THE CHAIRMAN

Bill Kenwright CBE

One-time small-part actor on Coronation Street, now a theatre impresario and show-business 'luvvie', he is a life-long Evertonian with a genuine knowledge and feeling for the history and traditions of the club: he's "one of us."

Leader of the aborted consortium that lost out to Peter Johnson back in 1994, he is – and likes to be – known as "the fans' man on the Board" when he is, in fact, merely "a fan on the Board"... and now the Chairman and undisputed leader of Everton FC.

His acting skills have helped him project the image of the fanatical Evertonian that the fans can trust although his presence on the Everton Board for many years merely served to legitimize the Johnson regime long after it should have been ended. 

Kenwright struggled to orchestrate the buyout of his disillusioned nemesis, the affair dragging on for many months until its final resolution in March 2000.  To pull it off, he had to rely massively on investment from his personal friend, Paul Gregg.  In a move that concerned some fans for its dubious structure, Kenwright and Gregg chose to invest their controlling interest in Everton through a holding company, True Blue Holdings (TBH).  But Bill decided to take the title Vice-President and bring back Sir Phillip Carter for a final stint in the big blue leather chair...

From 1 June 2004, the power of TBH control on the Board was consolidated when Sir Philip Carter and Keith Tamlin stood down, leaving a compact entity of just four directors — three of them prime investors in TBH — with Bill to steer the sinking ship as the new Chairman.  TBH actually owned the vast majority of ordinary stock in Everton FC Co Ltd until it was dissolved in 2005.  Shares held in TBH by the key parties were then converted to EFC shares.

The changes came on the back of a schism between Kenwright and Gregg, ostensibly due to differences over how to move the Kings Dock project forward.  Kenwright made sure no-one was going to buy into Gregg's last-ditch attempt to save the project via a reverse mortgage scheme that raised everyone's suspicions about his motives (see below). 

The highly public spat was made worse by public pronouncements from both sides, and sneaky little claims slipped to the press corps, showing no love was lost between former friends.  But Kenwright held on to control, albeit somewhat stymied in his attempts to bring in new investors.  Gregg needed to be bought out first, and that meant finding someone who would give him the profit he demanded.

It would take another year before Bill Kenwright found the right person, and it was another friend who had made a mint in the entertainment industry, Robert Earl, of Planet Hollywood fame.  Earl bought the Gregg family shares for around £9M in October 2006.  This was the breakthrough for Kenwright, who could finally run the Club as he wanted to, unhindered by the sniping and carping of his former friend — without whose help he would not have been able to take over the club from Agent Johnson.

Bill Kenwright has overseen a dreadful decline in the financial power of the club, which had a net asset value of £20M when TBH acquired Peter Johnson's shares.  Outsourcing and assset-strippiong have seen the debt increase to anywhere between £45M and £80M by 2010, depending on how it is defined in the accounts.  He also ended Annual General Meeting with the shareholders after opponents threatened to call rrepeated EGMs until they got some answers.

In 2011, a coalition of increasingly vociferous fans groups formed teh Blue UInion and representatives secured a pivotal meeting with him in which the parlous state of the club and his arrogant incompetence at the helm were revealled for all to see.

THE DIRECTORS

Jon Woods

After selling his Ocean Software company, Jon Woods joined the Everton Board by virtue of his role as a major investor in Bill Kenwright's True Blue Holdings.  He is understood to be a loyal supporter and for a long while, his low profile successfully averted the venomous opprobrium many fans reserved for Mr Paul Gregg.

Sir Philip Carter, CBE

Joined the Everton Board in 1975 when he was drafted into the club by Sir John Moores, after success as a one-time senior executive at Littlewoods.  Previously Everton Chairman from 1978 to 1991, encompassing Everton's most successful period, Sir Philip is reputed to be a straight and honest man, one of whose most endearing qualities is his loyalty.  

He was president of the Football League from 1986 to 1988 and played a leading role in the formation of the Premier League.  Reappointed Chairmen of Everton when Peter Johnson stepped down on 1 December 1998, with architect of the move Bill Kenwright, initially taking up the post of Vice (later Deputy) Chairman.  He spent another six years on the Board before retiring in 2004, age 78. However, e the

Unfortunately, many of the fans are not so impressed with his prime credential as far as the current and recent history of Everton is concerned: the demise of the club as a real footballing force during the last 10+ years, over which he has presided.

