COLUMNIST JOE JENNINGS
Please, don't slaughter our Everton
Comments (11) : Disgusted is the only word I can use to describe my emotions when learning that Keith Wyness and Everton Football Club were ready and willing to sue a non-profit making Evertonian based company in Keep Everton in Our City (if website documents weren't removed). If that was a genuine threat then in my opinion it is nothing short of a disgrace.
I find it lamentable, stomach churning to say the least. KEIOC are nothing but passionate Evertonians who care deeply about their football club and want to convey that a move to Kirkby is not the right kind of progress for Everton, is that really so bad? They live by the club motto of "Nil Satis Nisi Optimum"; surely the club should do likewise? This "they are all pub owners" garbage doesn't wash with me, they seek one thing, transparency.
Everton Football Club belongs in the city of Liverpool, fact. Why should we, Everton, abandon our heritage, we are the city's first club.
The Toffees are running generally under capacity, with average gates of 36-37 thousand every fortnight. The club have stated that there will be more potential support from the new location. Where are these supporters coming from, the Isle of Man, Indonesia perhaps?
Football fans in the North West already have their clubs. They already support Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Bolton, Wigan or any of a number of other clubs. The Kirkby plan is a disaster waiting to happen, the end for many, if it's to reach fruition.
I firmly believe a move out of the city will be the end of this Club as we know it and it will go the way of other clubs who have been tempted by the promise of revenue. We need a campaign to force the club to come clean with us - last summer it was self-financing but now we are told reportedly that anything from £30-100m is needed. Will we ever get transparency? Anyone recall what happened to the King's Dock proposal for the sake of £30m that we "supposedly" had?
Why is there such a hush-hush, detrimental attitude about the actual specifics of the proposal, why are no other options being taken into account? I've reached the stage where I honestly can't see why the Chief Executive and the board want a move when it's clearly not in the best interests of the club or the fans who love it so deeply? It baffles me why Everton wont at least look at other valid proposals? Sainsburys have walked away, Bestway are likely to follow, can we afford to continually dismiss?
It seems that the people in power have been blinkered and forthright in getting the proposal they want. The recent threats to sue KEIOC if correct are disgusting. Why can't the majority of Everton fans have their voice heard?
I can't help but remain astonished that we are even pondering the prospect of moving Everton Football Club out of this city, are we really that desperate? Talk about city boundaries all you like, once we leave, we cease to be Everton FC anymore.
If we move to Kirkby, not only will staunch supporters diminish (KEIOC anyone?), but Evertonians in general will be a dieing breed. I can admit Liverpool are a bigger club, but we can be built into a bigger one with help, however, we are not getting any whatsoever. It feels to me that we are being forced out; condemning a group of fans will not do the club any favour, that's for sure.
The entire proposal relies on sell outs, week in, week out, this will simply not happen in Kirkby, fact. Those in charge may move on, the players may move on, but were stuck with a destructive legacy for the rest of our existence.
KEIOC have Everton's best interests at heart, could the same be said about the club we all love? What is Liverpool City Council prepared to do for Everton FC, the club that founded professional football in Liverpool? Why are our supporters losing moral ownership of the club as the powers that be seem to favour of a more commercial approach where a new lifeless, merciless stadium on a retail park will be the icon of that project. Is this really the "Grand New Lady" we all desire and why are we supporters continually having any chance of debate stifled?
Reader Comments
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Personally I would like to move on, do you think Sunderland fans want to go back to Roker Park?
I thought you can only be sued for spreading malicious gossip or lies.
If KEIOC sticks to honest facts it should have nothing to fear.
Perhaps the Moyes/Rooney legal stoush is a pointer toward what is needed to clear the Kirkby air.
When we had the opportunity to vote I have to be honest and say that I voted for a move believing it (on the basis of the information given) to be financially advantageous for the club in the long term.
I have no special insights into the problem and can only go by what I read in the press and on web sites, but it seems to me that if you give people one set of ?facts? and ask them to make a descision on the basis of those ?facts ? then surely if the ?facts? change the result of the vote is no longer valid.
If the ballot question was ?If the move to Kirkby and the redevelopment of Goodison Park cost the club roughly the same should the club relocate?? - I?m sure I know what the answer would be.
The problem is the complete lack information we have from the club leads to rumour and speculation. The reaction of Wyness to KEIOC is scandalous and we should all urge him to resign, before his actions do cause a split in a club he neither loves nor understands.
To quote the Bard ?Me thinks he doth protest to much?.
The reason KEIOC agreed to move text from the website was because it wasn?t true and was libel. Sainsbury?s have never made any concrete approach just a passing interest, they already have a store less than 1 mile away from Walton Hospital!!
