Burnley have won a landmark legal case against Everton for breaching Premier League financial rules, with the Merseyside club ordered to pay nearly £40m in compensation. The verdict, delivered by an independent disciplinary commission, is the largest financial penalty ever imposed on a Premier League club.
Burnley sued Everton after being relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2021-22 season. Everton had been deducted 10 points for breaching profitability and sustainability rules in the four-year period up to June 2022, though that verdict was not reached until November 2023. The penalty was later reduced to six points on appeal. Burnley argued that had Everton been deducted six points in the 2021-22 season rather than in 2023, they would have stayed up and Everton would have been relegated.
Everton have appealed the commission's ruling and received assurances from the Premier League that the sum owed to Burnley will not form part of current PSR calculations. The club, now owned by The Friedkin Group, said in a statement they were 'surprised and angered' by a ruling they believe 'is fundamentally flawed in both law and fact'. They added that the ruling 'sets a dangerous and unworkable precedent for English football'.
Burnley had been seeking £51.7m for losses suffered as a consequence of relegation. They have been awarded £26m in compensation, plus £9.1m in interest accrued up to July 2025 and interest since that date. Burnley's chair, Alan Pace, said: 'When we were relegated in 2022, we disappointedly accepted the outcome on the pitch. What we could not accept was competing in a competition later shown to have been compromised.'
The ruling paves the way for other club v club legal disputes, particularly if Manchester City are found to have breached league rules in their long-running case. Several Premier League clubs are understood to have taken legal advice regarding the possibility of a guilty verdict against City.
