Mr Kenwright – In Quotes

However, he is not a businessman in the technical sense as he relies on his good nature and charm to elicit funds from other rich people to fund his theatre productions. Hard nosed businessmen may part fund his shows but there is no way they would be prepared to bankroll his personal hobby without them having full control and that is what BK appears to have been asking for since he first took over the club.

The other official board members may as well be cardboard cut-outs as their combined input is nil apart from being major shareholders. If Bill canÂ’t raise his own capital to buy-out the other shareholders then it looks like the club will be left in limbo for as long as the major shareholders are content to continue this mystifying state of affairs.

Everton in effect are triple-locked into mediocrity and inactivity and even if a rich group or individual came-a-calling they would have to deal with three individual shareholders in order to proceed, they didnÂ’t get rich by wasting time and therefore are unlikely to hang about waiting for those three separate people to make up their minds.

If I was in BKÂ’s position, I donÂ’t think that I would be very happy to be the front-man taking the flak unless I owned all of the shares and you have to ask apart from the kudos of being the Chairman what is in it for him as itÂ’s not a cash reward.

As the club donÂ’t pay out dividends what is in it for the other major shareholders, Woods is perhaps similar to Kenwright in that he supports the club. Earl is someone we know very little about and surely he canÂ’t be in it purely for the love of all things Everton.

The dream world that has existed for Bill and perhaps the supporters that a takeover by some perfect owner with deep pockets has never really been on the cards at any point in the last fifteen years but it has inestimably hampered the club because it has during that period never felt that a long-term plan has existed because everyone thought that somebody else outside of the major shareholders would solve the pressing issues, that is not the way to run a non-league club never mind a club that has been in existence for nigh on 140 years

Some famous names in the business world have failed to plan ahead and paid a heavy price for thinking that something will turn up and the spirit of Mr Micawber is not enough to sustain a club with such a rich history as Everton F.C.

Who really owns Everton FC? what are they prepared to do to advance the club? We think we know the answer to the first question we have no idea about the second.

Thanks Chris for a thorough and illuminating article, itÂ’s apparent you care deeply, like many of us do, about Everton FC more than the people who own the club.

A mate of a mate worked in the financial side of the club until relatively recently and he maintained that Kenwright was Everton mad but as daft as a brush and absolutely clueless when it came to the money side of things......

"Dreams undelivered" or alternatively put "Bullshit baffles brains".

If only Paul Gregg had managed to oust BK.

Over the 16 years of his tenure, Mr Kenwright has always somehow managed to keep the majority of match-going fans on his side, despite the totally incompetent manner in which he has run the club. However, the appearance of a large protest banner at West Ham and Goodison last Sunday may hopefully indicate that enough is enough.

20 years without a trophy is actually 3 years more than the worst previous run in our history, from 1946 to 1963, and we have just finished in our lowest league position for 10 years.

What sort of legacy does the self-styled No 1 Evertonian want to leave? Does he want to be remembered as the man who led the fourth most successful English Club into permanent decline or will he finally wake up to reality and sell up to someone who can revive our great institution before itÂ’s too late?

HeÂ’s been proven to be a liar and a romancer for years, none of this is new to us and we all know the club will never ever move forwards whilst he is at the helm.

Have you noticed how the WHP build has vanished now that the early bird season ticket deadline has gone.

He treats us like dickheads...

Would that be Jesus picking cherries from the garden of Gethsemane?

Just asking like...

For example we still seem a real family club, looking after old pros, Everton in the Community, our support of JFT 96 the way we applaud skill / performances from opposition sides, supporting our managers and the fact we get vociferous with cheating (albeit not so much our own players anymore).

I think this class sets us apart but also is something weÂ’re clinging onto and over egging because of our starvation of success. For example, IÂ’m not sure Distin needed a cameo and thought Moyes send off was OTT.

I think support of Kenwright is only so strong because he is a blue and many want this romantic notion of being a "proper class club". I think thatÂ’s right and agree with it but donÂ’t believe that just because Kenwright stops being chairman that we would lose that class.

It is beyond doubt that if he’s not a liar that he is at least full of bullshit. This is not part of what EFC should be. However, potentially if we sold we could lose this class and I think this is a lot of people are scared of – rather than being overly supportive of Kenwright.

Nice teams do not win trophies, nasty win at all cost teams do.

IÂ’ll take the later any day over the nice pushovers we are at present.

I actually believe that nobody wants it at much more than 㿼M and BK wonÂ’t let it go at that – particularly to the carpetbaggers who buy the likes of Leeds Utd and Blackburn. Thank God.

I would heartily agree with you if the current owners were doing rather more than sitting on their hands and stopped believing that some Fairy Godmother will build us a new stadium. Where do you see Everton in five years time if the present regime continue to perform in the same way that they have in the last decade?

If we continue to be run the same way then clubs even as small as Bournemouth may begin to become more attractive than Everton, a slight exaggeration perhaps but not a totally unrealistic idea.

No of course that doesnÂ’t count as a serious bid, does it, Paul?

How many times have we broke our transfer record with BK? Three that I can think.

Kenwright buys Everton

Green saves Kenwright

Birch Resigns

Bill open to offers 2008

I was there that day and...well...30,000+ Â’Happy ClappersÂ’ surely ...surely just can not be wrong???? Well, can they???

Power to the people and all that shite???? ThatÂ’s why all these luvvy soundbites keep satisfying the masses...

The Happy Clappers have been whitewashed by this tool for too long... like some tinpot dictator who everyone goes along with for the ride.

At long last, those chaps with the banner at West Ham tried to make a point. I sadly imagine that if they had tried to unfurl this at Goodison the following week, all hell would have broke loose... and not against Kenwright. That, I guess, is why they did it in London.

Take the piss out of our lovable Red Cousins but at least they make their voices loud and clear against what went on. Oh hang on... I keep reading it here: We Are Above All That Type Of Caper... arenÂ’t we???

(Great Piece, by the way.)

Bill open to offers 2008:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/e/Everton/7542638.stm

If anyone was to offer 𧴜 million, I bet BK would sell.

