Liverpool’s Saturday lunchtime meeting with Man City is set to see a plane fly above the stadium as part of a protest against the Premier League from our blue neighbours.
Everton were deducted 10 points for FFP breaches last week, a verdict which puts them level on points with Burnley at the foot of the Premier League table.
The club and its fans haven’t taken particularly kindly to the news, despite the fact that this punishment would have consigned them to relegation had they received it in either of the previous two seasons.
In order to demonstrate their disapproval, fan group The 1978s have organised a plane to fly above the Etihad during the top-of-the-table clash.
The group tweeted on Tuesday afternoon: “We have had a lot of requests asking for a plane to be flown over Goodison on Sunday, with a message to the PL.
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We have had a lot of requests asking for a plane to be flown over Goodison on Sunday, with a message to the PL. Due to our kick off time, it will be dark. So instead a plane will fly over The Eithad on Saturday for City v Liverpool which will be watched by millions…
— The 1878s (@The1878s) November 21, 2023
“Due to our kick off time, it will be dark. So instead a plane will fly over The Eithad on Saturday for City v Liverpool which will be watched by millions around the world.
“Once the banner is made from the company we can release a picture of this.”
The contents of the banner are yet to be determined, but it is not the only method of protest that will be taking place against the decision.
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of Liverpool, called the punishment “disproportionately severe” in a letter of appeal to the Premier League in which he called for “a more lenient approach” with regard to possible sanctions.
His plea was echoed by Labour MP for West Derby Ian Byrne, who has submitted a Parliamentary Motion to condemn the decision and call for an independent regulator to be brought into football.
While it is unsurprising that our friends from across the park haven’t taken the news lying down, the nature of the objections are enjoyable to observe from our Liverpool bubble.
The verdict was reached via an independent commission and the sanctions have been applied in accordance with Premier League rules, which leaves a layer of confusion as to what it is the club are protesting about.
Comparisons have been drawn between this case and the 115 charges which Man City face for financial breaches, but the scale of that investigation will naturally take much longer to reach a conclusion due to the volume of allegations being defended.
It remains to be seen whether these measures will elicit a satisfactory resolution for the Blue brethren, but football ought to be fun and this at least provides us with an opportunity to poke some of our own as we watch on!
