Premier League to hold face-to-face talks with 777 Partners

So without the backing of A-CAP, I would imagine they will have to pull out of their possible takeover.

I just hope that the stories are correct and there is another buyer waiting in the wings; otherwise, a further points deduction will be the least of our worries.

I wish I knew. We have heard stories of new owners apparently waiting in the wings. Should 777 Partners pull out, then Moshiri has a massive problem: does he keep financing the club till a buyer is found?

When you add the money owed to Rights & Media Funding and MSP and now the money owed so far to 777 Partners, that's totalling somewhere in the region of £420M that the new owner would have to pay out. Then the cost of finishing the stadium.

My hunch, not knowing only the bare bones via the media, is that this is a pivotal moment for Moshiri. How long will Moshiri hold out and is there any other genuine buyer out there? What's the next steps?

UTFTs!

Our club lurches from one seismic issue to another. Being an Evertonian is a full-time stress job.

As per the comments above, we need someone willing to clear debt and play a long game for a return on their investments. They would need to be prepared to invest across multiple years to get the playing staff and club at the top end of the table to make the investments worth it. They will need deep pockets……..

These and other questions of course being administered while Josh Wander is encapsulated in a 12th-Century style Iron Maiden.

“Is there any other genuine buyer out there?”.

I would be surprised if there are not at least two. Potentially there is a huge prize to be won by anyone buying into Everton – if you have deep enough pockets.

It is no small matter that Bramley-Moore Dock has been chosen ahead of Anfield and Old Trafford for the 2028 Euros. Ratcliffe is already making noises about wanting a new stadium. Can't have those scousers having a better stadium than us!. Probably denting a few egos that…

The big sticking point of course is our Premier League status. It appears 777 Partners we're willing to take that risk. The question is, if they get knocked back by the Premier League and have to walk away, will one of the interested parties waiting in the wings, make Farhad Moshiri an offer he can't refuse (given his situation)?

Nasty business.

My guess is that potential investors are waiting until the end of the season to see how the land lies. Even if 777 takeover the club, I am not sure they will hold it for long before selling it. Private Equity usually works on a 5 year window to buy a company, add value, then sell it.

Given their liquidity problems, that window might be a lot smaller where Everton are concerned.

A Premier League club is their golden ticket so we are the priority for them,

Otherwise, I'm in the let's-find-an-oil-baron camp if need be. Or crowdfund a billion dollars. And really, is there not a single less sleazy but actual billionaire out there ready to scoop us up at the right price?

There is just so little hope that 777 Partners is the savior we need them to be, unless not having any real money means we can't blow it all til we get points deductions a la Moshiri.

Are they the perfect people to come in and run the club? We won't know till they get the chance.

And can we please stop this "mystery bidders round the corner" rubbish. There isn't any, never was, never will. It's Moshiri or 777, take your pick.

There are some people living in la-la land on here. Wake up! There are no secret bidders.

In our current state, and with all the financial restrictions like FFP, you'd have to be mad to invest in a club like Everton. Debt-ridden, piss-poor squad, average manager, useless academy, despised by the media etc…

I believe 777 Partners are asset strippers who want to get their grubby hands on the new stadium and use us for some pernicious reasons. If they mean what they say, then make them take a lie detector test. Otherwise, they can piss right off!!

As for there being no other potential buyers, pure speculation on my part that there are but, if 777 Partners do get knocked back, we will soon find out.

Colin – worst house in the street!

It would be helpful if he could outline his stance to at least the purchase. (What is going to happen if the deal is not ratified by the Premier League?)

Will he walk away? Will he let us go into administration? Will he back us until another purchaser is found?

They are fair questions to ask...

There are no mystery bidders, Everton Football Club are fuckin shite, so how anyone would want to purchase them, especially when you see the state of the poxy little stadium that is nearly complete on that shitty little River Mersey.

You get the club you deserve, they say, and that's why I have found myself having very little time for a lot of Evertonians during the most depressing era in our history.

