The Lost Tribe of Everton

Kenwright enjoys playing the part of club saviour and being the central figure in the DirectorsÂ’ Box, but in reality he is a posturing buffoon. The Board have a similar mentality to Ashley at Newcastle, they are happy with mediocrity and are desperate not to sell and desperate not to make any capital investment.

The result is we have an outdated stadium and with every season we slip further and further behind the big six clubs. I fear unless something happens soon, weÂ’ll drift behind more and more of the Premier League clubs.

The present manager is not the answer to anything, but nor was Moyes. However, the real problem lies with Kenwright and his cohort.

We deserve the unimaginative, inoffensive and predictable pap that we are served up. We say that our owners have done nothing since our glory days of the 80s. We fans have done nothing, so thatÂ’s precisely what we deserve.

We have become the "Pipe and Slippers" of the top flight.

I hope that many of you with a keen interest (and with the rich data that youÂ’ve collected) find some way to interest the media (journalists / sports channels etc), to cover the stuff that we have.

That will help to put Everton in more peopleÂ’s consciousness. Of course, it will also highlight the sad plight of mis-management over the years that led us to have our competitive advantage whittle away...

But for all you know, that can generate some more interest to get buyers/ investors out there!

With all the money flooding into football, itÂ’s a travesty that the last significant investment Goodison saw was by agent Johnson. Your informative list of other clubs highlights, sharply, that itÂ’s time for Kenwright to go. HeÂ’s had an easy ride for far too long.

BTW, a little reported directive has instructed politicians to stop using the word "expenses" instead they should use the phrase "operating costs".

Kenwright out.

It may be that Bill and his puppet masters are as you say, treading water until a big pay off. Sometimes it seems they are deliberately keeping us in a subservient position.

From the spectators aspect it is the difference between wishful thinking in the nicest possible way and real ambition that accepts only what it says on our motto.

IÂ’ve been saying for ages now that we wonÂ’t progress while we have this bunch of mediocre, incompetent bullshitters running the club. TheyÂ’ve instilled a loser mentality in the club which seeps down to all levels including the fans. They accept top 6 and an appearance, occasionally, in the Europa League as success but a club of our standing should be demanding more... but, under Billy Liar and his cronies, we are slowly but surely going backwards. Kenwright out!!!

Alf Garnett provided a platform for that Scouse red supporting character played by Cherie BlairÂ’s father and in the 60s the other lot were seen as the hip new kid on the block whilst Everton were the establishment club similar to Arsenal and therefore were not as popular with the media as clubs such as Chelsea, Spurs and Manchester United.

But having said all of that it is the lack of success on the pitch for a sustained period that puts Everton at the back of the queue when it comes to attracting new fans and in the modern day era the lack of Champions League football has had an even more detrimental effect.

The only good Liverpudlian is a Â’blueÂ’ Liverpudlian either because that Liverpudlian is an Evertonian or because Everton have done better than the dark side.

WeÂ’ll never ever begin to move forward as a club until this cosy little Old Boys Club with the charlatan Kenwright at the fore is run out of the club, and IÂ’m afraid that won't happen until weÂ’re relegated.

They were routinely shouted down and told they were damaging our reputation. Meanwhile, the shadow directors and the American carpet bagger are laughing all the way to the bank, without investing a penny. Earl's original ٦m stake is probably valued at around 㿊m. There are no plans to sell unless an offer they canÂ’t refuse is made. There are plans in place for a new stadium (If you call pointing at a park and saying "I want that one." )

Also, what do locals think of possibly losing their green space? That area isnÂ’t exactly awash with parkland! It would be amazing if we moved to a city centre site, we really would benefit from it.

While I donÂ’t want an oligarch or a Sheikh owning our club, I do despair at the amateurs currently at the helm. We are going nowhere fast, and need a fan-based take-over, which would generate money and put the club into the hands of people who really care.

These guys (the Board) are obviously enjoying their toy, and the kudos of what being involved brings. ItÂ’s a fucking trainset to some of them, and they will be getting expenses etc. They know that one day they will cash-in, as the global nature of being in the Premier League will only grow the value of their investment unless an unforseen war or calamity occurs.....

