the same Manchester City slapped with 115 charges and Chelsea who may have breached Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules thanks to hidden payments from former owner Roman Abramovich.
So, what exactly has Everton been charged with, how did they get into this mess and what does the ruling mean for Manchester City and Chelsea?
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HOW TOFFEES ENDED UP IN $237M MESS
Per Premier League rules, clubs are permitted losses up to £105 million ($AUD200 million) over a three-year cycle.
Unfortunately for Everton, they fell foul of that figure as the Premier League believed the club’s losses for the FFP cycle ending in 2022 were £124.5 million ($237 million).
However, the club argued it had mitigating reasons for the losses that breached the limit.
In a report from the independent commission that oversaw the hearing, Everton pointed to the expensive construction of its new stadium, the impact of Covid in trying to sell players as well as the termination of a player’s contract due to unexpected circumstances.
Additionally, Everton had to give up on a stadium naming rights deal with USM Holdings, a company linked to Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov who has since been sanctioned as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The deal was worth $381 million over 20 years and would have come into play in 2025, but Everton had hoped to bring it forward to 2022.
Another element that had the independent commission concerned regarding Everton’s finances was the loans provided by majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri to aid construction funds of the new stadium, which has cost approximately $1.45 billion to build.
A subsidiary of the club titled Everton Stadium Development Ltd was created but it was propped up solely by loans from the club.
Everton believed this helped their case in terms of falling within the permitted losses, claiming the loans to Everton Stadium Development “bore financing costs by way of interest and arrangement fees.”
Unfortunately for Everton, the independent commission and Premier League didn’t quite see it the same way.
Instead, they claimed it was the club’s “understandable desire to improve its on-pitch performance” that “led it to take chances with its PSR position,” the commission said.
The commission’s conclusion added: “The position that Everton finds itself in is of its own making. The excess over the threshold is significant. The consequence is that Everton’s culpability is great.
“Everton’s PSR trend over the relevant four years is positive, but we cannot ignore the fact that the failure to comply with the PSR regime was the result of Everton irresponsibly taking a chance that things would turn out positively.”
It is the first time a club has breached the Premier League’s PSR, which meant there was no precedent for an appropriate punishment.
Everton had hoped to be hit with a financial punishment, which they claimed “would meet the justice of the case.”
And, if they were to cop a sporting penalty, “the commission should consider imposing a transfer ban.”
However, the independent commission opted to take drastic action and dock Everton 10 points, partly because it felt a “financial penalty for a club that enjoys the support of a wealthy owner is not sufficient.”
Everton have until December 1 to lodge an official appeal but the club has already indicated it will do so in a strongly-worded statement.
“Everton Football Club is both shocked and disappointed by the ruling of the Premier League’s Commission,” the statement read.
“The club believes that the Commission has imposed a wholly disproportionate and unjust sporting sanction. The club has already communicated its intention to appeal the decision to the Premier League. The appeal process will now commence, and the club’s case will be heard by an Appeal Board appointed pursuant to the Premier League’s rules in due course.
“Everton maintains that it has been open and transparent in the information it has provided to the Premier League and that it has always respected the integrity of the process. The club does not recognise the finding that it failed to act with the utmost good faith, and it does not understand this to have been an allegation made by the Premier League during the course of proceedings. Both the harshness and severity of the sanction imposed by the Commission are neither a fair nor a reasonable reflection of the evidence submitted.
“The club will also monitor with great interest the decisions made in any other cases concerning the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.”
The punishment also threatens the prospective takeover of the club by 777 Partners, who agreed a deal to acquire Moshiri’s’ 94.1 per cent stake in Everton and a reported figure of approximately $1.05 billion, per CNBC.
777 Partners already has a number of football clubs in its portfolio including Hertha Berlin, Sevilla, Standard Liege as well as Melbourne Victory.
The company has provided a number of loans to Everton to help the short-term cash flow at the club while the takeover process continues, but a points deduction was not what they, or the current top brass at Everton, expected.
Despite the punishment, the Liverpool Echoclaims 777 Partners “are highly unlikely to be deterred” from buying Everton.
However, their takeover could be blocked should the Premier League, Football Association and Financial Conduct Authority not deem the company suitable to become owners of Everton.
RELEGATED TRIO COULD COME CALLING FOR CASH
Although Everton’s points deduction has come into effect this season, it is related to financial mismanagement in previous campaigns.
