PENALTY POINTS

SAM TODD LOOKS AT TOP-FLIGHT POINTS DEDUCTIONS IN LIGHT OF EVERTON'S RECENT WOES...

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EVERTON’s ten-point deduction for breaching the top flight’s profit and sustainability rules in November caused shockwaves throughout the game. As well as the severity of the punishment, part of the surprise lay in the fact that while points penalties for financial irregularities have been commonplace for decades in the lower leagues - as Reading and Wigan fans can currently attest to it’s pretty rare for them to occur at the highest level of English football…

Notts County 1889-90 - one point deducted for fielding an ineligible player (later overturned on appeal) The second Football League season saw a points penalty imposed for the first time when Notts County fielded an ineligible player - borrowed from near neighbours and then non-leaguers Nottingham Forest - against Aston Villa on November 9, 1889, in a match that ended 1-1 at Trent Bridge.

Villa argued that the borrowed player wasn’t registered to play for County - a complaint which was upheld by the League Management Committee, who docked Notts one point and fined them £5.

The player in question, Tinsley Lindley, was multi-talented to say the least. He scored a hattrick on his Forest debut aged 16 and netted 14 goals in 13 appearances for England.

An amateur who also played county cricket for Nottinghamshire, he wore walking shoes rather than traditional football boots as he could run quicker in them.

Crucially for County, he was also a law student at Cambridge University and in his barrister role successfully took charge of the appeal against the punishment by claiming that, by imposing both a fine and a points penalty, Notts had been punished twice.