Premier League points deductions explained: why clubs lose points

Premier League points deductions are sporting sanctions handed out by independent commissions to clubs that break the Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR), the financial fair play regime that caps losses at £105m over a three-year rolling period. The first deductions under the rules arrived in the 2023/24 season, when Everton lost eight points across two breaches (six after an appeal plus two) and Nottingham Forest lost four, all applied to the current table with immediate effect. Leicester City became the most recent case in February 2026, docked six points in the Championship for a breach of the EFL's parallel rules.

How points deductions happen

PSR came into force during the 2015/16 season, a direct response to Portsmouth becoming the first and so far only Premier League club to go into administration. Every club is assessed each year against its PSR Calculation, which is the aggregate of its Adjusted Earnings Before Tax over the assessment period, with certain costs added back: investment in infrastructure, community projects, women's football, youth development and depreciation of tangible fixed assets. The permitted loss is £105m over three years, reduced by £22m for each season a club spends outside the top flight, which is why promoted clubs such as Nottingham Forest were assessed against a £61m threshold rather than the full £105m.

When the Premier League Board suspects or alleges a breach, the case goes to an independent Commission selected by the independent Chair of the Premier League Judicial Panel. The Commission decides whether there was a breach and what the sanction should be, choosing from fines, points deductions and other sporting sanctions. Commissions have repeatedly affirmed one principle: any breach of the PSR is significant and justifies, and even requires, a sporting sanction.

There is no fixed tariff in the rules. In the Nottingham Forest appeal, the commission described a framework of minor, significant and major breaches, with a three-point entry point for a significant breach, then adjustments up or down for the magnitude of the overspend and any mitigation. The results, as the cases below show, have been anything but formulaic.

The 2023/24 cases: Everton and Nottingham Forest

Club	Assessment period	Deduction	Announced	Appeal outcome
Everton	to 2021/22	10 points	17 Nov 2023	Reduced to 6 on 26 Feb 2024
Nottingham Forest	to 2022/23	4 points	18 Mar 2024	Upheld on 7 May 2024
Everton	to 2022/23	2 points	8 Apr 2024	Appeal withdrawn May 2024

Everton were the first club charged by the Premier League for breaches of its financial rules, in 2023, and the first sanctioned. The commission found a PSR loss of £124.5m, exceeding the £105m threshold by £19.5m, and imposed an immediate 10-point deduction on 17 November 2023, the largest in Premier League history. On appeal the deduction was cut to six after the Appeal Board found the commission had erred twice: it had found Everton "less than frank" over the financing of the Bramley-Moore Dock stadium when the Premier League had not made that case, and it had failed to take account of relevant benchmarks such as EFL sanctioning guidelines.

The second case came quickly. In January 2024 Everton and Nottingham Forest were both charged for the assessment period ending 2022/23, and Everton admitted a breach of £16.6m. The commission imposed an immediate two-point deduction on 8 April 2024 and rejected a request to defer it to the following season. Everton lodged an appeal and then withdrew it in May, leaving the two points in place. In total the club lost eight points across the two breaches, yet still finished 14th, 14 points clear of the relegation zone.

Nottingham Forest's case turned on a different calculation. As a club that had spent only one season in the Premier League before the assessment period, Forest's threshold was £61m. The commission found a PSR loss of £95.5m, a breach of £34.5m, and imposed an immediate four-point deduction on 18 March 2024. Forest appealed on two grounds: that the sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham for £47.5m on 1 September 2023, the final day of the transfer window, should have counted as mitigation, and that the deduction should have been suspended. Both were rejected on 7 May 2024, with the Appeal Board upholding the four points. Forest stayed up by six points in 17th.

The 2024/25 season: Everton's reprieve and Leicester's fight

The following season produced no new Premier League charges at all. On 14 January 2025 the league confirmed that all 20 clubs were compliant for the 2023/24 assessment period. Everton also closed their last open case three days later: on 17 January 2025 the Premier League confirmed it would take no further action over the stadium-interest part of the club's charge, ending all proceedings between the club and the league for the financial years ending 30 June 2022 and 30 June 2023.