It was one bad year under Johnson when the shares in his company collapsed. In the four years before that, we won the cup, and were signing top players like Kanchelskis and Barmby. We have had 16 years of serious decline under this lying clown.

By the same diametric analogy, I simply cannot believe how in the last 15 years we fans have done virtually bugger all to reign the Â’shyster supremeÂ’ in.

The Blue Union quickly found out that we fans avoid confrontation to the extent of skirting round the literature/mags from Grey Skies etc on matchdays like they were Hari Krishnas!

The facts are simply this:

1. Like before, we will do nothing if things go well on the pitch.

2. So, it will have to get worse before it can get better.

3. It may be summised by the historical academics etc that Everton arenÂ’t Â’like thatÂ’ but it has to be said, and I/we know it to be true, that the Reds would never, ever of put up with our situation with this penniless, clueless ill-run commercially third-rate spectre for one season... let alone 15.

Wake up we are being strangled by intransigence from the bottom as well as the top.

Instead of pissing about with Walton Hall Park, make a decision now to redevelop Goodison, before we get left even further behind.

If you are taking 1994 and 1998 as benchmarks for the club on the pitch, then yes, it could be argued that we have been on a general upward trend.

If you look at the financial clout of the club compared to our rivals and not only the monied elite, it could be argued that we are in fact in a period of decline and that will be accelerated as others begin to use the TV money to bankroll their progress whilst we use ours to stay afloat.

WeÂ’d all love a new monied owner, of course, but thereÂ’s no guarantee heÂ’d be any better than this bugger, is there?

Now, if we had a decent manager, maybe...

I donÂ’t have a solution to the problems that beset the club but simple economics say we need to grow the business or sell off our top players. Selling our top players would seem to be the most obvious way of squaring the circle which in turn will lead to a decline on the pitch and put us in a similar situation in which Leeds, Blackburn and all those other clubs who had Â’badÂ’ owners find themselves in.

Okay, it's not great... and we havenÂ’t won a trophy since 1995... but thatÂ’s the manager's job surely.

This isnÂ’t a 'Get Kenwright Out' because he is a buffoon or a personal attack on the guy it is a considered opinion about where our club stands at the present and where it likely to stand in the next few years. The only people that can alter the situation are those who own and run the club and they seem to be content with the situation as it is. We will have to trust that they know what they are doing and dismiss any evidence which suggests otherwise.

In fact anything other than he is an Everton supporter, he is one of us, heÂ’s Blue Bill, and be careful what you wish for.

Having a proper Evertonian as chairman is a big deal, it really is. He never needed to lie, he probably doesnÂ’t think he has. A straight talking, honest Evertonian would do. It could nearly have been him.

BillÂ’s stupidity is in saying what he thinks people want to hear, yet what he canÂ’t deliver, and which some fans irrationally believe that he not only can but should deliver, on the ridiculous grounds that we were once a top club, and our stupid motto. That is a club now being strangled by its history.

The board are slated because they donÂ’t waste their own money by throwing it into the bottomless pit of a football club that would never repay a cent of it. They should get some credit for how the club is run in reality rather than dreamland.

IÂ’m an Evertonian and I desperately want to see the club do well but success for me is that they are entertaining to watch, that they stay in the EPL and that they reach their maximum potential. This isn't a top 4 position for me, we canÂ’t achieve that under any circumstances. Our peers now arenÂ’t the top four and possibly not even the top 6 or 7.

I will never support the ridiculous contention that the board are bleeding the club, that we should expect them to guarantee us success or that they should do what the vast majority of fans wouldnÂ’t do themselves which is "Investing" in the club. This is 2015 EPL soccer not 1968 Division 1 with a sugar daddy Pools owner.

Getting rid of Martinez? For sure but you have to admire BK for his loyalty and his wish.

Do you want a Mike Ashley billionaire "clown" club or to become a lifeless franchise club like Liverpool or Manchester United? I certainly donÂ’t.

Also, we all saw the demise of clubs who borrowed too much in pursuit of their dreams. Pompey and Leeds arenÂ’t doing so well. Leeds, a one-club city, a big population, and a wealthy one at that, and a succession of muppets vying for ownership in recent times.

The point is, Bill is not a professional Chairman, it is a bit like being a Dad. No-one tells you how to do it. He was bound to make wrong decisions, bound to say things that he now would regret. If any of us were subjected to a resume of Quotes from our past, we would cringe, I am sure.

His problem is, he is stuck really. He and his fellow board members, may be hoping to come out showing a profit for their initial input, and so have to wait for an offer to achieve that.

I think he realised a dream leading our club, and it got him valuable publicity for his other job. He would never appear on the TV News on behalf of yet another second-rate musical. His hands are tied. Decisions to take out loans in the past may have been poorly advised, but we are stuck with them now.

The fact is we are like one of the old clubs from the sixties still run by the butcher, and the local masonic lodge. We have a nice little golf club arrangement, and the Sky money just allows them to toddle along, not making any choices as there is always more money next season.

When the gates meant something, and a stand was about to fall down, you would fix the stand because you needed it open to earn your money that week. Now, you could close all of the stands and it would not make a lot of difference.

The board are waiting to make a profit, and BillÂ’s hands are tied.

I expect that pretty soon (if he is poorly or not), he will have had enough, and we may well look back on a decent man, who tried to help, but was out of his depth.

This board doesnÂ’t have a plan, any business sense or ambition whatsoever. Despite the attempts by Martin Mason there to continually defend this board, weÂ’ve heard all this Â’no moneyÂ’, Â’careful what you wish forÂ’, Â’we have no right to win trophiesÂ’, accept it, with anyone who advocates protest, wanting the best for this club is somehow a Kopite because Â’weÂ’re a classy clubÂ’.

If you want to be a classy club with no assets, no hope of success, playing in a crumbling stadium where apparently itÂ’s only a matter of time before it fails its safety requirements, fine.

If however, you want us to be a successful club, with a regular opportunity to win trophies, with a clear and realistic plan for the future, we need to act.

