The biggest points deductions in football have been revealed amid a potential huge punishment for Everton.
On Tuesday, The Telegraph reported that the Toffees are "facing the threat of severe sanctions if they lose their fight against allegedly breaking the Premier League’s financial regulations."
The case is being heard by an independent commission, with no final outcome decided yet.
However, it's claimed that the Premier League has recommended a maximum punishment of a 12-point deduction for the club.
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Such a penalty would take Everton to the bottom of the table on -5 points and make it very difficult in the fight to avoid relegation.
The first known points deduction is believed to have happened all the way back in 1890 but there have been a whole host of points-related sanctions and here are the top ten.
15 - Leeds United
When Leeds were in League One in the 2007/08 season, they started the campaign with -15 points.
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Football League clubs voted on their fate for failure to comply with rules on insolvency but they still finished in the play-off places.
17 - Bournemouth
A year on and the Cherries were hit with another almighty points deduction for the second consecutive season.
This time it was the tune of -17 because they were still in administration, but, miraculously, Eddie Howe kept them in League Two after taking the job in the middle of the season.
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17 - Rotherham
The Yorkshire outfit had the very same punishment as Bournemouth in League Two but they too stayed up, with Mark Robins leading them to 14th.
18 - Genoa
At the time, you only got two points for a win and so the 18-point penalty Genoa received for bribery in 1960 was monumental.
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They also had a ten points taken off them for the following season, though it was later reduced to seven.
19 - Arminia Bielefeld
Next on the list is the only German representatives on the top ten. A bribery scandal took place in 1971, with Arminia Bielefeld being hit with a 19-points deduction.
They only won six games anyway and finished bottom on 19 points.
21 - Derby County
The Rams had an eventful autumn in 2021 where they were hit with a 12-point deduction for going into administration, as well as a further nine for breaching EFL accounting rules.
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Without the docking of points, they would have finished 17th and avoided relegation from the Championship.
30 - AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio
A trio of Serie A clubs had 30 points removed from their total in the 2005/06 season due to their involvement in the shocking Calciopoli scandal, while Juventus ended up in the second tier for their wrongdoing.
30 - Luton Town
In the same season where Bournemouth and Rotherham received deductions, Luton Town had a massive 30 points taken off them.
There were two separate offences, ten for illegal payments to agents and a further two for not leaving administration properly.
The Hatters would have had 56 points without the deduction but ended up finishing bottom and sinking into the National League.
Topics: Everton, Premier League
Josh Lawless