Now either they are lying – in collusion with their chartered accountants who submit annual statements (under penalty of law) showing no such thing – or these claims made by certain fans who perhaps should know better (Colin Glassar recently made a more sweeping claim about the Sky money going offshore) have no substance whatsoever.

Which one are we going with here, for future reference?

I donÂ’t know if our directors take out money or not, what is clear is that they certainly donÂ’t seem to invest a penny.

Your article cross-references nicely with a couple of other recent articles on TW – Paul Kennedy’s Why Can't We Have a Buyer? Link

And Mark EllisÂ’ 20 Long Years And Counting Link

All three articles make a common point: since the inception of the PL, whereas other, much lesser clubs, have attracted serious investment and rebuilt or relocated their stadiums, Everton and Goodison Park have stagnated, fossilised in time.

Your detailed list of the current PL clubs in this regard is damning of past and current custodians of EFC in the PL era. We have been constant members of the PL and the cash cow that represents since its formation.

And yet in the same time, the likes of the seriously disadvantaged Swansea and Southampton have hauled themselves from the lower tiers of English football, re-housed themselves in a modern stadium and have excellent academies and recruitment policies that, arguably, put Everton to shame and established themselves in the upper reaches of the league, winning trophies to boot!

How has this come to pass?

You speak of how a city centre stadium could transform the club. That boat sailed with the collapse of the KingÂ’s Dock project.

And Â’how many of today's Liverpudlians are actually the sons and grandsons of Evertonians.Â’ It hurts to read that, but it may well be true.

You suggest Â’the club needs to get into inner-city classrooms to re-educate Merseyside's youth about EFC and our standing in the English game, anything that could work in our favour in the battle for hearts and minds.Â’

There is some irony in that comment because, arguably, the award winning and much vaunted and copied Everton In The Community do just that and is HUGELY respected, both within and beyond the city.

It bewilders me how imaginative and pro-active the club is via its EITC projects, yet seemingly fails to reproduce the same vibrancy and energy in the commercial arm of the club.

In Mark Ellis 20 Long Years And Counting article he says he Â’senses supporters are genuinely starting to question the role of the Chairman and his Board of Directors.Â’ Sadly, I see no evidence of this. The Blue Union attempted to galvanize the fan base, but in truth it never gained wide or popular support. If anything, it rallied support for BK, perversely, even though, as you wrote Patrick, Â’our board has invested nothing into EFC in 15 years, which is an anomaly in Premier League football... overseeing, in effect, a shrinking of the Everton brand.Â’

To that, I can tie the following quote from Bill, at the time he bought out Johnson in 1999, 16 long years ago:

Â’Acquiring Peter JohnsonÂ’s shares is only the first step to restoring a great club to where it belongs, to where it should be. If you are going to run a successful football club, you need two qualities: you need to be realistic and you need a plan. IÂ’m realistic and I have a plan.Â’

16 years on, seriously, do any one of us have an idea of what BKÂ’s plan is?

Maybe, just maybe, as Tony Draper (#3) and Kevin Tully (#12) comment, we as fans in our meek acceptance and coercion of the board and their practices have got exactly what we deserve.

It seems Elstone is willing to sell it off to fit in with his big stadium project, with no consideration of the events that have unfolded there since 1878.

Would that be the staunch Evertonians who marched in support of Blue Union — to much derision from fellow but not like-minded fans?

Or would that be the countless thousands who applauded his appearance on the big screens at Goodison?

You could understand him being just a tad confused...

I’ve argued with fellow Blues about Kenwright and his running of the club, the usual response is "he’s one of Us". There is no way he is anything like me or any Evertonian I know or have ever met, he is a complete and utter phoney but he gets away with it – and will continue to until he snuffs it.

He simply wants to be "Boys Pen Bill", an actor playing the part of a football club chairman.

However, IÂ’d imagine ToffeeWeb reaches more people who will take the time to vote... that said IÂ’ve been asking every blue I know to sign that bloody petition.

PatrickÂ’s article is so good, because he constructs the problems and the role of the Board in those problems. This article needs an even wider audience, that only 27 responses have come through is a sign of either ignorance or indifference and ToffeeWeb is the one site where constructive criticism is aired.