If you know where we wouldÂ’ve ended up under Hamperman and his cronies, then get on the lottery for a few weeks and save the club yourself.

To add a little more to the calibre of this fluffer, he reckons he took Elvis for a night out in London – despite the fact Elvis never set foot in England in his life; his claims to have been at Wembley with Eddie Cavanagh in 1966 and the many items in the article itself.

Find yourselves a copy of the Penguin Modern Book of Playwrights, Zigger Zagger and Mooney and his Caravans (http://www.amazon.com/Zigger-Zagger-Caravans-Penguin-playwrights/dp/0140450092) and youÂ’ll find an interesting quote saying the ex-NYT student and avid RS supporter demanded YNWA was used in the play as the anthem of the Kop. It was added at his request and remained in the play for years until copyright had it removed. This book was published in 1970; I have a screenshot if you want it.

Going back to 2003-04, the fans were in uproar and BK managed to control the situation with the Fortress Sports Fund initiative. The cheque was never dropped into the bank in the morning and Moyes saved BK with a superb backs-to-the-wall season. Then any investment/takeover was forgotten about once again.

Nothing will change at Everton until BK and his friends declare the club is genuinely for sale and ask a reasonable price.

It's a superb article and the saddest thing for me is that it could have been written 10 years ago.

Here’s an example for you – Hull, QPR, Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion all receive more per year than Everton do from their kit suppliers. There are several others who use Adidas that may also receive more per year but Adidas doesn't publish their figures on a team-by-team basis. It doesn't actually incur a single penny of their own money to secure commercial revenue.

Likewise our marketing and sponsorship: throw in non-matchday revenue streams and your defence that they don't throw their own money into a bottomless pit becomes hollow and meaningless.

Spin that argument into the realms of investment in the form of Director loans and a second tier on the Park End would have secured over ١m a year in ticket sales which is 150% more than we get a year from Umbro and Kitbag – a loan which no-one would begrudge the loaning Director to seek reimbursement at a profit.

Elstone’s latest blog eludes, with plenty of smoke and mirrors, that the club are looking for donations to pay for the new stadium, even having the cheek to imply LCC should help – odd that a taxpayer funded council would fund a private business owned by multi-millionaire mingebags.

Champagne tastes; lemonade money.

Know one is sure if BK is looking to sell or simply wants investment.

It could be the case that he is asking for too much money. When you look at all the cash it would take to either redevelop GP or build a new ground it might just be the case he and his cronies are asking for way too much.

Know one sane will simply invest either.

I don't want or expect BK to name his price on Sky News but it would be good to know whats really going on.

All these years without anyone putting a penny into the club has stripped it bare.

If it wasnÂ’t for the Sky Sports cash we would be fucked.

You canÂ’t sell what you donÂ’t own.

You donÂ’t have to write War and Peace to see BKÂ’s failings – it all comes back to the fact he isnÂ’t wealthy enough to take us forward. Why are you comparing us to Arsenal? They have about three billionaires on the board already, season tickets start from ٟ,000-1,200 per year, and the working class fan has been driven away; kids tickets are 䀋 at EFC!!

Why donÂ’t you mention in your notes all the failed takeovers, liquidation and relegations to all those lucky fans whose teams have had those takeovers??? Why? I will tell you why: Because the majority fail... yes, fail.

Chris, wake up and smell the coffee. Only the current top 4 have bettered themselves under new ownership; Spurs has potential but in reality they havenÂ’t done much more than us.

Kings Dock was his biggest mistake but, as I said above, he never had the funds; he needed support and Gregg offered him that at a massive price that would have seen most, if not all of the arena non-footy revenue going to SFX. Now, in hindsight, we should have taken that deal... but, at the time, he thought Gregg was holding us to ransom, so he wouldnÂ’t play ball; that was a mistake, I agree.

Why do you not mention the Grantchester family that could have at any point bridged the gap between BKÂ’s lack of wealth and the club moving forward? But no, nothing. A 㿊 million guarantee for Kings Dock could have been agreed in days by the Grantchester family.

As, like the BU, you are making the massive mistake of assuming Bill Kenwright is the problem, let me tell you he is only part of the problem. Go and study how much matchday revenue we make and how much we could potentially make based on the demographic of our fanbase, then look at the capital expenditure needed to deliver such a project and your answers will tell you all day long that we sadly arenÂ’t a viable purchase.

We need somebody that will write off that investment, either over a very long time, or hold it against the club as a secured loan... but Financial Fair Play will then hurt us.

We havenÂ’t even mentioned the playerÂ’s wages in the modern game...

Getting rid of Kenwright doesn’t change our problems, in fact the percentage of failures will tell you its more likely to get worse than better. Nothing wrong at all with wanting change – it is definitely needed at present – but just highlighting his alleged weaknesses achieves nothing whatsoever.

Be constructive and look at the bigger picture: we canÂ’t change the past but we can influence the future and thatÂ’s where we should be focusing.

Most of the conjecture on ToffeeWeb as a whole, is down to us not really knowing very much about what goes on at Everton.
From the money side, to the coaching,from the fitness issues, to the transfer policy.
It is the same at most English clubs.

In Germany, I believe it is different, and some shares lie with the fans, but someone else will know more about this than me.

At the end of the day, Everton is a business. To run a business, you put some money up at the start and if it is viable, it pays itÂ’s own way.
With all of this tv money, we should not need extra investment.
If we do, then we are paying everyone too much.
Our heroes, the players, managers and their agents are the ones bleeding the club dry.

Kenwright made his money from being a theatre producer which is not the same as being a businessman at all. The business side of EFC has been a complete shambles under Kenwright. He has sold all the assets off and even mortgaged the stadium, for which we now pay rent to the Prudential. At the same time we are tens of millions in debt.

At the time of buying Johnson out for 㿀 million, BillÂ’s house was only worth ٟ million and there is no evidence that it was remortgaged.

Everton were consistently profitable and had a net asset value under Johnson whereas, in the first year of Kenwright's reign, the accounts mysteriously show a 㿀+ million shift. Ring any bells there?

And from that day forward, with the exception of one or two years, we have consistently sold assets, become debt ridden and made a loss. All that at a time when the Premier League was awash with "new" income.

