FAN ARTICLES
Dateline: Kirkby, August 8th, 2032
Comments (35) : When the logo of Knowsley Safari Park was incorporated into the club badge, it replaced an old Liverpool building that had been the centerpiece of the club emblem for many years. The old club motto was also replaced by the now familiar, ?Nil Mercor Nisi Tescoii? ? ?Shop Only At Tesco?s.?
The decision to leave Liverpool and their then stadium — on the site of what is now the Bill Shankly Health, Recreation & Entertainment Complex on Goodison Road — was a controversial one and taken amid much acrimony. It seems laughable now — this was before Knowsley achieved city status — but attempts were even made to convince some fans that Kirkby was really part of the city of Liverpool even when it patently is not.
The outrage felt by some supporters was intensified when cost over runs and long delays in completion of what was once heralded as a ?the deal of the century? almost bankrupted the club.
By the time the StenaLine Freight & Ferries Arena was finished, the man who had championed the move, Sir Keith Wyness, had long since left Everton for greener business pastures. He did not have to deal with the anger of fans who felt betrayed when none of the promised money for new players materialized because it was all spent on huge debts accrued to pay for stadium at fantastic interest rates during one of the worst global credit squeezes in history.
Some claim to this day it was a mistake for Everton to abandon the club?s traditional base to carve out a future in one of the most blighted districts of a neighboring borough, one beset by crime, drugs and other social problems, at a time when every other major club was rebuilding closer to home. But hindsight is 20/20.
It?s ironic then that 25 years later, the club faces another big decision. Kirkby was recently identified by Strasburg as a Shops, Homes, Infrastructure & Transportation Emergency investment sector (SHITE). The old crumbling concrete stadium is to be torn down. Evertonians must decide whether to stay in Knowsley, their home for nearly a quarter of a century, or move to a new purpose-built stadium in Runcorn.
?There is no Plan B,? said a club official. ?It would be too expensive to redevelop the current stadium. The move to Runcorn is important to secure the future of the club. It will be a wrench for some fans, but many Runcornians are of Knowsley origin, and the lines separating them from us here in the City of Knowsley are purely imaginary.
?And it will mean more revenue, which will be made available to manager Wayne Rooney for players,? he promised.
Some may still hanker after a return to the city of their origin, but that is very much a pipedream. Land prices in Liverpool are astronomical and the land abandoned by Everton in 2010 is worth 20 times what it was sold for.
With Everton?s current finances in such a parlous state, their fan base severely eroded and their business management floundering, some fans wish they could turn the clock back to 2007 and that historic vote.
Alas, that can never be.
Reader Comments (35)
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2 Posted 08/08/2007 at 02:12:50
3 Posted 08/08/2007 at 01:53:38
5 Posted 08/08/2007 at 04:45:28
Great article and a little refreshing considering some of the serious debates this topic has raised over the past weeks.
I am eligible to vote as a season ticket holder and my vote "to move out of the city" stay’s as a NO to Kirkby.
If it happens which I doubt it will, a move across to Kirkby will be disastrous for our great club. (R.I.P)
6 Posted 08/08/2007 at 05:43:13
7 Posted 08/08/2007 at 08:32:55
8 Posted 08/08/2007 at 08:58:32
9 Posted 08/08/2007 at 09:24:36
Don’t give up your day job Pete. I really don’t think comedy writing is for you.
10 Posted 08/08/2007 at 09:35:43
11 Posted 08/08/2007 at 09:53:43
12 Posted 08/08/2007 at 10:05:45
13 Posted 08/08/2007 at 10:38:06
As soon as they’re absorbed into the city proper, all this bollocks will come to an end.
14 Posted 08/08/2007 at 11:38:45
I’m voting yes.
15 Posted 08/08/2007 at 12:03:02
16 Posted 08/08/2007 at 13:34:26
What was that? More deafening silence..............
17 Posted 08/08/2007 at 13:39:05
18 Posted 08/08/2007 at 13:53:14
19 Posted 08/08/2007 at 15:01:19
20 Posted 08/08/2007 at 15:01:20
They say the club is using scare tactics, well here is full proof that some fans are using that too.
21 Posted 08/08/2007 at 15:12:50
The KEIOC brigade are getting ever more desperate with their propaganda!!!
COYB
23 Posted 08/08/2007 at 15:44:59
24 Posted 08/08/2007 at 16:46:14
25 Posted 08/08/2007 at 17:32:25
Sorry to tell you though, it ain’t funny. If it was on the BBC it would come with canned laughter.
