Birmingham City docked nine points for breaking EFL spending rules and plunged into relegation battle

A welcome sign ahead of the match during the Sky Bet Championship match at St Andrew's Trillion Trophy Stadium
Birmingham City have been docked nine points by the EFL Credit: Simon Cooper/PA

Birmingham City have been hit with a nine-point deduction and are now facing the prospect of a relegation battle after being found guilty of breaking the English Football League’s spending rules.

The Championship club will be plunged down the table after a disciplinary commission panel concluded the punishment should be nine points, though Birmingham have escaped a fine and not will be operating under a transfer embargo this summer.

As first revealed by The Daily Telegraph in September, Birmingham were facing a deduction of up to 12 points for breaching the EFL’s profitability and sustainability rules between 2015 and 2018.

The EFL recommended a heavy points deduction and a further transfer embargo for the summer window, after Birmingham incurred losses of nearly £49m - almost £10m more than the accepted £39m over a three-year period.

Birmingham’s legal team and the EFL attended the hearing on Monday, and the final decision has been agreed by the three-man panel.

It is unclear at this stage whether Birmingham will appeal against the sanction, though it is understood it would be unlikely to succeed.

The punishment is the heaviest points deduction for a team since Leeds were docked 15 points in 2007 for breaking insolvency rules, and is seen as a “game-changer” for Football League clubs.

An EFL spokesman said: “The Profitability and Sustainability Rules, aligned with those in the Premier League, became effective in 2015/16.  Season 2017/18 was the end of the first full reporting period with Birmingham City the only club found to have breached those requirements, when it incurred adjusted losses of £48.787 million, £9.787 million in excess of the permitted losses.

“The Disciplinary Commission had the opportunity to consider all relevant factors in reaching its determination, including the club’s mitigation.”

Garry Monk’s Birmingham team were previously on 50 points in the Championship, 14 points adrift of the relegation zone, but this deduction could have severe repercussions for their season with eight games left.

The docking of nine points takes them down to 18th in the table, just five points clear of the bottom three. They still have to play promotion chasing West Brom, Leeds, Sheffield United and Derby, while there are also potentially pivotal games against strugglers Ipswich, Rotherham, Wigan and Reading.

Rival Championship clubs including Aston Villa, Derby and Sheffield Wednesday could also be facing sanctions in the future, though it is understood many Football League clubs are pushing for the rules to be changed before next season.

Representatives from clubs met at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground on Tuesday and high on the agenda was amending the EFL’s spending rules which were introduced at the start of the 2016/17 season.

However, Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson rounded on Villa, Derby and Wednesday and alleged that they are using unfair methods to avoid future sanctions.

Birmingham, for their part, argued at the hearing that the punishment should be less severe but did admit the breach.

The club will face no further action over the £2m signing of defender Kristian Pedersen from Union Berlin, while under a “soft” transfer embargo. The EFL has ruled that it is not viewed as an aggravated breach.

However, the pressure will now only increase on Birmingham’s chief executive Xuandong Ren, who runs daily operations at St. Andrew’s.

Ren has proven a contentious appointment and the EFL revealed in their written reasons that Birmingham’s spending before the 2017/18 season spiralled to just under £24million during Harry Redknapp’s brief tenure. Player expenses nearly doubled to £22.45m in 2017-18.

Fourteen players were signed that summer, but Redknapp told The Daily Telegraph earlier this week that he was not involved in player recruitment.

Redknapp and his predecessor Gianfranco Zola were also sacked during that period at high expense.

In a statement on Friday night, Birmingham pledged to now operate within the rules: “The club has put measures in place to ensure future spending is within acceptable limits and since August we have adhered to an EFL business plan, which imposed transfer restrictions upon us.

“This season we have taken significant strides forward on and off the pitch and the owners commitment and intention to drive continued improvement of the club’s fortunes will not diminish.

“Under manager Garry Monk, we have a very tight-knit squad of players who have performed with a sense of belonging, pride and passion. We have no doubt that will continue right to the season’s end.”

Birmingham return to Championship action next Friday at the Hawthorns, aiming to halt a run of four defeats in a row.

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