I might also add that Johnson was the last director to invest any of his own money into the club, being responsible for the new Park End stand and the last trophy won by the club.

True Blue, my arse.

"He has sold all the assets off and even mortgaged the stadium"

Has he? I understand that he could only drive through change like that if he owned 51% of the club; which he does not.

HeÂ’s a figurehead; face of the club if you will but heÂ’s not the chief decision maker.

With the cash cow that is the Sky revenue; they stand to make a sizeable return on investment without having to put any more dollars in that they did all those years ago.

Seems a slam dunk to me. Watch my investment rise whilst I sit back and do nothing and let the face of the club take all the shit.

That includes agents, players, managers, owners, money and fucking dodgy off-shore accounts. IÂ’m sure I will enjoy the whole experience a lot more, rather than getting excited because Bill has said for the 93rd time there are Â’interested parties.Â’

Try it, it feels liberating.

I think not only do we face a chairman & board who wonÂ’t engage with the supporters, are secretive/clandestine about investment & selling the club, but (certainly BK) have the support of the media.

How many times have we heard pundits on National TV questioning or criticising anyone who publicly criticises the way the club is run? Until the press openly come out & start questioning the manner in which the club is run, we will face an even harder battle to get the club truly moving forward, because too many fans in my opinion are happy with the status quo at the club.

And while their opinion isnÂ’t being challenged by media articles, they will continue to back the mediaÂ’s presentation of BK & the board as running the club well, with a true fan at the helm, who only has the best interests of the club at the forefront of the manner in which he runs the club.

One of the "combination" of decision-makers you mention does not officially hold any Everton shares. Are you suggesting Bill has entered an under-the-counter deal with Sir Phillip Green?

WeÂ’re not mainstream news and wouldnÂ’t get the same coverage that Liverppol got with Hicks and Gillette and so for now (or at least until we can break that glass ceiling) weÂ’ll continue to be patronised about how lucky we are to be governed by a true supporter (which is not true).

It might only be a start, but hopefully this leads to supporters getting the answers from Messrs Kenwright and Earl that allow them to either put their concerns to bed or allow people to form their own opinion with all the facts to hand. If the truth and facts can support Mr Kenwright, then why doesnÂ’t he break his silence and share them with everyone?

YouÂ’d be naive to think the Green doesnÂ’t have an interest in Everton. He brokered the initial Kenwright deal and was instrumental in Earl's purchase using a Virgin Islands SPV.

He didnÂ’t do that because as some would have us believe that he is a good pal of BK.

DidnÂ’t Wyness say that it was actually Green that sacked him and not BK. Also heÂ’s rumored to be involved in transfer negotiations at the club.

Of course none of this can be proven but the best trick the devil ever played was making us believe he doesnÂ’t exist.

Yes, his share value has increased but good luck to him on that because they could easily have gone like Gilette and Hicks did too so you pay the money and takes your chance. Go to Finch Farm and look at the playersÂ’ cars: Tony Hibbert driving a 𧵄k Porsche, Mirallas in a gold Bentley, and you wonder why a team with very little match day revenue streams has to sweat its assets to keep theses people happy.

Just sit back and take out the emotion and look and what we pay out and what we earn. ItÂ’s clear as day, there is no 㿀 million hole in the accounts they were just consolidated. BK owns just 26% he, canÂ’t leverage his share purchase money back on the club. There is no way other board members or shareholders would allow it, its pure fantasy. The club doesnÂ’t even pay a dividend to my knowledge.

BK canÂ’t take us forward, thatÂ’s certain, but stop trying to manipulate every issue as BKÂ’s fault. Football has changed big time, sadly we have been left behind as a top 6 outfit but so have many other teams. Until we find a wealthy backer, the status quo is what it is. He has made many mistakes but the biggest is his lack of wealth. He is out of his depth and he openly admits this.

"I didn't say I knew where we would be with "Hamperman""

Except you did. ItÂ’s right there in black and white at post #52:

"Bill Kenwright saved this club from the dreadful Peter Johnson. We would most likely be in League One by now if he had not taken the reins."

I understand what has happened with Agents and Players costs but that has no bearing whatsoever on the immediate cashflow out of the club when BK took over.

Even an eminent accountant at the time analysed the accounts and said the 㿀+million hole looked like a leveraged buyout and that article was published here on ToffeeWeb. BK is a law unto himself as evidenced when he cancelled the shareholders annual general meeting because he didn't want to answer awkward questions about the finances.

Why was Dunford suddenly let go and we bring Wyness in on four times his salary? Then when Wyness goes there is a mad dash in Phil Green's yacht to gag him before he could talk to the media. Why did Trevor Birch resign after a matter of weeks as CEO?

It is symptomatic of BKÂ’s reign that the accounts are all smoke and mirrors.

I also remember when he was asked how other operating costs had gone from ٟ million to over 㿀 million since he took over his response was "what do I know about accounts I am only the Chairman".

Why did we sell our training ground and mortgage GP and then lease Finch Farm at an exorbitant amount of money?

Why are we continuously paying 9% interest to an office in the BVI that conveniently one of our directors operates out of?

I think you are being extremely naïve to believe Bill when he states the directors take nothing out of the club.

I know you like to deal in commonsense and hard fact but there are too many who have rumbled Bill for him to be considered truthful and honest. The evidence is there for all who are not blind to see.

"This article misses the main point: Bill Kenwright saved this club from the dreadful Peter Johnson. We would most likely be in League One by now if he had not taken the reins. Bill is a blue, and preferable to any Sheik or Oligarch."

Do you have any proof whatsoever of this claim?

Question I have is: How long does one get to rest on his or her laurels for "saving" a club, if true, before legitimate questions as to the future must be addressed?

Everton are in debt and not from a new stadium, or developing an academy grounds, but from the limitations of the current ownership. Posters are correct that a moneybags owner is not the only answer.

The other answer, a coherent and aggressive youth and player development system to identify players, sign them, loan them, and sell them, to fund your own senior squad players (Chelsea model) coupled with a brand development campaign and strategy is another. I do not see Everton doing either.

