The Mail Bag
Relocation from a different perspective
Comments (14)
In theory I quite like the prospect of moving. My reasons are admittedly selfish. I like the idea of having a shiny new stadium and being able to watch the whole game without being stuck behind a monstrosity of a view-impairing steel bar, and I personally consider Kirkby to be Liverpool so that aspect doesn't bother me.
In reality, I don't have the insight, nor do I pretend to have the knowledge to hypothesize the important outcomes: will it bring new support and boost attendances, attract investment, increase revenue etc? Or will it will spell the end of Everton Football Club's association with scousers and alienate potential supporters of tomorrow?
An equally selfish reason (and equally understandable) for NOT wanting Everton to move has been expressed by some of those from the Walton area whose main issue is that they like to be able to have a drink in their local before and after the game. I feel for you lads, but to be fair I've never had the luxury!
But a much more important issue stems from this. It's one that, despite not being selfsish and also one which we can all realistically predict, has not been widely discussed on this website. I'm talking about the impact of moving on small businesses. I always liked the Royal Oak, but there's many pubs around Goodison which probably take more money on a match day ? solely due to being their location ? than they do for the rest of the week combined. The same I'm sure goes for chippies and takeaways and other small businesses who just rely hugely on matchday trade.
It would be interesting, if there are any publicans or small business entrepreneurs who are based around Goodison, to hear how you percieve it would affect you if Everton were to up sticks.
Mark Stone, Posted 09/09/2007 at 13:54:28
Comments
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1 Posted 09/09/2007 at 16:09:56
As for the local business, well that’s of no concern whatsoever to me, most fans and I suspect the club, all those local business will be only to happy to paint their premises red when we move and take advantage of the extra 20-30,000 the RS are laughably expecting through their turnstiles. I doubt there’ll be hardly any impact on the pubs and chippies in Walton.
2 Posted 09/09/2007 at 16:45:58
3 Posted 09/09/2007 at 23:27:37
Thanks for your ridiculus post - as Brian states, of course the RS will fill another 20k places, although it grieves me to say it, they do have surplus demand whereas we have surplus supply. If we did have another 10k - 20k wanting to see our games, the obstructions would not stop them.
Yes, Gerard, we all now have proof to ignore your drivel in future.
4 Posted 09/09/2007 at 23:49:38
5 Posted 10/09/2007 at 01:17:12
My primary concern is the future and long term well being of my football club NOT a small silly little chippy or public house - there are zillions of takeaways and pubs all over the city in fact all over Merseyside who don?t have a football club near them. Get a grip all of you - and get over it.
Roy all this ?giving them (RS) free reign all over the city? is nonesense as you full well know, our new ground is surrounded on all sides by Kirkby, Aintree, Fazakerley and Croxteth - all highly populated strong scouse strongholds that?ll over time be stronger blue territory than red. I don?t see any problem whatsoever in attracting new supporters if we can ?do it? on the pitch, if you hadn?t noticed we have already been losing ground on the RS over the last few decades because of on the pitch happenings and that would continue regardless if they continue to be successful and we don?t.
6 Posted 10/09/2007 at 07:14:30
7 Posted 10/09/2007 at 11:52:51
Myself, Steve & Roy have uttered nothing in support of chippies or alehouses - so read the posts in future.
As for your geography, have you ever looked at a map? Aintree, Fazakerley and Croxteth are all West of Kirkby. So how you can write surrounded on all sides - what about the North & East? Also, by your own logic, most of the rest of Liverpool will turn to the dark side, as they will be nearer.
.
Admittedly, surprisingly, the new Tesco dome will be surrounded by Kirkby - so well done there.
How moving so far out of the city and attracting new support goes together is beyond my understanding. Losing support, yes that would make sense, but gaining support ?no. This whole aspect on gaining support because you have a new ground is a red herring. You may gain support if the location is right, but Kirkby certainly isn?t the right place ? too far out.
Teams like Arsenal had about 24,000 season ticket holders at Highbury and about 24,000 on the waiting list. We have a waiting list of zero. Where are all these new match going fans going to come from?
8 Posted 10/09/2007 at 12:34:11
I don’t accept at all that the RS will take over the city as they’ll only have a patch in North Liverpool with Anfield, Everton and Walton nearby - not Allerton or Speke etc which is territory (as always) up for grabs by both clubs. We’ll have strong Liverpool places nearby to our club too just like the RS will have.
9 Posted 10/09/2007 at 14:21:53
10 Posted 10/09/2007 at 14:40:22
Don’t you think it’s funny though that with what you have said, some "Evertonians" have took offence to it?
As Brian Donnelly said, "Words fail me!"
Haha.
Come on you blues
11 Posted 10/09/2007 at 18:10:38
I have taken no offence at what Gerard has written, although I completely disagree with him. If you want to agree with him then fair enough.
However the 2nd part of your posting is a different matter. The problem is the implication behind ?Evertonians?. Suddenly we are not good Evertonians because we have a different point of view to you?
Sometimes on this site you can get some good articles with insights that might even change your point of view. Of course, there is the other side where the posts just descend into pure drivel and name-calling. That is why I normally just read the articles without wasting any effort getting into a slanging match.
12 Posted 10/09/2007 at 20:16:33
13 Posted 10/09/2007 at 22:34:42
I don;t use the pubs, chippys etc so my match day experience is a little different than some.
I do not wish ill on them and I am sure they will be okay with the RS when they move nearer.
14 Posted 10/09/2007 at 22:55:57
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To be honest, Mark, this issue has been raised and is a recognized concern (obviously).