Everton fans to fly anti-Premier League banner over Man City-Liverpool game

Everton fans are planning to fly an anti-Premier League banner over the Etihad stadium this weekend as part of a huge show of defiance that will include “loud, visible and sustained” protests at Goodison Park against their 10-point deduction.

Fan collective the 1878s have raised almost £40,000 in a crowdfunder that was launched following Friday’s decision by an independent commission to hit them with a 10-point penalty for breaching the Premier League‘s profit and sustainability rules. The immediate deduction plunged Sean Dyche’s side into the relegation zone.

The commission, which was independent from the Premier League, found that Everton were culpable for spending £19.5m over their permitted losses over a three-year cycle and levied the punishment, explaining the decision in a detailed 41-page document.

But the decision has prompted outrage on Merseyside with local politicians and the club itself branding the decision out of proportion to the offence.

And on Sunday fans will take the opportunity to send a clear message to the game’s authorities when they host Manchester United in Sky Sports’ live afternoon game.

Speaking to i the group have confirmed a raft of plans that will span from hiring a plane to fly over Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off between Manchester City and Liverpool to anti-Premier League banners and placards that will be waved during their televised game on Sunday against Manchester United. The protests are understood to be costing the group around £12,000.

They have stressed that all protests will be peaceful and not targeted at individuals, but the unprecedented number of donations mean they will carry on protests for the rest of the season, with plans for displays in the home games against Chelsea and Newcastle United already in the works.

Among the other plans are:

– Four newly designed and commissioned flags, including one bearing the famous Everton “Dogs of War” motto with Dyche’s face on and another that will fly on the Gladwys Street end with a powerful anti-Premier League message that reads “‘Where there is power, greed and money there is corruption”

– Distributing tens of thousands of placards with the Premier League badge and an anti-league message which fans will be encouraged to lift up before the game

They are also urging fans to boo the Premier League anthem and are calling for fans to collectively stand and chant against the league on the tenth minute to “get the message to a global audience that the punishment is wrong”.

A spokesman told i: “We believe now, as the 1878s, we’ve now actually got a united football club for the first time in many years. We have been blown away by the support and donations and our job is to make sure we use it in the right way. We’ll fight this to the end because we believe the points deduction is just wrong.

“As fans we understand that the club have not been angels in all of this. We understand they could have done better on certain things but we don’t feel the 10-point deduction is fair based on the findings of the commission.

“We knew we would get some punishment but we feel very let down by the scale of the punishment. So we think it’s the right thing to do to stand up for our club.”

The decision to fly the plane at Manchester City is partly because it will be dark when Everton’s game kicks off and also because it is the most prominent fixture on Saturday with the biggest potential global TV audience.

After protests against the club’s board last season that tore apart the fanbase, the Premier League’s decision appears to have unified supporters in a common cause.

Everton will lodge an appeal against the decision this week – they have until Friday to formally do so – but are also braced for compensation claims from Leeds United, Leicester City and Burnley, who were relegated in the two seasons when the Toffees were found to have breached the regulations.

They are currently in the throes of an elongated takeover process, with the Miami-based 777 Partners going through Premier League and Financial Conduct Authority checks.

As i revealed on Monday, the group remain committed to buying the club despite the points deduction and looming legal action.