Everton were punished by the Premier League for FFP failings – now Gary Neville has called the organisation "lawless"
(Image credit: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Following Everton's 10-point deduction in the Premier League, Gary Neville has labelled the organisation "out of control" in a scathing assessment of the situation.
The Toffees were punished following financial losses for the fifth successive year in March after reporting a £44.7 million deficit in 2021/22 and were slapped with the biggest points deduction in Premier League history.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, Neville claimed, “Everton’s trust and faith [in the Premier League] has gone completely.
Everton are now in the relegation zone following their punishment (Image credit: Getty)
“The greed and selfishness is out of control - it’s lawless. The Premier League is a defunct organisation because they’ve got 20 clubs all voting with self-interest. This has been coming for many years.”
Neville was one of the highest-profile opponents of the Super League in 2021 – in which the so-called 'Big Six' Premier League sides attempted to join a breakaway project with other sides in Europe – and the former Manchester United captain brought them back into the conversation when discussing the state of the game in 2023.
“The Super League clubs that tried to destroy the whole of European football,” Neville continued. “They were fined a total of £22m, £3.5m for each team, which is an absolute disgrace and a scandal for what they attempted to do, which was the attempted murder of our game.
“The reason I’ve been calling for an independent regulator for four or five years is because I think it’s the only chance we’ve got. An independent regulator isn’t going to come in and correct everything, but we need independence, transparency, real-time financial monitoring, proper rules on owners, and proper sustainability rules that are equalised across the game.”
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Gary Neville has become more involved with political issues in recent seasons (Image credit: Getty Images)
Neville is a co-owner of Salford City, and used them as an example of how profit and sustainability laws vary across the pyramid.
“There are four different sets of rules in League Two, League One, the Championship, and the Premier League for sustainability,” he said. “In League Two, you have to submit a business plan at the start of each season and if you’re short of money - depending on your revenue from the previous season - and if you are going to propose to spend more on players and there is a shortfall of cash, you have to put it in as owners at the start of the season to ensure you can afford it. That is absolutely the best way to go, its real-time financial monitoring.
“Then you go to League One, it’s looser because you don’t have to do that, you have to give a letter of proof, and in the Championship, you can lose up to £13 million per season. So, the rules across each of the four leagues in English football are all different when it comes to sustainability, it’s mad what’s going on at this moment in time.”
Mark White has been at on FourFourTwo since joining in January 2020, first as a staff writer before becoming content editor in 2023. An encyclopedia of football shirts and boots knowledge – both past and present – Mark has also represented FFT at both FA Cup and League Cup finals (though didn't receive a winners' medal on either occasion) and has written pieces for the mag ranging on subjects from Bobby Robson's season at Barcelona to Robinho's career. He has written cover features for the mag on Mikel Arteta and Martin Odegaard, and is assisted by his cat, Rosie, who has interned for the brand since lockdown.