It does seem that BKÂ’s statements, even if cherry-picked" are contrary to his actions. Treading water waiting for a buyer in order to make a profit (no objection to someone making a profit) while the attractiveness, and therefore, the value, of the product decreases seems not likely to occur. Meanwhile the club by not moving forward actually is moving backwards in relation to the other clubs.

It’s unbelievable; it’s like Stockholm Syndrome – the captives love their captor!!

To those of you ranting about Peter Johnson being ousted by hero Bill Kenwright. What YOU are failing to see is Bill Kenwright SAT on PJÂ’s board for THREE YEARS before taking over!!

I canÂ’t bring myself to speak to Kenwright supporters anymore. For years they have called me a kopite and told me to go and support the RS. They are faced with facts and still choose not to believe. And they call me a Kopite!!
Only Kopites want him to stay, they love him. They think heÂ’s doing a great job, just like Hicks & Gillette were loved by Blues!!!!

Personally, IÂ’m happy to accept that the item really refers to the ever-increasing cost of grass mowers, line machinery and WHITEWASH!

IÂ’ve had no time for him in a long time and I have always referred to him as the Dear Leader ever since THAT game v Villa: with a chance he was finally being called to account by concerned activists, he played to the Big Screens at Goodison and got his round of applause. An astonishing moment. Where are Blue Union now?

But yes, "if" he remortgaged his house to buy Everton shares, then that money would have gone to the owner of those shares (Peter Johnson), not into the coffers of the club.

On the other hand, if True Blue Holdings indeed secured a leveraged buyout (as Jay Harris suggests above) with the cost of the shares being borne by the club through a strangely coincidental 㿀M hike in "other operating costs", then the opposite would ironically be true: money would have been taken out of the club coffers to secure the dawn of the Kenwright era that we now live in.

The second scenario in your post is accurate.

He wont even address the shareholders questions.

BillÂ’s answer along with the Fortress Sports Fund cheque will arrive in the post tomorrow!!!!

It would always amuse me, back in the day when we had Q&A sessions at the annual AGMs, how people would thrill with unbridled anticipation at the chance to Â’get answers from the ChairmanÂ’ and build the thing up to some ridiculous reveal that was going to solve all our problems and bring about World Peace.

What the BU did in their interview was far more revealing... and plenty felt it gave them new insight as to who exactly was leading our club. But look at how many of the fanbase rejected what that revealed about the man.

TÂ’was ever thus, as dear old Colm Kavanagh used to say...

On here he can hide behind a keyboard but give us a straight answer. HeÂ’d have no time for Boys Pen anecdotes, crocodile tears or any other histrionics. He could just shoot straight from the hip like his idol, the MilkyWay Kid.

I would be happy to volunteer to record the whole thing on a mobile phone secreted about my person, although it couldnÂ’t be my own mobile.

The truth is I havenÂ’t really moved with the times re mobiles.

DonÂ’t get me wrong, the model I use (The Whitworth & Arkwright Marvel Steam-Talker) does the basics, but itÂ’s far too big to be successfully..um..secreted.

Specially (does sort of down and behind eye-roll) there.

ThatÂ’s about his level and cooking (the books).

26 years later, since the Premier League was created, we havenÂ’t got a pot to piss in and only won one trophy, the FA Cup in 1995. WhoÂ’s to blame, not us fans who still turn up home and away our thousands every week, not the players, they still seem to Â’get itÂ’ not the Manager, despite what we might think of Martinez.

So who does that leave? The Tea Lady at Goodison? The fella who cleans the bogs at Finch Farm? No, the people to blame for our fall from being Mersey Millionaires in the 1960s to 50 years later being not being able to rub two pennies together is the Board of Directors and Kenwright as Chairman especially.

There is more money in the game now than ever with the TV Deals, there was a quote earlier on this season that by the time the season finished, Burnley would be richer than Ajax!
So whereÂ’s EvertonÂ’s money going? Martinez has already hinted that we wont be signing another 㿈 million pound player this summer, we donÂ’t pay stupid wages, nor have a ground that is costing us a fortune, so WHERE IS ALL THE MONEY GOING?

See ColinÂ’s excellent post #100.

Pipe Dream

ItÂ’s not rocket science.

The club has sizeable debts and is paying extortionate interest rates to a clandestine entity year on year. Its business model is only sustainable by player sales year on year. Does BK own this entity; nope.

Happy; no. Me neither.

That means what it says. It is not a certainty, it is a probability – in my opinion.

For those of you who are wondering, apparently BK and Green have had a falling out leading to the latter trying to force a sale to a consortium led by the owners of the Spanish retail giant, Zara. Facilitator/broker for the deal is ..... Toshack!

Eee, I love a good rumour, me!

What the heck is Bill, "True Blue" "BoysÂ’ Pen" Kenwright doing?

When the chickens come home to roost (and they will), we will all have to take a good look at ourselves and our Evertonian behavior. The funny thing is it hasn’t always been this way. I remember Johnson – now that ousting of a chairman was Evertonian style to me. Come on, boys – let's find our balls we once had.

Leveraged buyouts are common place in all businesses. Philip Green did the same when he bought Arcadia but the accounts stated this when published, EFC's don't and the question is why?

Jay (#83), I agree mistakes have been made and most are because we have very poor cash flow: we take short term loans over short periods to keep cash flow in the company; we sold off Finch Farm to a deal which makes Gordon Brown PFI fiasco look like good business; we took ١ million cash per year off Kitbag to cover interest payments – all classic mistakes made by businesses that have a very poor EBITA, No cash in the bank. We live hand-to-mouth so we always need a step up which leaves us completely vulnerable and that's why most of the mistakes have been made.

If Kenwright or True Blue Holdings leveraged the buyout then we should be able to see this via company house or at least via the auditors report, like we do with every other company that does this practise. We have no hard evidence at all. I find that strange and it makes me feel they haven't done it because we/other shareholders would know.

All the crap about "we have no money" and "doing the best we can" and "it's not fair... blah blah blah" is absolute bollocks. Where would Bournemouth be now if their board and manager believed that??

