Everton would not have breached the Premier League’s financial rules had the club not embarked upon the construction of its new stadium, according to an argument put forward by Everton commentator Citizens of Suburbia.
Writing on X, the account revisited Everton’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules problems amid renewed discussion over the club’s financial history.
Its conclusion was emphatic: “No stadium, equity available, no interest, no PSR breach.”
Everton PSR numbers revisited
Citizens of Suburbia argues that Everton’s position for the PSR period ending June 2022 included approximately £18m in accumulated interest, and claims removing those financing costs would have taken the club significantly closer to compliance.
The account says Farhad Moshiri injected around £229m during 2021/22, taking his total funding of Everton at that stage to approximately £380m. It also puts stadium costs at £209m and the club’s debt at £175m by June 2022.
From those figures, Citizens of Suburbia argues that without the stadium expenditure, Moshiri’s equity could instead have been available to fund Everton’s cash requirements. In the account’s analysis, that would have removed the need for the debt and therefore the associated interest costs.
Note: This is Citizens of Suburbia’s analysis, rather than a conclusion reached by the Premier League commission.
The account also argues that the loss of USM and MegaFon-related income following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 contributed to Everton’s later financial difficulties.
It says Everton “responsibly terminated” their USM agreement rather than being instructed to do so by the Premier League, while also arguing that the loss of MegaFon dividends to Moshiri contributed to the need for additional borrowing.
Citizens of Suburbia ultimately rejects comparisons between Everton’s PSR breaches and the recent findings against Manchester City, describing such comparisons by some Evertonians as misplaced.
Everton were eventually deducted eight Premier League points during 2023/24 following two separate PSR breaches.
The rulings themselves aren’t changed by this argument. Citizens of Suburbia’s contention is that the financial consequences of building the stadium were fundamental to how Everton arrived at their PSR position in the first place.
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