Everton, a relic of the good old days

Alan, you have pretty much got this nailed-on. I love our heritage and it is something we should be proud of and celebrate. But we also need to strike the delicate balance between looking back/nostalga and being progressive. Man Utd - Glazer ownership issues aside - seem to get the balance thereabouts right. They still rightly glory in the Busby Babes and the team on 1968 but it hasn't stopped them being a juggernaut of a club since the early 1990's.
Bill Kenwright is, I feel, a genuine supporter who does want the best for the club. He makes mistakes - some whoppas - and tries to hard to please rather than tell it like it is (until the recent Blue Union intewview anyway). His interviews have become almost a parody (Dave Hickson,....Boys Pen....) due to too many airings and probably do him a disservice. I am sure he is not in this for any financial gain - unlike many other club (part) owners.
So - yes - let's employ some professionals to try and sell the club, but only sell if the prospective owners are in it for the long-term best interests of EFC and able to balance the unique heritage/feel of the club with the need to evolve to compete into the next 20 years.

great post, its the dilemma of modern day football, stay true to your roots and be unsuccessful or sell your soul and be contenders!

personally I feel theres a happy inbetween somewhere, needs a board who are savvy and a manager who knows more about tactics than how to 'nick' results.

as for Man City/Chelsea I'm not in the least bit jealous, so what if they win stuff, its all artificial and hollow and if that were Everton it would leave me feeling cold and detached from what Everton really is

There have also been times in our illustrious past (at least in the 50 or more years that I've watched Everton) where the side was far worse than our current one. The difference is that it was once accepted that football club success for most was inherently cyclic. Now we have to be associated with success, we demand success, we expect success but success can't be guaranteed even with the best people in charge. Soccer is really more chaos theory than science and success is as much luck as good management (look at Arsenal now) as everybody will remember our 1984 side were ugly ducklings until they turned into swans. This isn't 1984 though, this is the reality of financial meltdown everywhere and football clubs aren't immune from it without Sheiks and Oligarchs who will eventually walk away and find new toys anyway. Sustainibility is the game now.

Couldn't agree more - I've been chirping this exact same line on here for weeks but generally get laughed at.

We've been living on our 'istory for years now, and it's time people woke up & moved on. We seem to think we're literally the ONLY football club with any history!

Supporters of other teams laugh at us (they really do) and say exactly this about Everton. A club that lives on it;s history and nothing else.

I live in London and Everton are now seen as a 'likeable old club with some good players'. We're never going to win anything or progress when we see the World through blue tinted specs that serve only to harp back to a time when football was about loyalty & the craic.

It's business now, with football attached to it and we as Evertonians need to let it all go and get into the 21st Century.

Know your history, don't live on it.

I wonder if fans of other clubs in the 60's and 70's called our success "artificial and hollow"? After all, we where the "Mersey Millionaires" with an owner with deeper pockets than most weren't we?

The fact is is doesn't matter what other fans thought. Our fans at the time watched some of the best football in our clubs history and the record books say 2 league titles and 1 FA Cup.

Alan, I fully agree with your article and basically it is all I have been saying over the past seasons... we have also experienced relegation (like Liverpool, Man Utd and City etc etc)... only Arsenal have never been relegated from the top sphere.

BUT, almost every club has had great times, even Wrexham beat Arsenal with a great free kick by Mickey Thomas and every club has had wonderful players at different periods in their history. The big difference in our case is a total mismanagement of our fine club by this present board.

I cannot get my head around certain facts, ie; we have decent gates every week and consistently finish in the top half so why are we in supposedly dire straits when clubs with much lower gates and much lower league positions have pushed ahead of us in the transfer market?

Why did we loan out so many players last season just to lower the wage bill?

What benefits have we achieved by diminishing our assets (the players) and bringing in two players who no-one else wanted !!!!

No amount of lame excuses will I accept from a board who have succeeded in other business ventures and totally failed in EFC. If other fans want to blindly believe BK and his cohorts then that is their decision... I DONT!!

