FAN ARTICLES
The 3-Card-Trick Vote
Why are we fed this nonsense about the fans having a vote in the future of the ground? We all know that the 'result' of the vote will be a move to Kirkby, irrespective of what Evertonians really want. The club (through Keith Wyness, who, as I've written before, has no real love for Everton, it's just his day job) have made a big issue of this vote and are preening that EFC is the only club to involve the fans in this way.
But what kind of a vote will it be?
Anybody can make any ballot result say what they want if they ask the right questions — and as there's no plan B, they will ask the right questions. Incidentally, how is it that the CEO of a multi-million pound business doesn't have a plan B when the future of the business is at issue? Isn't it part of his job to have a contingency plan? Even guys on market stalls — Kirkby market for example — have a plan B when it concerns their future.
Despite the sentimentality, most people would now sadly concede that the case to leave the Old Lady has been made, however the case is far from made for a move to Kirkby, in my view. I just feel that the we're being taken for idiots in the way that the club are trying to manipulate things, and I'll bet all the pies Beattie can eat that the ballot when it comes will be a stark choice between staying at Goodison or moving to Kirkby.
The isuue then becomes a no-brainer when you consider the state of Goodison so, hey, the ballot will confirm what the club have told us all along. The club will tell us that we ARE the People's Club because it gave us a say in the future and the city's oldest club will toddle off out of the city leaving it to the redshite. So what, you may say, it doesn't matter where we are because we're still Everton. Well, in years to come when young kids identify with the 'only' Liverpool club, the club that the Echo rams down our throats daily and the city council's club of choice, you may take a different view.
I hope I'm wrong on that, I really do. But somehow I doubt it. We've been backed into a corner by the club's intransigence over the years and Kirkby here we come when we should have been on the banks of the Royal Blue Mersey for less than what we will have to put in to the new ground. Greg Murphy's excellent piece "Too Late To Cry" on the site tells the whole sorry tale of how we've been sold down the river, even if we didn't actually build a stadium on it.
And one last thing about this new gaff we're getting. Unless I've missed it from the images of inside the ground, where is the Everton iconography? Where is the stamp to show you're in Everton's ground, the club of such outstanding tradition? Now we have the church in the corner and the Archie Leach stand design but the new place seems to have nothing except blue seats that could belong to Bristol Rovers or Colchester or any other side in blue. I know there are some who think that too much emphasis is given to Everton's tradition but it's that very tradition that has been handed down to many of us and made us Evertonians. So let's not underestimate it even if our CEO and Chairman (who should know better, wherever he is) do.
Yes, we're getting a choice on the future in the same way that Derren Brown would give you a choice with the three card trick, and the people will then have spoken — just the way we were always supposed to.
Reader Comments (43)
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2 Posted 25/07/2007 at 22:49:35
The two things that really worry me about all this have nothing to do with kings dock or stanley park or anyother past issues, but the lack of any other option in KW’s mind, and also the lack of comments from blue bill. Why hasnt he been out and said anything much on this, he was all over the press wen the kings dock was an option.
I just wonder, does all this mean that even KW and BK do not agree on this matter and its been given to KW to sell the deal to the fans and find out what they want so kenwright doenst get to have his say in this matter.
3 Posted 25/07/2007 at 22:54:30
I think evertonians whether pro or anti Kirkby are intelligent enough to answer the questions correctly depending on what their viewpoint on the move is. Incidentally the RS didn’t have a plan B either - or a vote. Jeez.
4 Posted 25/07/2007 at 23:18:49
they always get what they want and thier plan A didnt consist of leaving Liverpool did it?
No club the size of Everton in this country to my knowledge has wanted to leave the city of origin.Thats what makes this whole thing so worrying and hard to take. Nil Satis remember
5 Posted 25/07/2007 at 23:21:54
Gerard - it isn’t about being intelligent, it is about having the information on which to base a decision. The stuff with which the fans have been provided is sparse, sometimes contradictory and concerns only Kirkby and not the alternatives - which in my mind is not enough on which to base a decision!
6 Posted 25/07/2007 at 23:33:42
7 Posted 26/07/2007 at 01:20:01
8 Posted 26/07/2007 at 07:12:54
9 Posted 26/07/2007 at 07:39:08
10 Posted 26/07/2007 at 08:31:40
Don’t trust the bastards they are selling Everton short.
If you do not have a plan B you should not be in the position you are
11 Posted 26/07/2007 at 09:03:48
We either go or stay.No brainer,really!
