It’s not merely the ignominious return to the bottom three, after an all-too-brief flirtation with mid table, that hurts as a fan.

The reputational damage to our club from being walloped with the biggest points deduction in Premier League history could have lasting repercussions.

This is a ‘global product’ (it used to be a game of football) that reaches households in the most far-flung places, meaning people all around the world will be looking at Everton and thinking, ‘wow, what absolute dodge pots, what are they, the new Juventus or something?’

But ‘record Premier League points deduction’ will be a stain on our name, on our history, nonetheless. And for what, an over-spend of £19.5million during a pandemic that turned the economy upside down, while building a masterpiece of a stadium that will contribute hugely to the local area and the game as a whole. For trying to compete?

Manager Sean Dyche now sees his side in 19th place, only off the bottom on goal difference

Everton have suffered the hammer blow of a 10-point deduction for breaching financial rules

You may have noticed Evertonians protesting in the past year or so about the way their own club is run

It’s not just CEO Richard Masters and the spineless Premier League suits that we’re angry with. After all, battering Everton for this, while fining state-run clubs a little over £3m for attempting to demolish the League, is entirely in keeping with the absurdity of modern football.

No, you may have noticed Evertonians protesting in the past year or so about the way their own club is run. You know, all the banners and stuff, the odd flyover?

Dear old Bill Kenwright thought he’d found the perfect buyer in Farhad Moshiri, an accountant (ha!) with an insanely wealthy oligarch pal, Alisher Usmanov, in the background. 

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So we embarked upon a spending spree that had been alien to us during the David Moyes era and of course we weren’t very good at it and there were some bad buys along the way. Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Cenk Tosun should be dishonoured by inverted statues.

But this apparently is not the issue, it’s the interest payments on that amazing new stadium that tipped us over the limit. Football finance expert Kieran Maguire suggested if we’d borrowed that money from a bank we’d have been OK.

Everton strongly deny they breached PSR and their financial losses were due to the building of a new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock

But at least the club held their hands up, acknowledging that they were sailing close to the wind, and tried to be a part of the process with the authorities. Big difference that made.

And by the way the points do hurt. As luck would have it, we only took one from the two Goodison visits I made this season against Luton and Brighton (was that one of the ones taken?). 

That plus the nine points friends and family saw us earn in three trips to London? Do we invoice Masters or Moshiri for all that money wasted?

It’s like taking VAR a step further. You don’t dare to celebrate goals. Now you don’t dare to celebrate wins. The game’s up, folks. What a pity.