How far down might these points deducations take clubs?

 

 

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By Tony Attwood

The Premier League table may, at first sight, look like a normal league table but currently, three teams are facing enquiries into their behaviour and various points deductions are possible.

Manchester City face 115 charges or thereabouts, which if each one were found against them could result in, I suppose, a 115 point deduction.which could have them relegated to the third division, although I guess that is unlikely.  If that happened I suspect the club’s owners would simply buy the FA and the League and run it themselves. 

Chelsea are still waiting to hear what is to happen to them, although their case is mitigated slightly by the fact they reported themselves to the league, and are probably wishing they hadn’t (given that I guess they expected a fine rather than the points deduction that is now all the rage).

As for Everton they have had their ten points reduced to six which takes them leaping up the league from 17th to 15th.  But they are now into their second charge which could kick them back another 10. Nottingham Forest are still awaiting the news on their first charge.

Let’s assume for a moment that the clubs being charged are all guilty.   Here is the league at the moment showing the clubs facing charges with asterisks against their name.  A bit like being on the naughty step.

 

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Liverpool	26	18	6	2	63	25	38	60
2	Manchester City*	26	18	5	3	59	26	33	59
3	Arsenal	26	18	4	4	62	23	39	58
11	Chelsea*	25	10	5	10	42	41	1	35
15	Everton*	26	8	7	11	28	34	-6	25
17	Nottingham Forest*	26	6	6	14	34	48	-14	24
18	Luton Town	25	5	5	15	35	51	-16	20

 

A ten point discount for all the clubs with cases remaining would leave the table looking like this…  Clubs losing points are in bold black.

 

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Liverpool	26	18	6	2	63	25	38	60
2	Arsenal	26	18	4	4	62	23	39	58
3	Aston Villa	26	16	4	6	56	35	21	52
4	Manchester City	26	18	5	3	59	26	33	49*
5	Tottenham Hotspur	25	14	5	6	52	38	14	47
6	Manchester United	26	14	2	10	36	36	0	44
13	AFC Bournemouth	25	7	7	11	33	47	-14	28
14	Chelsea	25	10	5	10	42	41	1	25*
15	Brentford	25	7	4	14	35	44	-9	25
16	Luton Town	25	5	5	15	35	51	-16	20
17	Everton	26	8	7	11	28	34	-6	15*
18	Nottingham Forest	26	6	6	14	34	48	-14	14*
19	Burnley	26	3	4	19	25	58	-33	13
20	Sheffield United	26	3	4	19	22	66	-44	13

 

So Arsenal rise up to second, Manchester City are fourth, Everton still could escape relegation but Nottingham Forest are struggling.  Chelsea just slip down the league a bit.

Of course the Manchester City case might well not be finished this season and as an alternative to them winning all their appeals they could lose them all and so perhaps lose 50 points, rather than the 10 we have docked them in the table above, which if applied this season would leave them on nine points, but still more than likely to end up above Nottingham Forest and thus unrelegated.

However, even if they are just fined £5.50 I suspect they would appeal which will take us into next season.

But less we forget what happens elsewhere I’d like to mention Torquay United who have a special place in my heart since I lived and worked in south Devon for three years, as indeed did my parents.  So my dad and I used to go to watch Torquay United together, bringing back memories of him taking me to Arsenal as a child.  It was quite a magic time.

On 22 February 2024, the club announced its move into administration thus getting a 10 point deduction and leaving them possible candidates for relegation to the seventh tier (the Southern League).

This is an increasingly common occurrence.  Nuneaton Borough (not too far from where I live now) gave up the struggle recently, and North Shields are another non-league club in difficulty.  Rochdale of the National League are facing liquidation.

The future of small clubs like these may seem irrelevant to supporters of Arsenal, but I do feel for each club.  Maybe it is because I have lived in various parts of the country and gone to watch the local team when I couldn’t get to Arsenal. 

Indeed I really felt it when Wood Green Town (who had by then changed their name to Haringey Borough) went out of existence in 1973.  They actually had a ground in White Hart Lane (unlike Tottenham) and I could walk there from the flat we lived in, which I did when my dad wasn’t available to take me to Arsenal.

My local team now is Corby Town in the Southern League Division 1.  The average crowd is about 500.  Still surviving I am pleased to say.

I also regularly visited Rushdon and Diamonds FC who went bust in 2011 and was there to see them promoted into the Football League in 2001.

So having been to see these teams on days when Arsenal were away or had their weekend home games moved to Sunday, I would go and watch these teams. and appreciate that non-league football was alive and flourishing.

Now it seems ludicrous that the Premier League clubs can earn as much as they do, and they do not pay a sufficient levy to help keep the lower league going.  Fortunately for me, Guernsey FC is still going in the Isthmian South Central division; that’s a connection through my mother’s family.

But I do fear for these teams.  Of course, all the attention is on the points being deducted in the Premier League, but without the lower leagues, football in this country would be a much poorer affair.