Everton’s Points Deductions: How the Toffees Were Punished Twice in One Season
Everton were the first Premier League club docked points for breaking spending rules, losing eight points across two cases in 2023/24.
Everton became the first club in Premier League history to be docked points for breaking the league’s spending rules. By the end of the 2023/24 season, they had lost eight points across two separate cases.
The first case: 10 points, cut to six
The Premier League referred Everton to an independent commission in March 2023. The club had posted losses of £124.5m over the three seasons to 2021/22, against a permitted limit of £105m. That was £19.5m over the line.
On 17 November 2023, the commission handed down an immediate 10-point deduction, the biggest sporting sanction in Premier League history at the time. It dropped Everton into the relegation zone.
Everton appealed. On 26 February 2024, an appeal board cut the penalty to six points. It found the original commission had been wrong to say Everton were not frank about their new stadium costs, calling that “an innocent mistake”, and said the commission had not followed the usual guidelines on sanctions.
The second case: two more points
In January 2024, Everton were charged again, this time for the three seasons to 2022/23. The commission found they had gone £16.6m over the £105m limit.
On 8 April 2024, Everton were docked a further two points. The commission reduced its starting point of five, taking into account the overlap with the first case and sponsorship income the club lost after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Everton said they were “extremely concerned by the inconsistency of different commissions” and planned to appeal, but later dropped it.
Also on DSN: Manchester City’s 115 Charges: Reported Findings Put Years of Delay Under the Spotlight.
Our sister site DGBN has also covered Everton agreeing a £40m fee for Monaco striker Folarin Balogun.
How it ended
Despite losing eight points, Everton survived. They finished the 2023/24 season in 15th place.
Everton’s two cases, and Nottingham Forest’s four-point deduction, were all settled within months. Read how that compares with the Manchester City 115 charges case, which has run for more than three and a half years.