Isn't it Ironic, how the greatest Evertonian managed to change the mindset of a very proud and very fierce fan base – but thank god not everyone was kidded by this imposter.

We would have been finished as a top club years ago if Bill Kenwright had gotten his way, so thank god for KEIOC, and light a candle and pray that 777 Partners are rejected, just like Tesco were all those years ago.

Pardon my French, Christine, but I'm sure it's already obvious that Moshiri doesn't give a flying fuck. These mysterious bidders might have already been rejected because of people who are no longer with us, a wise old fox who might have even been too conniving for an Oligarch.

Evertonians are famously negative, it's in our DNA. Of course there are other buyers but for less money than 777 Partners are willing to pay as our desperation peaks.

The biggest threat is the Premier League taking their time and the funding stream being switched off.

We deserve better. Thanks but no thanks.

And can we please stop this "mystery bidders round the corner" rubbish. There isn't any, never was, never will. It's Moshiri or 777 Partners, take your pick, being a prime example.

How does the poster know there is no mystery bidders round the corner? Simple answer is: he doesn't, so why post something as fact?

I'm convinced there are plenty of people on this forum who want to see the club disappear into oblivion, just so they can say "See, I told you so!"

Root cause of our present situation was the day The World's Greatest Evertonian took over our club.

Even today, I get slagged off reminding some people of our campaign to get the teary one out, our meetings in the Casa etc. They still actually believe he saved the club and devoted his life to Everton and not his own pocket.

Still, we are where we are.

Those people who do not believe the Premier League management have an agenda against us — well, they're entitled to their opinion. The time taken for these shambolic “independent” commissions to come to decisions, the time taken to decide a decision on this takeover, was and is totally unacceptable. Every day is another nail in our coffin.

Let's just hope whoever finally gets our club are actual business people who not only run us as a business but balance it by adding decent people on the board, like Burnham and Carney.

KEIOC is Keep Everton In Our City. A group that was set up when Kenwright wanted to locate the club into Kirkby, which is a borough in Knowsley, so not technically in the city of Liverpool.

From my own perspective, I get exactly where you are coming from.

I have commented several times in the past months that I feel out of step with many on here, that my views are dismissed or ignored now… And that's sort of okay, I get it.

But as you say, reading many views which are so much at a tangent to my own, and others, I find myself shouting in the wind and feeling that somehow my reading of the situation we are in was wrong, that I wonder at how and why so many seem a bit alien to me.

I don't get it, Tony, I really don't. But I do know I am being more selective in putting my views, concerns or even memories out there. The greatest Evertonian's legacy is in tatters, as some of us always warned and feared.

The face-to-face meeting with the Premier League could be nothing more than again trying to get the information they require. This could be the Premier League formalising the requirements they have not received and also seeking concrete assurances regarding 777 Partners' very published difficulties.

The Premier League is following a very necessary due diligence process, it is up to 777 Partners to comply with their requests. That is the only way that 777 Partners can bring the process to conclusion. Any time delays in the Premier League decision are clearly in 777 Partners' court.

Let's be honest, football isn't fun anymore, certainly not like when I first started watching as an 8-year-old in the '80s. The game's corrupt, the Premier League is corrupt.

In a few years, the European Super League will be here, the Sly 6 will be making millions while the rest are left to rot. You think TV companies will pay billions so we can watch Everton v Palace, or Forest v West Ham? Not a chance.

No, football is slowly dieing in this country. We just can't see it yet.

I appreciate that 777 Partners are not everyone's choice, but we need something to happen, even if it's not them.

However, with the Premier League Animal Farm characters getting their snouts in the trough, I don't think this one will happen.

We are practically at war with the Paddington clique who bow to those they are star struck by.

Having given them a slap in the face, they will throw everything they can at us, although I notice the Department of Culture Media and Sport are getting involved.

I think their days of self-regulation are coming to an end. Independent commission my arse. Long needed change in the governance of football is coming in my opinion.

