Back to the Future...

Robbie Shields 07/12/2007 11comments  |  Jump to last

I've got a plan B which at first reading will sound insane BUT bare with me, it could make A LOT of sense.

Based on the following premises being true (Which I think most reasonable Evertonians would agree with), then this proposal could work.

First, it appears a lot of Evertonians would accept sharing a new stadium, therefore the prospect of playing at Anfield is not abhorent to everyone. (No I'm not going to suggest sharing the new stadium, anyway we can't afford to pay for half of it).

Second, most Evertonians would prefer to stay within the city, preferably near the centre or at least as near to Goodison as possible so as to minimise the disruption to their match day experience, and to stay as near to our roots as possible.

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Third, we'd ideally like to redevelop Goodison, but for all the stated reasons of cost, enabling partners etc. we realise it is not feasible given our current financial constraints. (I really wish we could, but we don't have the money).

Fourth, we can't attract investors because the first huge expense would be a new stadium.

PROPOSAL (Wait for it...)

We buy the current Anfield ground from Liverpool and move back to our original home. We get it for a song and replace all the red seats with Blue ones. We can then either stay there and reap the rewards of more unobstructed seats, better corporate facilties etc. and higher revenue streams (I believe Liverpool have been doing far better than us in terms of revenue from match day sources only) for very little cost.

We can then either look to rebuild the Anfield Road stand OR look for new investment and a city center site THAT IS DELIVERABLE in the longer term.

This way we stay in the city, increase our revenue streams in the short term significantly and are far more attractive to potential investors.

Please don't respond with personal attacks! Reasoned arguments why this won't work would be much more productive.

Only problem I see is that we won't be able to sing 'Kopites are Gobshites anymore!', didn't we originally name the Kop?

Has this option ever been mentioned before and did I miss it OR am I completely off my head.

Reader Comments

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Michael Kenrick
1   Posted 07/12/2007 at 21:10:40

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Yawn... of course it?s been mentioned before, and more than once.... Wake up at the back!
Lee Spargo
2   Posted 07/12/2007 at 22:10:12

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Anfield will be ripped down and turned into parkland as a ’trade-off’ with the Council for letting them build on public land in the first place.

Plus, we all hate the place.

Oh and by the way, it wasn’t our ’original home’ anyway.
Derek Thomas
3   Posted 08/12/2007 at 03:55:25

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First we had Fantasy Football, then Football Manager, now we have Fantasy Football ground(share).

It’s ’ nice ’ in a sort of what goes around comes around way

We had left well before the Spion Kop battle in the Boer war, which if it was a horse. would have been said to be By Blackadder goes forth out of Gen. Custer.

Yes it was another of those proud moments in the history of the British Army. Lions led by Donkeys...A bit like us really.
Dave Wilson
4   Posted 08/12/2007 at 06:28:37

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Wouldnt fill it Robbie,
The idea has been out there for a while.
My biggest concern about moving to Kirkby Has changed, at first it was the moving out of the city that worried me, My biggest worry now, is the deep divisions between Evertonians. I feel contrary to filling the place, a couple of poor performances would see attendances drop, even below current level,
I personally see some merits in the Anfield suggestion, it would keep us in the city, but I also recognise that many many blues wouldnt accept an RS cast off - I feel thats how some would view it - or like most of my mates, just wouldnt be seen dead in the place, If there is a place that could create divisions even deeper than Kirkby, is it Anfield
Ed Fitzgerald
5   Posted 08/12/2007 at 07:27:55

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Dave





I could not agree more, sadly the damage is done, and I suspect the divisions between supporters will remain. Even if the vote truly represented the views of all blues who go the match (i.e. those without season tickets was taken into account). That still means 41% of our support are unhappy at best and most likely pissed off by the constant crap that is coming out of the club. Who knows how many wont go to Kirkby regardless of how we perform. Lee before you go ripping into the lad who posted the anfield idea, we did play there for a number of years and won the league there before they ever did. I dont blame him for suggesting an alternative (even if it is not a new idea) it is one more alternative than the board have come up with. The latest belter is 8 minutes from Goodison to Cherryfield Drive from Robert Earl maybe in Supercar it is, or if you are a high ranking police officer entiitled to break the law. Lets see 50,000 sorry 75,000 try and get in and out of Kirkby in an hour. Deal of the Century, maybe for Wyness, but not for us.
Neil Pearse
6   Posted 08/12/2007 at 09:55:51

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Clearly for some people moving ’back’ to Anfield (a complete non-starter for lots of reasons, many mentioned here) is more attractive than going to Kirkby. That seems strange to me. One of the reasons I understand for being against Kirkby is that it could seem that we are admitting second class status to the Reds. So what about moving into their cast off ground FFS? It would be an utter humiliation.
Tom Rowe
7   Posted 08/12/2007 at 10:48:50

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Could we not play there for a season whilst we re-develop Goodison? That would shut BK up ’closing a stand would see us relegated’.
Dave Wilson
8   Posted 08/12/2007 at 12:17:49

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Neil
what are you talking about ? why the fuck do you people come on here and make up what people are supposed to have have said, ? are you just looking for an argument ? this is why we have such divisions, point out to me which post "people " clearly " state anything of the sort ?
I have very definate views over the proposed move myself, but this wasnt an argument. Robbie was looking for a solution that’s all
Keith Glazzard
9   Posted 08/12/2007 at 13:43:07

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Quite apart from any other considerations, wouldn’t the use of Anfield require the cooperation of the shite? If they thought this might in any way do us some harm, it might be a possibility. But to do us a favour to strengthen our club? Didn’t they lose gaames against our relegation rivals in the bad times - or is that just my imagination?
Robbie Shields
10   Posted 08/12/2007 at 13:54:50

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Guys, Thanks for the comments and the debate.

Michael, sorry if I’m boring you but I now live in Norfolk and whilst I thought I was kept up to date with events from Toffeeweb, Bluekipper and the Liverpool Echo site (Which I look at daily) it looks like I have n’t been.

I knew I’d get some ffs comments, but what can you do!

Neil, I don’t see why it’s an utter humiliation, Liverpool had to get some Americans to come over and buy their club and then buy them a Stadium because they couldn’t afford it. As far as I’m concerned they should be the ones feeling humiliated. I think most Liverpool supporters would feel like someone had just nicked their missus off them! I’m sure they’d feel more mortified than anything else. Image the prospect of Liverpool calling Goodison home! It would make me feel physically sick.

Dave, thanks for your understanding. Although I disagree with the comment ’...most of my mates, just wouldnt be seen dead in the place...’. I’ve only ever been able to get 2 tickets over the years to see Everton play at Anfield, I went there to support Everton as an away fan, why any Evertonian wouldn’t go there to support the mighty blues is beyond me.

If it can’t be done... it can’t be done and at least I’ve had my say, even if it had been said before, so therefore realistically we’re all off to Kirkby.

Finally, I went to Nurnberg with the 6,000 other Evertonians and had 2 of the best nights of my life. The first in Shamrocks singing till 1:30 in the morning, met some fantastic Evertonians especially (Terry, Rose, Keith and Tom) and then had a great night at the match in the away end with loads of other Evertonians. We might have different views on the stadium issue BUT I don’t think the damange has be done yet. We’re all still Evertonians, and like family we’ll get over this and move on TOGETHER.
Rob Hollis
11   Posted 09/12/2007 at 02:34:50

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Why do you assume most Evertonians want to stay in the city? Most Evertonians who voted did so to the contrary. Merseyside is fine and Merseyside away from Liverpool City Council is brilliant.


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