You need a vision and strategy with the ambition and balls to make it happen. Sadly we have none of the above under this regime. We must have change soon or accept our fate.

If all auditors did the job they are supposed to do with the utmost ethics and diligence we would not have seen some of the financial disasters to hit the economy at various times especially involving football clubs.

As you know, auditors get directors to sign to declare that they have provided the information on which the accounts are based.

We all know Bill has a penchant for the odd fib??

Ask yourself why Michael Dunford was ousted after being such a loyal servant to EFC and Wyness was brought in at 4 times his salary?

Why did Earl and Green find it necessary to hunt down Wyness and pay to gag him?

Why did Trevor Birch resign after only a few weeks in the job?

Why appoint a glorified accountant (with no previous Chief Executive experience) to the CEO position of one of the top Premier League clubs?

Why does Bill surround himself with yes men?

When you look at these questions and ask yourself why it wasnÂ’t this way under previous Chairmen, you will get why John Moores must be turning in his grave.

Link: http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21635978-some-13-years-after-enron-auditors-still-cant-stop-managers-cooking-books-time-some

Our fanbase is as loyal as it comes, the board should recognise that and start treating us with a bit more respect. Stop taking the piss with the price of food and drink inside the ground, why outsource it in the first place?

The main concern at the club should be the Bullens Road. It needs to be pulled down, how do we get a safety certificate for it?

We need to build the top tier on the Park End then demolish the hazard that is the Bullens Road and rebuild to 21st Century standards. Easier said than done, I know but the wages that we have paid out to Alcaraz, Kone, McGeady, Hibbert over the previous couple of season would have covered it.

This is enough for enough people to maintain the status quo. Stop going to the game and buying the shirts and this changes quickly.

Hurts more to the generation of fans who recall Everton in their pomp and canÂ’t equate "good enough" with "nothing but the best." The crime here is the time. HeÂ’s put so much distance between current performance and previous glory that the modern Evertonian accepts less.

I’ve no solution – same as Bill.

We do not need Billionaires to become a competitive club again we need competent people running the club with a vision and a plan how to get there.

If BK and his backers were explicit that they will sell the club AND named their price, then we might all despise their greed but at least respect their commercial nous. What makes fans sick,is that they masquerade their intent by claiming they are acting in the best interests of the club and securing its future.

They are simply going to wait out for an investor who buys them out at their price, clears our debts and finances a new stadium. Strangely, no investors have materialised to add that load of debt to their balance sheet. As for a leveraged buy-out now, what would it leveraged against?

If you have, why do you believe that Everton are in a safe pair of hands with Bill Kenwright?.

Over here in the States it smells. Someone is doing a great deal hiding the profits imo. If the club wasnÂ’t a cash cow for the board, why did they rebuff the Shiekh?

IÂ’m utterly sick with the tired old line Â’heÂ’s an EvertonianÂ’ pathetically being used in his defence.

So many fools confuse his support for the club with him being the right man to run it.

Peter Johnson, while not being the best chairman we ever had, and certainly not the most popular, was the last director to put his own money into the club, built the Park end stand and delivered the last trophy we ever won.

It is also a fact that he left us profitable and in a net asset position which Kenwright very quickly turned around to a regular loss and a net liability position having cashed in on all of our assets including future season ticket sales which were also mortgaged.

So in fact it is Bill taking us to the brink rather than Johnson.

Do we just idle by season after lousy season? Yes, we do!

We are served by this gang of gobshites because we do nothing, Or let me put it another way: We accept what is going on...

We need a collective force in the undoing of the Board that is draining the life out of you, me, Everton Football Club.

If we keep standing by and not acting in a useful, active manner, then the slow decline will continue...

End of.

The players, the board, even the Bullens Road stands are temporary. We are the disenfranchised, and like mushrooms, we are kept in the dark and fed shit. I keep on saying that we need proper fan ownership, at least in part, with transparency in the clubÂ’s affairs.

The Premier league is becoming more predictable, Financial Fair Play is a half-hearted attempt to placate us with the illusion that a more level playing field exists.

We have just seen FIFA re-elect Blatter, with the biggest scandal ever to hit football going on around him. The game we all love has moved away from itÂ’s working class roots, and is now the plaything of the super rich. The Premier League is serving the big four, and Uefa is serving the big 10. Money and greed dominate and only the odd chink of light pierces the gloom.

We need to be involved in our club. Everton in the Community should be more than a few well-meant initiatives for the under-privileged. We need shares in the club, and a voice on the board, perhaps a rights issue.

Quite agree.

Eddie, us fans are here for good, but ItÂ’s such a Catch-22. Dammed if we go the game, dammed if we donÂ’t.

I personally think that I can only continue to watch Everton away from Goodison at present, until we get rid of the cherry picker!!!!!

"And like mushrooms, we are kept in the dark and fed shit."

Kind of sums it up for me.

Quality.

LetÂ’s say, for instance, that they wanted to issue new shares to raise 㾻m. ThatÂ’s basically increasing the number of shares by around 10,700. ItÂ’s really difficult to see how we could hope to raise more than that given that essentially you are asking fans to buy the shares. Financial institutions rightly wouldnÂ’t be interested.

That therefore means that the underwriters would have to be the major shareholders. Therein lies the problem. TheyÂ’d have to spend their own money just to maintain their position in terms of %age ownership, with the added bind of potentially having to spend more to increase that %age if the take up amongst shareholders was low.

ThereÂ’s absolutely zero incentive for them to do that.

Firstly, you can't compare Tesco and a major utilities company who turnover billions. Tesco was due to a property valuation issue; this year, they marked property down ٤ billion but still made ٟ.4 billion profit so they are massive. Auditors do snapshots of a company's accounts and for EFC to hide or leverage a debt of 㿀 million against it in a company that turned over I think just 㿨-70 million at the time and not be noticed or commented on is highly unlikely. I ask again, where has that debt gone? Man Utd is visible every year yet ours has allegedly disappeared.

