Stefan Borson: This is when Everton and Burnley could receive the verdict in their legal battle
Everton and Burnley are waiting to hear the verdict in their ongoing legal battle after an update has emerged.
Burnley were one of five clubs to apply for compensation alongside Leeds United, Leicester City, Southampton and Nottingham Forest after Everton were charged with a profit and sustainability (PSR) breach for 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Burnley are suing Everton for £50million, with The i Paper reporting on 17 October the three-week case between the Premier League clubs came to an end at the International Dispute Resolution Centre in London earlier this month.
The newspaper said the three-person panel could deliver its verdict in early 2026, but it’s understood there isn’t a firm timeline in place for a decision.
Everton want to make accounting note after Burnley latest
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider it wouldn’t be a surprise if it was January before the panel revealed its decision.
Burnley are claiming they missed out on extra revenue following their relegation from the Premier League in 2021-22 – one of the seasons where Everton were found to have breached the PSR rules.
The Clarets finished third-bottom and four points behind the Toffees in that campaign.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: “I mean, it was quite a long hearing, so obviously there’s quite a lot to get through. It’s always very hard to know what else there is on the agenda of the panel and, therefore, what was agreed with the parties.
“I think there’s probably no crunch date by which it makes much difference. If you think about it from an accounting perspective, the clubs won’t want to go through an audit process with it hanging out there because it’s a slightly awkward thing to deal with for potentially whether Everton will want to provide for it revisions or whether Burnley will want to make some reference to the litigation, so they’d probably prefer it to have been done and dusted so that they can put it into a post balance sheet event note.
“It’s not a big deal, and they probably have little control of that anyway.”
Everton were docked a total of eight points in the 2023-24 season following their previous spending breaches, with top-flight clubs only permitted to make £105m of losses over a rolling three-year period.
Everton and Burnley could face delay after legal update
Borson previously told Football Insider Everton could be forced to pay Burnley up to £10m in compensation if the Clarets are successful in their legal battle.
“It would surprise me if it was before December, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it slipped into January,” said Borson.
“I think you have to be cognisant that although it’s sort of surprising in some ways, the legal world does tend to shut down from around mid-December.
“I think if they’ve not got it by say 14 December, which is that weekend that’s sort of the middle weekend of December, I think they’re probably going to be waiting for it into January.”
The Athletic reported on 23 September Leeds and Everton reached an out-of-court settlement earlier this year after Elland Road chiefs decided their case wasn’t strong enough to go to court.
Borson told Football Insider Everton likely agreed to pay Leeds up to £1.5m after they suffered losses of around £2m.
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