The staunch Conservative is viewed by many fans to epitomize the problems with the Everton Board: conservative, behind the times, lacking in ambition, condescending, and grudgingly unappreciative of the fans themselves. 

Robert Earl

Paul Gregg's surprise successor did not initially become a Board Member after acquiring the Gregg family shares.  However , the Board voted him on at their meeting of 18 June 2007, and this was ratified in late July.  He is a friend of Bill Kenwright's and seems keen to support his friend's vision for the club.  Will these include restaurant and casino facilities at a new stadium?  Earl is well qualified to provide such *ahem* support for future ventures, with Plant Hollywood occupying a significant place on his CV. 

Earl is fairly optimistic for a guy who experienced what he calls "the most publicized bankruptcy in history."  "My friends can't understand why I didn't just say, 'No more,'" he says.  In some ways he has moved on, launching, among other projects, a Caribbean resort, a London bagelry and a fast-food chain named after his partner, the (11th and current) Earl of Sandwich.  But Earl refuses to abandon his often lonely Planet.  "I've got a lot of people I need to win for," Earl says, practically seething as he describes "some wanker journalist" asking political hopeful and former Planet partner Arnold Schwarzenegger about the company's financial troubles.  Sure, Earl would love to win one for the Terminator, Bruce and Sly, but mostly Earl wants to get even and get rave reviews once more.  "I've never had a failure in my career," he says.  Welcome to Hollywood. — TIME magazine 13 October 2003

Earl attended his first Everton game (v Reading) when the PR machine swung into overdrive with Sylvester Stallone doing a good impression of having been a lifelong Everton fan.  Earl attended the first Board Meeting since buying in as a major shareholder, and is working on a number of marketing initiatives, including the selling of a ground-breaking Everton Youth Academy training programme being launched in Canada and the USA.

PAST DIRECTORS

Keith Wyness

CEO Keith Wyness was elevated to the Board in 2005; he was presumably at some point the three-share minimum required by the Articles of Association for anyone serving on the Everton Board... well, no; apparently not.  Word is the Articles of Association were amended to remove this requirement.

Wyness was not a prticularly popular character, and there was a parting of the ways in ___ when

One-time millionaire British boss of US entertainment giants SFX, subsequently selling out to Clear Channel, he was a major investment partner with Bill Kenwright in the ultimately successful bid to oust Peter Johnson from the club.  A personal friend of Bill Kenwright for over 30 years, he brought in to Everton apparently as a personal favour to provide business support for Bill Kenwright. 

In response to direct questions at the 2000 AGM, Paul Gregg acknowledged that he has no real background in football, but he was impressed with the passion and desire of the club and the fans.  He took a key role in pushing forward the Kings Dock project as a major business enterprise, only to see it fail because (as many claimed) he was unprepared to underwrite the project to the tune of £30M, coming up instead with a "reverse mortgage" deal that had many convinced he was somehow set to double-cross the Club out of millions in a cunning financial scam that was ultimately rejected by the Everton Board.

Evertonians, annoyed by the thought of Paul Gregg's mega-millions not being put to good use in the interests of their club, turned on him en masse, believing he was only in it for the money, and had no intrinsic love for Everton (duh!).  These feelings were confirmed by what was seen as an ultimate betrayal when Paul Gregg went on to promote an alternative project for Kings Dock that did not include a new Everton stadium. Er... what else was he supposed to do?

Rumours that Gregg wanted £18M for his True Blue investment (worth ab best perhaps £10M) only reinforced his low image that had been pushed for all its worth by certain portions of the fan base, taht of him being a greedy leech determined to make a profit on the back his friend's perilous venture.  Who'd be a venture capitalist, eh?

Gregg's disillusionment manifested itself in self-imposed exile, as he failed to attend a game at Everton all throughout the disastrous 2003-04 season.  And then, to everyone's surprise he popped up in Thailand to secure the shirt sponsorship of Chang Beer.  That was quickly followed by a growing public persona as he set the scene for a showdown with Kenwright over the question of power and control, as embodied in True Blue Holdings.  That led to the dissolution of TBH in 2005. 

After continuing on occasions to question publicly some of the decisions and direction in which Kenwright was leading the club, Paul Gregg finally agreed to sell his shares and leave the Board in October 2006.

Part of the original gang of investors behind TBH, Paul Gregg's former wife joined the Everton Board in 2004.  She maintained a low public profile but the perception was that she supported her ex-husband in his efforts to push the Club forward after the fall out with Kenwright.  She left the Board in October 2006, when her shares and those of her husband were sold to Robert Earl's front-company, BCR Sports.

