Everton have been ordered by the courts to pay Burnley nearly £40m in compensation following legal action being bought against them by The Clarets.

in Late 2023, Everton were deducted deducted points for breaches of the Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) in the 2021/22 season. This was reduced to six points on appeal in early 2024. The points deduction was applied to the 2023/24 season.

In 2021/22, Burnley were relegated, finishing 4 points behind Everton. Burnley’s claim was that had the deduction been applied in the season the offence took place, then Everton would have been relegated and Burnley would have stayed in the Premier League.

The difference in financial reward between playing in the Premier League and Championship is huge, with the play-off final often dubbed the “£200m game”. And it is based on that “loss of earnings that Burnley sued Everton.

The decision, which Everton plan to appeal, could have wider ramifications in English football. Most notably with Manchester city.

City face 115 charges, many of which are for financial misconduct between 2009 and 2018. Were they to be found guilty of the charges and be given a points deduction for the 2026/27 season, Premier League clubs could point to the decision in Burnley v Everton as a precedent that City should pay them financial compensation for any loss in revenue for those seasons they committed offences.

Premier League teams get “prize money” depending on where they finish. For 2025/25, Liverpool as champions earned £2.7m more than Arsenal in 2nd place. That might not seem much, but were Man City to be deducted enough points to have finished 2 or 3 places lower per season, across multiple seasons, the compensation would quickly grow to 8 figures.

The courts would then have to factor in loss of revenue from sponsorship and the huge one – Champions League football.

In 2015/16, Man City finished 4th, level on points with Manchester United but above them on goal difference. The next year they earned over £50m from being in the Champions League. Then in 2016/17, City finished 3rd, 3 points ahead of Arsenal in 5th. They earned over £60 million from playing Champions League football.

Based on the Burnley judgement, both Arsenal and Manchester United could make the case that they suffered a loss of earnings due to Man City finishing ahead of them, if any points deduction relates to offences that season and would take Man City below them. And that does not account for any case which both clubs may be able to make from ticket sales and sponsorship.

The money will never soften the blow of being denied success due to a club financially doping, however collectively it could be a huge financial blow for City.

We all await with bated breath for the result of the Man City case, which has gone on far to long. But even when the verdict is announced, that will not be the end of it.

City will likely appeal and, depending on what seasons the point deductions are from, Premier League clubs will be lining up for their slice of compensation.

Keenos