I have supported the BLUES since 1948 and played against some of my heros in their twilight years and this is the first period in the history of MY club that we have cried poverty and not competed with the others in the transfer market... that is a dreadful state of affairs for ANY business when they cannot replace stock after selling...

I will not listen to any fan who is apologising for the mess that BK has allowed this club to fall into.

What is it that City and Chelsea are doing so wrong? Spending money on quality players and winning stuff.

Yeah, I'd much rather spend nothing and win nothing.

Totally agree with your assessment Alan, the obsession with the other lot across the Park in my opinion also hampers our progress. The clock has been ticking on Liverpool for the past 20 years, no sign of winning the league and that keeps us lot happy. A chorus of never felt more like singing the blues when Everton win and Liverpool lose on Saturday, end result we drew with Villa.

The Manager is now talking down any suggestion of progress, a reality check possibly and given the resources or lack of at his disposal what else could he suggest. We are as stated a relic, relic of a ground and a relic of a Chairman. With such stale apathy lingering around the Club is it any wonder that season ticket sales are down and attendances falling. I fear that the cycle with Moyes has turned, a couple of season's ago he needed support to kick onto the next level, the money never materialized and we are now stagnating.

I was at the march on Saturday, will continue to support the Blue Union but can see myself attending fewer and fewer games this season. Kenwright can keep hold of his trainset - I've had enough.

Peter # 6 I think that you will find that attendances are down at most of the other clubs as well. Take QPR as an example - their 1st home game in the top flight after an absence of 15 years and they don't get a full house !!

James # 4 It's business now, with football attached to it and we as Evertonians need to let it all go and get into the 21st Century. That's why fans are being asked to pay stupid prices for match tickets and for replica shirts - it's business is it ? More like it's a rip off. You seem to support the current business ethic that prevails in the Premier league - it is the economics of the mad house. How long do you think football can sustain £200,000+ per week wages for top players ? Or £50M transfer fees ?

If I ever had any doubts about our Bill, they are now assuaged. I`ve just read that last week`s would-be purchaser was introduced to him by no less than.... Peter Ridsdale ? who was taking a break from selling off what`s left of Plymouth Argyle!

Do have to say Bill knows how to pick `em!

Spot on, Alan ? Everton are totally stagnant regardless of what our Australian says. Football has been through a boom time for nearly 20 years now since the premier league was formed but we have done nothing to embrace it. We are hoping that these clubs with money will somehow collapse and we will be left looking oh so virtuous for not going down that line. Instead we are collapsing under a mountain of debt.

I am sure BK still talks of the days when the players used to travel to games with the fans on the buses.

The low attendance on Saturday shows how fans are feeling but the real money in football does not depend on the fans going to games now but more on whether they watch Sky Tv or go to pubs that pay exorbitant fees to show the games.

Many fans will not rebel - it is not really in the English psyche ? they will let others do it for them and then reap the rewards. That is why the Blue Union at least provides us with some hope for the future and should be supported.

Alan, spot on ? Brilliant post.

I can see us in 10 years time having been relegated at least twice, Moyes still playing 4-5-1, and a crowd of 11,000 sitting in the old antiquated Goodison Park with obstructed views still reciting the mantra "Be careful what you wish for" and "Well, better Bill the Everton Fan than Peter Johnson", and "Well, if not David Moyes as manager who else?" I would trade all of this for City's money, look at the attacking football they play!

I remember the old days but that's what they are ? old days.

Michael.....

I think all other prem turnouts (except Sunderland, and they have a much bigger ground than ours, and a bigger turnout on the day) were at or near capacity. Also even West Ham, only recently relegated got a bigger crowd than us in the Championship.

A few wins might bring the gates back up. It was a good job we were playing Villa who at least brought 2,000 fans, and not say Fulham with their normal 50-100. Otherwise, there could've been a sub-30k attendance. A few more QPR and Blackburn type efforts and the drop in season ticket sales might really be felt.

