Everton: Legal action mooted at Goodison Park from big-earning players, ‘what a mess’
Garth Crooks has suggested Everton players may take legal action against the club should they be relegated from the Premier League.
The Toffees are in a fight for survival at the bottom end of the Premier League, not helped by a six-point deduction earlier in the season.
Due to that deduction, plus the possibility of a second points charge, Crooks believes it could lead to a messy situation if Everton go down.
“What a mess. The recent four-point deduction given to Nottingham Forest for breaching Premier League profit and sustainability rules seriously threatens their top-flight survival,” he wrote in his column for BBC Sport [31 March].
“They now join Everton – who were docked 10 points earlier in the season for similar offences, prior to being given four points back on appeal – in a perilous situation at the bottom.
“Meanwhile, it is more than a year since Manchester City were charged with more than 100 alleged breaches of financial rules – which they deny – but it’s business as usual for them. I think football fans deserve to know why.
“What is even more interesting is if Nottingham Forest or Everton do go down why should the players of either club suffer the financial loss or status? They have done nothing wrong. I would be consulting my lawyers and considering leaving the club with my registration in hand.”
Everton will be in deep trouble if relegated from Premier League
Big-name clubs getting relegated is nothing new, of course, and it can lead to serious concerns with regards to a club’s financial situation.
Where this case differs, though, is that the relegation would have in part been brought on by the points deduction – or deductions.
As Crooks says, that is not fair on the players. At the same time, not many in the squad can say they have truly earned their money this season.
If it stays at a six-point deduction, Everton will still only have themselves to blame for not staying above the dotted line.
Burnley and Sheffield United have been terrible, while Luton Town have made a great fist of it but are not a Premier League-quality side.
That observation can be turned on Everton, in truth, because results just simply have not been good enough in 2024.
Should the Toffees go down, it will open a whole can of worms. Let’s just hope the big-earning players get the job done on the field to avoid that scenario.
In other Everton news, Kieran Maguire has outlined Alisher Usmanov’s role in the Toffees’ “steep” losses.
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