Interesting that in the article they don't mention Swindon but :
There is no known precedent in professional English football for the offence, although Chesterfield were docked nine points in 2001 for financial irregularities, including falsifying gate receipts and giving a player two contracts.
So there is a precedent for financial irregularities which is what this would fall under. I also remember Chelsea and Spurs being found guilty of financial irregularities not long after we were made an example of and both got away with financial penalties only (Spurs were also initially banned from the FA cup but were allowed back in after threatening to take their case to court if I remember correctly).
Both penalties for Swindon and Chesterfield (not to mention Peterborough I think it was who were demoted for financial irregularities back in the 60s) were far more severe than any of the big clubs will ever get. Ok, the penalties were imposed by the Football League not the FA (who, it must be said reduced our initial penalty to demotion of just the 1 division.....). It will be interesting to see what the penalty will be for Watford.
I'm not sure that our financial misconduct was less serious than Watford's mind.