Coyotejohn1947 said:

I intend to send the letter below to the EFL later today (due to CV19 restrictions can only do this via e-mail)
CAST and the Club will be sending their own versions plus others but I'm of the opinion that if these matters are raised now with the chair of the EFL (Rick Parry) he might consider the course of action the suggested in this letter - i.e. the EFL can as I understand it, appeal the IDC decision to defer the points deduction rather than risk this dragging into the courts.

Mr. R. Parry

Chairman EFL

10-12 West Cliff

PRESTON PR1 8HU                                         cc:matthew.pennycook.mp@parliament.uk                                                                                                             cc:chair@castrust.org

 02/08/2020

            SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY F.C. POINTS DEDUCTION TO BE DEFERRED UNTIL SEASON 2020-2021

Dear Mr. Parry,

I write in order to welcome the decision of the Independent Disciplinary Commission (IDC) advising the EFL in recommending that the EFL deduct 12 points from Sheffield Wednesday FC as a result of being found guilty of financial misconduct (i.e. breaching the profitability and sustainability rules for the three-season reporting period ending with season 2017-18).

However, I am sure you will share with me and many in the wider football community the sense of outrage that the IDC saw fit also to recommend that the points deduction be deferred until next season. Should the EFL accept the recommendation regarding the deferral then this will send a clear message to any would-be unscrupulous club owners that the gamble to engage in financial misconduct (cheating) could be worth it as the punishment does not fit the ‘crime’.

By way of explanation: as a result of irregularities in Sheffield Wednesday’s financial reporting over the three year period ending in 2017-18 the club was able to accrue and disperse resources (for example in player signings, contracts and wages) for the seasons 2018-19 and 2019-20, over and above that which would have been available had the club been previously compliant with the rules. This means that Sheffield Wednesday were operating at an unfair advantage over all other Championship clubs who stayed within the rules when partaking in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. 

In addition to the seemingly extraordinary amount of time it took for the IDC to come to a conclusion of guilt against Sheffield Wednesday the decision to defer the penalty until next season allows that club to profit yet further into a third season despite the penalty imposed. This is because, not only will Sheffield Wednesday gain financially from finishing in 16th position in the Championship table (rather than 23rd) but they will receive a share of Sky-Bet TV money for next season (2020-21) which will not be received by the club (in this instance Charlton Athletic) who are relegated - effectively as a result of Sheffield Wednesday having cheated and with the punishment for cheating being delayed.

By any accounting method this is patently unfair and will result in a club which followed the profitability and sustainability rules being more heavily punished in financial terms that the club which broke them.

Given all of the above, I urge you to take the necessary steps to appeal the IDC decision relating to the timing of the points deduction and put forward strong arguments as to why the points sanction against Sheffield Wednesday should be imposed this season rather than the next.

Any other course of action would amount to a dereliction of duty and the integrity of the EFL and its Championship competition will surely be brought into total disrepute should it refuse to act in this matter in the way in which the wider football world and even the general public I suspect would agree is required of you.

I have copied this letter to the Member of Parliament for Greenwich and Woolwich whom I know is taking a great interest in this matter (Charlton Athletic FC being in his constituency) and I hope this letter and others he may receive will provide him with the ammunition to air his concerns in Parliament until this matter is resolved in the only satisfactory way in which it can be and that is for justice not to be delayed and for Charlton Athletic not to be relegated and so heavily and unfairly penalised for the failings of another club to keep their house in order.

 Yours sincerely

Dr. John P. XXXXXXXXXX  BA. FSA

XXXXX  X

XXX XXXXXXX

Devon

Rather surprisingly perhaps the EFL Chairman has responded to this letter already (it was sent to the EFL contact e-mail as postal letters are not being received by the EFL due to CV19 restrictions.

The response effectively asks us to await the reasons provided by the IDC for the decisions reached (i.e. the reason for the level of points deduction and the timing of the imposition of the sanction.

I have e-mailed back requesting as to when we might expect to see the decision reasons.

In the meantime, I have studied the whole matter a little more closely, something I should have done before writing the letter - although it was written whilst I was still seething at the decision to defer the 12 point deduction until next season so I was throwing everything at it  - so I feel justified in some weird way.