The way I see it, we (as in Bill) missed 2 golden opportunities, Kings Dock and not making transfers funds available for our CL qualifier. Kevin Kilbane, Simon Davies and James Beattie were never going to take the CL by storm. I think since then Moyes continual negative tactics/formations have made us dated, outmoded and most of the time awful to watch.

Great post.

Some really excellent posts her - trouble is I agree with every one of them!!

Alan, it isn't burning ambition that will take us forward, it is cold hard cash and tons of it.
The whole world has changed since the 60's and 70's era, not just football and the financial meltdown affected us greatly.
Man City will have a great 10 years, win the CL a couple of times, see of Fergie and boss the Prem with maybe 5 titles in that time,
No-one can compete with that.
The Mancs and Chelsea will starve them lot of the title for another decade, lets see how long their owners put up with negative return for the hedgefund brigade across the pond.
I admire your post, it really does strike a cord but it smacks of a first world war General sending the troops over the top for one more heroic push.
Valiant, brave and full of burning ambition but doomed to failure and ultimate sacrifice.

I get your irony making an historical reference to the 1st World War, David. Very clever.

What I'd like to see is the younger fans stand up and shout "this has been shit for too long, lets force some change". I'd like to see the older fans support them. There is complete apathy amongst large sections of the fanbase and I think they need a boot up the arse or shaking out of their slumber. There is no plan for the future at the moment. All we do is go on about our history.

Mick, those of us that don't protest don't let others do it and reap the rewards. We don't agree with it and don't believe there will be any rewards.

I think you might be right. All we are, and maybe will be is Leeds in slow motion.

25 yrs ago is ancient history to most of the gen x's or y's or what ever the fuck the are. so forget 1963-70.

A whole new mindset is required by both the Club and supporters... and I don't mean ' get used to the championship '

20 yrs of Premier League boom and we are on the verge of going bust.

Premier League Boom ? Not for every club. Yes I want Everton to move forward but I honestly don't think that the Chelsea - Man City situations are the only " blueprints" to follow.

Tom #12 I think you will find that this season attendances will show a slight decline in the Premier League by the end of the season.For the last few seasons the attendance figures nationally have shown a steady increase. However I don't think that this is sustainable - the ticket prices at most clubs have increased by much greater than inflation rates generally. Will fans still keep coming ? I think the game is in real danger of pricing itself out of the range of its core support.

In one of their home games towards the end of last season the Arsenal fans were singing " 6% you're having a laugh" - it was their response to the increase in ticket prices that had been announced.

If you look at the Bundesliga - it is actually has the highest average attendance of any of the major European Football leagues - last season over half the clubs had an average attendance of over 40,000. My local club is Lincoln City - relegated to the conference and still charging £18. I checked Bayern Munich and Schalke 04's prices and their cheapest prices are less than £18 !!!! Even when Borussia Dortmund were finishing mid table they still averaged close to 80,000 or more than Man Utd.

I read an interesting quote from the Bayern President Uli Hoeness - basically stating that their fann would rather they finished in the top 4 in the Bundesliga than won the Champions League and had a £100M debt. Would English fans think the same ?

I want Everton to do well - but I would rather not sell our souls. Perhaps the solution is somewhere in between the traditional and the modern concept of club ownership? Just a thought to finish ( honest!!) Man City have made some mega signings it's true - it's cost them hunreds of millions - but maybe more that that. What about their academy ? Daniel Sturridge who scored for Chelsea at the weekend came through Man City's academy.He looks a very good Premier League player and in my opinion a future international star - yet City deemed him surplus to requirements. How many more good young players will be off loded by some of these clubs to make way for big money superstars? Remember what usually comes after boom.......is bust.....those in football would do well to remember that.

Clubs we associate with having no history are the ones trying to make their history now. Man City and Chelsea aren't part of the old guard but in 20 years time they'll be able to chant about their history. They're the ones who'll have had a more illustrious past than us. We won't be able to use this tag of '4th most successful club'. We'll have been well overtaken by then.

