Season 2011-12 Fan Articles

Reap What You Sow

It goes without saying that a huge source of annoyance for Evertonians is the financial restraints and parameters that manager David Moyes is forced to work within.

Many supporters find it difficult to understand how a club the size of Everton, who have been dining at the top table of English football for all but 4 seasons since the inception of the professional game, are perennially penurious; ever-present in the Premier League and achieving regular 35,000 average attendances season-in, season-out, why don't the Club have any spare cash?

The answer is fairly straightforward: Everton's expenditure more-or-less equals their income. The ~£80M annual turnover is spent on running the business.

To understand why there is no spare cash, however, you have to look a little further back in time. It's difficult to pin-point a specific moment or decision made in Everton's history which the problems Everton face today can be attributed to, however the most recent was the reconstruction of the Park End in 1994.

The below article appeared in an Everton matchday programme shortly prior to the redevelopment; it's a fairly uncomfortable read for any Everton fan, as the antipathy and contempt with which the Board of Directors held the supporters (and arguably continue to do so), and the depressing and downright disgraceful lack of foresight and ambition, bursts through every word spoken from Jim Greenwood.

It horrifically underlines the complacency with which the Everton Board ? comprised of Keith Tamlin, Philip Carter, David Newton, and Bill Kenwright with Dr David M. Marsh as Chairman ? operated. The spectacular dereliction of duty in constructing a one-tier Park End stand with no provision for executive/corporate facilities, at a time when the sport was experiencing a huge boom which has continued unabated to this day, must surely rank as one of the biggest errors of judgement in the club's history. Think where the Club would be today had the 'decision-makers' at Everton had a little foresight ? the corporate facilities sandwiched between the upper and lower tier of the Park Stand would have paid for themselves many, many times over, and could have been the catalyst for redeveloping the rest of our grand old stadium.

Of course, this is crying over spilt milk, and many older supporters would argue that the redevelopment of the Main Stand in the early 1970s was equally as culpable for the restrictions we are forced to work within today; however, it's important to understand why Everton have been held back and to understand that, for all the problems the Heysel disaster caused Everton, the fundamental reason Everton fell behind and continue to play catch-up is as a consequence of decisions our own Board of Directors made. It is also important to understand that we as supporters have a role to play in applying pressure to those privileged enough to make the decisions on the future direction of the Club. After all, you reap what you sow.

The below article appeared in the Everton matchday programme on 4 December 1993.

A SEVEN-YEAR development scheme, transforming Goodison Park into an all-seated stadium with a capacity of over 40,000 will be completed on schedule during 1994.

The long term programme, mainly to replace the old terraced areas, began in 1987 with the construction of the Family Enclosure and will reach its conclusion next year with the building of a new stand at the Park End.

As work is set to start in February, we are aware that supporters would like to know more about the latest project.

What will the stand look like? How will it blend in with the rest of the ground? And so on...

Most of the pertinent points are raised in a letter recently received from a season-ticket holder, Mr P. Smith of Woolton Road, Childwall. He opened by seeking confirmation that the new stand will main the club tradition of "Nothing But The Best"...

"I've seen very little about the scheme in the local papers, other than that it will be a 6,000 seat, single-tier cantilever stand. My recollection is that about April 1991 Everton announced that they intended to redevelop the Park End at a cost of about £5M, by constructing a two-tier cantilever stand that would incorporate executive boxes and which would link the Bullens Road, forming a continuous roof and thereby making the ground more of a uniformed stadium.

The stand that is now to be constructed sounds rather different. No mention of two tiers, no mention of executive boxes and costing only half as much as originally announced ? about £2.5M"

IT IS TRUE that the original concept has been amended, primarily for technical reasons, but there has been no downgrading whatsoever in terms of spectator facilities.

Chief Executive Jim Greenwood explains: "It will be a single storey stand because of problems on the depth of the development site, which has to be within certain limits.

There will be 6,000 plus seats giving a total capacity in excess of 40,000.

When all Premier League developments are completed there will only be 2 or 3 grounds which are able to match that capacity."

That is the broad aspect of the subject. For greater detail, we return to Mr. Smith's letter. He asks a number of questions, which are set out below, along with Mr. Greenwood's replies...

Q. Why have Everton opted for an apparently more modest scheme?
A. The figures quoted 2.5 years ago were estimated costs and not based on any detailed plans and there has been no compromise in the level of comfort to be provided for our supporters. The switch to a single tier will ensure an improved view due to the steeper rake in the seating this allows, coupled with additional leg room.

