Finch Farm just weeks from being taken over by Government

They played the odds with the Ferry Terminal (only repaying £8m of the £18m aid). That counts as a win.

Now they are doing the same with Finch Farm.

They are betting that the Commission is too weak to enforce state aid law against football clubs. They might be right; certainly everyone is wondering how an official investigation has not been started into the Real Madrid case.

However Finch Farm may be a risk too far. There are three good reasons for this. Firstly, the purchase of a training ground by a local municipality mirrors a current investigation (in respect of PSV Eindhoven). Secondly, the PSV case was intimated by fans complaining, which they surely will if their club gets sanctions but Everton escapes. Finally the EC is obliged to apply the Leipzig Halle infrastructure ruling which covers this kind of activity.

Therefore I think this is an enormous risk. I just hope Liverpool City Council have called this one correctly.

1) Are Everton Football Club in any (even 0.5%) danger, in a worst case legal or political scenario, of not being able to get access to Finch Farm training academy to train and prepare for games in the biggest league in the world?

2) In simple English, can you tell us what WOULD happen if this risk thing you talk about does not work out for LCC?

3) If the European Commission give LCC a severe slap across the back of the head, what can they force them to do?

4) Will Everton Football Club get any blame if these risks don't pay off, which means costing the club money?

We are very simple people around here. 0 points for a loss. 1 for a Draw and 3 for a Win. Simple.

The other potential implication is points being docked / a European football ban under the Financial Fair Play rules. This has never happened on the basis of state aid violations, but it seems consistent with the objectives of that system that there must be some kind of punishment for unlawful state aid.

1) yes.

2) some people would get sacked.

3) nothing. They will chase the money.

4) you're saying the club won't get the blame, but it might cost the club a fortune.

Well fuck me I didn't know all that. Rex, what is your professional background and really we just want to know how serious and probable all this shit is likely to happen? We just want plain and simple answers. I mean that's the least we deserve.