It's a grand old team to play for... Well it was.
The Toffees. The Blues. The school of Science. The Peoples Club. A few of the names our great club have been called over the years. 9 First division Championships, 5 F.A Cups, 9 Charity Shields, 1 European cup winners cup. A founding member of the football league in 1888. The first club to play 4000 top flight games. The most appearances in the top flight (109 seasons). 4th most successful club in English football.
Reading them facts, you realise how big of a club Everton FC are. Regardless of what people say, we are still a huge club. 2009 was a great year, finishing 5th and making it to the F.A Cup final. Things were looking up, we were challenging for a champions league spot and more important... for trophies. Now step forward to 2011 and look at us. We've got a team who can't even beat the worst team in the league at home (Bolton). A team who's strike force have scored one calender goal between them in the league in 2011. (Saha & Cahill). Our team has been dismantled, and more importantly, hasn't been replaced, the money hasn't been available. Teams used to be scared when playing us. Now, we're a laughing stock, a team feared by nobody. We can blame Moyes for his negative tactics yes, but this isn't about Moyes. It's about a man, destroying our brilliant club. A man called Bill Kenwright, who is a liar and a disgrace.
That says it all.
In 2004 Kenwright come out with this statement: " I've been called a liar a few times and that hurts because I would never, ever tell a lie to an Evertonian, ever" Now, there are plenty of fickle fans out there who believe anything they get told, i know a couple myself. Lets list a few of his lies that he 'would never tell to another Evertonian'
“I’ll make you a promise, I’ve got no money but we’ll move heaven and earth to give you £5m a year.” (to David Moyes)
"Goodison soon won't be able to pass safety tests". (2007, lies to scaremonger Evertonians to Kirkby)
"There is no bigger Evertonian than me" (No bigger Evertonian than the Evertonian who misses his team get knocked out of The FA Cup whilst he launches his new play?)
"All I can say is that I hope I bring in the investment which at the moment is looking very good." (2004)
He has been trotting out 24/7 for at least 7 years..and now he says,on video, that he's sought investment for only 3 years... http://youtu.be/hEKfsTiEC30.
"We will not sell him for anything less than £50m" (About Wayne Rooney)
Kenwright said in November, "Moyes will have money in January". Moyes in January, "It's looking like loans only"
The fortress fund - The less said about that the better...
And plenty of unanswered questions...
Everton's contribution to Destination Kirkby was going to be £78m. Where was that money coming from? Where have all the money from the transfers gone? Pienaar, Vaughan, Yakubu, Beckford, Bellefield, Arteta...all sold..£30m in, zero spent.
If you've been searching for 3 or 7 years for investment, how nobody is interested in the 4th most successful team in England, yet teams such as QPR, Leicester, Manchester City etc are getting took over?
They are only a few of the lies/questions i could be bothered thinking of, before getting too angry.
"I'm looking for the right buyer" Okay, people may point to what happened to Portsmouth. But the fact is that Kenwright has said he's been looking for investment for 7 years, a much longer time than Portsmouth had been looking. You didn't hear the chairman from Manchester City before they got took over come out and say "We're looking for investment 24/7" yet they managed to find somebody who has made them into one of the best teams in the world. Bill Kenwright told The Blue Union that the stadium is not an issue in terms of a sale, that a new stadium can be self funded through naming rights, sponsorships, partnerships, grants etc, so the fact we need a new stadium to compete with the best isn't the reason. What is then?
Since August 2011, Kenwright has claimed to have spoken to a minumum of 14 interested parties:
- Buyers 1 and 2 August 12th 2011 – the inventor from Manc and the bedsit man who worked for a defunct company, ICI. – ‘investigators discovered that ICI had never heard of the person concerned, he actually lived in one bedroom flat, and the second guy, the inventor, was based in Manchester.’
- Buyers 3, 4 and 5 August 12th 2011 – ‘There’s a guy at the moment in Italy, another in Abu Dhabi…Keith has phoned with another’
- Buyers 6, 7 and 8 – Sept 8th 2011 – ‘Everton chairman Bill Kenwright has had three meetings this week with potential buyers for the club, ESPNsoccernet can reveal. Bill Kenwright accepts Everton need fresh investment if they are to develop as a club. Interested parties from the Far East, Europe and China have all made approaches for the cash-strapped Merseyside club.’
- Buyer 9 – September 27th 2011 – ‘This month Ridsdale made an introduction for a lawyer purportedly representing an unnamed potential football investor. The club where the introduction was made was Everton, though nothing has yet come of it. Everton frequently receive such approaches so there is nothing new there.’
- Buyers 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 – October 31st 2011 – Sky Sports News understands Everton are in negotiations with several parties with regard to major investment.
The Toffees have struggled to compete financially with other clubs in the Premier League over the past few years and that has made it much harder for manager David Moyes to sustain a challenge for European qualification.
A lack of spending in the transfer market has frustrated supporters but chairman Bill Kenwright has had little option but to tighten the purse strings in order to maintain some stability.
Kenwright has always been willing to speak with potential investors and it is now believed that he is in contact with four or five interested groups.
Indian-based property firm Jain are understood to be one of the parties in talks with Kenwright, as they look to expand their profile in the UK.
Jain have a vast amount of wealth which could be put towards signing new players or moving ground, although it is unclear at this stage whether they are considering a complete buyout.
There is also understood to be American interest in investing in Everton – http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11671/7284230/Everton-in-investment-talks
The Club is always receptive, responsive and professional, which means we respect the confidentiality agreements which prevent either side from disclosing the interest. Of course, we fully understand what you want to know is will these discussions be successful? That I can’t say. Discussions are still at an early stage. What I know to be absolutely the case is the first question asked by us in these discussions is never ‘how much?’ but always ‘what are your thoughts, intentions or plans for Everton’s future?’ – Elstones blog http://www.evertonfc.com/evertoninteractive/a-world-of-speculation
Now that's 14 'interested parties' in just 5/6 months, and don't forget, he's been searching for 7 long years. And yet he's not a liar?
Now to the people who foolishly clapped when Kenwrights face appeared on the big screen at Goodison Park. What will it take to banish the apathy and get Evertonians to protest properly and make our voices heard? How can anybody justify why a man who has constantly lied to us should be trusted to make that next big decision having failed time and time again? I am starting to think that a section of our crowd are so apathetic that they would happy clap Bill all the way to the Championship. I used to ask people why Everton shouldn't be able to compete with the likes of Chelsea and latterly Man City. That question is rapidly becoming 'Stoke', 'Wolves', 'QPR'. Will we ever do anything, can enough be bothered to press for change? A couple of years ago we were getting linked with world class players such as Riquelme, these days we're signing James McFadden, a player who was deemed not good enough for a team relegated from the Premiership the year before in Birmingham. But he's good enough for the 4th most successful team in English history? I've never, ever, felt this low and lost about Everton. Mid range Championship clubs are spending fees on players that EFC haven't mustered for 3 years.
- Replacing our best players sold with loans
- Ageing squad
- No money to replace players
- Taking loans out to keep us afloat
- No sellable assets
How long before we actually spend money? It will be interesting to see how this transfer window goes. After all, we've had £30m come into our club without anything being spent, surely there must be something to spend. Surely Bill? I know i won't be holding my breathe for any signings anyway.
Ignorance is no excuse, if you back Bill Kenwright you are complicit in the destruction of Everton FC. Under this board? See you in the Championship.
Danny Harper
