Everton have been handed a two-year academy transfer ban after admitting tapping-up seven schoolboys and lying to the Premier League.

The Merseyside club were also fined £500,000 for what was the most flagrant breach yet of the world’s richest league’s rules on the transfer of minors.

Everton, who join Liverpool and Manchester City in being banned from signing schoolboys, issued a formal apology for their conduct and announced they had already commenced a “full review” of their academy operations.

Their head of academy recruitment, Martin Waldron, remains suspended following allegations he directed the illicit activity which prompted a Premier League inquiry.

That investigation was exclusively revealed by the Daily Telegraph in September, a month after the league received a letter – a copy of which was also sent to this newspaper – containing detailed accusations about Waldron’s alleged tapping-up of a schoolboy who now plays for Manchester United.

Everton admitted the claims and, after setting up their own internal probe, also acknowledged similar breaches in relation to six other academy players.

They even confessed to having provided false information to the Premier League when questions had been raised previously about their recruitment of schoolboys.

As well as being fined and banned from signing any academy player registered with another Premier League or EFL club in the preceding 18 months, Everton were ordered to pay additional compensation to the former teams of two youngsters they had tapped up, one of which is Birmingham City.