Everton's Relegation Payout
Premier League Tribunal Orders Everton to Pay Burnley £35M Over PSR Breach Causing Relegation
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Key Points
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The tribunal reported Everton’s PSR breach involved an overspend of £19.5 million during the relevant period, alongside expert evidence modeling what that could have meant for points in 2021-22.
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The commission said Burnley’s projections were stronger, estimating Everton’s breach would have translated into a points benefit “between 3.85 and 7.13 points” for the 2021-22 race—figures the commission found more compelling than Everton’s alternative modeling.
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Reporting noted Everton is now under the US-based Friedkin Group after the December 2024 takeover, a context cited alongside Everton’s renewed complaints about the compensation ruling.
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Everton’s appeal argument included that it “does not recognize” the panel’s conclusion that Burnley’s relegation was caused by a sporting advantage from the PSR breach, adding that “for which a substantive sporting sanction has already been received,” and Everton further attacked the decision as “dangerous and unworkable” because it is based on the idea that a club can breach financial rules “at any point in a financial year.”
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Burnley chairman Alan Pace said his club could not accept “competing in a competition later shown to have been compromised,” framing the compensation decision as vindication for challenging what they viewed as an unfairly tilted league.
A Premier League tribunal has ordered Everton to pay Burnley approximately £35 million in compensation, ruling that Everton's breach of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) directly caused Burnley's relegation in 2022. The award breaks down as £26 million in base damages plus around £9 million in interest, The Independent reported.
Everton said it is "surprised and angered" and confirmed it will appeal immediately, calling the decision "fundamentally flawed in both law and fact." The ruling is the first time a Premier League club has been ordered to pay financial compensation specifically for a financial rules breach — not a player eligibility issue.
How a £19.5m Overspend Cost Burnley Their Top-Flight Place
In the 2021-22 Premier League season, Everton finished 17th with 39 points. Burnley finished 18th with 35 points and were relegated. The following year, the Premier League charged Everton with overspending by £19.5 million above the permitted £105 million PSR threshold for that period, Sky Sports reported.
In November 2023, Everton received an unprecedented 10-point deduction. That was later reduced to six points on appeal in February 2024, The Guardian reported. But the damage to Burnley had already been done in real time — and no points deduction applied years later could give Burnley back their Premier League status.
Tribunal Backs Burnley's Modeling of Points Stolen by the Breach
The core legal fight was over numbers. Burnley's expert argued that Everton's overspend translated into a sporting benefit of between 3.85 and 7.13 points during the 2021-22 season. Even the low end of that range — 3.85 points — would have been enough to flip the relegation, since Everton only finished four points ahead of Burnley, according to Businessday NG.
Everton's expert countered that Burnley suffered no real loss at all, arguing that parachute payments and player sales meant Burnley actually made a net gain of £6.8 million to £18.2 million through relegation. The tribunal rejected that argument and found Burnley's projections more compelling. Burnley had initially sought more than £50 million, but the £35 million award reflects the "balance of probabilities" — acknowledging Burnley might have gone down regardless, according to Goal.com.
Everton Cries Double Jeopardy, Burnley Calls It Vindication
Everton's appeal rests on a "double jeopardy" argument. The club argues it already served a "substantive sporting sanction" — the six-point deduction — and that paying £35 million on top of that means being punished twice for the same offence. Everton also said the ruling is "dangerous and unworkable" because it implies a club can be liable for a breach "at any point in a financial year," ITV News reported.
Burnley chairman Alan Pace rejected that framing. "What we could not accept and what no club should be asked to accept was competing in a competition later shown to have been compromised," he said. For Burnley, a points deduction years later was no remedy for losing Premier League status, hundreds of millions in TV revenue, and the squad they built, according to The Herald.
A Landmark That Could Unleash a Wave of Club Lawsuits
This is the first ruling of its kind in English football's financial rules era. The closest precedent was the 2007-09 dispute between Sheffield United and West Ham over the ineligible fielding of Carlos Tevez. That ended in an out-of-court settlement worth around £20 million, according to City AM. This ruling goes further — and sets a template.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire called it a "landmark" that could open the floodgates, noting it has "huge implications for clubs who feel they were disadvantaged by Chelsea's breach" and potentially Manchester City's ongoing case. Leicester City, Nottingham Forest, Leeds United, and Southampton have all previously considered similar claims, Goal.com reported. Everton's new owners, the Friedkin Group, confirmed the £35 million payout will not affect the club's PSR calculations for the current accounting period, The Guardian noted.
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