Kenwright alone has held this club back, Kings Dock would have changed everything, but nope, nil, and zilch. 20 years since the last FA Cup win, will we win anything again? The only FA the Kenwright decades will bring will be sweet FA. The man is a charlatan at best and at worst heÂ’s a parasite.

A large percentage of fans are simply not interested in what goes on behind the scenes. They have their own problems and simply want to escape by meeting the mates for a few beers and a few laughs then walking up to the match.

No Harm in that on the face of it – thats the way it always used to be. If people like Colin Fitz hadn't rang the bell, their numbers would be even greater.

These people are good Evertonians, they love their club, but if they don't want to look at the unpleasant stuff behind the scenes you have to respect their wishes.

WeÂ’re stuck with the Bastard.

IÂ’ve thought a bit about this and this is what I,Â’ve come up with:

Bill deals in broad stroke emotion. No detail but plenty of fine and tear-stained words. He makes connections, he lives the dream and it is like one of us living the dream. He canÂ’t stand scrutiny and factual examination. So he creates a narrative and asks us to buy into it. It is tempting to do so given that a large section of the media have. Look how he managed to turn some Evertonians against the stalwarts of the he Blue Union.

He is a consummate luvvy who is a natural at this game. I actually think that he believes that his saying something makes it so. He tells us what we want to hear and such people are almost impossible to deal with and confront.

Fifty million signatures would hurt him but he would process the information and put a martyr-like spin on it. Still, signing petition alerts others that all is not well and I like WinstonÂ’s notion of ToffeeWeb doing something.

This does not make ToffeeWeb anti-Kenwright because those who support him can put their views up here with the rest of us. I have never read a factual defence of him and would ask anyone capable of providing one to do so.

While the original problem might be that the club failed to capitalise on the strength of its mid 1980s side due to the post-Heysel injustice, the current problem is undeniably the wrong board in charge. That situation was perpetuated by the masses who idiotically applauded BK at a time when the fans should have presented a united voice in opposition to his regime. The clapping told him to carry on, weÂ’re happy with the status quo, youÂ’re doing a good job. So in a very real sense, the broader Evertonian fanbase deserves precisely what itÂ’s getting: stagnation.

An article like this really hits home about insignificant our club has become in the premier league stage. I Think we are more likely to join Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds rather than Man City.
I live in South Wales and nobody here really recognises Everton as a big club. I was talking about history of the club and Everton being the 4th most successful club of all time. A few of my mates questioned this ? And made comments like a bit like Preston ?!
We need to invest in the team to at least be challenging for cups etc otherwise we will not engage any new younger fans!

IÂ’m afraid out only hope is for UKIP to win the election and deport all foreign owners!!

The difference with us is, we laugh at every takeover rumour, we shrug our shoulders when lies are exposed, and as Darren says above, the majority arenÂ’t really interested what is happening behind the scenes. Renting our new training ground off the Council after selling Bellefield? Go right ahead, you wonÂ’t hear a peep out of any Blues.

The board of Everton F.C. couldnÂ’t have chosen a more placid fanbase than ours if they had tried. ThatÂ’s not in any way a criticism, itÂ’s a fact. We have been doped up on mediocrity after a relegation scare in the 90Â’s. We accepted survival was the height of our ambition, and the board have gladly seized that Â’ambition.Â’

I was suspicious of the blue union from the start, and while I agree mostly with what they say, my suspicion was well founded. As soon as we got a few wins they effectively gave up. Right now theyÂ’re a busted flush. Comparing them to the organisation across the park is doing them a service they donÂ’t deserve.

Banners, marches, media presence at theLink least. But direct action is the only way that anyone will take notice. Power to the people.

I wonder if phlegmatism and a sense of resignation is in our DNA? In my time supporting Everton I, like many others, have had to watch our neighbours win the FA Cup for the first time in their history, witness them winning European Cups, suffered the various refereeing injustices, the consequences of Heysel, and so on and so on. But what of my Grandad, who saw his team of champions in 1914 unable to defend their title, as did my Dad in 1939? We have had to accept so much, perhaps we are simply used to it. And perhaps people within the Club play on that?

