Key Takeaways
- West Brom lose two points for going over the £39 million loss limit.
- The club drop to 20th, six points above the drop zone with two games left.
- Albion may appeal, but any verdict could come after the season ends.
West Bromwich Albion will start this weekend with minus two points after the English Football League (EFL) punished the club for breaking profit rules.
The Baggies had thought Tuesday’s win over Watford kept them up, but the deduction shoves them back into danger. They now sit six points clear of the relegation places with only two rounds left.
An independent panel decided the club’s losses topped the £39 million cap for the three-season cycle ending in 2024-25. West Brom insist the breach is “less than £2 million” and call it the smallest on record in the second tier and the Premier League.
The club have 14 days to appeal. If they do, the final ruling may arrive after the season closes, raising the chance that the relegation line could still move once play is over.
Head coach James Morrison’s side host promotion-chasing Ipswich Town on Saturday and finish at already-down Sheffield Wednesday. One point from those games will guarantee safety.
West Brom argue the EFL changed its view on money the club gave to its community arm, the Albion Foundation. The club say this donation was cleared last year, then removed from allowed deductions this spring.
“Without that change we would not have broken the rules,” the club said in a sharp reply.
The EFL still trimmed the standard three-point sanction to two because Albion cut their annual loss compared with the previous year.
Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City have already been docked this term and both went down. Oxford United, six points behind West Brom, now hope for a late escape.
Kick-off at The Hawthorns on Saturday is set for a feverish mood as fans react to the news and the team fight to secure their second-tier lives on the pitch.