I believe all fans have the platform to question all concerned and KEIOC is one form of it but the campaign they are running lacks direction and is far too aggressive to be taken seriously. KEIOC only cater for what they want and it?s blinkered, I respect their freedom to speak but what they say lacks professionalism and deliverability.
I don?t doubt their loyalty at all and they are as much an Evertonian as we all are but when trying to convince a consortium of EFC, KBC and Tesco with an aggressive approach then they just close ranks and say nothing. I?m fed up of saying this, the answer lies with LCC, put the Tesco project in Walton Park, why aren?t we all pushing that as a compromise solution for all concerned!!!!
Designs are done already so additional cost at a minimum and it?s in the CITY and only 1 mile from GP. It?s the only deliverable solution at this late stage. Please, please focus on what can be achieved rather than slagging of all concerned as it just detracts everybody from the debate. LCC, it?s over too you?? COYB
Because I personally don?t actually know ONE single person actually in favour of a move to Kirkby. I mean FFS, I know a LOT of Blues, yet not a single one has said to me "I honestly think we should move to Kirkby ? I genuinely think a move there would be good".
I?ve HAVE heard "we need to move" .....but never to Kirkby. I believe nothing AT ALL from Kenwright or Wyness or Leahy or anyone representing the club. Cynical? Absolutely.....but remember - I was not BORN cynical.
As for the charge of KEIOC being ?too aggressive?? Behave yourself!We?re talking about whether Everton FC move to Kirkby or not! If that doesn?t demand an aggressive campaign, what does? After all we?re dealing with people who run to a lawyer to make their ?point?. All I will say about those, who believe a person hiring a lawyer is proof that person is right, is Jeffrey LIAR Archer.
Oh and anyone remember the Guardian being threatened by lawyers representing Tory toff and MP Aitken some years back? The paper called his bluff and he ended up being sent down for being as corrupt as fucl. (Lawyers didn?t buy Al Fayed much joy either). The difference of course is that The Guardian had the ackers to take on expensive lawyers. Most don?t. But that is NOT an admission of guilt. That might be an admission of skint, but it is NOT an admission of guilt
So to those so keen on slagging KEIOC whilst (conveniently) forgetting the staggering amount of TOTAL bullshit spouted over the years by Luvvie and Bully, I say this. Remember - nobody (NOT ONE PERSON) involved with KEIOC will make a single penny if their campaign is successful (or not). The same CAN?T be said about Wyness, Kenwright, Leahy.
Joe, Since you?ve become a soothsayer ("Kirkby will fail.... fact"), can you tell me the Chelsea score on Thursday? I feel like making a sure fire bet.
The issue is sooo important that 10,000 Evertonians chose not to vote. I wonder why? The issue of a political boundary didn?t inspire them to vote yes or no? he blunder of the Man Utd video from the Chair (which is indirectly associated with Keioc at best)?
Whatever the reason, and whatever you think don?t you feel that we should wait for the good people of Kirkby to decide in the May vote? There are a number of anti Kirkby candidates standing - or does democracy only work if its based on Mugable lines?
I now have an absolute hatred of these type of self-righteous articles, and its time that these holy rollers recognise that being louder doesn?t mean being right, in the majority or the only true Evertonians.
Keioc and their Marxist-Leninist tactics leave me cold.
The same small clique of no-marks are always on here spouting the same lame stuff. No matter how many times you say, "You lost the vote, live with it!" they come up with an excuse. They are anti-democratic. We are called the People?s Club, but after the people has spoken, in a free, fair, democratic vote, they won?t have it. Fuck em. Losers.
you dont know wa your fuckin talkin about.
the dictionary is your bible!
you’re a shit ref compared to me!
just coz i’m a fanny magnet and your not doesnt mean you need to waste your life doin this shit!
just coz your goin bald and i’ve got a head of shiny locks!
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1 Posted 13/04/2008 at 19:29:47
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The truth will out. It is already. Would the vote have gone the way it did if we had been allowed to know about Sainsburys and Walton Hall Park?
I’d love to believe that the decision makers at Everton FC have ONLY the Club’s est interests at heart, but call me cynical if you like, but there’s a lot of money spnning around here and the trough will have the snouts in it I fear. It’s all too cosy with an exclusivity period that was supposed to last 6 months, but has already gone on nearly 3 times longer than that.
For a Club to threaten to sue its own supporters is pathetic and any hope I had of Wyness disproving my initial impression of him as a smarmy opportunist with limited abiity for the job, has finally disappeared.
What it shows to me is that they are worried about something... maybe thyere’s trouble in paradise. We’ll see.