Anyone who was at the Wimbledon game in 1994 will know how partisan we are as fans and I suppose it is only in a real crisis that Evertonians will rise up and demand change when things are going very badly wrong on or off the pitch. The situation as it is now and has been for some time doesnÂ’t really threaten the existence of the club or in truth our position in the top flight.

Many fans will be happy to go with the flow while some are unhappy that we are unable to compete at the top end of the table, at the moment it would seem that the majority are content to stick with what we have.

I wasnÂ’t suspicious of the blue union because of their motives or anything like that. I mean that they seemed destined to fizzle out. They seemed to me like a copycat organisation with no power, direction or plan. At worse a bunch of people who wanted a spotlight, at best a group who didnÂ’t have enough courage to follow through.

IÂ’m not against them. From the ashes a phoenix and all that. But if they want fellow blues to take them seriously then they have to do more. But consider me a floating voter watching with interest and hope they can achieve a place in our history.Link

I would argue that if money had have been invested in Everton during the mid to late 2000s the club may have had a better than even chance of forcing their way through that glass ceiling, of course there is no guarantee that any investment will reap rewards but there is a certainty that no investment will reap very little or in fact nothing.

IÂ’m in my thirties but you never stop worrying!

Newcastle fanzine editor Mark Jensen told the BBC "A lot of fans would ask why was a significant portion of that money not spent on team strengthening?"

(Sorry I’m late getting to stuff – I had to do me bloody taxes. Haven’t read the rest of the thread yet...)

I remember being very surprised when Peter Johnson responded to fan pressure... although it might or have been simply coincidence, and it was already time for him to sell up and move back to Birkenhead.

IÂ’m sure youÂ’re on the right track; thereÂ’s something different about him that seems to make him immune. A lot of very clever Everton minds (unfortunately lacking sufficient readies) have I believe made a run at it.

It’s a classic case of status quo (time for a song!) – nothing is going to change... until it does. But we have no idea when that will be. I think that must be driving a few people mad!

Then we could end up with a Mike Ashley or a Vincent Tan or even worse the Venkeys. Maybe that's why BK is after concrete guarantees about the validity, not over a new owner's ability to buy the club, but what investment they are prepared to put on over say a 5-year period.

Would a new stadium – if built and paid for by new owners – count in the Financial Fair Play rules? If it does, then we’ll never see a new stadium; if it doesn’t, would that perversely make us more attractive?

On the subject of managers, IÂ’m wondering if Klopp will end up at Bayern Munich and that Pep Guardiola becomes the new boss at Man City?

Off to sign the petition because for me it makes no sense to back a board that doesnÂ’t invest in their club after record setting TV deals. I think the board has been getting a free pass from a lot because of the great charity work of the EITC.

Brian (#64) – as BK proved with his "man in a bedsit" story, he’ll sell to anyone if they meet the asking price. He, or rather his backers, don’t give a flying fuck who they sell to as long as they make bank.

As Matt stated, the FFP rules do not include a new ground or training facilities, but it is based on income. When you think what Man Utd get for sponsorship of their training kit, it just shows the massive the gap between the very top clubs and us. Even if we got the richest man in the world to buy us, breaking into the top 4 investment wise would take us at least 10 years and maybe even longer than that.

So, if fans are thinking we can get a rich owner who could transform us to being what we were under Sir John Moores, then they are whistling in the wind unfortunately.

"Stability is fine when it is the byproduct of competence. When it becomes the goal itself, corrosion sets in. If cups are not a priority, what is? Why would footballers commit to a club which seems content to exist in mid-table, never over-reaching? For two seasons in succession, Newcastle have effectively boarded the doors in January, either selling their best player or delaying the appointment of a permanent manager. What message does that deliver?"

There are a few similarities about what he writes about the Bar-codes and what has / is happening at Goodison. Fortunately Everton still have close ties with the community whereas those ties in the North East appeared to have been strained or severed.

Nevertheless it is worth reading the whole piece to show that football is beginning to forget what it is there for.

George Caulkin

For John Moores in my era, it was easier, but think Man City ten years ago and itÂ’s still possible and I believe Everton are still a hugely more attractive proposition than West Brom etc.

Growing up in Everton in the 50s was a good time to be a Blue in regards to support. As a kid, I thought the area and streets outside of the triangle of Everton Brow, Netherfield Road and Great Homer Street was a foreign land. There was no need to go outside that triangle, shops, ale houses, a picture house who needed anything else.

