Pressure will increase on the Premier League on Sunday to overturn the 10-point sanction on Everton with the intervention of the former governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney.
In a letter to the Premier League with two other prominent Evertonians — Sir Brendan Barber and Dame Sue Owen — Carney highlights what he sees as the iniquity, inconsistency and hastiness of the “draconian” punishment on his club compared to the delay in the Manchester City case, the damage threatened by the top flight’s six European Super League plotters, and the impact on fans and the local community. They warn of a doomsday scenario. “Fans are feeling there are now plausible scenarios where the club is no longer a going concern,” they write.
£19.5 million over losses permitted under Premier League Profit and Sustainability (PSR) Rules. They made a loss of £124.5 million over three years, exceeding the £105 million threshold.
The club have now received heavyweight backing from three powerful voices: Carney spent seven years on Threadneedle Street; Barber is a well-known trade unionist who was formerly general secretary of the Trades Union Congress and chair of ACAS, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service Council; and Owen is a respected former civil servant who was Permanent Secretary for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for six years.
Their letter to Alison Brittain and Richard Masters, respectively chairman and chief executive of the Premier League, coincides with Sunday morning’s meeting of the Everton Fans Advisory Board before the game against Aston Villa at Goodison Park.
The meeting was addressed by two more powerful figures — Andy Burnham, the Evertonian Mayor of Greater Manchester who has been campaigning on behalf of fans, and Steve Rotheram, the Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region — and both further condemned the punishment.
It is an obvious embarrassment and challenge to the Premier League that such distinguished public figures as Carney, Barber and Owen — as well as Burnham and Rotheram — should so strongly back the campaign to have the sanction overturned.
“We have no confidence in the process for deducting points from Everton FC,” Carney, Barber and Owen write, “and feel very strongly that the severity of the deduction must be reduced by the new commission assessing the appeal, or, ideally, replaced with a fine. We feel Everton have been unfairly punished for co-operating and making this a ‘quick’ case.”
More developments are expected on Monday with further charges against Everton a possibility. In the letter, which has been seen by The Times, the trio argue that the points deduction, and loss of league positions alone, will cost the club substantial sums which “makes it harder to comply with the next set of PSR calculations”.
The letter draws attention to widespread concern over the new PSR processes launched last year. “In Everton’s case we believe a sporting sanction was wholly inappropriate for an initial single breach of the PSR rules,” they write. “We think a more measured transition period would have been appropriate and wonder if that might still be possible. We urge the Premier League to reconsider its approach to ensure actions are fully explained, predictable, proportionate, fair and timely for all.
“A fine would have been more appropriate, and this would still have served as a deterrent to others. It does not seem to the lay person that all of Everton’s alleged transgressions conferred a sporting advantage, indeed the arrest and consequent loss of a player (subsequently not charged) was a disadvantage.”
The letters also focuses on City’s 115 alleged breaches of financial rules. City strongly deny any wrongdoing and the case is not expected to be heard until later this year. “The decision on Everton was made earlier than for other Premier League clubs with more alleged offences, over a longer period, and where an investigation was announced before that regarding EFC,” the three write. “We would urge the Premier League to complete the other processes already underway for earlier periods, to ensure fairness.”
Evertonian anger at the Premier League is also rooted in the belief that the six English Super League plotters — City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea — were only fined for threatening a breakaway which would have destroyed the Premier League. This, as the letter emphasises, was “surely a bigger threat to the future of the PL than a PSR breach — only received a fine totalling £22 million, less than £4 million each! They agreed such action in future would involve a 30-point deduction and £25 million fine each”.
“The size of the points deduction imposed by the IC (independent commission) feels draconian to us as supporters; TV pundits, journalists and groups such as the Football Supporters’ Association who reacted to the IC decision seemed to agree. Fans feel the points punishment is wholly disproportionate. No-one knows how the 10-point deduction was arrived at, so speculation is inevitable. Some, not all, fans have concerns about the independence of the commission, and perceptions are always important.”