Leicester City's case ran the other way entirely. The club was charged in March 2024 for the assessment period ending 2022/23 and immediately challenged the Premier League's jurisdiction, arguing it had been relegated and was no longer a member. A commission dismissed that challenge on 4 July 2024, but an appeal board found for Leicester in September 2024, ruling the league had no jurisdiction because the club's accounting period had ended after relegation. The Premier League changed its rules in April 2025 to close the loophole, and an arbitration tribunal confirmed its jurisdiction in March 2025. Leicester were referred to a fresh commission in May 2025 for alleged breaches of the EFL Championship P&S Rules for the 2023/24 season, the season they spent in the second tier. On 5 February 2026 the commission found the club had breached its £83m threshold by £20.8m over the three-year assessment period and recommended an immediate six-point deduction in the Championship, ratified the same day by the EFL Board. Leicester appealed on 19 February 2026 and lost.

When do points deductions take effect

Deductions apply to the current season's table with immediate effect. The Premier League updated the table the same day the Everton appeal reduced the deduction from 10 to six, and the commission in Everton's second case rejected a request to defer the two points to the next season.

The league's standard directions are designed to ensure PSR cases are dealt with in the same season the charges are laid, and the league has pushed for appeal outcomes to be confirmed before the final day of the season. The Leicester case is the exception that proves the rule: it is the only one of the four to have slipped its calendar, and it did so because the jurisdiction fight took the case out of the league's control for the best part of a year. When a club wants to delay a deduction, the lever is the process, not the sanction.

Timing is also where the system looks most like a lottery. Everton's original 10 points landed in November, shaping the club's entire season; the two-point deduction arrived in April, shaping only the run-in. The same breach in a different month would have produced the same sanction but a different season.

How the appeal process works

Any party can challenge a commission decision under Section W of the Premier League Rules. An appeal to the Appeal Board must be lodged within 14 days, and the hearing proceeds by way of a review of the evidence put before the original commission; fresh evidence is admitted only with leave. The Appeal Board is appointed by the independent Chair of the Premier League Judicial Panel.

The four cases show the range of outcomes. Everton's 10-point deduction was cut to six on appeal. Forest's four points were upheld. Everton's two-point deduction survived because the club withdrew its appeal. Leicester's six points were upheld after the club's appeal failed.

What the appeals do not do is rework the sanction from scratch. They review whether the commission erred in law or in the procedure it followed, which is why the numbers look as they do: not because they follow a published scale, but because there is no published scale. That is the part of the system fans find hardest to accept, and with good reason.

One rule change is worth flagging before the new season. PSR applies to Premier League clubs up until the end of the 2025/26 season, and a new set of financial rules comes into effect from the start of 2026/27. Whatever the new rules look like, points deductions are now established practice, and clubs that assume the regime is settled should not bank on it.

FAQ

Why did Everton get two points deductions? Everton were charged separately for two assessment periods. The first, for the three years to 2021/22, brought a 10-point deduction reduced to six on appeal. The second, for the three years to 2022/23, brought an immediate two-point deduction for an admitted £16.6m breach. The club's total across both was eight points.

Do points deductions carry over to the next season? No. Deductions are applied to the current season's table with immediate effect. Everton asked to have its two-point deduction deferred to the following season and the commission refused.

Can a club appeal a points deduction? Yes, under Section W of the Premier League Rules. The appeal must be lodged within 14 days and is heard by an independent Appeal Board, which reviews the evidence from the original hearing.

How much can a Premier League club lose before breaching PSR? £105m over a three-year rolling period, reduced by £22m for each season spent outside the top flight. Nottingham Forest, with one Premier League season in the assessment period, was assessed against £61m.

Key takeaways

• Points deductions are the Premier League's sporting sanction for breaching PSR, which caps losses at £105m over three years.
• Everton lost eight points in 2023/24 across two breaches: 10 reduced to six on appeal, then two points that stood after the appeal was withdrawn.
• Nottingham Forest's four-point deduction for a £34.5m breach of its £61m threshold was upheld on appeal in May 2024.
• Leicester City were docked six points in the Championship in February 2026, after a jurisdiction fight delayed their case for nearly two years.
• Deductions hit the current table with immediate effect, deferral requests have been refused, and PSR is replaced by new financial rules from 2026/27.