Those with a cooler head will have already acknowledged that the nature of the breach is serious but 'technical' in the sense of SW having evaded this kind of penalty in an earlier season (by cooking the books as far as I now understand it). 

As has been noted by some, the sale of the ground was not illegal - it was the placing of the sale in the wrong accounting year which was the offence. Had SW placed the sale in the correct accounting year they would have been in breach of FFP for that season* which, and I hope I am at least right in this respect - would be a more serious offence and potentially a greater penalty?

SW have seemingly engineered a way around FFP and gambled on not getting caught in the hope (like QPR) that they could get into the Prem (with a different governing body) and escape any sanction if the accounting breach was discovered following their promotion - or at least delaying it until and they were demoted back to the EFL (as happened to QPR who took the hit of a fine).  

Even if they were caught before gaining the Prem - as has happened - they face the 'lesser' charges having not broken FFP as such but having evaded them.

As least that is how I now see it but I could be wrong.

What is clear and evident is that SW cheated and the punishment is delayed - not right !


  

 

This decision was crap,and EFL know it,the announcement was perfectly time to coincide with FA cup final weekend so it would get minimal coverage.However,they may have done us a favour as I do not see how we could possibly get a squad together to compete at championship level in time,bearing in mind we have about 12 players and an embargo at the moment,hey ho happy days.

I think another option is to be compensated although it would be good to get that with decent owners. Ultimately I would rather have a club in the Premier League with decent owners, but that is the best scenario. We are currently looking at a club in League One with shitter than shit owners. Only one league up from potentially the worst scenario at this time.

Coyotejohn1947 said:

Thus, had Wigan achieved enough points to take the 12 point hit and still avoid relegation then the sanction would have applied next season

That's not true. It would only have applied next season in league one if they had got relegated without the deduction.

https://www.efl.com/news/2020/july/efl-statement-wigan-athletic/

I can't really see the point of this thread. Yes we have been shafted and the whole process stinks, but other than possible financial compensation we will get nothing out of bleating. 

The fixtures are out shortly and I am told before the deadline for Wednesday to advise if accepting or appealing the decision. Any appeal will take forever on past experiences. No matter how wronged we've been,  we need to concentrate on saving our club and Gallen needs to push ahead with the establishment of a div one squad. 

I would think an effective punishment system would be - If you gain enough points for the play offs - the 12 points deduction can be applied to cost you your play off place. If you are above the relegation places, the 12 point deduction can send you down. If the deduction has no material affect in this season, it should carry on to next. Ok, it could be avoided the next season, but it becomes a bigger punishment and this should apply to all punishments.

As people have said, Wednesday have to win three more games than some potentially weak promoted teams. They could quite easily achieve this. There was an opportunity to actually punish them this season.

WSS said:

Why?

The rule isn't automatic relegation, it's a 12 point deduction.

The reason it would apply next season is to stop people going into admin "on purpose" so they don't suffer the deduction the season after.

The system as it is now was set up to stop teams who were already relegated going into administration without any penalty.  If you were rock bottom, 20 points off 4th from last place in March then you could go into administration then & there, take a 12 point hit without any repercussions as you were down already. I believe this it what Southampton did when they dropped into League 1. Went into administration at the end of the season, got a 12 point deduction which did f... all. They then cleared the club of debt (with creditors getting very little back- something like 10p in the £) and restarted again. Bought good players & managed to get out of League 1 at the first attempt  Now look at them. 

It is now a deterrent as if you tried that now the 12 point deduction would apply in the new season. 

Apologies for coming a bit late to this particular party; I've been otherwise engaged this weekend.

Sheffield Wednesday were charged with, effectively, cheating.

Sheffield Wednesday were found guilty of, effectively, cheating.

It then follows that Sheffield Wednesday should have been punished.

A large points penalty/relegation would have been suitable punishment.

Instead, by giving a token points deduction next season, Sheffield Wednesday have been given an inconvenience.

Starting the season 12 points behind everyone else is an embuggerance but not insurmountable, especially as the form of their cheating - financial - has allowed them to assemble a squad more expensive than they should have been allowed and, in theory, higher quality. Automatic promotion may have been made more difficult but a play-off spot could be a realistic target and then ultimately promotion.

What kind of deterrent is that? You can gain a not-insignificant unfair advantage over your rivals and be given a minor setback at a later date?

Swindon fans will look at this and ask: where's the consistency?

