Football success and how teams fare are usually pretty simple to work out just by looking at league tables. However, this season, some clubs’ futures have been decided off the pitch in the shape of points deductions for various financial issues.
Here are the English clubs hit with points deductions in season 2023/24:
Everton (10 points reduction reduced to six and 2 points deduction with an appeal pending)
The most high-profile case in the English in season 2023/24 was Everton being hit with a ten-point deduction in November for failing to comply with the Premier League PSR rules over a three-year period.
Poor management at the top of the club, along with issues beyond the Toffees’ control, contributed to the Merseysiders’ ending up in hot water.
Everton became only the third club in Premier League history to be given a points deduction after Portsmouth in season 2009/2010 and Middlesbrough in 1996/97.
However, the Toffees were the first Premier League club to be deducted points for violations of PSR rules. Everton was £19.5m over the threshold of the £61m allowed over a rolling three-year period.
Many questioned the severity of the punishment and the PSR guidelines set out by the Premier League, as they were not set in stone.
Some claimed that the Toffees were being made scapegoats by the Premier League, who were desperate to avoid the British government implementing an independent regulator to oversee the top flight.
Everton appealed the decision. In February, a second independent commission ruled that the men from Merseyside’s punishment should be a six-point deduction instead of ten.
In April 2024, another independent commission gave the Toffees a second points deduction of two points relating to the same three-year financial period in which they had already been punished.
Reports suggested that the Premier League wanted a five-point punishment. However, mitigating factors were taken into account, and the punishment remained two points. However, the Toffees have appealed the decision, although it is unlikely to be successful.
Despite the two separate points deduction, Everton secured their Premier League status on 27th April with a 1-0 home win over Brentford.
Nottingham Forest (Four points deduction, decision upheld)
At the end of March 2024, the Tricky Trees became the second Premier League club after Everton to be hit by a points deduction due to PSR violations.
Forest was given a four-point deduction, which, like Everton at the time, saw them fall into the relegation zone.
Despite season 2023/24 being only their second season back in the Premier League after a long absence, the Midlands outfit was judged to have broken the PSR rules, as seasons in the Championship were included in the rolling three-year period.
Forest reportedly admitted breaching PSR by £34.5m above the permitted threshold of £61m.
Everyone connected with Forest was extremely disappointed with the decision and lodged an appeal like Everton.
Unfortunately for the Midlands club, on 7th May 2024, a second independent commission rejected their appeal and withheld their four-point deduction.
Despite the points deduction, Forest heads into their final two games of the Premier League campaign, with three points clear of the relegation zone and a superior goal difference to 18th-place Luton Town.
It is not out of the realm of possibility that Nottingham Forest will beat the drop to the Championship.
Wigan Athletic (Eight points deduction)
The Latics’ situation was slightly different from that of their Premier League counterparts, as they were handed an eight-point deduction before the 2023-24 campaign began.
The punishment was due to the north west club’s late payments to club employers in season 2022/23, in which they finished bottom of the Championship table.
In season 2023/24, Wigan finished 12th in the League One table, missing out on the play-offs by 14 points. Even without the points deductions, Shaun Maloney’s team wouldn’t have finished in the top six.
Reading (Six points deduction)
The Royals have been experiencing some turbulent times recently, with owner Dai Yongge coming for major criticism of his ownership.
In November 2021, the Berkshire club was initially given a six-point deduction for a cumulative breach of the regulations.
However, in August 2023, the club was handed a further three-point deduction due to failing to pay wages in the 2022/23 campaign.
The club were hit with a further points deduction in September 2023, this time related to persistent late payments to the HMRC.
Despite a combined tally of six points deducted from their League One total for season 2023/24, the Royals beat the drop by nine points after initial fears that they could suffer relegation to the fourth tier of the English game.
Morecambe (Three points deduction)
In April 2024, Morecambe agreed to take a three-point deduction after a failure to pay players wages. The deduction relates to season 2022/23.
In August 2023, the north west team received a suspended three-point deduction. However, club owner Jason Whittingham failed to adhere to what was agreed, and the Shrimps received the three-point deduction.
Like the other teams on the list, the three-point deduction had little bearing on their season. Morecambe finished 15th place in the table, 12 points off the play-off spots and 16 points clear of the relegation zone.
Are points deductions really the right way to keep clubs financially viable?