ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

No to the Kirkby Gamble

The gamble of moving to Kirkby is too big a risk in many ways but the erosion of our future support is the biggest worry and the 'Yes' voters need to ask themselves why Liverpool FC said they would move no further than Stanley Park and why nearly every Liverpool supporter wants us to move to Kirkby. The answer is simple: LFC were not prepared to gamble with their support (even with all their out-of-town support) and kopites know the benefits of staying are all theirs if we move.

Maybe if we move to Kirkby we will be able to attract more finance but this is no guarantee for success ? especially when every other club seems to be attracting more finance now. But, because we are a two-club city, we would actually need to be as successful as LFC to maintain our future support (and I have known plenty of switchers in my time!). By staying at Goodison and/or in Liverpool, we know we can attract 40,000 but, if we move to Kirkby and we are not competing with LFC on the field, this could well dwindle.

The Yes voters need to realise that the likes of Tony Marsh, myself and other 'No' voters have no agenda. We love Everton Football Club and are pretty sure a move away from Goodison Park and the City of Liverpool is too much of a gamble for our club to take.

We genuinely care about Everton whereas people like Wyness, Moyes and others are saying what they are required to say. And when they are long gone, we the supporters will be still be here picking up the pieces if the move proves a disaster. If we do move, it should not be a gamble and it should not be because of so-called promises. Sell Goodison and then we'll help you. What sort of deal is that. No other business going would sell their main asset and then see what happens. And Kenwright's judgement has been suspect in the past. That's why it has to be a NO. And there should be no move if the vote is split. Everyone should be united on the right move!
Ged Dwyer, Liverpool Posted 19/08/2007 at 15:57:35

back Return to the Mail Bag

Comments

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

John Fitzpatrick
1 Posted 19/08/2007 at 17:05:22

Seen this petition from the people of Kirkby to the prime minister: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/No-to-Everton/ maybe it isn't going to be as straight forward as the club think.

Roy coyne
2 Posted 19/08/2007 at 19:28:52

Very good post but sadly the yes voters will deride this like everything else,

Ray Robinson
3 Posted 19/08/2007 at 19:34:03

At a wedding reception last night. The usual banter between reds and blues but ... apparently, the RS are going to display an enormous banner at the derby match with "Liverpool, the City Club" on it!

That’s going to hurt!

Gavin Harris
4 Posted 19/08/2007 at 20:31:15

When is the result due?

tom morris
5 Posted 19/08/2007 at 20:31:45

With all due respect Ged, whichever side ’loses’ the vote will have to accept it as a democratic decision, won’t they.

If it’s 51% against it’s a no go, and surely that’s a split vote also ?

Are you suggesting that the ’no’ voters opinions are more important than the ’yes’ voters ?

Gavin Ramejkis
6 Posted 19/08/2007 at 21:08:35

Tom I only hope that the bad blood doesn’t continue, the worst war is a civil war between brothers and sisters.

Bootle Blue
7 Posted 19/08/2007 at 21:06:46

The club have done an excellent job in giving us a vote; it’s the only way that BK can justify the move.
The vote will be fair, however , like many others, the board has not really made the case for Kirby other than to say there is no ’Plan B’ and dissing every other option in town. They have employed scare tactice by implying that if we don’t take Kirby now we are doomed.

Moving out of Liverpool (World heritage site etc) is a serious mistake. This city is seeing massive investment over the coming years, if we move we will miss out on this growth and the potential for investors in seeing Everton as part of a major European city.

Kirby removes one of Evertons unique selling points: Liverpool.

To paraphrase James Carville - ’It’s the location, stupid’.

colin malone
8 Posted 19/08/2007 at 21:42:17

I,ll say it again, Would Celtic or Rangers move out of Glasgow. If they offerd free admission, free drinks,All the bear you can drink afterwards? NO WAY. I cannot believe supporters are voting to leave our city. You have already read some of the stick we are getting from kopites. This city is going to be massive in years to come and i want Everton football club to still be a part of the good times ahead for this city..

tom morris
9 Posted 19/08/2007 at 22:11:05

Gavin,

Fans will disagree on many things. I’ve seen kick-off’s among supporters about managers, players, you name it. ..

If everyone shared the same views on everything, no-one would have anything to talk about.

As for Bootle Blue talking about moving out of Liverpool, well can anyone else see the irony there ? If Kirkby isn’t Liverpool, then neither is Bootle (or Litherland where I grew up, or Crosby where I live now).

