West Brom face worrying points deduction threat | OneFootball

Could the Championship relegation battle be about to take another massive twist?

West Brom could potentially be delivered a huge blow heading into the final few games of the 2025-26 Championship season, with a points deduction looming for the Midlands outfit.

The Baggies have struggled throughout the current campaign, with their Ryan Mason as head coach experiment not working as hoped, and the mid-season hire of Minnesota United boss Eric Ramsay to replace the ex-Tottenham midfielder was an absolute disaster.

It has left former Albion midfielder James Morrison with a big task on his hands for the final portion of the campaign, and with just two points separating themselves and Oxford United in 22nd, they cannot afford any more slip-ups or nasty surprises before the final day of the season.

In fairness to Morrison, Albion have lost just once since he took interim charge once more, which came in his first game back in charge of the first-team away at relegation rivals Oxford. Since then, they have been on a seven-game unbeaten run, although only two of those have been wins.

West Brom breach EFL financial rules - points deduction coming?

More pain for the club could be coming though, as according to a report from The Telegraph's John Percy, West Brom may now be handed a points punishment this season from the EFL in relation to their 2024-25 financial accounts.

Albion have officially been charged with a breach of the organisation's profit & sustainability rules for the previous season, and as per the guidelines, a points deduction has to be applied for the following season - which would be the current one.

As revealed recently in the club's official accounts that were submitted to Companies House, Albion lost £17 million last season in Bilkul's first full season as owners of the club, having acquired the Baggies from Guochuan Lai in February 2024.

Those losses were in addition to a £31.3 million loss the previous year, and a £11 million loss in 2022-23, bringing up a total of £59.3 million over a rolling three-year period - a total which appears to have breached the EFL's regulations of £39 million over 36 months, albeit certain spend within those losses will not count towards the tally.

And even though it is claimed that the hierarchy at The Hawthorns are trying to delay any punishment until the 2026-27 campaign, it is another unwelcome bit of news for fans of the Baggies, who have seen their side struggle to pull away from the relegation zone in recent weeks.

West Brom twist could give hope to the likes of Leicester City

Even though West Brom are still struggling to win games, their unbeaten run of two victories and five draws has given some hope to supporters that they will eventually be safe of relegation - this news however has thrown a spanner in the works.

Albion's hierarchy, which includes chairman Shilen Patel, have 14 days to appeal the charge handed to them, and if they decide to do so, it could mean a full decision is made after the final ball of the regular season has been kicked on May 2.

The points deduction, should it arrive, could be a small one, but at this stage of the season and given how tight the relegation battle is, it could be crucial to a number of clubs, not least Leicester City, who in 23rd position and on 41 points are staring a second successive drop from the Premier League to League One right in the face.

The Foxes would very much welcome a punishment coming for the Baggies, having been handed their own six-point penalty earlier on in the campaign, and if applied, it could make the final weeks of the season even tastier down the bottom of the Championship.