Staff leave businesses all the time and, as part of their agreement, if they choose to go on a compromise agreement, they take a payoff in lieu of terms and conditions, which I suspect will include a gaging order this is pretty standard practise in all senior management roles. Having external senior people leaving like we did isn't great but after such a time again it's not uncommon to seek an internal person to fill that gap and the Financial Director is normally a smart choice, after all that's no different to how Terry Leahy progressed in Tesco.

Every issue at EFC can't be a conspiracy leading back to what you think has happened; it's not impossible for what your saying to be correct but I would say its highly unlikely considering the size of EFC Co Ltd. It isn't a big company with lots of transactions to hide things in.

Looking at how diverse and intelligent our fan base is, if you dug properly, it would come out and other than some speculation on websites, we have never seen any hard evidence at all to my knowledge to back this up.

Getting rid of Kenwright doesn't change our position as a club at all, unless we have somebody much wealthier who will cross-guarantee or give us the investment we all want so much. Shouting "Kenwiright Out" with nothing behind it will only damage us short term – no matter how many mistakes you think he has made in the past.

Point being we are in this mess not just because we had no money and made poor decisions as a result; go back one step, had no investment, borrowed badly, allowed a couple of hawks on the board who have all, in unison, contributed not a cent, nor brought in a solution or strategy for the future.

So I ask you (or them for that matter), why are they here? Bill may be an Evertonian living his dream, but why are the others there? Answers on the back of a postcard please...

After Peter Johnson left, the club spiralled financially and commercially and has never recovered. The fact that we are still existing is not due to a progressive, innovative financial or investment strategy that the board has arrived at, but the hike in value of Sky which shows no sign of abating.

The ONLY way this club will be sold is if it is relegated; until then, it's more likely that, one by one, the board members will relinquish their shares partly or complete. But that will not mean a change in ownership.

IÂ’m not quite sure how to interpret this Mystic Meg vision: one by one, the board members will relinquish their shares partly or completely. But that will not mean a change in ownership.

When you say "relinquish their shares"... do you mean "give them away"? ThatÂ’s the only thing that makes any sense if the result is no change of ownership. Although IÂ’m struggling as to why in the world of high football finance they would do such a thing? These shares could be worth anything from ٟ,000 to ٤,000 each, depending on the perceived Â’valueÂ’ of Everton Football Club.

But that canÂ’t be right either. If they give the shares away for nothing, the new shareholders become the Â’ownersÂ’ provided they have enough of them.

As Groucho Marx might conclude: If the current owners no longer own the shares that give them ownership of the club, then they no longer own the club. Or will it be sufficient to just a have a "badge of ownership" in this new shareless future you foresee?

So, for example, if the club is said to be worth 𧶀M, then it would take a minus investment of at least 𧴜M to gain control. This means at least 3 directors would have to sell to allow it to happen. In theory, of course, BK could still keep a significant shareholding whilst others sold off... At the moment, all the others are waiting for is a pay day.

You need 𧴰-150M to get Everton. With a debt of at least 㿀-40M, a destroyed balance sheet & the stadium issue.

I'm sorry but it's time for Evertonians to kick off en masse. They either need to state a concrete plan to progress the club commercially, grow the club & solve the stadium issue, or reduce their price & allow new blood into the club.

If this goes on, in 10-15 years, we are out of the Premier League; doubtless we would be playing in the same ground & there'd be no way back.

It's that serious.

When you consider that there are quite a few shares in private hands – the small shareholders that make up the membership of the ESA – it means those shares have been effectively neutralized as far as the future is concerned. So the effective stakeholding by Kenwright is increased, and I firmly believe that he (or Green acting as a shadow director behind him) will continue to operate it as a controlling bloc that maintains the status quo.

It canÂ’t go on forever, of course, but IÂ’m convinced thereÂ’s something going on that letÂ’s them siphon money out of the club, by hook, crock, or through criminally high interest rates and perhaps penalty payments on loans...

I’m not sure what we can really do, Bobby, in terms of ’kicking off en masse" – even the small shareholders acting as a single bloc (it would never happen) could do nothing.

If the shares really are worth the numbers being touted, at some point, the major shareholders must find someone to sell the club on to, so they can realize their profit. But the mug who buys them will be bound by the Â’Fair PlayÂ’ rules, and the need to do something about the stadium...

Meanwhile, another year passes, and things seem to stay the same, but in reality we are slipping further and further behind on many fronts. We need change... but thereÂ’s simply no sign of it.

To answer your question, I would imagine you buy large lumps of shares to make money, EFC don't pay a dividend as far as I can see so, other than the emotional value then the value of the sell-on has to be your motive. This isn't a negative situation at all – it's just the reality of share ownership and generally if share values have increased the business value has too, which should be positive.

In my opinion, EFC's and Kenwright's failings all come back to the same reason: he is out of his depth and needs to go cap in hand to many people, therein is the problem. Again, unless we have another option in the wings, we have to put up with what we have.

So, based on that scenario, constructive dialogue with our custodians is the best way forward – not forcing them out, in my opinion. Forcing them out wouldn't suit the creditors, as much as we may not approve of where we have sourced the loans from.

The truth is, we need the short-term loans to boost cash flow unless we decide not to invest in the club (players) or sell off some players to fund this gap, which is a tricky gamble depending on how far you cut your operating costs. I'm afraid it's more complicated than "Kenwright Out" –  he isn't the main problem, he is just part of the problem.

Mr Kenwright is never going to convince the whole of the fan base that he is the right man to be responsible for taking the club forward. However, this is potentially another watershed moment for him. If he wants to nip in the bud this developing surge of discontent, he should publicly address the concerns of the growing masses with openness and honesty (if he can). His continued vow of silence, after a large number of quotes that have been contradictory and duplicitous, implies that there is something for him to hide.

The national media should be made clearly aware that the opposition of the board is not just from a radical and insignificant minority. There is a general distrust developing at how the local media seemingly refuse to report on the club's failings, and why the board are not being taken to task over the plethora of unfulfilled promises they have made publicly. However, until the acknowledgment of the desire for change comes from a respectable and credible source, the likes of Andy Dunn and Martin Samuel will be able to keep deriding the truth in order to stay at Mr KenwrightÂ’s top table.

