Report claims Middlesbrough and Stoke City could also receive points deduction

A report emerging this week claims another two Championship clubs in Middlesbrough and Stoke City could also receive a points deduction.

It was on Wednesday that Bristol City were named as one of the many teams who face being sanctioned similar to what happened at Reading.

Robins CEO Richard Gould suggested the EFL’s Profit & Sustainability required urgent reform to preserve the credibility of the second tier following the “act of God” that was the pandemic, which has left his side fighting record losses and look like seeing points deducted in the near future.

Now it’s said that Middlesbrough and Stoke City are facing fresh scrutiny and could suffer the same face as the Telegraph suggests all three clubs are at risk of a docking due to breaching rules.

The Royals were handed a six-point deduction, with a further six suspended, in November after losses of £57.8m with permitted losses over a three-year period at £39m.

Boro and the Potters ‘are also expected to face severe scrutiny as the Football League enters the next 12 months of its three-year profit and sustainability cycle.’

The cycle runs from June to June, however clubs have to make their submissions to the EFL by the start of March and any points deduction for the clubs are likely to come for the 2022/22 season.

Bristol City chief executive Richard Gould states how the collapse in transfer values because of Covid has cost the club £30m.

He said: “We’ve got this big bow wave about to hit us next year on Profit and Sustainability.

“We can see it coming and it’s only been brought about because the transfer market has crashed.

“Otherwise the business plan, which albeit required quite a lot of investment from the owner, was relatively sound. But now this big bow wave is coming, we know that we’re probably going to breach it next year unless we sell a lot of our best players.

“And we don’t want to sell a lot of our best players.”

He added ‘maybe we’ll just take the points’ as City continue talks with the English Football League (EFL) to resolve the situation.

Twitter users reacted as a report claims that Middlesbrough and Stoke City could also receive a points deduction…

@Traff: They should just scrap FFP. Let clubs get on with running as their own business. The penalties issued by the FA cause more issues than the actual spending by the club.

@Krisclews03: It’s stupid in the first place if you have the money you should be allowed to spend it I guarantee if FFP wasn’t a thing we would have been back in the prem ages ago

@BlaydonDaniel: Seeing Middlesbrough, Bristol city and Stoke to face charges for rule breaching 🤔🤔 I called 2 out of 3 of these but shocked Stoke is one, was expecting Forest and this ain’t because I am a ram, apart from Bristol the other two were quick to point fingers, stems from guilt

@Marksism__: The amount of people who don’t realise that spunking 50mil up the wall on shit players puts you in a shit place financially is astonishing. Scholes actually wasn’t right for saying ‘the rules stifle ambition’. He was wrong for wasting all that money on rubbish players.

@adamcauldwell: The report should at least make you seek assurances about your finances, us Derby fans have been called complicit for seeing what was going on even though some of us were asking where the accounts were. Genuinely wouldn’t want to see any club in the place Derby are, even boro

@LouisEccleston7: Well personally, I think the EFL should be under severe scrutiny for their ridiculous rules that have put many clubs to death (Bury) and risked thousands of jobs… just my opinion

@HiltonSuperRam: Correct – joking and banter apart – the mental anguish that the #dcfc fans have had to endure during this episode has been torturous – footy fans and communities should not be put through this anywhere

@Deanrams_80sfan: ps 2 the boro fans who think this will wash over.. nah it won’t… this is how it started with us. Don’t worry I’m sure our Mike Ashley will buy Steve Gibson a cuppa 🤣

@lewis_everett11: No wonder why Gibson is begging Derby for cash 😂

@Nige94968596: I wouldn’t want any fan (not even Forest) to experience the gut wrenching feeling is Derby fans are experiencing. Banter is part of the game but our respective clubs are in our blood.

@gempopmoo: Imagine suing a club with nothing because your own clubs in the sh*t

@gazhazDCFC: What goes around comes around this is how it started for us, though with Gibson on the efl board I’m sure you’ll be fine

@We_are_Boro: Every club should face severe scrutiny, that’s the whole point of having these rules in place.

@grahamarobinson: Oh the irony

@Gamm_On_U_Rams: So NOW we know why he wants £45 million off Derby County. And we all thought it was to cover years of backdated bedsheet dry cleaning bills #bedwetter #dcfc #boro

@AdamHumphries96: If we’re making things fair, the EFL should make them decimate their squads, and then give them the points deduction anyway. #readingfc

@mistrollingin: With so many clubs exposed, #FFP returns should be made public to improve transparency. They’re submitted in August way before Companies House filing and show losses, the allowances (youth dev, women’s) claimed against those losses and how close your club is to the line #EFL

@ReklaW_Twitch: So wonder Gibson wants 45m out of us… and if this is the case why have the just signed someone who they’re paying 40k a week? #dcfc #dcfcfans #Boro

@stefdcfc89: Karma is a bitch. FUCK YOU GIBSON

https://t.co/larstpprDw pic.twitter.com/fWhbXJsS9r

— Derby Retweets (@DerbyRetweets) January 12, 2022

Bristol City, Middlesbrough and Stoke City’s accountants getting interviewed:
pic.twitter.com/vAvy0Aghyc

— The72 – We Love the #EFL (@_The72) January 13, 2022