“The club will also monitor with great interest the decisions made in any other cases concerning the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.” – Everton club statement, November 2023.
A lot has been said of Everton’s PSR breach. Accusations of transfer overspending have been propogated by so-called ‘financial experts’ and Premier League-friendly journalists have launched a steady stream of negative articles aimed at discrediting the club at the behest of Richard Masters and co.
While Everton did breach PSR they did argue against the perceived extent of that breach and the importance of the mitigating factors that led to it. Some of those arguments were rejected by the Premier League and some were not. In total Everton were deducted eight points for two breaches.
However, the news of Leicester’s escape from PSR charges in the same season Everton were punished because of a bizarre loophole will anger Everton. Not because they think Leicester should be punished, but because it exposes the sheer hypocrisy and incompetance of Richard Masters and the Premier League.
The words Everton published in November should come back to haunt a man who was famously told he didn’t know what he was doing by an exasperated governent committee.
Because the truth is Richard Master’s PSR house of cards has collapsed and his shocking inconsistency, underhand media tactics and blatent disregard for fair play has been exposed for all to see. But let’s go back to the start to see just how untenable Masters’ position should be.
Richard Masters was the fourth choice for the role of Premier League Managing Director. After two people had rejected the job the Premier League wanted to employ Dave Howe, a BBC executive and son of former England international Don Howe. However, after a meeting with Liverpool and Manchester United the clubs vetoed his appointment, according to a report in the New York Times.
It said: “Presented with details of the financial package he could expect, terms he was said to have found agreeable, there was just one final hoop to jump through: an informal meeting with representatives from Liverpool and Manchester United.
“Howe met with Liverpool’s Werner and Ed Woodward, Manchester United’s executive vice chairman, and another Premier League executive in May. They discussed his vision for the future of the league, and what he saw as its most pressing challenges. Howe told associates that the meeting went well. Liverpool’s feedback to Buck, the head of the nominating committee, was positive.
“Soon after, though, the headhunting firm working on the search, Spencer Stuart, was told to inform Howe that the Premier League would be looking elsewhere.”
The clubs had no concerns over Masters and after another meeting he was promptly handed the reigns. He was praised by Chelsea executive Bruce Buck, who said: “Richard took on the role of Interim Chief Executive a year ago. Since then, the clubs have seen Richard rise to the occasion, dealing with our various stakeholders and partners with aplomb and skill.
“As Interim Chief Executive, he has faced challenges head-on and has proved himself. The clubs believe that this is the right appointment now in the long-term interests of the Premier League.”
Approved by the big six clubs it the league Richard Masters set to work. After Everton breached PSR by £16.5m he recommended a 10-point deduction – more than any other Premier League deduction and more even than the punishment for a club going into administration.
After a parliament request, Richard Masters refused to release the minutes of the independent hearing that gave Everton the biggest points deduction in the league’s history. The same Culture, Media and Sport committee accused Masters of having moved the goalposts and created the sense Everton were treated unfairly. It famously suggested the Premier League were making up rules as they went along and accused him of not knowing what he was doing.
A floundering Richard Masters used the hearing to label Everton and Nottingham Forest small clubs.
The inconsistency continued. Everton’s appeal led to a reduction to six points, with the latest independent panel suggesting the Premier League’s own submissions and rules were not clear enough, while the initial criteria for Everton’s 10-point deduction was changed to six points with additional points for things like the size of the breach and cooperation.
Except when Forest breached PSR that season by more than Everton they were deducted just six points – a bizarre decision given the breach was larger than Everton’s and not only did Forest appeal but they also famously spoke out against the Premier League and the deduction, as well as accusing a referee of bias after a game against Everton.
The Premier League, citing Forest’s co-operation, dropped Forest’s points deduction to just four. Forest instantly appealed.
Meanwhile, the Premier League led by Masters began to leak stories about Everton. The club was deducated a further two points but the Premier League had suggested seven, bringing the total amount of points Richard Masters wanted to take from Everton to a total of 17 in a single season.
If that was the only inconsistency in Master’s campaign against Everton, in the background Manchester City’s 115 charges had not been mentioned apart from a brief hint that a date had been set. City continued to gather up trophies in 2023/24.
Elsewhere, Chelsea had self reported historic breaches going back almost a decade. To date Masters has neither spoken about them or set a date for a hearing. Chelsea further mocked PSR rules by selling both hotels and its own women’s team to itself, moves banned by FIFA but described as ‘great’ by Masters in a bizarre rambling interview where he praised teams for finding an ‘edge’ to circumnavigate PSR rules.
Chelsea, who have spent over £1bn under new owners Clearlake, have now spent more in the last three years than Everton have spent in their entire history. The Premier League will attempt to hit Everton with a third points deduction this year after suggesting Everton’s independently audited, signed off accounts should not be allowed to capitalise interest, something done every day by major companies across the world involved in major construction projects.
Leicester, who also breached PSR by more than Everton, have now completely escaped punishment because of a loophole. They fell into the Championship and successfully argued the Premier League had no jurisdiction. Instead of accepting that due process had been followed and accepting issues in the PSR rules, Masters released a tantrum stating the Premier League was ‘surprised and disappointed’ that it could not dock Leicester points.
In between all of this the Premier League has mocked and snubbed Everton. The small club jibe was childish, but even more ludicrous was the Premier League releasing a booklet showcasing all of the development work happening at clubs across the division. It included Anfield revamps, Crystal Palace’s new stand and work at Fulham to update The Cottage. It contained no mention at all of Everton’s new 52,000-capacity Bramley Moore Dock Stadium, a petulant ommission by a body completely out of control.
It got pettier. The Premier League, which has refused to mention Everton’s points deductions on any of its social media accounts, released an animated video to celebrate the 2023/24 season. The only club to not have a player appear on it? You guessed it.
So here we are. Leicester are celebrating. City are frantically finding more loopholes. Chelsea are getting away with it. Clubs like Aston Villa and Newcastle, who have secured Champions League football in recent years, cannot spent and the big six can rest easy on the knowledge they cannot be challenged financially by anybody.
At the centre of it all sites an incompetent man who is now spiralling from disaster to disaster. Humiliated by Leicester, he will no doubt double down on his attacks on Everton.
Everton fans do not want Leicester to suffer points deductions. They don’t want other clubs to have to be waiting on independent committees and appeals as they seek to move up the league. They want consistency for all clubs. They want competent rule makers and consistent application of those rules.
Let’s hope Everton and their lawyers heed their own words from November and fight the inconsistency every step of the way.