Colin Malone
10 Posted 19/08/2007 at 22:12:01

We get a lot of foriegn visitors in our city, Amagin if we get the loop, a five minute walk from the city centre. If we go to Kirkby, no city visitor would bother their arse. I wonder if visitors to wimbledon visit the local football team?.

Bootle blue
11 Posted 19/08/2007 at 22:17:07

Tom,
it’s more than a fair point about Kirby and Bootle being inside/outside of Liverpool, and believe me I don’t know anyone in Bootle that doesn’t consider themselves a ’scouser’.
But that’s not the point, the point is how it’s perceived by investors in general. Kirby is not inside of Liverpool; it’s in Kirby; so investors would be investing in Kirby, not Liverpool.

If Everton moved 700 yards into Bootle, I’d say the same thing. To maximise future investment we need to be in Liverpool; 10,000 (potentially empty) seats in Kirby is not going to guarantee us future growth.

O

Neil Pearse
12 Posted 19/08/2007 at 22:28:34

But rejecting Kirkby is a gamble too Ged. We have not found a city site we can afford in the years we have been looking, and may not do so. Then we would be stuck at Goodison, with our financial position rapidly deteriorating as other clubs overtake us. Hoping we will find an affordable site in Liverpool is a pretty big gamble too.

Karl Masters
13 Posted 19/08/2007 at 22:21:45

It’s a very big gamble that city based companies will want to entertain at Kirkby when they can travel 2 miles intead of 7 and do the same at New Anfield. Even the Kopites know that and that’s why they hope we go. It will still be a Merseyside Derby, but we’ll have given up our City rights. We’ll be close enough to banter with, but far enough away to miss out on the cash and prestige.

Most people have voted now I guess, but whatever the result there will be divisions if we go and recriminations if we don’t. A vote was a good idea, but we’re voting looking through smoke and without waiting a bit longer on the Bestway idea. For that fact alone, it’s been another PR cock up and I can’t help but question the Board’s ability to get things right when they haven’t realised this.

Bootle blue
14 Posted 19/08/2007 at 22:34:03

Everton are one of the more successfull clubs in Europe, the Deloitte football league puts us in the top 20 or so based on revenue.
So we are an attractive investment opportunity; more so if we are in Liverpool.

On a more important note:
Is it just me or is rafa a complete twat?

Tony Williams
15 Posted 19/08/2007 at 22:49:44

Karl, I don’t think a vote was a good idea at all. If Bill and Keith thought that Kirkby was such a geat prospect then they would have simply told us that they were moving us and put up with the crap thrown at them.

To put a vote to us sentimental fools regarding such a massive business deal is ridiculous and should never have come about.

Do your boses come to you and ask for your input when brokring a multi million pound deal? I know mine don’t

Tom Morris
16 Posted 19/08/2007 at 22:56:08

Colin Malone,

Serously mate, foreign visitors?!

That?s a ludicrous argument against moving to Kirkby.

We?re building the stadium for the future of Everton and Evertonians, not the odd bit of passing trade. How many foreign types have you seen at Goodison lately?

Colin Malone
17 Posted 19/08/2007 at 23:26:27

Tom, I often stay behind with my daughter to get autographs and you'll be suprised on how many foreign visitors we get. Once we are in Kirkby, they'll be queing up at Anfield because that's the only football team within the city, the capital of culture. I want Everton Football Club to be part of our vibrant city for hundreds of years to come. I ask you again, would Celtic or Rangers move out of Glasgow? Would the kopites move out of our city?

Neil Pearse
18 Posted 20/08/2007 at 04:08:33

Colin, you ask whether Celtic or Rangers would move outside the strict city boundaries of Glasgow? I assume, yes, if after five plus years of searching they hadn’t found a site within the city to put their new stadium.

Over to you Colin: where is the financially and practically doable site within the city for our new stadium?

colin malone
19 Posted 20/08/2007 at 11:48:57

Neil, Five plus years of searching, thats news to me and LCC re; Warren Bradley.The club locked themselves into the Kirkby deal with tesco for the last year or so. so how can any other investor have an input?. The club say no plan B. You tell me WHY?.

Craig Taylor
20 Posted 20/08/2007 at 13:58:51

Why not build a new stadium at Bellefield instead of a housing estate?

Graeme Hayes
21 Posted 20/08/2007 at 16:04:30

Maybe we should build our new ground on bellfield?