The Mail Bag
Financing Everton
Comments (28)
As a lifelong fan of our great club (55 years), I am very frustrated by the lack of potential investment in a club that has a long history, a great Manager and team but a board of directors who have failed many times in attracting finance to Everton FC.
I am also frustrated that we are always being the second club on Merseyside as far as success is concerned. That does not detract from the wonderful job David Moyes has done with one hand tied behind his back. Just think where we could be if we had some financial help.
We have supposedly tried attracting billionaires without success and the current directors are reluctant to part with their cash to help David; maybe these people do not believe in the potential our great club has.
This brings me to the main theme of this letter which is as follows:-
We are The People's Club with a worldwide fanbase ? Why do we not begin to help ourselves without outside people who do not understand the traditions of our great club? Why do we not set up a consortium of fans who will contribute whatever they can (small or large) to raise £50 million to give David to invest in our team?
This has not been done before but that should not stop us from trying; nothing ventured nothing gained. If we the lifeblood of the club cannot help ourselves then why should others? We want people who understand the club and what is required to move it forward... who better than the fans themselves?
It is a mammoth task but the rewards at the end are far greater and the satisfaction of being involved in helping the club has to be the greatest thing that True Fans can do for their club instead of standing on the sidelines while our club flounders.
I am more than happy to start this if there are like-minded fans out there to help.
Alan Pritchard, Posted 23/05/2011 at 10:40:19
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If it was that easy to do though, every club would be doing it! Maybe we should once again be pioneers in English football and force the club into a new, unique, fan driven & controlled era?
Never mind helping them out, just get them out.
Considering a large number of those are on the dole, earning minimum wage along with the rather large financial crises going about with no end in sight.
Sorry, I enjoy football (not so much this season, mind) but I prefer food on my table.
Its a wonderful idea, a fan controlled club. However it would be crushed without a huge amount of money.
If you are to have a revolution then everyone needs to get on board and the entire system needs to change, or we'd just become the football version of Cuba.
I believe if there is a path forward, it lies with Trust Everton, who continue to work away behind the scenes... a little too quietly perhaps for some, but regular updates would probably provide little as they also tackle some big issues ? and if they are talking to the Club, then you can bet they get sucked in to the whole "commercial sensitivity ? vow of silence" bullshit.
Oh, and can we please drop this "People's Club" thing? It was cute when Moyes said it, and it was nice for that first season or so... but to have the club pick it up and then go against everything it stood for, before a smart fan trade-marked the logo, and they dropped it like a hot spud... Enough already!!!
This is a recession. And fans contribute enough as it is - tickets, merchadise, etc.
You also have to consider that you're paying for a player for 4 or 5 years with today's contracts. That means that raising £50 million equates to probably 1 or 2 £10 million pound players when wages are taken into account. That won't make a huge difference. 2 x Bily, pretty much...
I'll not fund the charlatan and his waste-of-space board.
His transfer fee is listed as £9 million.
Lets assume a 5 year contract; thats £13 million in wages.
So, £9 million + £13 million = £21 million pound.
Like I said; 2 x Bily.
Also I don't think money alone is the answer. What I'd love to see is someone trying to run the club on a solid sound financial footing in the first place, i.e. to stop paying out more money in transfers/wages than we can actually afford, put proper caps/salary limits in place (and at considerably lower than what we have now).
I am as attached to the site as I would to a second family. Like one of those mad uncles kept in the attic I even miss dear old profane cantankerous Tony Marsh.
Where are you, Tony?
I know people who would sink every spare penny they have into this club, but unfortunately Gavin has hit the nail on the head.
Until we have a board prepared to put a little of their own money in, Evertonians will continue to withdraw their money, not put more in.
In terms of handing money over to the club, some sort of covenant would need to be put on it saying it was to be used for player purchases only, and the club would need to demonstrate that had happened. A few rugby league clubs have such a thing in place, albeit with a slightly different focus on how the cash is spent.
Maybe it could be something that Trust Everton could look at. Also it'd give to opportunity for fans who maybe can't get to games but want to be involved in helping the club in a different way.
I have said many times that EFC missed a trick this time round by freezing season-ticket prices, a massive blunder. We also have too many concessions that take up prime seating that could be sold to the walk-up market at £40/45 per match and this loses us millions year on year. Concessions should be restricted or allocated to certain areas... and then you have the fan that has concessions but isn?t supposed too which is endemic in to fan culture at GP.
Fans slag off the current board yet sometimes they just don?t know how lucky we are at Everton. Season Ticket Prices: Arsenal £1200, Chelsea £800-950, Spurs £ 800 and Utd & RS £700...
EFC average ? just £ 520?
We get what we pay for ? it's simple; the current board have limitations but I would rather have them than some consortium that makes decisions by committee any day of the week. COYB
Alan, I love your idea and if I were you I would email or tweet (thus putting it in the public domain) all of the high profile Evertonians and ask them to join in.
It would be deemed third party ownership and the club would be in danger of being docked points.
BK has done what he can for this club and is unable to take it any further. What Everton FC need now is a new owner. A new Captain at the helm.
I would love to own a share of Everton FC however with BK in situ that is highly unlikely.
This is a (with respect) silly thread.
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1 Posted 23/05/2011 at 15:56:59
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And £50 million would be a massive amount to raise ? even if you asked each supporter to hand over a grand, that would raise just £30 million ? this is a rather pointless thread!!