Q. What ways of financing redevelopment have been looked at? The Football Grounds Improvement Trust is providing £1.3M of the £2.5M cost. How will the remaining £1.2M be provided?
A. Out of club funds. Like all other clubs engaged in ground improvements, we have to raise the money from our own resources.

Q. What will the new stand actually look like?
A. Planning permission has been granted and we are going over the last details at the moment. As soon as this task is completed, we will publish the necessary illustration.

Q. Will it still link with the Bullens Road, with a continuous roof?
A. At roof level, yes ? but not at tier level. This is for a number of reasons, other than the actual design of the new stand. It is well documented that to maintain a good playing surface ? and ours is second-to-none ? it is desirable to have circulation of air. Look at Ibrox Stadium, for example. Rangers deliberately left the corners open to create wind tunnels. Another factor is that we want vehicle access in that corner of the stadium. This will be helpful at times when we need to undertake any major work on the pitch. Also, if we should ever want to bring in a giant video screen, as we did a few years ago, we would not have to hire a crane at £25,000 a day, to lift the equipment over the stand.

Q. What will happen to the existing scoreboard?
A. It will be re-sited under the roof of the new stand which will also incorporate an additional TV gantry.

Q. Will the new stand be exclusively for the use of Everton supporters?
A. For the majority of matches, yes. There will be only a few occasions each season when we may have to accommodate some visiting supporters in the Park End. The design of the stand is such that there will be no problems in terms of segregation.

Q. Where will the away fans be accommodated?
A new seating enclosure for visiting fans is to be constructed at the corner of Bullens Road, on all three levels.

Q. What will the new stand be called?
A. No decision as yet.

WE TRUST that supporters will find the above section to be helpful and informative. But there is more from Mr. Smith. He continued: "The club has also been quoted as indicating that it regards the construction of the new Park End Stand as completing the redevelopment of the stadium. But surely it should also be looking at..."

Again, he has a list of points which are answered by Mr. Greenwood.

ONE: Replacing the remaining wooden seats with new plastic seats, which are much more comfortable and give the ground a brighter, more modern appearance.
A. This will happen by natural progression. Plans are already in hand for the development of the Top Balcony with executive seating and dining facilities and this could include the provision of additional executive boxes as and when required.

TWO: Improving the catering facilities within existing stands. Existing provision is very basic.
A. A great deal of money has been spent in recent years, but, of course, we are always looking at ways to improve such facilities. All clubs come up against the problem of high expenditure on equipment which at best is used for an hour per game. Remember, that amounts to only 25 hours per year.

THREE: Improving the public address system. The existing system is still basic and often difficult to hear.
A. Again, we have made considerable improvements over the years. One of the difficulties is that you can have two people sitting together; one will complain the sound is too loud, the other may say it's not loud enough.

FOUR: In the longer term, reducing the number of posts and therefore obstructed view seats in certain parts of the stadium.
A. Such seats are part of the construction of the stadium, and other than building more new stands, we can't alter that. Any obstructed view seat is clearly sold as such.

FINALLY, Mr Smith takes us on to a subject which concerns this obviously proud Evertonian.

He writes: "Other clubs seem to have managed to raise considerable amounts of money, and to have undertaken much more ambitious redevelopments, e.g. Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Wolves, Millwall, Manchester City, Blackburn and Leeds. All have built major stands, or virtually completely reconstructed their stadia in the years since the Hillsbrough disaster.

"Obviously, Blackburn Rovers and Wolves have benefited from having very wealthy benefactors. But the rest have had to generate the money themselves. Even comparatively modest clubs, such as Nottingham Forest and Leicester City, have recently built major stands.

"Compared with their efforts, Everton's own proposed redevelopment appears very modest. At the time of the original announcement regarding the Park End, I think that the club assumed, rather complacently, that only Goodison Park and Old Trafford would reach a 40,000 seat capacity. Other clubs have, however, shown far more ambition than anticipated."

Lack of ambition? Surely the reverse is the case. As Mr. Greenwood says: "If there has been less major reconstruction here, it is only because we have been ahead of the field.

"Goodison Park was close to being an all-seated stadium well before legislation was brought in. Many of the other clubs mentioned have, to this day, continued with large teracced areas which have to be replaced whatever the cost."

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