I don't think we are negative, Paul. Sometimes pessimistic and get frustrated at a poor performance. That's football. The "You're shite, Everton" bloke 5 minutes in!! That's not aimed at you, but we all sit or stand around them. You only have to be at the away matches to realise that.

Apologies, that is the only point I wanted to comment on. The 777 Partners debate is going to divide opinion.

They also said that our silk had all the mitigating factors thrown out and the rest was just emotive irrelevance which didn't matter a jot in the appeal. That Masters and the Premier League came out clean and vindicated, Masters in particular. Four KCs debating fact, not football.

It's no wonder so many are disenfranchised with the Premier League. Thanks, Bill, we owe you so much.

We are Everton though, we have stood the test of time possibly more than any other football club in this country, so please don't underestimate The Toffees!

Thought it was a question from the 1% Club.

The longer it's dragged on and the more negative stories we hear, it's just out of the frying pan and into the deep fat fryer.

Surely a credible new investor or owner would have all their ducks in a row prior to embarking on this investment to show clear vision and leadership. It's all a bit amateurish and not what you would expect from a top sports business brand, who will probably need more investment in the future, it doesn't project a professional approach.

I don't believe the Premier League has an agenda against us; Man Utd's deal went through because they have a professional investor, we have these 777 Partners who seem like chancers now.

If we were not in such a precarious financial position, I'd suggest they would have been chased away a while ago.

Everton is potentially a much cheaper buy from The Championship, rather than the Premier League and possibly even cheaper if bought out of administration, hence that's why I don't think we will see much movement until after the season ends if the 777 deal falls through.

Of course, I'm only guessing like the rest of us.

The rules are utterly ridiculous, meaning that Man City, Liverpool and Man Utd can spend almost unlimited amounts of money on transfers and wages, while the majority of clubs have to sell their homegrown players in a futile vicious circle of doom, in which you need to buy players to stay in the Premier League but have to sell them to stay within the rules.

The utter incompetence of our club's leadership has led to us the brink of collapse as a club, but the Premier League are destroying the game.

Whether 777 Partners are the only interested party, I don't know, but they are currently Moshiri's best bet, and most advanced.

There is not a lot to inspire about them is there? Their portfolio of teams struggling; fines, legal cases, unpaid debts. It appears that their loans to Everton are from a third party at high interest rates. They appear cash-strapped with a precarious business model.

Are these the owners we really want?

Maybe we have no choice, they are the only show in town; certainly Moshiri is behaving that way. It doesn't feel like a good foundation for a happy successful marriage. I hope I am wrong.

Regards the second PSR charge, I think we will initially get another 6 points, but will appeal this principally around double jeopardy. No idea how this will play out.

I heard expert opinion saying double jeopardy is a strong argument; the converse saying it is no defence.

I note the appeals panel was comprised of a Judge and 2 KCs, same again, debating points of law, would probably help us.

Between PSR charges and takeover sagas, I wish it would all end and football would break out again….

Investors hate uncertainties and when that's clear, even scraps can be costed accurately and there will be buyers.

Again, what price will Moshiri accept? And what kind of buyer will that be?

Seems their main funding from A-CAP is stopping, and maybe they know that, unless they get this deal over the line in the next 45 to 60 days, their very existence must be in jeopardy.

Should they convince the Premier League that they do have the funds, I think they will be looking to pay down those loans to A-CAP by selling any saleable assets.

I am sure, if this was happening to any of the so-called big 6 clubs, the press would have been demanding meetings with both Moshiri and the owners of 777 Partners.

The other day on the main BBC News, they did an interview with Jim Ratcliffe who has only purchased 25% of Man Utd as to his plans for the future. Yet Everton, unlike any of the big 6, are actually founder members of the Football League and nobody from the press is remotely interested in trying to find out from our existing owner or potential new owners what's happening.

Inspector Clouseau would have seen through these fuckin' chancers as soon as he saw them!!

Stop being so sensible!!!

We are all in the WW1 trenches wet, wounded and hurting. I know, I should wear a coat!!

We can't control this, I am just very suspicious about the Premier League and their motives. I have been since it's formation.