Even if Goodison was half-empty, it wouldnÂ’t change much because the TV money dwarfs the gate receipts, but it seems that the majority are happy to renew their season tickets.

What I would advocate if no progress is made by February / March 2016, is that fans give the early bird deadline a miss and they hold onto their money to see what sort of reaction it gets from the board. It will cost the individual fans a few bob extra but what price we keep treading the same path for another five years?

Paying above commercial costs on loans to a third party with other directors interests is difficult to hide in the UK, hence offshore loans... at every step there will be "legitimate" fees charged by Directors assisting the club with advice, projects, acting as a guarantor etc..

Money makes money. Those with money never use their own to fund anything without a ring-fenced watertight, risk free guaranteed return plus. They offer a third-party solution and take a cut... ThatÂ’s how they make the money out the back door.

Alan, as it stands you are correct but thatÂ’s the current status quo. Imagine when the stadium was built a follow-up to which (could/should) have been to list the company on the stock exchange. Then the current rules go out the window, dividends paid, the clubs price is inflated, the directors sell off shares for listed value.

That’s how the future will be played out once a stadium, no matter who builds it or funds it – the future would be not as a Limited Company.

For the sake of clarity, it should be noted that directors are appointed by the shareholders of the company to run the day-to-day affairs and manage the company on the shareholders' behalf. Whilst in very small private companies it is common for the shareholders and directors to be the same people, that is not true in most larger companies.

I have recently (at a cost of ٟ) downloaded the last annual return submitted on behalf of "The Everton Football Club Limited" to learn that there are only four directors of that company; one of whom (Sir Philip Carter) died in April 2015. I am unsure if he has, as yet, been replaced.

There are 35,000 shares issued in the company. Unfortunately, the details of the shareholders are held on CDs and as I am currently living in Dubai I cannot get access to the information via that source.

My point in making these comments is that any actions taken by Bill Kenwright in relation to his directorship of the company has no direct correlation to the size of any shareholding he has in the club.

Having reviewed the annual return made to companies house, I would say that greater concern to the supporters of Everton FC should be the fact that, of the three remaining directors still on the board, the youngest is 64 years old. Where, in the management of the club, is the new blood going to come from?

We clearly need a leadership that is young, vigourous and inclined to be in touch with modern methods of business, communication and marketing, not to mention footballing ethos.

Of course, the Companies Act recognises the possibility of people operating in the capacity of directors behind the scenes (called shadow directors in the Act), who are not actually officially appointed as directors. It may be the case that this is happening at our club, but I for one, am not aware of it.

To summarise, what has happened has passed and there is little we can do about it. The future however is a different matter and it concerns me that the three people at the helm of the club going forward are either already collecting their old-age pensions or the last to know is due to do so next year.

I like your quaint idea of the shareholders appointing the directors – makes it sound like Bill and his mates were actually chosen by the hoi polloi like me who own the odd share in 35,000. Sadly, not so.

It was BillÂ’s own shareholding (among other things) that got the then members of the board to appoint him back in 1989. Yes, there was a formality at the AGMs where the shareholders would confirm board appointments of directors by voting their shares but, given the large majority of shares always held collectively by the other members of the Board, their bloc vote has always held sway over the paltry efforts of the Â’smallÂ’ shareholders.

You say that that directors are appointed to run the day-to-day affairs and manage the company on the shareholders’ behalf. Unfortunately, that’s a bit of an oversimplification. The Board sets the direction for the company and seeks to protect their larger investment in shares, but does not usually get much involved with the day-to-day management – expect where individuals from the management team are also Board members (Robert Elstone as CEO is the case in point).

And it’s your main point I have to disagree with: "Any actions taken by Bill Kenwright in relation to his directorship of the company have no direct correlation to the size of any shareholding he has in the club." I think the opposite is true: all his actions as a director (and as Chairman, don’t forget) have a direct correlation with the size of his shareholding in the club – as it is this, along with the large shareholding of his fellow directors who support him, that gives him the mandate to rule the club in effect as a sole dictatorship.

I agree with you about the age of the directors, but that I believe makes them more inclined to let Bill lead the way (see above).

Now the thornier question of shadow directors. Many who observe the Everton Board and its doings have concluded that the involvement of Sir Philip Green is tantamount to that of a shadow director. Difficult to prove if you are not inclined to believe it, but the indications do seem too strong to ignore.

Yes, the past is indeed behind us... but we ignore it going forward at our peril. Only by understanding the past, and specifically the actions of the large shareholders who make up the Board of Everton Football Club Co Ltd can we gain any insight their thinking in terms of setting a future path for the club.

My pet hate is quotations but I think this one is all too apt in summing up the scepticism of EFC Board watchers that perhaps prompted your explanations, Hugh: "A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future." – Sidney J Harris.

Michael is totally correct that Bill seems to act more like a dictator than a collective board member and we donÂ’t see any clear vision or strategy from the board apart from BillÂ’s oft stated 24/7 mission which to say the least is unproductive.

We have no clear plan to get CL or win a trophy apart from Bill telling us the new manager promised it.

We have not reinvested in GP nor planned for a new ground unless itÂ’s free.

We have no clear transfer policy and apparently no clear squad building plans.

We have sold off or mortgaged all of our assets.

We stumble along with amateur commercial deals and no vision.

OMG... I am thoroughly depressing myself. How it hurts to be an Evertonian under Coronation StreetÂ’s finest.

I agree with all that each of you has said and am not suggesting that we ignore the lessons of the past. The main point I was trying to make (but seemed to have failed), was, how can we expect the future to be different if the guy(s) steering the ship remain the ageing bunch currently in charge?

As we get older, most people inevitably become set in their ways and resistant to change and the three current directors are cases in point.

The point I was trying to make was, where are "tomorrowÂ’s men", at board level for Everton? Because, until some younger blood is appointed, I canÂ’t see anything changing until, the present incumbents die due to old age. Nowadays, that could conceivably be at least another 20 years.