The older heroes we wheel out at half time will have died off and who will we have to bring out in their place? Marcus Bent? Lee Carsley? The fellas now in their early 20s will grow older and they'll be singing about history that they were never part of. It will sound ridiculous.

Unless there is a shift in the mind set of Evertonians, Kenwright will stay and this complete stagnation will continue. I know it's where a lot of opinions differ but I think as fans we can force some change but only if we're arsed to do so. If we're not then we can watch the many 'smaller' 'less established' clubs overtake us.

Sorry that should read " their fans" !!
And yes Lincoln City are charging a minimum of £18 for non League football !!!!!!

Completely agree with your post, Alan. Nostalgia and apathy will ruin Everton unless changes are made...

Fantastic post.

As an Evertonian who actually remembers winning things and being the team to beat, the club that all others measured themselves against, I can say that it certainly feels a lot better than being the perennial plucky overachievers.

1966-70 and the 80s I felt proud because we were simply brilliant rather than determined or hard to beat.

Michael, you might be right about attendance trends.... more may be feeling the pinch nowadays. However, I'm not sure how many clubs have suffered a similar drop in season ticket sales as us. This was reported as our lowest Saturday league attendance in 9 years.... on a late summer's day, after an international break too.

As I said, all but Sunderland got nearer their respective capacities on the day, even West Ham in a lower league, against less attractive opposition. I don't think that bodes too well for the future.Of course a few good results might change that a bit.

Ideally, I too would like to see the club climb into the upper echelons more naturally, and under its own steam rather than by buying it 'à la' Man City/Chelsea etc. I believe there is a middle ground, but I also believe this club missed its opportunity several times over the past few years to break into the real gravy train when they were so close.

The Kings Dock would've helped propel the club much further; alternatively, there have always been opportunities to increase capacity and quality at GP. Even a small increase in net spend over the past 10 years could've added that extra quality and/ore preserved that quality we have had to sell.

I don't believe that necessarily means Billionaire ownership; just some extra wealth, better management and a proper strategy for the future. None of which has been evident.

Alan congratulations on a great article, which, sadly, I agree with almost entirely. I too have been scratching my head as to why Kenwright enjoys such support - and he clearly does still have support. For me it was always explained by our emotional fan base, but you have summed it up better.

I hate this "if you know your history" line.

Perhaps we should change it to "if you know, you're history".

But the best comment was made by your good self at No 21- Man City and Chelsea creating their own history. Too true. Royal Engineers and Corinithians are part of football history but I don't see that they enjoy massive support now.

Stagnation will lead to inevitable decline. Let's look forward not back.

"Too much wealth and power in the hands of the few and your only genuine hope of the continued health and well being of one of English football's greatest names is that the spawn of some corrupt Middle Eastern human rights abusing scumbag bastard turns up with a hipper full of kite to buy you out and set about removing the soul from an integral part of your city.

You then appoint a manager who knows frig all about the city or club he is representing who then starts recruiting players who know / care even less.

After a season or two you start challenging for trophies and even make the fabled land of the CL.

The very fabric of your club however cannot and will not be returned. Ever.

Be careful what you wish for.............."

Posted by a non-Evertonian a few days back in the Guardian. Progress, like so much else, is great....in moderation.

Fact is if Stalin had been an Evertonian, there'd be some blues giving it..

"I'm not sayin' he's PERFECT like, but..."

I've had a season ticket for about 12 years years and seen us win nothing or for the most part not even coming close. I'm only 21 so Ive seen us win the fa cup back in 95.

When we read how when investors come and speak to Bill Kenwright and he sells them the story of Everton football club, what does he say after 95? We had a few near escapes from relegation, produced some utterly woeful performances, made no genuine attempt to invest in the playing squad, sold our best players - but the money wasn't reinvested it was used to service debt and we had a chance to move to a new stadium not once but twice who the hell would buy into that??

There has been no sign of ambition for years now and something has got to change before it's too late.

