Evertonians don’t need reminding that Premier League financial rules have consequences – inadvertent or otherwise.
In November 2023, they were deducted 10 points, and the Toffees went from 14th to 19th and a season that had already started badly suddenly had a very real threat of relegation.
The appeal came three months later. Two of Everton’s nine grounds were upheld, and the 10-point deduction was reduced to six, but Sean Dyche and his players had spent those months playing catch-up.
It’s worth remembering now.
I should probably also explain where I’m coming from. I write about Man City as part of my job and I’ve admired plenty of the football they’ve produced. Through the same work I’ve followed Everton closely enough to develop a genuine affection for the club. Norwich City, for anyone wondering, remain the team closest to my heart.
So, this isn’t written from the position that City should be punished mercilessly. They dispute the commission’s findings; they have until tomorrow to exercise their right of appeal and should be allowed to do that.
What I don’t think English football needs is for this to drag on.
Everton have been here already – albeit differently
First things first – Everton’s case and City’s aren’t the same.
Everton admitted breaching the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules. There was an argument about the extent of the breach and then about the punishment.
City’s case dwarfs it in both size and complexity.
An independent commission has found City guilty of serious financial breaches across nine seasons between 2009-10 and 2017-18. Among its findings were that commercial revenues had been artificially inflated through arrangements it described as “shams”, with the true position concealed from auditors and football regulators.
City say the commission has it wrong and intend to appeal.
There is another difference which shouldn’t be lost in an Everton comparison. City haven’t yet been sanctioned. That comes at a separate hearing, while Everton’s 10-point deduction had already landed when their appeal began.
I’m not suggesting City have points deducted tomorrow morning, for example, simply because that’s what happened to Everton. But I am suggesting that the Premier League should remember how little time it took for Everton’s punishment to land.
One Friday afternoon, Everton were 14th. By the end of it they were 19th.
Eight years. How?
The first Football Leaks and Der Spiegel material appeared in 2018. The Premier League began investigating in December that year.
It is October 2026 as I write this.
Of course, the case was never going to be dealt with in a few weeks. The hearing alone lasted 42 days and involved thousands of pages of evidence. Nobody expected it to be quick.
But there’s another thing. The commission found that City breached their obligations to co-operate with the Premier League investigation. City dispute the commission’s wider findings, but that is part of the published decision.
Even with all of the above taken into account, eight years is a long time.
Think of what has happened at Everton while City have been under investigation. They were investigated themselves, charged, lost 10 points, appealed, got four back and then received another deduction.
The Premier League now says it intends to move swiftly. Hopefully, for once in this case, swiftly actually means swiftly.
The numbers always looked extraordinary
Many people watched City’s transformation after the Abu Dhabi takeover and thought some of the numbers were astonishing.
This was a club which, historically, had spent much of the Premier League era looking up at Manchester United and the other established powers. Suddenly its commercial revenues were being spoken about in the same company as United, Arsenal and Chelsea, even the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The investment itself wasn’t the issue. If somebody wanted to spend a fortune turning City into a football superpower, fair enough.
And what followed on the pitch was often brilliant. Pep Guardiola built one of the best sides the Premier League has ever seen – Europe, even.
But the speed of the financial transformation was astonishing. City could buy the players, employ the coaches and build the infrastructure required to compete with anybody. At the same time, its commercial income was growing at an equally unbelievable rate.
We now have an independent commission saying some of that commercial income included owner funding disguised as sponsorship revenue.
City say that conclusion is wrong. Their appeal may yet prove them right, or at least overturn parts of the decision.
For now, though, the findings are the findings.
Football welcomed the money
This isn’t only a City problem either.
The Premier League spent years welcoming enormous overseas fortunes into English football. And wallowed in it.
The league became richer. Clubs became more valuable. Better players arrived. Stadiums, training grounds and surrounding areas benefited from investment. City are the prime example.
Their Abu Dhabi owners haven’t just spent money on footballers. There has been major investment in east Manchester too, something Prime Minister Andy Burnham has praised while saying he would be concerned if the ownership walked away.
Both things can be true. Are true.
The investment can have been hugely important to Manchester and completely irrelevant to whether Premier League rules were broken.
That’s where football has to be very careful. Once owners become important far beyond the club they own, regulating the football club becomes a more complicated business than it ever needed to be. But rules are rules. They have to be.
Evertonians can reasonably ask: what happens now?
After everything Evertonians had to say about their own right to challenge the 10-point punishment, it would be a bit rich to deny another club the same opportunity.
But Everton’s experience does make what happens next worth watching closely. When the Toffees’ punishment arrived… bang. Ten points gone. Table changed. Appeal later.
City’s case has already been running for almost eight years. There will be a sanction hearing, almost certainly an appeal if City’s stated position is followed, and possibly plenty more legal argument after that.
Due process has to be followed but PLEASE don’t let it disappear into another black hole.
Everton have already found out how quickly financial rules can change a football club’s season.
City deserve their appeal.
After eight years, the rest of us deserve an answer.
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