It is worth sparing a thought for Burnley and Leicester City, who both were relegated at the end of the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons respectively but would have stayed up had Everton’s punishment come into effect earlier.
Burnley did not languish in the Championship for long though and bounced straight back up to the Premier League after one season, while Leicester lead the league this season and have an eight-point buffer to the playoff positions.
However, it has not stopped both clubs as well as Leeds United seeking up to $191 million in compensation from Everton having been relegated during seasons in which the Toffees breached the Premier League’s PSR.
In a further twist, the Daily Mail claims the trio’s compensation case is set to be decided by the same commission that found Everton guilty of financial mismanagement.
On the three-person panel is Alan Greenwood, Nick Igoe and David Phillips.
Igoe has previously worked in football as a finance director for West Ham, but Phillips’ past with Leeds raises some eyebrows.
He acted on behalf of the club in 2007 when Leeds appealed a 15-point deduction imposed by the English Football League (EFL) after they broke insolvency rules.
Additionally, Phillips was a part of an independent panel that handed Everton a $573k fine for a pitch invasion after beating Crystal Palace at Goodison Park in May 2022, a victory that secured their safety that season.
Burnley, Leeds and Leicester have 23 days to lodge an official compensation claim and any hearing is expected to take place after Everton’s appeal.
But it’s just another element of this sorry saga Everton did not need.
WHY TOFFEES’ VERDICT WILL HAVE PL HEAVYWEIGHTS FEARING THE WORST
With Everton’s sanctions, the collars in the boardrooms at Manchester City and Chelsea could be getting a little hotter.
City have 115 breaches of the PSR hanging over its head, while Chelsea is being investigated for a series of alleged financial breaches over a seven-year period for a series of secret payments.
Some of those secret payments were worth tens of millions of dollars and allegedly were made by companies owned by Roman Abramovich, who bankrolled Chelsea during that period of time.
What Everton’s punishment has done is it has set a precedent for the Premier League to work with.
And, given Everton breached the Premier League’s PSR rules only to receive a 10-point deduction, Manchester City and Chelsea could have the book thrown at them.
So much so that the two English giants could be sent tumbling out of the top flight.
“If you are a lawyer at these clubs, you will be more nervous after this verdict,” leading sports lawyer Catherine Forshaw told The Guardian.
“There’s precedent in place now. And compared to Chelsea and Manchester City, Everton are likely to be at the lower end of the spectrum in terms of severity.
“So I think relegation is certainly not out of the question.”
The charges against City include not providing “a true and fair view of the club’s financial position,” failing to disclose “full details” of player and manager remuneration, not complying with FFP rules and a lack of co-operation in the Premier League’s investigation.
Unsurprisingly, City have stood their ground and believe a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence” will prove they are not guilty of any financial wrongdoing.
As for Chelsea, the financial irregularities came in before the new ownership group of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital arrived in May 2022 and presents a different challenge should the club be found guilty of any PSR breaches.
A MOOD OF ‘DEFIANCE’
The independent commission’s punishment for Everton has stirred up an already-passionate fanbase.
A GoFundMe from The 1878s fan group, who’s main objective is to improve the atmosphere at Goodison Park on game day, has already raised nearly $80k to help make banners and flags to protest the decision.
Per The Athletic, 50,000 pink cards featuring the Premier League logo and the word “corrupt” have also been printed and will be handed to Everton supporters ahead of this weekend’s fixture against Manchester United at Goodison Park.
The same publication also notes the players share the same feelings of the supporters, as the “overall mood in the dressing room is one of defiance.”
Even with the points deduction dropping them to just four points, bookmakers still believe Everton will have enough quality to survive.
Per bet365, Burnley, Luton Town and Sheffield United are all favoured to go down ahead of Everton.
After all, the Toffees are just two points away from safety and have lost just one of their last five league games.
However, Everton have a daunting run of fixtures before the end of the year as they face Manchester United, Newcastle United and Tottenham.
Oh, and they also take on Chelsea and Manchester City, with both games at Goodison Park.
There are still plenty of twists and turns left in Everton’s case and many will keep a keen eye on the appeal process, but this outcome has proved the Premier League can and will bare their teeth.
Time will tell if they do the same for the big boys in question if and when the time comes.