Biggest points deduction in Premier League history - Everton heading for relegation?

Everton have been deducted a historic 10 points for breaches of profit and sustainability rules, announced by the Premier League this Friday. The penalty will be effective immediately and leaves the Toffees with just four points, plunging them into the relegation zone, in 19th place. They are only the third Premier League team to have been docked points - Middlesbrough were deducted three points in the 1996/97 season, and Portsmouth were deducted nine back in 2010. Everton’s squad currently has a market value of €350.7 million.

This comes after the league referred Everton in March to an independent commission after reviewing the financial records of all top-flight clubs for the 2021-22 season. According to the rules, clubs can sustain losses of up to £105m in three years or potentially face penalties, but Everton reported losses of £124.5million for that relevant period. The Premier League have said, “Ordinarily, a Club’s PSR Calculation is the aggregate of its Adjusted Earnings Before Tax over a three-year period. Following amendments made to the PSRs during COVID-19, the relevant figures for Seasons 2019/20 and 2020/21 are now averaged. In the present case, therefore, the relevant period included Season 2021/2022, the average Adjusted Earnings Before Tax for Seasons 2020/21 and 2019/20 and Season 2018/19.”

Manchester City are the only other club to have been charged by the Premier League for financial breaches, when they were referred to an independent commission, over more than 100 alleged rule breaches between 2009 and 2018. Treble winners City were charged in February - before Everton - and that case is still ongoing.

Everton FC statement: "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's spending between 2018 and 2022

Between the 2018/19 and 2021/22 seasons (the four seasons in question), when it just comes to transfers of players, Everton spent €334.67m on new acquisitions, and registered a loss on players of -€167.8m. During that period their highest transfers were for Richarlison (€39.2m) Yerry Mina (€30.25m) and Alex Iwobi (€30.4m), and they purchased no less than 11 players for a fee of over €20m. Everton made €166.8m from player departures during this period.

In the said time-frame, on players alone, 11 clubs registered a higher loss on players. Manchester United topped the list, with a loss of -€382.97m between 18/19 and 21/22. However, if we look between the 2014/15 and 2020/21 seasons, Everton have the fourth highest total loss on players, registering a total of -€351.78m.

Can Everton stay up?

Despite getting 10 points from the last 15 available, the Premier League table all of a sudden looks very bleak for Everton. Following the deduction, they are now level on four points with Burnley at the foot of the table, two points adrift of safety. The Toffees have never had less Premier League points after 12 games. Sean Dyche’s men play Man United, Newcastle and Chelsea in their next four fixtures, and only beat the drop by two points last campaign. Everton (4 points), Burnley (4 points) and Sheffield United (5 points) are all currently in the worst seven starts to a season in Premier League history.

As aforementioned, only two clubs have had point deductions before Everton in the Premier League, and both were relegated. Portsmouth finished 20th in the 2009/10 season after having nine points docked. They actually would have been relegated even without the deduction, finishing with a meagre 19 points. Middlesbrough were also sent to the second division in 1997, but without their three point deduction would have survived.  

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