Carney, Barber and Owen express their distrust over “the lack of transparency” over how the 10-point deduction was calculated. “The August 2023 PL guidelines submitted in the PL chief executive’s unpublished witness statement to the IC is described in the 23 November IC decision as a fixed deduction of six points plus a tariff of one point for every £5 million over the ‘permitted three-year threshold of £105 million losses. The PL calculated Everton’s excess loss at £19.5 million (18.6 per cent) so advised a further four-point deduction making a total of 10. Where, we wonder, did the fixed six points come from?”
The trio highlights the inconsistency that “previous points sanctions were less severe” and mention that Spurs were “fined and deducted 12 points in 1994-95 for financial irregularities — with the deduction subsequently revoked”. Portsmouth were deducted nine points in 2010 for entering administration — “surely a more grave situation than breaching the PSR for the first time”. Ten more points were deducted in 2012 for a repeat offence.
Carney, Barber and Owen emphasise that Everton fans are “extremely worried” about their club’s finances. “The severity of the points deduction, not to mention substantial legal costs, will only make things worse,” they write. “The decision to recommend a sporting sanction rather than a fine is misleading as a points deduction brings with it a loss of revenue; 10 points are worth at least £20 million, about the same amount as the alleged excess loss of £19.5 million.
“This financial penalty is compounded as attracting commercial investment and sponsorship will doubtless become harder for any club with the spectre of sanctions hanging over them.
“All of this makes it harder to comply with the next set of PSR calculations. We would then hope that PSR calculations can be adjusted to reflect revenue lost from points deductions; higher losses from points deductions have not conferred sporting advantage.
“Fans are feeling there are now plausible scenarios where the club is no longer a going concern; precisely the kind of situation the Fan Led Review of Football Governance seeks to avoid in future. Everton is located in one of the poorest areas of the UK; their economic impact is considerable, directly and through local businesses, and would be even more so if the significant investment in the new stadium comes to fruition. Investment in a new stadium ought to be encouraged.”
Burnham and Dave Kelly of the Everton Fan Advisory Board wrote to the Premier League in November and December to call for a rethink. “Since then,” Carney, Barber and Owen conclude, “concern has only intensified.” They now await the Premier League’s response to their letter.
It wasnt penalties. It was that other creditors would call in their loans..meaning the MSP money would've been used for paying them vs. moving the club forward. This was when Esk got all pissy. Prior to that he had a hard on for MSP
To be fair you are not the first and won’t be the last to pigeonhole Dyche as some sort of latter day Tony Pullis but the fact remains none of us know whether or not he has the ability to evolve his tactics with the team
He had nine years at Burnley where he wasn’t afforded the luxury of trying to play more expansive football due to the financial restrictions he was working under and did an excellent job there
He has come here and is arguably operating under even tighter restrictions and he has succeeded in getting a tune out of a squad that many more illustrious manages failed dramatically to
So personally I think he has earned the right to try and take us forward
sounds like you have a fairly blinkered and preconceeded idea of Dyche.
I have seen a manager actually managed to notibley improve the Everton team this summer. Given the tools and conditions he is working under I think he deserves massive credit for improving and galavanizing this team and getting all those player actually playing for the shirt. He has said from day 1 it starts with sweat on the shirts - and his team are delivering this at an ever increasing consistency.
This club has been crying out for some sort of stability, so to simply sack a relatievly successful manager after 18months purely in order to bring in a more fashionable one who has a polar opposite 'progressive' possession based style would simply be foolhardy. We have seen the fall out of chopping and changing managers and styles - why on earth would we do that again if we finally have the oppertunity of a period of some stability.
Do we have the players capable of playing a possession based game? or do we have the budget to bring in players who could to this at Premiership level?
RIP Bill, thoughts and prayers with family and friends.
You loved the club and although the fans lost faith in you towards the end, you will always be a "Blue"
Rest easy.
Trigger reacted to MikeO in Longest Thread! for Everton Discussion
Trigger got a reaction from Matt in Longest Thread! for Everton Discussion
Trigger got a reaction from Romey 1878 in Longest Thread! for Everton Discussion
