All that Glitters

Wouldn?t it be nice if the club just for once acted in a professional manner in dealing with what is the most important decision in the last 100 years?

Wouldn?t it be nice if the club just for once acted in a professional manner in dealing with what is the most important decision in the last 100 years?

I get upset when I hear Keith Wyness state that the Board will have the final say on the proposed move only to do a U-turn 48 hours later and state that it will be up to the fans. Following the statements from Warren Bradley over possible sites and possible investors, KW stated that Everton had been in discussions with interested parties and there were no deliverable options apart from Kirkby. How is this possible when the club have insisted for the past 9 months or so that they have had an ?exclusivity? deal with Knowsley and Tesco?s that precluded them from speaking to other parties?

If alternatives sites and investors have now appeared out of the woodwork, would it not make sense to at least consider them before following through with the vote on moving to Kirkby? Ok there would be a delay but at least it would clear the air.

The club must also have prepared a feasibility study before taking the decision to talk in detail with Tesco and Knowsley. Would it not be in the interests of the club to place this in the public domain?

As for the proposal itself, I am uneasy with a move to Kirkby; two phrases spring to mind ?location, location, location? and ?all that glitters is not gold?. The Kings Dock was without doubt the best and most prestigious location for a club of Everton?s standing (past, not necessarily present, but hopefully future). Somehow the present proposal doesn?t tick the right boxes. I would be interested to hear from our invisible Chairman as to his own personal views. Has anyone seen him? It is at precisely this time you would expect him to be leading from the front.

It would also help if the club put on display not just ?pretty pictures? but plans and cross-sections showing the internal make-up of the ground. I have a horrible feeling the club have taken the FC Cologne stadium with it?s forest of columns and hidden them behind some cladding.

If we have to move to Kirkby perhaps I could be permitted to propose the following: Everton FC retain control of Goodison Park and turn it into literally just that ? a park. LCC make allowance in their future plans for the area for the club to return at sometime in the future (every structure has a life expectancy and the new stadium will not last 199 years). For argument's sake, let's say the club makes plans to return in 50 years time, during which, money is set aside for building a world-class stadium. Knowsley would lose any so-called benefits of having a stadium within their midst but would gain prime land for housebuilding.

There would be a cost to EFC in the first place but this would eventually be offset by not having to buy land at some time in the future. The fans would not have to suffer the indignity of the present site being turned into a car park or supermarket and future generations could look forward to seeing Everton move back home.

Reader Comments

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Gavin Ramejkis
1   Posted 24/07/2007 at 15:12:04

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I think the club would simply say the sale of GP would raise £15m towards the new Kirkby site, although given the fact both figures and facts seem to change on a daily basis it’s hard to keep up or make a half guess at the truth.
Brian Waring
2   Posted 24/07/2007 at 22:03:12

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I have just been looking up Mr bestway,Anwar Pervez.Seems like he’s not short of a few quid,with an annual turnover in excess of £2billion.
Eric Heyess
3   Posted 25/07/2007 at 10:21:37

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Great idea for the use of Goodison Park. Perhaps the LCC should pay the rent for the Park from the money they get from LFC for selling off part of Stanley Park (which wasn’t of course theirs to give and appear to have flouted the Covenant that was placed on it, having been happy to keep when they wanted it as a park, or to justify their flagorant breach of the Town and Country Act).
magic juan
4   Posted 25/07/2007 at 10:32:43

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Interesting that the word we seem to be stuck on is ’truth’. There are myriad reasons why the majority of supporters didn’t have any trust in the board originally, and now as stated, with each backtrack, changing viewpoints and conflicting figures, that lack of trust seems to be expanding. I’ve said before on many sites that we have this inate ability to shoot ourselves in the foot at every opportunity making us look completely amatuerish, the only ’up side’ is we finally seem to be drawing some of the poison out of the boardroom
derek jackson
5   Posted 17/08/2007 at 19:31:15

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have just been looking up Mr bestway,Anwar Pervez.Seems like he?s not short of a few quid,with an annual turnover in excess of £2billion



thats just irrelevant. Forget bestway and tesco - just where do you WANT the stadium?


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