12 Posted 26/07/2007 at 09:33:49
13 Posted 26/07/2007 at 09:32:22
However, I don?t get to vote because I have only spent £250 on tickets and merchandise this season.
Though I don?t match the criteria of the ballot, I still intend to have my say. On the morning of the last day of the vote I shall be sending an e-mail to Everton FC saying that I do not want club that I have supported all my life (and until the end of my life) to move out of the city. Also, I do not have the confidence in the current board to find Everton FC a new home and feel it is time for this board to move on.
Will they give a flying fck about my e-mail? ? Defiantly not.
Will they give a flying fck about the e-mail of 10 supporters? - Defiantly not.
How about 100 supporters, will they take notice? ? maybe catch their attention
How about 1000 supporters? 5000 supporters?
I?m a member of the peoples club ? I will have my say. If you?re thinking that Everton FC will not be interested in anything I have to e-mail them about, you are probably right, but at least I?m trying to take some action and I ask you all to stop wasting effort whinging and do the same.
14 Posted 26/07/2007 at 10:23:55
15 Posted 26/07/2007 at 10:55:46
16 Posted 26/07/2007 at 11:06:18
If we vote NO, how far behind them will we be in another 5 years when still at goodison. It may not be the best option but it is the only one that can see us move forward in the next few years.
17 Posted 26/07/2007 at 09:52:59
18 Posted 26/07/2007 at 11:20:20
19 Posted 26/07/2007 at 11:44:03
Moving out of the city is symbolic - and in this sport, that’s important. There is no answer to the question of so called ’free’ money ... it doesn’t exist. Too many lies have been told which should shout to everyone, something here stinks.
20 Posted 26/07/2007 at 12:12:14
21 Posted 26/07/2007 at 12:19:06
It’s only a political boundry - it’s not a ’border’.
Fot all intents and purposes, Kirkby is a part of Liverpool.
FFS, we have the chance to move to a fantastic new ground, and I hope that we do so whilst sticking two fingers up to LFC, LCC and the Echo.
I support Everton Football Club, not Liverpool City Council.
COYB.
22 Posted 26/07/2007 at 11:32:28
The Scotland Road site would be to expensive as we’d have to pay for land and build with no real commercial partner supporting us.
If we do not move now, the costs will spiral in terms of maintaining Goodison and if the new safety measures (green guide) are enforced it could also reduce our capacity!
It’s now or never I feel and I’ll be voting to move.
23 Posted 26/07/2007 at 12:28:16
The ERS will also have had input in determining which group of supporters are eligible to vote. The club would have needed to have provided auditable records of its supporters? database, which is probably why we have the proposed voting population (recent season ticket holders, shareholders. Evertonia members). Again, not perfect, but probably the best solution available in the context of maintaining independent scrutiny.
So, as I said in a previous article, don?t ignore your opportunity to vote if you have one. We are probably all still scarred by the experience of the Peter Johnson votes in the 90?s. They were about as loaded as you could get, but this one should be different. It is still true that Keith Wyness could ignore the outcome of the vote (if it went against him) and press on with Kirkby regardless. However, he is now actually on record saying that a vote against would be binding, so I?m finding it increasingly difficult to see how he can ignore the vote if it doesn?t go the way he hopes. The best thing we can do, though, is to vote, whether in favour or against. At least with a high turnout, we have a reasonably fair impression of the views of a significant proportion of the fanbase.
In respect of how to cast your vote, I personally believe that if you think the proposal put together by the board is a good one, vote in favour. If you are not totally convinced by the proposal, but you are sure that we need to leave Goodison and believe the board?s assertion that this will be the only option (in the next 5-10 years, for example), then vote in favour. If you don?t fall into either of these categories, it seems to me that you should vote against. For the record, I?m still a ?No? and can?t see that changing at the moment, but I will retain an open mind.
24 Posted 26/07/2007 at 12:30:44
25 Posted 26/07/2007 at 12:56:51
I love Goodison as much as the next, and if possible would like to redevelop it, but we’re skint, so that won’t happen.
As a non-scouser, the location does not really bother me - it’ll be closer to home. But the stadium plans that have been submitted look poor, especially in comparison with rs.
26 Posted 26/07/2007 at 13:15:59
you get a vote and you will vote YES, location doesn’t bother you but you think the plans look poor.
I could weep at the stupidity of that post. God save us all.
