FAN ARTICLES

Stadium Envy?

I have followed the ground move/investment debate on Toffeeweb with interest over the past six months. Sometimes I have been irritated, occasionally perplexed and on rare occasions inspired by the vision and commitment of my fellow Evertonians.

If we are serious about attracting investment from whoever, there is one certain way of attracting it, ie, ensuring we are successful on the pitch!! Many contributors appear to be clouded by a dubious logic that if we relocate to Kirkby or wherever with a new ground replete with gleaming corporate facilities, success and financial stability will inevitably follow. This is I believe is a misguided philosophy.

Let's consider the top four clubs, all whom have had stadium redevelopments, or have built or are building new stadiums. This is because of sustained success they have enjoyed on the pitch. Although it maybe difficult to stomach, it is this factor which has attracted inward investment at these clubs. They are seen as assets by investors because they are successful and therefore generate media interest and coverage.

If Everton are to move forward, the club's leadership and management must remember their core purpose to produce ?attractive winning football?. This may seem a clichéd statement but this is the reason why we go, isn?t it? I want to see our Chairman and the rest of the Board relentlessly seeking investment to ensure we acquire the best possible players.

I feel we are being swept along by a feeling that somehow we are missing out by not moving to a new purpose-built ground fit for the 21st century. Perhaps this is borne out of envy as we look across the park, in conjunction with the feeling we are being left behind by lesser clubs. When we consider the evidence, this is not the case; we have been generally more consistent since the appointment of Moyes and there has even been traces of passing the ball to feet of late! (a welcome development after some truly dire football for the past ten years).

An analysis of those clubs outside the top four is interesting:

• Newcastle: increased capacity to over 50,000 - more successful than us? ? I don?t think so
• Southampton: new ground ? relegated
• Man City: new ground (not even owned by the club) still in debt and not exactly setting new standards in the quality of football
• Sunderland: new ground ? relegated! - Now back but will they experience sustained success?
• Derby: New Ground ? relegated (back up now and talking about increasing capacity to 44,000 ? they did not have capacity crowds for much of last season)
• Middlesboro: some success ? but does it bring the crowds in?
• Bolton: again some degree of consistency in a half-full stadium

Moreover, the grounds are featureless, soulless places (Newcastle?s ground is the exception) and none would win any design awards (Good god I hope any of them have not!! Frank Lloyd Wright would turn in his grave!)

Outside the top four, there is little evidence that the construction of new stadia/or major redevelopment brings success as a result. In the case of the top four developments has been preceded by success. In some of the articles that are posted on the website there is often an air of desperation that if we don?t act now over the stadium we will never be successful and will suffer from an eternal hegemony of the current top four. The song ?If you know your history? comes to mind; when we look back over the past 40-50 years, no one team has had a stranglehold on success and this will be the case in future.

What should we do then? Well, Bill, if I were you, I would be looking for a serious investor who could buy you out to provide us with finance to help build a team that wins trophies. After all, Bill, you had the pleasure of watching Everton teams that competed, entertained and won; my 24-year-old who has been a season ticket holder for 19 years would like to experience the same. I assume that?s why you got involved too, Bill? To see the Blues winning trophies. Stop appearing to be protective and use your considerable media and business influence to attract that really big investor.

If we can achieve this goal of winning one or (god forbid) two trophies in the next five years, we will attract the investment to build a suitable replacement for Goodison. The site of the ground is all-important. ?What?s our name? EVERTON? is the chant... somehow this will have less resonance if we are singing it in the checkout end in Knowsley. Opposition players and our players have said how intimidating and inspiring the atmosphere inside Goodison can be; let's not underestimate that fact when we carp about its lack of modernity. We can and must find a suitable site within the city and to quote Corporal Jones ?Don?t Panic?. We can bide our time particularly if we are doing it on the pitch!

Keep the Faith, knowing our luck it will be Man U first game!

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