27 Posted 08/08/2007 at 19:29:54
The picture painted is a bit over the top, I think, but it tries to portray the importance that the leaving of Liverpool will have on our club.
All the other issues are important but in my humble opinion the writer of the article is right about the massive importance of moving out of the city. I have read comments which say Kirkby is in Liverpool, well it isn’t. It’s full of scousers but it isn’t in Liverpool. I’ve also read comments saying that it doesn’t matter where we play, we will still be Everton. I believe it does matter. I believe it is vital for us to stay in Liverpool.The fear, and I know it is something that I may not be able to prove but my fear is that if we leave this city we will begin to lose our support from future generations within the city. The flag flown at anfield,"One club, one city, one name" will just be the start.Certainly, a lot of Evertonians will bring up their kids to be Blues but over time the link with our city will go. So on this issue alone I think we ought to weigh things up very carefully before voting. We cannot put this right if it turns out as a lot of us fear it will.
We have a couple of weeks in which to use our votes, if this is so, then I want to see what the Council come up with. If there is any alternative to moving out of the cit, I will vote for it. If ther is no alternative, just why have we been given the vote?
28 Posted 08/08/2007 at 20:41:47
Afetr reading Paddy Shennan’s little piece in the Echo - there must be a job opportunity in that rag for you - because he talked a load of crap as well.
29 Posted 08/08/2007 at 20:58:10
When you’ve passed your Fortune Telling exams, then you can come to us and tell us what’s going to happen - until then, yours views are no more valid than the rest of us, as they are just OPINIONS!!
30 Posted 08/08/2007 at 21:12:58
31 Posted 08/08/2007 at 23:08:16
Have you never heard of the story about the emperor’s new clothes?
For the cretins:
Bill - emperor
Bully - tailor
yessies- mindless common folk unable to come to their own conclusions about anything.
32 Posted 09/08/2007 at 11:20:40
Perfectly pitched but it would appear that alot of Evertonians have lost their sense of humour. While reading the lamentable responses I couldn’t help but think of those poor Americans who barricaded themselves in basements or rand fleeing for the woods when H.G.Wells’ War of the Worlds was broadcast on US radio.
However, some of the responses are just shamefully spiteful, a feeling that is perpetuating itself amongst Evertonians with alarming regularity. I just hope some of this virulent passion is actually chanelled with a bit more imagination and unison this Saturday. It hurts to admit it but the atmosphere at Goodison (apart from when we’re winning) belies the idea that we are still in love with the Grand Old Lady - it isn’t the players job to provoke atmosphere but it is ours to generate one, it’s our club not theirs and as we often read on these pages, we’ll all still be here (or there) long after they’ve gone.
33 Posted 09/08/2007 at 12:17:03
34 Posted 09/08/2007 at 13:53:14
35 Posted 09/08/2007 at 16:19:28
Of course one could write an equally amusing piece about how the club in 2032 has prospered in Kirkby, and how silly it seems looking back at 2007 that some people were against moving!
Also (more seriously) why (according to "no" supporters) is it only a stadium in Kirkby that would inevitably be delayed/cost more than currently suggested/need knocking down in 25 years? Would The Loop or a redeveloped Goodison somehow be immune to this?
36 Posted 10/08/2007 at 08:24:40
37 Posted 10/08/2007 at 11:38:46
There are a couple of things I will say. Everton are not known as a Liverpool team, they are known as a Merseyside team and moving to Kirkby wont change that! We will still be ’Merseyside Club Everton.’.
Liverpool FC have always and will always be associated with the City of Liverpool because they are bloody called Liverpool. That wont change!
Anyone who knows North Liverpool i.e. Sefton and Knowsley are fully aware that the new ground is only a 5 minute drive from Fazakerley Hospital, not the other side of the world.
And people who say Kirkby is not in Liverpool, well neither is Bootle, Seaforth, Litherland, Crosby, Waterloo, Maghull, Netherton, Melling. These areas house the bulk of Evertons local support so try telling these people that a five minute drive from Fazakerley Hospital is gonna make ’em support Liverpool.
You anti-Kirkby lot need to realise that this is a golden opportunity for EFC. For me and many other sensible Evertonians, the move to Kirkby does not destroy our history, it secures it!
38 Posted 15/08/2007 at 21:56:18
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1 Posted 08/08/2007 at 01:35:27
I admit you had me going up to a point, then had to spoil it didn’t you? The idea that Wayne Rooney could ever become manager of any club, let alone Everton, is just too far fetched for words.
;-)