I happen to be one of those 'old codgers' an Evertonian for over 60, yrs but living in the past,never, obviously the club has had problems during the last few years up to the present, but overall the game itself has changed dramatically, what stands out to me personally is the total lack of player loyalty to their clubs in the pursuit of mega bucks,no one can convince me that the majority of todays players play for the love of the clubs their fans or even the game itself but simply to line their bloated bank accounts, It's very hard for many of the so called 'lesser' clubs to compete against this mentality. In a sense I would hate to see Everton become the plaything of billionaire owners and players only attracted by the MONEY but unfortunately these are the facts of modern day football we have to live with, we have a long and distinguished history but we must look to the future and hope for the best.

Steve (#27)...... sounds a bit like kirkby that.... out of town, out of sight, out of mind.

An opportunity was missed back in 1994 with the Park End development. Given the overall "footprint" of Goodison ? which includes the large car park to the rear of the Park Stand ? there is a lot of wasted space. There was a chance to design/build a two-tier stand with a 15,000 seating capacity ? and we chose a 6,000 seat single-tier stand.

Yes, season ticket sales may be down... but I think there will be several other clubs in a similar situation. For several years, the game has "sailed" on seemingly oblivious to the overall World Economic situation. Sooner or later, reality will hit those who run football.

Interesting take on it Tom I'd not made that connection. Everyone, rightly, whined bitterly about moving to a soulless cowshed on the outskirts of nowhere.

Strange that they are less concerned about the club becoming a soulless parody of itself if deep-pocketed individuals were to come in paying lip-service to the club, fans and its history and buying trophies with players who couldnt care less if they were playing for us or anyone else provided the cheques keep coming in.

"Strange that they are less concerned about the club becoming a soulless parody of itself if deep-pocketed individuals were to come in paying lip-service to the club, fans and its history and buying trophies with players who couldnt care less if they were playing for us or anyone else provided the cheques keep coming in."

The authenticity debate, how tiresome. Everton football clubs history is one of competing and winning trophies, albeit not recent history (2009 excepted).

Another history lesson for you Steve ; that is what Sir John Moores did when he assumed control of the club in the 1960s, he poured money into th club to make it a success both on and off the pitch. I doubt if anyone complaind about the club losing its soul during the 60s and 70s when he was putting his money into the club.

Steve.... I would say we are equally concerned about both...... but singularly we all know now that an out of town stadium was never the answer. Just one in a series of cock-ups that have left us high and dry.

Michael....... that space and that opportunity should still exist. The £15m recouped this year from transfers could've put an extra tier on the Park End or been down-payment on a whole new stand... except of course we know that is all spoken for.

I see even mighty Wolves are currently extending their already modern stadium significantly. A club that has spent most of the last 40 years in the lower leagues.

Ahhh the old 'but we were just like that once argument'.

The one that hides the fact that the money poured in, back then, didnt actually buy us dominance of the league like it does now as the league wasn't so heavily commercialised..

I dont think you can even come close to compare the game in the 60's and early 70's with that of today especially the gulf in class that the ability to sustain a £100mn wage bill gives over a club that struggles with a wage bill half that.

For someone teaching history I would have thought that readily apparent?.

Tom

"Steve.... I would say we are equally concerned about both...."

I dont think this thread supports that view at all pal. I dont think anyone would entertain an out-of-town soulless ground no matter what now. I do see a few on here saying, effectively, 'whatever it takes to bring in trophies lets do that' and if that means bending over for a bunch of Yanks or Arabs so be it.

I'm afraid pride would stop me feeling much about an FA Cup bought for us by Sheikh etc but I appreciate that some people put less value on their pride than others.

Steve don't move the goalposts, you can't decry rich men pumping money into the game and when someone points out its been happening for a long time...say but it was different back then..unlike today.

Either it was a bad thing back then (you disagree) or bad thing now (so you say), or maybe its just bad. Make your mind up.

