Five rival clubs could sue Everton after Premier League points deduction

Leeds United, Leicester City, Southampton, Burnley and Nottingham Forest all have ‘potential claims’ against Everton

Everton could face an onslaught of compensation claims from rival clubs following their 10-point deduction by the Premier League.

The club were found by an independent commission to have breached the league’s profit and sustainability rules. As a result, their points tally for the season was cut from 14 to four, dropping them into the relegation zone.

Everton are appealing against the decision.

It has since emerged that Leeds United, Leicester City, Southampton, Burnley and Nottingham Forest all have “potential claims” against Everton, according to the chair of the commission, David Phillips KC, in a ruling from May which has now been made public.

Burnley and Leeds would appear to have the strongest claims, given they would have stayed in the Premier League and not been relegated had Everton been docked 10 points in either of the past two seasons – Burnley in 2020/21 and Leeds in 2021/22.

Clubs seeking compensation have 28 days from Friday’s judgement to lodge their case with the commission.

The Toffees become the first English top-flight club to receive such a punishment for falling foul of FFP guidelines. They are just the third club in the Premier League era to be deducted points for any reason: Portsmouth saw nine points taken away for entering administration in 2010 and Middlesbrough were slapped with a three-point deduction for illegally postponing a game in 1997 – both teams subsequently suffering relegation at the end of the season.

The commission ruled Everton had overspent by £19.5m. The Premier League claimed Everton “submitted misleading information” about the financing of its new Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium, about interest charges on the building of the £760m ground and the commission ruled the club was “less than frank” in its evidence.

A statement from the Premier League read: “An independent commission has imposed an immediate deduction of 10 points on Everton FC for a breach of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSRs).

“The Premier League issued a complaint against the club and referred the case to an independent commission earlier this year. During the proceedings, the club admitted it was in breach of the PSRs for the period ending season 2021-22 but the extent of the breach remained in dispute.

“Following a five-day hearing last month, the commission determined that Everton FC’s PSR calculation for the relevant period resulted in a loss of £124.5m, as contended by the Premier League, which exceeded the threshold of £105m permitted under the PSRs. The commission concluded that a sporting sanction in the form of a 10-point deduction should be imposed. That sanction has immediate effect.”