Burnley’s case for compensation against Everton in relation to the 2021/22 season remains live

When the Toffees were found to be in breach of the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 financial years, five clubs moved to apply for potential compensation; Burnley, Leeds United, Leicester City, Nottingham Forest and Southampton.

The motivation behind the move was borne from the financial hardship that had been suffered by relegation, or that could have been potentially suffered, with drop into the Championship seeing clubs hit with a significant drop in revenue.

The PSR breach for 2021/22 came with a 10-point deduction which was then reduced to six, while the deduction that was imposed in relation to the 2022/23 breach was two points. While both punishments ran concurrently last season, they were set apart from a legal standpoint when clubs were seeking compensation.

A two-point deduction in 2022/23 would have seen Everton still stay up on goal difference in a season when Leicester, Leeds and Southampton were all relegated. Those three clubs, as well as Forest, dropped their appeals upon the reduced penalty.

But a six-point deduction in 2021/22 would have seen Everton finish on 33 points and in the bottom three, thus relegated to the second tier of English football.

The side that finished third-bottom that season was Burnley on 35 points, and a report in the Times states that a compensation case remains ongoing, with the potential for verdict still possibly more than 12 months away.

The report also states that the same commission that imposed a 10-point deduction on Everton initially is also deciding on the compensation for any claims for financial damages associated with it by aggrieved clubs. The commission’s chairman, David Phillips KC, had previously stated: “I am satisfied that the applicant clubs have potential claims for compensation.”

Everton challenged that position at the time by stating that their appeal, and subsequent reduction in the points deduction, was handled by a different commission.

Quite how much, if any, compensation Burnley would be entitled to remains rooted in legal arguments between the two clubs and could take some time to fathom out given that there has been no precedent in the Premier League.