Thirty years ago they were demoted two divisions (reduced to one on appeal) - after they'd won the play-off final to gain promotion to the top flight - for breaking league rules relating to payments to players.

In my opinion (which I've stated before on the Barnsley-related thread) the punishment for Wednesday should have been automatic relegation, in keeping with the Swindon precedence, the scale/nature of the offence, and the lack of admission of guilt.

In fact I think the punishment, in general, should be a minimum 21-point penalty to bring about automatic relegation; if relegation is achieved without the full 21 points then the balance is carried over to the following season. In Wednesday's case 9 points would be required to drop them into the relegation zone below Charlton which would leave 12 points to be deducted in the lower division next year.

I know some people say that an owner should be allowed to spend whatever they want but these rules have been put in place for two main reasons, as I see it: firstly, to protect clubs from living beyond their means to reduce the possibility of insolvency further down the line; and to create a (slightly more) level playing field so that money isn't the be-all-and-end-all of achieving on-field success.

The clubs obviously voted in these regulations for them to be applied throughout the Football League; a few so-called bigger clubs then trying to circumvent these rules is a massive f-you to the rest of the sides in the League that are playing by these rules and should be punished accordingly in a way that sends out a message that it won't be tolerated. A small deferred points penalty is neither a punishment nor a deterrant.

My views are not informed by what's good for Charlton i.e. the Owls going down this year instead of us, but by my dislike of cheats, whether they be players (divers, feigning injury etc, even if - especially if - they're our players) or, in this case, clubs.

The Football League must appeal this decision from the independent commission and ensure that Sheffield Wednesday are given the points penalty this season thus ensuring the demotion the offence deserves and to preserve the integrity of their own competition; it shouldn't be down to individual clubs to threaten legal action which, by their very nature, will not be completed in time for the original punishment to be amended before a new season starts.

golfaddick said:

WSS said:

Why?

The rule isn't automatic relegation, it's a 12 point deduction.

The reason it would apply next season is to stop people going into admin "on purpose" so they don't suffer the deduction the season after.

The system as it is now was set up to stop teams who were already relegated going into administration without any penalty.  If you were rock bottom, 20 points off 4th from last place in March then you could go into administration then & there, take a 12 point hit without any repercussions as you were down already. I believe this it what Southampton did when they dropped into League 1. Went into administration at the end of the season, got a 12 point deduction which did f... all. They then cleared the club of debt (with creditors getting very little back- something like 10p in the £) and restarted again. Bought good players & managed to get out of League 1 at the first attempt  Now look at them. 

It is now a deterrent as if you tried that now the 12 point deduction would apply in the new season. 

Sorry, I have not read all of this thread but heard on Sky today by an expert that any appeal by Charlton would never succeed. First Weds have to appeal if they choose to, which will take about four weeks before they will listen to any appeal by Charlton, which will mean that next season will be soon to start and they cannot delay next season any more. Stop hoping our leaders have any intention of appealing, it is just to try and keep fans happy

ross1 said:

Sorry, I have not read all of this thread but heard on Sky today by an expert that any appeal by Charlton would never succeed. First Weds have to appeal if they choose to, which will take about four weeks before they will listen to any appeal by Charlton, which will mean that next season will be soon to start and they cannot delay next season any more. Stop hoping our leaders have any intention of appealing, it is just to try and keep fans happy

Said this elsewhere and it's not aimed at you but I will never understand anything in life that has to be so drawn out over 4+ weeks.

Is it that difficult to get all involved parties sitting around a table or all online together at the same time and thrash it all out over 2-3 days like you would as if you were on jury service.

It's un-necessary delays like this that have dragged this thing out since November last year, really boils my piss there is no excuse for any appeal to take 4 weeks. Get on with it and it's probably 4 days max.

carly burn said:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/charlton-get-backing-of-rivals-over-sheffield-wednesday-points-penalty-delay-5sv8hq089


Don't subscribe so haven't read the whole story.

7 clubs backing us.
Does this mean 16 don't back us?

Unlike the premier league, your position in the end of season table doesn’t bring you more prize money. So any point reduction that bring relegation is meaningless.

 The EFL need to do either of two things, prize money on final position, where a points reduction will hit the club (better still the club loses all prize money) or automatically relegate any club found guilty of cheating.