Luton Town have moved out of the Premier League relegation zone without kicking a ball after Everton were slapped with an immediate 10-point penalty after being found guilty of breaching Financial Fair Play rules.
The Toffees are the only team Town have beaten in the division this term, with a 2-1 victory at Goodison Park in September, but after three wins in five matches since then, the Merseysiders had moved away from the bottom three, opening up a comfortable eight point gap between them and the Hatters.
Luton’s 1-0 defeat at Manchester United just before the international break and Bournemouth’s 2-0 victory over Newcastle saw the two sides swap places, leaving Town in the bottom three and three points from safety.
But Everton have today been punished with immediate effect meaning their tally for the campaign now sits at four points. They slip to second bottom, just above basement boys Burnley on goal difference, meaning Town have moved up to 17th.
The punishment is the biggest sanction in Premier League history and Everton have said they are “both shocked and disappointed” by the “wholly disproportionate and unjust” ruling, and intend to appeal the decision.
In March, Everton posted financial losses for the fifth successive year, reporting a deficit for the 2021-22 season of £44.7million, bringing their losses over a three-year priod to £124.5million. With clubs in the division permitted to lose £105million over that time a hearing found in favour of the Premier League that the club had breaching profit and sustainability rules.
In a statement, Everton said: “The club does not recognise the finding that it failed to act with the utmost good faith and it does not understand this to have been an allegation made by the Premier League during the course of proceedings.
“Both the harshness and severity of the sanction imposed by the commission are neither a fair nor a reasonable reflection of the evidence submitted.
“The club will also monitor with great interest the decisions made in any other cases concerning the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.”
In February, champions Manchester City were charged with more than 100 FFP breaches, and were referred to an independent commission over alleged rule breaches between 2009 and 2018.
Luton are no stranger to points penalties after they were hit with a never-since-repeated 30-point punishment for financial irregularities by the Football League and the Football Association before a ball had even been kicked on their League Two campaign in 2008. It proved too much of a mountain to climb and the Hatters were relegated out of the Football League after an 89-year spell.
The Hatters have since climbed out of the non-league and all the way to the Premier League this season, with today’s decision to punish Everton providing more survival hope for the club.