Couldn't agree more with the OP - I'm someone who as a kid saw the 1963 title winning team and rejoiced in our 'Millionaire' status.

At that time we were the big guys and the top team in the City. We had the best ground, the best team and we thought it would last for ever. Unlike now our fans were not obsessed with Liverpool FC and treated them as inferior, just out of the second division. After all they only had a cocky little jock as their manager and how could they ever overtake us? We had Harry Catterick and he was the best......

Spin forward to 2011 and look at the difference. Our beloved club at all levels is struggling and we are seemingly content with mediocrity. The only solace many of our fans have is when Liverpool lose.

Our blue blooded Chairman (who can do no wrong in the media) is seemingly incompetent and intent on retaining power whilst our prime asset the team is diminishing before our eyes - I used to stand in the Boys Pen too, but I wouldn't try and justify being the Chairman of the club because of it.

So where does it leave me - 58 years old - 35 years a season ticket holder and reconciled to the fact that I might never see another trophy again in my lifetime. At least I saw the Golden Vision in 1963, Ball/Harvey/Kendall in 1970 and Sharp and Gray in the 80's.

What has my son and his kids got to look forward to,another 10 years of sterile football under the Moyesiah.

We've got to break out of the state of sleeping sickness we're in right now because unless we sell the club to somebody who will run it as a professional operation, we are going to sleepwalk off the cliff over the next 2-3 years. I think it's getting to the tipping point and unless there is meaningful investment in the one area that really matters - the team, we will continue to fall away.

Henry Ford once said ' History is Bunkum' - nobody in footbal gives a toss that you were good once upon a time.

All I can do is support the team (and pray we will get the right investment) but I think it's going to be very hard for the next few years.

I thought long and hard about paying for 2 season tickets this year, before doing so. If people like me are getting the doubts, now wonder we only got 32,000 last saturday, but is anybody listening in the Boardroom?

Of course you can David. The impact of the money was far less back then.

In the first half of the decade, in the 60's, you had 5 different clubs win the league Spurs, Ipswich, us, RS, Utd. You could say us and Spurs were hovering top 4-ish for a while but there was a hell of a lot more variance then than there was now.

Like I said money is now the key factor in what you can achieve on the pitch. If we cant sustain the wage bill of the elite clubs we dont get the quality in the squad. We have some quality but, the price of that, is a thin squad.

That absolutely factor just wasnt there in the 60's.

Correct Steve. Until the 90's teams were on a much more level playing field, pardon the pun. It was more about managers ability to get the best out of teams. There were the rich and the poor clubs but the key point is that money didnt dictate who won the league because the wealth gap was nowhere near what it is today.

Nice article, Alan. It's strange what a difference a week makes. I've been away and before I went it seemed to me that a rebellion had started. I didn't see the game on Saturday nor the highlights but spoke to a bloke who'd been there and he said it was a decent performance that deserved a win.

However, I come back and look on this site and I'm astonished at what I read. Three interested buyers? Cheers for Kenwright? Stick for the Blue Union? The Moyes/Kenwright gang out in full force. The mind-boggling Martin Samuel nonsense. (FFS Kenwright expresses what every Evertonian feels and we're meant to love him. If loving Everton and being a lifelong fan was all that was needed then we'd all be chairman!)

Something odd has gone on. The Kenwright PR team have been out in force and you know what? They've done a good job. It seems that you can fool a lot of the people a lot of the time.

Everything is relative, we were indeed the Mersey Millionaires in the 60's, and even accused in some quarters of buying the league in 63 for instance. I don't think there were too many complaints from Evertonians to be honest.

Of course there are differences between now and then, not least the exclusive cartel-like CL that has almost ensured a few club's perpetual success/wealth generation creating world-wide global brands that now dwarf us, and now the neuvo-rich who threaten to unbalance that gravy-train. We came very close to gaining entry to that club, but were simply not geared-up to cope. I had hoped that incremental improvement could grow our ability to make that step naturally but it has peaked short and may have even fizzled out. Our current set up is completely unsustainable and cannot give us entry to that, and therefore guarantees that we will never be successful again while the existing "model" is operating.

