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Boro to sue league

It hasn't been a good few weeks for the English Football League and now they are being sued by one of their own clubs, Middlesbrough. They are alleging that the league failed to enforce its financial rules over Derby County's purchase of its own stadium.

Derby beat Boro to a play off place by one point last season, denying them the possibility of a £180m Premier League bonanza. Derby are one of number of clubs who exploited a loophole in the EFL rules to buy their own stadium and thus make themselves meet financial fair play rules.

Mel Morris, the club's owner and chairman, used a separate company to buy Derby's Pride Park ground for £80m, with a deal to lease it back, when it was listed as an asset in the club's books with a value of £41m. It meant that Derby posted a pre-tax profit of £14.6m when losses of over £13m a year over a three year period are a breach of the EFL's profit and sustainability rules.

The EFL has ordered an independent valuation of Pride Park, although the Rams stand by their valuation. Independent valuations have also been commissioned for Sheffield Wednesday and Reading. It is possible that the EFL might have a claim against Derby in response to that of Middlesbrough against the EFL.

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