ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

Goodbye to all that

I am so disappointed with the brochure Everton produced to support the argument for a new stadium. I suppose I was expecting something other than double-talk, evasion and bold generalisations masquerading as facts. Just two points:

One, if leaving Liverpool is such a non-issue, if the boundary between Liverpool and the rest of the world is so arbitrary, artificial, imaginary and meaningless, then why did the Everton Board, as they claim, do everything in their power to avoid crossing it? If they tried so hard to stay in Liverpool, then it follows that staying in Liverpool is important. They want to argue both sides of the question. They claim they tried so hard to do something that really doesn't matter.

The second point is, and I have never had this answered, someone give me an example of a club in top flight football, in modern times, successfully moving away from its home base as Everton plans to do. Do we really think Everton's business management has what it takes to be the only one to pull this off?
Peter Fearon, Liverpool Posted 01/08/2007 at 01:29:40

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Lee
1 Posted 01/08/2007 at 06:08:11

Simple questions, simple answers.

The immediate attempts at securing a new location for a new ground would have inevitably involved looking at the immediate surrounding area, and that would mean the city of Liverpool. We’ve been evaluating our options in terms of moving for a number of years and have considered ground sharing etc. on Stanley Park. However, whilst it was important to "try" and locate as near to our "home" as possible, it wasn’t the be all, end all. Kirkby is, no matter what anyone tells me to the contrary, 15 minutes away in a car and Scouse through and through. In all terms but those few lines on a map, it’s Liverpool (L32, L33 postcodes by the way.)

Second question - Manchester United is not in the city of Manchester (or so i’ve read.) And by home base I assume you mean "fan base". Moving 15 minutes down the road to a place with better transport facilities and the chance to build with a clean slate in a large catchment area isn’t a business risk. Evertonians would follow Everton to Mars if need be.

Dan Mckie
2 Posted 01/08/2007 at 09:45:10

MK Dons are doing ok,they are this years favourites for league 2 :)

Dick Fearon
3 Posted 01/08/2007 at 08:40:11

Double talk, evasion and bold generalisations masquerading as facts, If it wasn’t for the lack of abuse, foul language and character assassination it could quite easily have been mistaken for another KEIOC harangue.

patty blue
4 Posted 01/08/2007 at 12:07:22

Are you all using magnifying glasses to read the brochure on the web? I found the print so small I could hardly make it out and my eyesight ain’t that bad. M

JM
5 Posted 01/08/2007 at 13:56:37

Patty - that’s what the zoom function is for...

Erik Dols
6 Posted 01/08/2007 at 15:00:11

I guess you won’t take clubs outside England as an example for succesful moves in recent times...

Wimbledon/MK Dons like mentioned above are the only club that moved in the last ten years or so that played at least a single year in the PL in the same period, and their situation is not equal to ours for a thousand of reasons.

Peter Fearon
7 Posted 01/08/2007 at 17:08:45

Lee, Manchester Utd has been at OT for donkeys years. In fact they are just one example of many clubs who chose to develop as close to home base as possible. Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal Newcastle etc. If Kirkby is so attractive, such a magnet, screaming out for a stadium to be developed, then why was it not even considered by Liverpool when they were looking at sites - and they looked at several before choosing the obvious. The reality is that Kirkby is a horrible choice - and a horrible place - except for the fact that someone is willing to limit our costs. It reduces our stature instead of enhancing it. I will support Kirkby as a site for the stadium if Wyness and Kenwright live there while it’s being built. What, live in Kirkby? Ooh - er... As for being L32, I remember when we used to call the bus from Walton Lane the sputnik because its destination was outer space. You can call it what you like. Liverpool it ain’t.