Keith Wyness 'concerned' - Everton lawsuit could 'open the floodgates'

03/23/2025 03:00 PM

Everton face an imminent lawsuit against Burnley but Leeds United, Leicester City, Southampton and Nottingham Forest could also sue for compensation in the future.

The five clubs applied for compensation after Everton were charged with a breach of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns – claiming their overspending meant an advantage.

The Lawyer reported on 12 March that Everton have appointed Mark Howard KC to lead their case against Burnley, which will take place this summer.

The charges eventually resulted in a combined eight-point deduction for the Toffees last season but they preserved their Premier League status – just as they did when Burnley went down in the 2021-22 campaign.

Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – insisted he has “concerns” about the precedent the Burnley case will set.

Everton case could cause ‘bad blood throughout the Premier League’

Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness insisted both Everton and Burnley will be reluctant to “open the floodgates” and cause “bad blood”.

The ex-CEO has previously told Football Insider (20 March) he expects the case to be settled out of court for a figure of around £2-3million.

Wyness claimed Burnley’s case will be “hard to prove” this summer.

He told Football Insider's Inside Track podcast: "What does concern me is that this will open up the floodgates for clubs suing clubs.

"We've had issues with clubs suing the Premier League, but if this becomes clubs versus clubs continually – it's going to lead to bad blood throughout the Premier League.

"If you're inviting visiting directors in for lunch before the game and you're in court against each other, it's going to add some tension to relations.

"I don't think either club will want to open the floodgates.

"I think it's so hard in football to prove why a club has won a game. You can't tell the exact reason.

"Everton's expenditure was only around £15million, from memory, so to say that caused Burnley to be relegated – it's very hard to prove.

"I wouldn't want to encourage these lawsuits at all."

Everton set to bank £10m windfall

Meanwhile, Football Insider revealed (20 March) that Everton could earn up to £10million from their US pre-season tour this summer.

They will take part in the second edition of the Premier League Summer Series alongside Man United, West Ham and Bournemouth.

Everton's owners want to take a US approach towards matchdays at their new stadium to boost the club's revenues, but will head to the States before the grand opening ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.

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