FAN ARTICLES
Democracy?
Comments (11) : - There must be no opportunity for supporters of other clubs to register a vote.
- Being a shareholder or a season ticket holder is NOT a measure of one's support for Everton and should NOT be a vehicle for a privileged status and that all active Evertonians should be availed of an opportunity to vote.
- There is, accordingly, a need to determine that as far as possible people who can reliably be construed to be supporters of Everton and who make a constructive and reliable contribution to the club are given an opportunity to have a say on an important aspect of the club's future. Not everybody can afford shares or even a season ticket (and indeed may not wish to purchase either even if they could) and this disadvantage (or decision) must not be used to disenfranchise those supporters.
Proposal:
Given the duration of the exclusivity period I see no reason (outside of duplicity) why any vote needs to be undertaken urgently.Therefore, I suggest that vouchers should be given to all purchasers of tickets for seats in the ground (except those designated for away supporters ) for the first three home games of the new season.
Holders of any two of these vouchers should be allowed to apply for a ballot form in September 2007. This will ensure as far as possible that errant supporters of other clubs will not be able to avail themselves of ballot papers as well as ensuring as far as possible that Evertonians who are unable to attend one of those games are assured of a vote.
Forgive me for the above but my job involves writing crap like that so that my clients and legal representatives know exactly what the score is before we go to Court. Now it's behind me, let me get emotive for a minute. Anybody who has taken an interest in the Stadium debate over the last several months may well know my position is not anti- Kirkby. My position is pro- Everton in that I want the Club to go forward and I see a new Stadium as an integral aspect of that dream even if it means such a move.
Having reminded everybody of that, however,my support for a move away from Goodison (if that is all we have on the table)does not run to wiping out the legitimate and valuable views of Evertonians merely because they are not shareholders or season ticket holders. We were promised that Evertonians would have a say and there is no requirement in my opinion that to be an Evertonian you have to be a shareholder or a season ticket holder.
To be an Evertonian, just turn up to the first three games of next season and pick up your voucher for the ballot paper. I see no reasonable reason why Everton Football Club should object to that and I see no reasonable reason why any attempt should be made to restrict voting rights to a chosen few who, dare I say it, may be more likely to be supportive of a move.
Despite my positive attitude to a move to Kirkby in the past I have no wish to see such an outcome arise from gerrymandering to the extent that thousands of supporters who, unlike me, do not have or have chosen not to have, shares or a season ticket and are thus denied a vote. Do not push us too far Wyness or even those of us who have some sympathy for the option of the move to Kirkby may well turn and bite your fucking arse.
Reader Comments (11)
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2 Posted 22/06/2007 at 23:44:37
"There must be no opportunity for supporters of other clubs to register a vote"
"Therefore, I suggest that vouchers should be given to all purchasers of tickets for seats in the ground (except those designated for away supporters ) for the first three home games of the new season."
So what’s to stop supporters of other clubs buying tickets for the first three games??
3 Posted 23/06/2007 at 07:58:19
I am not anti-Kirkby but I see it only as a stepping-stone for Kenwright to sell the club and get a big payday and not as forward move for Everton FC.
4 Posted 23/06/2007 at 08:59:03
2. If I buy only one ticket, what will prevent me from selling my half-voucher on ebay? Or selling my entire vote for that matter.
It seems obvious to me that the club wanted to choose a method which ensures that those eligible to vote can be properly identified.
My concerns are:
1. What about those who have a season ticket and are shareholders as well? How many votes will they get?
2. Do junior season tickets count? If they do, why? If they don’t, why?
5 Posted 23/06/2007 at 13:59:05
I’m not anti moving on if that’s the only way the club can go forward, though I’d love to stay at a redeveloped Goodison if it was viable. I just don’t want to surrender the city to our friends across the park. If a fully democratic vote says Yes to Kirby then so be it - I’d just like to think that every true Evertonian has had the chance to have their opinion taken into account.
6 Posted 23/06/2007 at 20:28:24
7 Posted 23/06/2007 at 20:13:26
All true supporters of the club should get a vote whether season ticket holder or not. I think EFC has many fans such as myself who are not season ticket holders and are maybe (I?m not saying everyone!) slightly less well off than those with and these fans may find the journey to Knowsley more troublesome (we have a lot of fans who walk to Goodison). These fans are immediately taken out of the equation by cunning Bill?s voting system and it is probably these fans who would put up most resistance to the move (and not only for financial reasons ? there?s a love of the club also).
If I remember correctly each and every time a ticket is bought for EFC home games the buyers address is taken by the club, why can?t ticket buyers who have a history be offered a vote?
Eileen?s proposition was countered by Peter claiming this 3 ticket vote could be sold on Ebay or at other places, this is true, but a synical season ticket holder could just as easily sell there vote ? there has to be certain amount of trust!
8 Posted 23/06/2007 at 20:29:11
Personally, I find the Club’s stance on this one insulting and as somebody who has generally supported BK, I am now seriously wondering what his real motives are. Living 250 miles away I could argue that I spend as much attending 6 games as a local spends on a season ticket, but I don’t think it’s all about how much cash I have so I wouldn’t even use that line. More relevant, I think is that if I am prepared to drive 500 miles in one day to watch the Toffees, that should give me some rights as regards this vote. My commitment is obviously there, but it’s clearly not appreciated.
The Club are always banging on about 900,000 Evertonians across the world, yet seem to only want around 25,000 of us to vote. Pretty poor. The more I think about it, the less I trust BK and Wyness ( who has always looked like one of those fat arsed Estate Agent types who’d sell their Granny for a fiver to me anyway :) )
9 Posted 24/06/2007 at 07:20:20
Why not give all members of these Clubs up to last season the opportunity to vote.
That must be more representative of the view of ’true’ supporters and include those that are not able to be reular attendees like the EDSA members.
And before anyone has a go about being a ’true’ supporter I mean not from other clubs and I fully understand that there’s alot of you out there that go to the matches every week and aren’t members of any supporters clubs but you haven’t got a vote as things stand, I’m just trying to get a more inclusive representation of supporters.
10 Posted 24/06/2007 at 11:15:20
The club will probably conduct the vote through an official route (electoral commission or some such like) so that it is independant. To do this they need to be able to send ballot papers to an address. To do what is proposed above would require supporters to send (or hand in) vouchers, provide an address and wait for the voting forms. Administratively this would be a problem (they’ve lost my season ticket form on more than one ocassion) and would likely call the vote into question even more.
They need to come up with a rule and one vote per shareholder (note one regardless of the number of shares) and one per season ticket holder seems the only way forward. I would, howeve, prefer to see someone who has more than one season ticket in one name receive a vote per season ticket so that all the supporters who use those get a chance. I know of some people who buy a group, for friends and family, in one name and they should all get to air their views.
11 Posted 30/06/2007 at 01:43:42
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1 Posted 22/06/2007 at 22:37:16