Sue Everton? Burnley only have Burnley to blame for their demise
BURNLEY won a single league game between the start of the season and February 18. But that wasn’t their fault: it was Everton’s.
The single point in 12 across the last four games was down to Everton, too. And no points in March. And the lone point gleaned in each of August, September and January. All Everton’s doing, all their responsibility.
That’s the great thing now that every season ends in litigation. Nobody is answerable for their performance any more, unless it’s good. Manchester City aren’t trying to pin their fourth title in five years on anybody else, but Burnley are treading in the footsteps of Middlesbrough, Wycombe and Sheffield United by implying that they lost football matches through a third party.
Not forgetting Leeds. They entered into a pact with Burnley that sought to blame Everton’s spending in the event of relegation this season. So, if Leeds had lost at Brentford, the 79 goals they conceded — 12 more than any other team that stayed up — and a record 101 yellow cards, plus three reds, would all have been laid at Everton’s door.
And it’s obvious why Burnley are angling for compensation from the Premier League. The club are owned by ALK Capital who took out a significant loan to complete their leveraged deal. In the event of relegation, a large part of £65million needs repaying.
If they can palm this off on the league, by claiming they allowed Everton to breach financial rules, then with the parachute payment and a healthy lump from the sale of goalkeeper Nick Pope, they should be well placed for a tilt at a first-time return to the top division. If not, it is going to be difficult. James Tarkowski will leave, but on a free transfer and the Championship will be competitive next season, as always. This is the norm now. Middlesbrough and Wycombe found a scapegoat in Derby’s financial recklessness, Sheffield United in West Ham’s purchase of Carlos Tevez, which breached third-party regulations. A ruling by Lord Justice Griffiths is to blame here, setting the precedent that a club aren’t responsible for their results.
There were always going to be ramifications and it has taken two decades for them to take hold, but this is the third season in succession to end with legal challenges around relegation.
In 2020, there was uncertainty over the fate of Wigan, Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton, while the EFL litigated to send Macclesfield down, following pressure from Stevenage, who were reprieved; Wycombe sued Derby over their relegation last year, and now this. Some years after his passing, Griffiths’ singular interpretation of a season is having the chilling effect predicted.
Now it is argued that Everton’s financial extravagance, not Burnley’s failings as a team, have decided the final relegation place. We are on our way to becoming Brazil where Recife won the 1987 title in 2017, thanks to 30 years of legal wrangling. Who wouldn’t want to see that: a thrilling finale followed by several years of courtroom drama to see if what you watched was genuine. In a few years football would have about as many viewers as Piers Morgan.
Everton have posted losses of £371.8m over three years, placing a large share of that burden on the effects of the pandemic, including lost transfer and sponsorship revenue. Most clubs only claimed on lost gate receipts. The Premier League signed Everton’s numbers off but now Burnley are demanding all data and documents relating to this calculation are kept, pending an independent investigation.
Sheffield United lost several legal arguments before they found a judge who would support their claim, and it is possible Burnley may do the same. The Premier League say they are satisfied Everton breached no rules, but Burnley dispute this. Like Sheffield United, they were very happy to sign up to the league’s jurisdiction until something distasteful happened. Now, they want independent analysis.
The ramifications of the Super League include a lasting distrust, particularly between large and smaller-scale clubs. Burnley are one of only two Premier League sides that draw fewer than 20,000
on average each week, so may feel the system is against them.
After all, while results suggest Everton’s whole plan is concocted on the back of a fag packet, they are among the top division’s longest-serving clubs, already draw double Burnley’s gate and are soon to move to a new stadium. It is understandable that, in the current climate, there would be a degree of paranoia at Turf Moor about who the league would prefer to survive.
Yet, is it founded? Everton are, famously, the People’s Club. And those people tend to be based on Merseyside rather than spread in numbers across many continents. Everton’s relegation and return — particularly to a new stadium — would be one of those narratives that capture the imagination. And it’s still one club, one vote. There is no evidence to suggest Premier League mandarins punch the air when Burnley or Bournemouth go down. Brentford have given magnificent value this season.
And if Everton have broken the rules, yes, they should be punished. Nobody argues that. What should not happen, however, is to be framed for the failings of others. Burnley doomed Burnley. Nobody else.