That area was by far staunch Blue and on match days you either walked along Netherfield Road or Gt Homer Steet to the ground. As you walked along so you picked up thousands more coming from the Scottie Road area or Kensington. Families had lived in the same streets for generations.

On Sunday at early mass the priests would comment on the poor attendance, not because they were all non believers, but because they were all pissed from the night before either celebrating a win or drowning their sorrows! Either way, the wives were told to make sure they turned up for late mass.

When the new towns like Kirkby and Skem were built, the biggest loser – in a way – was Everton, the area. The people and families were decanted out to the new areas. Don’t get me wrong, socially it was better. No more slums with only outside bogs; no more 6 in a room being bit all night by the bed bugs and keeping warm under all the coats on the beds. When the people left, so did the spirit.

Thousands who decanted out still made the game but many many didnÂ’t. Getting the bus into town rather than walking to the match was without doubt a put-off and definitely diluted the fervour of the support.

As the RS got success in the 60Â’s and 70Â’s so they got an "outsider" following that lasts to this day. Look at the town the morning the RS are at home, full of folk from God knows where, accents from all over the UK and abroad.

Just maintaining our level of support in itself is an achievement, whether this can be maintained in the next generation I donÂ’t know. I just hope the Lost Tribe Of Everton is not lost forever.

My god – one kopite is too many for me... but half a billion – I demand a recount.

However, I canÂ’t go along with the list of clubs and the billionaire ownership....... Villa have had nothing spent from LernerÂ’s own pocket, so some Villa fans tell me. Liverpool and Man Utd owners have borrowed against the club. Two takeovers have been stuff of dreams... Chelsea and Man City. Two out of that big list... the rest is a bit of old bollocks for me.

"Bill, we appreciate what you have done for the club and the sacrifices you have made. We feel that investment is needed and urge you to sell. However, the club needs a proper Evertonian as a guardian and we ask that you remain as an honorary Chairman safeguarding the club as you have always done."

Tears, handshakes, martyrdom, Boys Pen, Z-Cars and Bill's blue hand taking care of us as he always has... Job done.

Just two points from your great article.

First, I totally agree with your City Centre ground. It would be a fantastic achievement if somehow that could come off.

Second, I just canÂ’t agree with your indirect support of Prentice and OÂ’Keefe at the Echo. These two supposed journalists have for years taken the Clubs "shilling". They have never questioned anything the board have or have not done. They have never put any legitimate/controversial point to either manager or Chairman. AllÂ’s theyÂ’ve done is wolfed down the Club's treble gin-and-tonics and ham sarnies on match days.

Had they done so and been banned, national journals would have taken up the cudgel and the pressure on the Club may well have elicited change.

IÂ’ve said the same thing about the stadium. IÂ’ve even convinced myself that I wouldnÂ’t be bothered if it looked like that cow shed we were being coned into before, as long as it sat on the waterfront as close to the Liver Building with a big fuck-off blue Everton sign adding to the skyline. After all, stadiums never keep theyÂ’re original designs and you canÂ’t move it.

On the subject of Kenwright, I said this a couple of years ago but still want him to be held accountable for his actions whilst heÂ’s still alive. I donÂ’t want the true runnings of the club or any major criticisms to come out when heÂ’s six feet under. It always seems to be the way that someone's protecting someone else until they're gone or that someone is allowed to investigate more and then the truth comes out.

As boys, we idolized every player, some only fractionally more than others. When the game was not going in our favour you could rely on shrill screams of support from the pen.

Up to 14 years of age, entrance to the pen was 6 pence; from 14 to 16 we were allowed into the general crowd areas for 2 shillings.

Goodison in those days was one of the finest grounds outside Wembley and that was why it was granted a number of World Cup games in 1966. It was undoubtedly a far better option than Anfield. That it is now looked upon as a quaint relic is a condemnation of all those directors since then.

I went in the Goodison Road side, pre new stand, with a beer crate to stand on up against the front wall.