I totally agree with this. Unlike other clubs in the modern era who have moved on as a football clubs and are recognised as corperate business brands, Everton still operates in the history in every way. It's no so surprise the club hasn't moved forward in any capacity. A majority of match day goers have embedded the 'history' of the club in their minds and that's good enough for them, regardless of the current state of affairs. With the history we have, for some that'll be adequate enough to justify still even supporting this regime.

Alan, a brilliant post.

I think a fair percentage of Evertonians have worked out that Emperor Kenwright wears no clothes. Unless the Academy can produce another 30 million quid wunderkid soon, I can't see a way out of the slow downward spiral the club is in.

Rooneys sale finished me ? he didn't want to play for us because we were rubbish. And you know what? He was right.

Waiting for football's bubble to burst doesn't seem like a viable plan either really. How long can football sustain £200k per week wages and ?50 million transfers? How long's a piece of string?

The club is hopeless, off the pitch and increasingly on it. I was in Thailand last month, and looked high and low for an Everton shirt. We are after all sponsored by a Thai beer company.
But I couldn't find one. Anywhere. Got offered and saw plenty of Man City / Arsenal / ManUre / RS shirts. Did not see one Everton shirt anywhere, even on a person's back.

The Asian market is where it's at, I can assure you. If football is going to sustain the stupid money it's swimming in, it'll be by extracting a few quid from Asia. What do you think the chances of our commercial department establishing a fanbase or making a quid there do you think?
We're going the way of Queens Park or Accrington Stanley. Believe it.

You can't even buy a shirt in England except at the 2 club shops. I was talking to someone last week who went into the club shop by the ground to buy some Everton shorts and socks for her son. Guess what? Sold out of his size. She then went to the Liverpool shop to buy her nephew the same sort of thing only in their awful colours. She said she was amazed at the selection in their shop (and she's a blue), everything well stocked and a massive variety of products.

We're an absolute shambles and the sooner the majority realise it, the sooner we might be able to move forward. As a group of fans we need to stop letting Kenwright brainwash us with his stories of the Boy's Pen, his pride for the club, his pleading with the banks, his best mate Philip Green. If nothing has changed in the last 10 years why is it going to be any different over the next 10 years?

Kenwright is not 'our soul' and neither does he represent it. We, the fans, are the soul of our football club and a change of ownership will not change that.

Pat Kennedy @ 41 spot on mate both your post and the OP most sense i have heard in a while

All this talk about John Moores and the millionaires of the 60s is right in some ways but wrong in others, Harvey, Hurst, Royle, Husband, Wright, Kenyon, Whittle, all came through the youth system, six out of those seven were in the 69-70 Championship team.

So it's not only money that matters, Catterick won the league with thousands of £s in 1963 but he created a team from scratch to win in 1970.

I do not think Moyes will. or could do either of these things.
Moores watched the Ground get redeveloped for the World Cup with Government cash, then he redeveloped the Main Stand in 1970.

Kenwright has done nothing. History is important but it has to be remembered correctly. Catterick & Moores were Giants Moyes & Kenwright are Minows.

Great post! Intelligent and concise.

Nostalgia lives in the heart of an Englishman and football supporters are no different. A clubs history defines its pedigree i.e. whether its an aristocratic old titled club or a neuveux riche emerging club. Everton is without doubt an old aristocratic club - fallen on hard times! I agree that the decisions made now will define its future and that we cannot keep living in a nostalgic bubble.

But in bringing about change we must respect Kenwrights passion and commitment however misguided his management ability is. Abusing and ridiculing him - as seen in some sites will only bring about division within the supporters. Why? because the Englishman is blessed with a sense of natural justice and abuse is seen as the language of the thug and the yob.

Challenging decisions is fine but Ken will only stand down if the force of intelligent opinion coupled with a competent alternative (buyer) is ranged against him.