Everton are one of England’s most historic football clubs, and still, despite having remained stagnant for decades, boast the fifth-most league titles, having only just been overtaken by Manchester City.
Even if recent years have not been kind to them, the Toffees remain a bastion of this country’s footballing heritage, and should be treated as such.
However, as recent years have proven, their legacy does not provide them with a god-given right to anything, and they have had to scrap desperately just to retain their Premier League status.
And yet, whilst they fought for their lives, it seems the big six remain intent on reinforcing their monotonous monopoly over English football in the background.
Jim Ratcliffe delivers Premier League assessment
Quotes have very recently surfaced on social media revealing just what Jim Ratcliffe thinks of the rest of the Premier League in comparison to his Manchester United and the rest of the so-called ‘bigger clubs’.
His words are inflammatory and hugely disrespectful, but it is the kind of language the rest of the division has become accustomed to.
He claimed: ‘I’m understanding quite how the Premier League works. I think everybody has an equal vote.
‘There used to be, as explained to me, a sort of coalition of the six major clubs who would have a certain level of influence in the Premiership but that broke down after the super clubs, the European super league initiative.
‘I think they need to be careful that the top six clubs are not disadvantaged because they’re not given a reasonably strong say in the committee.
‘Because, at the end of the day, it’s those top six or seven clubs that drive the Premiership. That’s what the world’s interested in.’
Everton have been targeted by PSR
There is a huge element of hypocrisy prevalent in today’s footballing society, with Ratcliffe now making himself the poster boy for such claims.
After all, whilst the Premier League seeks to promote sustainability with PSR, what it really does is ensure no club can progress enough to challenge the big six mentioned.
First Newcastle United and now Aston Villa have made great strides and reached the top four, earning valuable revenue in the Champions League. And yet, both are being forced to scramble to adhere to these statutes.
Everton, meanwhile, are still paying for their previous misdeeds, yet the two separate points deductions suffered last season actually saw them lose out on roughly £9.3m in prize money.
To suggest that these ‘bigger clubs’ deserve greater rights than the rest of the division is an insult to the storied history of the Premier League and beyond, where teams like the Toffees, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa once dominated.
Just because they boast the current monopoly does not mean that they should gain ultimate and indefinite power.
It is clear now that these targeted PSR attacks on Villa, the Magpies and Everton, are done just to ensure that ambition within the division is crushed. The fact that the Premier League are so keen to close Everton’s PSR loophole, even writing to their clubs to try and halt such an uprising.
Fly high for a season and be the feel-good story of the year, but be careful it does not become long-lasting success. Otherwise, that would mean one of Ratcliffe’s beloved big-six clubs miss out. Maybe even his underperforming Manchester United…