27 Posted 26/07/2007 at 14:45:11
28 Posted 26/07/2007 at 14:37:07
29 Posted 26/07/2007 at 15:00:05
Firstly it is by no means clear that the vast majority do not want to move (however reluctantly in some cases) and secondly I’ve been told that when Goodison was built it lay outside the then city boundaries.
OK three. Woolwich Arsenal’s move from Kent borders to Islington was a shift of far greater magnitude than Everton’s four miles to Kirkby.
Oh alright four. In the end it’s the team we support above all.
30 Posted 26/07/2007 at 15:26:44
And 4 all of use who think that kirby’s in Liverpool because it has an ’L’ Postcode - well so does Ormskirk - L39 - You Want Us Playing Down there?
31 Posted 26/07/2007 at 16:59:16
Why are some blues even considering saying yes to this??
According To Wyness this stadium can only be re-devloped to fit 60,000 people at most. According to the fella from GFE - Liverpool turned down the Kings Dock because it could not be developed futher than 60,000.
My point is - what happens in a few yrs time when either - a) we become succesful and need a larger stadium to fit in all are fans?? or b) we start falling behind again because most of the prem(big clubs atleast) now have 60,000-65,000+ seater stadiums ?? If we can’t develop beyond 60,000 then arn’t we just gona have the same problems as what we have with Goodison Now??
Liverpools New stadium already makes are’s look crap so what about in years to come when more new grounds get built? Why do we wana build a stadium that will just be in the shadow of Liverpool’s New One?? COYB
32 Posted 26/07/2007 at 16:42:32
33 Posted 26/07/2007 at 17:37:06
Now can we please all discuss which religions they should represent, do they support Everton first or a higher authority?
It will make the ground one of a kind and therefore you will be happy.
34 Posted 26/07/2007 at 18:10:28
35 Posted 26/07/2007 at 18:29:11
36 Posted 26/07/2007 at 18:48:44
People also seem to suggesting that the question will be unfair. More wishful thinking and looking for excuses as far as I can see. The vote will have two options, regardless of how it is worded; one will say yes to Kirkby, one will say no. That is the only way you need to interpret the question.
I will vote yes because I believe this is an excellent opportunity for the Club and the design looks top quality. Unlike many, I have no negative feelings towards Wyness or Kenwright and I know that to all intents and purposes that we are in no way leaving Liverpool therefore my judgement will not be clouded by any emotions, only by my hope that our Club will become great once again.
37 Posted 26/07/2007 at 21:07:03
38 Posted 27/07/2007 at 11:50:31
Thanks for the comments on my recent post. However stupid my comments may seem to you, that is my opinion.
...And guess what?? the mailbag is about opinions!!
p.s rather than post negative, snide remarks, why don’t you subject us to some off your fantastic views. I’m sure they will be clear and concise!
39 Posted 27/07/2007 at 12:39:16
You dont understand irony do you? I suggested Warrington because if you make Kirkby a viable option becuase of transport and infrastructure links then why not elsewhere (someone said they would still go if we played in Manchester). The point I was making was that the location matters!! doh! Location certainly matters to you (4 visits since 1980) I will get you a map pal.Those of us who have attended Goodison as season ticket holders for many years,followed them away in the UK and abroad do understand the importance of staying in the city. An excellent article by the way, some supporters would appear to have blind faith in Kenwright, Wyness and Tesco, god help us8
40 Posted 27/07/2007 at 14:21:24
41 Posted 27/07/2007 at 15:21:32
I understand that you want the club in Liverpool however it may be years before LCC come up with anything, or any investment will be made in the club. The way we are spending (ie we are not) and the other clubs are spending, the Premiership may have passed us by. We are looking at a deal which will give us an attractive new stadium, little debt and the chance to attract players of top quality to a club on the move.
All of you that can vote in this has to look to the future.
Like it or not, football is a business and there can be no room for sentiment in this decision.
42 Posted 27/07/2007 at 16:25:41
43 Posted 27/07/2007 at 21:11:19
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1 Posted 25/07/2007 at 22:41:23
As Evertonians, we have to vote against this (it’s a rubbish design in the wrong place ) and hope this persuades Kenwright to let in other investment which we all know is out there, but doesn’t want to play second fiddle to him. We have to think beyond the ends of our noses and see a longer term rather than get railroaded to Kirkby. If Birmingham and Blackburn can attract investment then we surely can. Sure they want a return, but they’ll build you a proper stadium in the right place to get that return.