Premier League lion replaced by rat as Everton fans take points protest to London HQ

Protests against Everton’s 10-point deduction have been taken to the Premier League’s headquarters once again.

Influential fan group the 1878s, which has led the organised supporter demonstrations over the punishment, has hired a van with a video screen to display campaign messages and banners outside the organisation’s London base.

Slogans that will be repeated on loop include “making the policy up as you go along” and “your own sanction policy for the sly six, made up sanction framework for us”.

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Several of the images have seen the lion that is at the heart of the Premier League logo replaced with a rat.

The action is the latest demonstration against the deduction handed to Everton for a breach of league financial rules. The sanction is the heaviest points penalty handed out in top-flight history and was awarded by an independent commission that assessed the case against the club. In its submissions to that panel the Premier League argued for a major points deduction.

The severity and nature of the penalty left Blues officials dismayed and an appeal has been formally submitted. It will conclude before the end of this campaign. The club’s disappointment over its treatment has been echoed by political features, including Merseyside’s regional mayor, Steve Rotheram, West Derby MP Ian Byrne and Rotheram’s Greater Manchester counterpart and Everton season ticket holder, Andy Burnham. Rotherham has raised his concern over the severity of the punishment with the Premier League while Byrne submitted a motion in Parliament questioning the process