Everton £300m legal threat update shared by Martyn Ziegler as Leicester, Burnley and company fail on FFP hearing push
The clubs said to have joined up to threaten Everton with legal action have “distanced themselves” from reports of legal papers being lodged, according to Martyn Ziegler in The Times.
It was reported on Tuesday night (16 May) by Matt Hughes in the Daily Mail, that Southampton, Burnley, Leeds United, Leicester and Nottingham Forest had joined forces to become party to the dispute between the Toffees and the Premier League.
The relegation rivals had wanted the independent commission hearing on Everton’s FFP charge to be brought forward in order to get any sanctions in place before next season, a push which both Hughes and Ziegler report has failed.
But while the Mail report said that the clubs had responded by lodging legal papers indicating their intent to claim £100million each for whichever three teams were relegated if the Toffees were found guilty, the Times report suggests that is not certain, although it does reiterate that Leeds and Burnley had threatened legal action last season.
Ziegler writes on Wednesday (17 May): “Other teams in relegation trouble — understood to be Leeds United, Southampton, Leicester City and Nottingham Forest — had wanted any sanctions to be imposed well before the start of next season.
“Club sources say the message has come back from the Premier League that the disciplinary hearing must follow due process and cannot be expedited because of the wishes of other parties.”
He goes on: “The clubs who asked for the fast-tracked hearing have distanced themselves from reports that they have lodged legal papers with the league this season.”
Not so fast?
If the rush to line up for hundreds of millions in compensation isn’t quite as fervent as first thought it may relieve some of the pressure.
But just because the rival clubs want to distance themselves from the report doesn’t mean it isn’t in their plans should Everton be found guilty.
If two of them were ready to launch legal action last year then it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that they would be minded to do so 12 months later, and with strength in numbers the other sides wouldn’t want to miss out if there is a crackdown on the Toffees.
Whether that is reasonable however is an entirely different question. Everton were “shocked” when they were charged by the league and maintain they will defend their position at the hearing, and if the commission finds in their favour then the other teams can be as angry as they like because it won’t go anywhere.
With Premier League status so crucial to any club, even if Burnley have surged back from their relegation a year ago, then any side that goes down are going to harbour feelings of injustice should Sean Dyche keep Everton up.
But who would be entitled to be compensated in that situation is a very grey area, especially since the spending has been so reduced on the Toffees squad in the past two seasons.
There is a reasonable argument that if Dyche is successful in the relegation battle it is in spite of the spending at Goodison, not because of it, so while it would not be overly surprising if other clubs did pile in should the FFP charge be proven, and it definitely provides a worry that the fanbase could do without, the merits of their claims are perhaps debatable.