Arthur Abercromby

Liverpool builder who came into the club after the 1994 take-over competition.  Originally, he had belonged to the Tony Tighe / Tom Cannon consortium but changed sides when Bill Kenwright did, thereby being able to join the board without having to make a major investment.  A committed Evertonian with a less than sophisticated appreciation of the footballing politics going on around him and on the field, was particularly responsible for overseeing the development of the stadium during his tenure.

Resigning from the Board at the height of Summer 2004 meltdown, he said in a statement: "For some time it had been my intention to leave the board of Everton Football Club at the end of the 2003-04 season.  Due to various circumstances and at the request of colleagues, my resignation was postponed until last week.

"I would like to thank everyone connected with Everton and particularly the staff for the opportunity of working with them over the years."

Keith Tamlin

Re-elected to the Board in September 1998. Apparently not very popular but he is possibly the only director who puts any appreciable work into the club, having the role of overseeing youth development and possibly deserving some credit for Everton's successes in this area.  In the summer of 2003, he was seen in his shirt sleeves, getting down and dirty in support of the young Everton teams competing in the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland.  He left the Board along with Sir Philip Carter at the end of May 2004.

Lord Grantchester

aka John C Suenson-Taylor, educated at the London School of Economics, now a wealthy gentleman farmer in Cheshire.  He was the last of the Moores family on the board although he does not have the wealth of his grandfather, Sir John Moores.  A quiet, mild-mannered man, he gives the impression of lacking drive.  In private, he was critical of the Johnson regime but by his public silence, seemed to give it legitimacy.

He was inhibited in Bill Kenwright's take-over manoeuvres by the reluctance of his mother, Betty Moores (daughter of Sir John Moores) to see Peter Johnson profit further having been sold the club at a knock-down price because he had convinced the Moores that they were letting their beloved Everton go to a reliable owner.

Lord Grantchester declined to put himself forward for reelection at the 2000 AGM, citing business reasons.  However, there are rumours that he left because Bill Kenwright rejected his numerous offers of financial help during or after the takeover by True Blue Holdings.  And the rumours have continued since, fueled by the belief of many Everton fans that Lord Grantchester would happily underwrite a massive venture into the transfer market in support of David Moyes, if only Bill Kenwright would swallow his pride and allow the Moores Millions to once again revive a flagging Everton...

Peter Johnson

"Agent Johnson," the Liverpool-supporting Wirral millionaire hamper magnate of Park Foods Ltd – strongly despised by many loyal Evertonians for the depressing demise of the club through the 1990s – voluntarily stepped down as Everton Chairman to become a non-executive director following an infamous clash with manager Walter Smith over the controversial transfer of Duncan Ferguson in November 1998.  Johnson eventually accepted Bill Kenwright's share purchase offer from True Blue Holdings in March 2000, when he finally left Everton.

Clifford Finch

For five years through Peter Johnson's reign of terror, he was the Commercial Director. An ex-Park Foods Chief – the hard man whose presence permitted Johnson to appear as the mild-mannered gentleman, he clumsily applied to football the ruthless style which had been effective when he was chief buyer for Park Foods.

He became a focal point for the ire of fans dismayed by crass and tasteless commercialism, epitomised by such trifles as Everton lemonade, and the disgusting foam "Dixie" mascot.  After that dιbβcle, "Buckley" Finch was kept firmly in the background under a very low profile.

Although he figured on Everton's Board thanks to a gift of shares from Johnson, towards the end of the Johnson regime he was voluble in his criticisms of his erstwhile benefactor.  Thankfully, he resigned from the Board in May 1999 and passed his shares to Blankstone Sington for sale.

Sir Desmond Pitcher

Financial Director, controversially re-elected at the 1997 AGM, but subsequently dropped at the 1998 AGM, when Peter Johnson again reduced the size of the board.  Sir Desmond would go on to play a major role in one of the teams looking to develop the ill-fated Kings Waterfront Project. 

Before the AGM in December 1997, Peter Johnson used his power to reduce the size of the board from 10 to 8 members.  The two board members selected to go in this strategic move were:
 

Dr David M Marsh

Previous chairman, resigned from the Board in November 1997.

Richard Hughes

Other past members of the board include:

David Newton

Left the Board in October 1995.