I only went in the pen if my dad had spent all his money in the ale houses on the way to the ground ! Mind you he always got us a packet of crisps – with the blue salt packet – and a bottle of sarsaparilla, two if he was really pissed. If he hadn’t spent all his money we went in the ground and he always sat us "on the bar" (barrier).

We only lived by the Friary church at the end of Great Homer Street and I never really understood why we had to leave about 10 oÂ’clock for a 3 pm kick-off and never got home until about 11 at night, well until I found the evil of drink!!
Happy days.

It would have stood one in good stead if unfortunate enough to find oneself in a Colombian prison. Avoid eye contact. Avoid giving the impression you had any cash left after paying the 6d entrance fee. Avoid anyone wanting a light. Avoid standing next to anyone who gushed on about Dave Hickson and professed an interest in the stage!

Our fanbase has reduced. Amazing given the rebirth of football since the inception of the PL. So much so that while we think our present day attendances in the mid 30,000s are good, it has to be put in the context of a club like West Ham getting similar when in days gone by theyÂ’d have typically been pulling crowds of 10 - 20,000 less even when they were doing well.

IÂ’m not much concerned about the international market. YouÂ’ll make inroads into that only if you get success. No, IÂ’m more concerned about the local support base. LetÂ’s not kid ourselves, the Blue:Red split is now perhaps around 40:60. That sounds close, but in fact it means there are 50% more Reds. I know the fluke in Istanbul has been a massive factor in creating this gap but the Club has done itself no favours with its unbelievably poor commercial efforts and, excepting the relatively recent opening of Everton 2, its virtually total removal of its visual exposure in the city.

By the way, as for highlighting our existence to overseas visitors, how about making a start by putting a large structure of the Everton crest flat on the roof of Finch Farm – FF is under or very close to the flight path of the majority of planes coming in to JLA. Let’s also put up billboards at a couple of sites in the city and alongside the escalators at the city centre rail stations. Can we go even further - would we be permitted to throw the crest into the night skies using laser projection from GP?

But irrespective of much of this, FFS lets scrap the crazy Kitbag deal asap so that visitors and locals have the necessary retail exposure and access to EFC merchandise.

"Big Bill, you are charged with crimes against football and Everton Football Club in particular. How do you plead?"

"Innocent, m’lord. Ever since I stood in the Boys Pen, all I’ve ever wanted was to own EFC and say to my fellow ex-penners – Who’s calling me a fat bastard now, fuckers?"

WeÂ’ll never get rid of him while heÂ’s alive!

A start would be some good critical pieces from the media pointing out the facts and not getting into sentimentality about good intentions. A club our size has been financially poor for far too long and to have a net spend of ٠ mill a year during the Kenwright years is a disgrace.

I think weÂ’ve all had enough of the lies, spin and media bias although I thought the same thing a few years ago when expecting the crowd at Goodison to make their feelings known and look how that went.

His years at the club have taken us dramatically backwards and, as pointed out, it is the damage done to future support (a point I have been making to fellow Evertonians for a few years now) that I find most disturbing.

We could still fill a 50,000 stadium, fill Wembley Way with blue and constantly pack out away ends at the moment, yes, but where are the youngsters coming from to replace us in 10, 20 years time? This I fear will be Kenwright's legacy to the club and something he and we as Evertonians should consider very carefully.

Everton is a great great club that has been left to wallow in no-manÂ’s land by a totally unambitious board. So many of the younger fans have no idea of EvertonÂ’s standing in English football. That goes for the media as well who think that Everton are just another mid-table club.

Until Kenwright and his cronies go, we are well and truly stuffed. The trouble is that, if they donÂ’t go soon, it will be too late.

Peter Mills, surely the Boys Pen was under The Upper Bullens Road stand in the corner next to Gwladys St. And IÂ’m sure it was 9 pence (old money) to get in, but it was a long time ago so your memory is maybe better than mine.

ONLY direct action will work, not getting season tickets, boycotting matches, shouting the odds at the phony inside the ground. We could start slowly with one of those flags Man Utd had like a ticking clock showing the years since a trophy sliding past. Or a massive one stating "Dave Hickson will be turning in his grave with the state of Everton FC" – facing Kenwright from the Upper Bullens.

I found the Boys Pen to be a peaceful haven safe from the usual rough and tumble of life in the Dingle.