Everton ordered to pay Burnley £35m over relegation dispute

Everton Football Club is appealing a ruling that orders it to pay Burnley more than £35 million ($47 million) in compensation. The Premier League Independent Disciplinary Commission found Everton liable for financial rule breaches during the 2021/22 season, when Burnley was relegated.

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Everton Football Club is surprised and angered by the decision of a Premier League Independent Disciplinary Commission to order a compensation payment to Burnley Football Club in relation to Everton’s PSR breach in June 2022.

Burnley argued that had Everton's six-point penalty for Profitability and Sustainability (PSR) breaches been applied that season, they would have survived relegation instead. Everton, which was deducted 10 points in late 2023 (later reduced to six on appeal) under former owner Farhad Moshiri, finished four points above Burnley in the 2021/22 standings.

Everton's leadership expressed surprise and anger, calling the judgment "fundamentally flawed in both law and fact." The club stated that the ruling sets a "dangerous and unworkable precedent" by allowing a club to be in breach at any point in a financial year. They believe the panel misrepresented the evidence presented by their legal team and are confident an appeal will succeed.

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Everton has appealed the decision and is clear in its belief the ruling is fundamentally flawed in both law and fact…This ruling sets a dangerous and unworkable precedent for English football, given it is constructed on a principle that a club can be in breach of financial rules at any point in a financial year.

Burnley chairman Alan Pace, however, viewed the decision as vindication. "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. "The Independent Commission has now confirmed, in clear terms, that a rule was broken and a competitive advantage was improperly gained."

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Everton believes the panel’s ruling misrepresents the clear evidence presented by its legal representatives and that an appeal will be successful.

Everton's financial situation has since improved following the December 2024 takeover by the US-based Friedkin Group.

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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.