And just to be open, it doesn't excuse the way Everton have been mismanaged for decades. But it is a corrupt institution.

It's approaching 36 years Everton.

Norwich 0 Everton 1 — 4 May 1987

I was in the crowd but hardly recall most of the match. At 15 years old, a combination of not being able to see and I was celebrating throughout and all the way home on that long journey back.

If I could go back in time at my age now, I'd probably have been a nervous wreck!!

Some light entertainment and nostalgia.

Let's get to Saturday.

All the team and supporters can do is fight what is in front of them.

"Asset stripper and someone who doesn't invest money. Why on earth would we want him?"

What if he said he was the World's Greatest Evertonian? His mug would get clapped on the big screen!

I must have been a lucky child but I think it was more to do with every member of the Holy Trinity moving the ball across the pitch for Morrisey to cross for Big Joe Royle to score!

Big Joe, he knew how to win a Merseyside derby, and much more importantly, he knew how to get under a Liverpudlian's skin. Play them at their own game and this is where you will always find the chinks!

The suits overseeing the application will fold like a set of deck chairs amidst glad-handing and invites to Miami for free holidays.

Similarly, at the meeting, 777 Partners will seek to reassure the Premier League that they have the necessary financing by presenting other evidence that they will argue is satisfactory.

They've got an influential insider on their team in David Dein, to help their cause, maybe he even helped engineer the meeting to try to convince the Premier League?

Regardless, without audited accounts, I can't see how the Premier League can do meaningful due diligence for Everton and its fans. Judging by the plethora of negative reports about 777 Partners, they are the very last people that any regulatory panel should be trusting with any documentation other than the elusive audited accounts.

Without undertaking this proper due diligence, the Premier League would be taking a reckless and negligent risk.

Will we face another deduction?
Would another 3-point deduction send us down given we can't seem to win a game?
Could Forest be taken down by the Premier League instead?
Will 777 Partners get the go-ahead?
Are they financially viable or even trustworthy?
Is our financial position recoverable without administration? Will Calvert-Lewin ever score again!

Don't know the answer to any of these but I think the odds are so stacked against us that we will end up in administration even if 777 Partners take over. The financial position is undoubtedly worse than we know.

Every day I do the same (dumb!) thing and NEVER learn (ffs I'm 65 in July!)

Question I seriously need to ask myself - 'You would never DREAM of resting your plums on an anvil and smashing them with a lump hammer, so what makes you go each day to the Everton NewsNow trawl?'

There has to be some masochistic thing going on.

It's as if the site is being edited/compiled by some Marvel comic kopite baddie.

“Premier league chiefs to shite in Bovril served to Everton supporters.”

“Moshiri to make wanker gesture to Evertonians before home games. He will be mouthing ‘wankers' as he does it.”

“Blues to become ‘The Reds' if 777 take charge.”

“50 ft Barmby statue mooted for Bradley Moore.”

“New punishment for Toffees, further 10 point deduction and squad can only train with a Wembley Trophy 5 with a split in."

Just one day with "not much going on really" would be like winning the Chmapions League.

A bit of time on my hands so here's another link.

This might please the older generations, but fascinated me.

Tommy Lawton

How did Lawton (or anyone in the Lawton family) watch the telly from that chair?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0T72kcczxPM

All them goals, brilliant, and you could cheer straight away, no waiting for you know what!

Cheered me up as well, Laurie, we're still on for that pint in the Bramley Moore, I might even pay for it!!

Really nice piece on Tommy Lawton, funny to hear him say he got the tram from Dale Street to Goodison, and the tram driver told him you will never be as good as Dixie.

Maybe not many noticed but, being a golf nut, it was brilliant to hear the dulcet tones of Peter Allis doing the narration.

Nice to see Eugene back on these pages.

That link reminded me of what very good team we had at that time. Lukaku was sensational then.

Look at us now – a prime example of what clueless owners can do to a big club.

Brilliant. Again.

This idea that no one else would want to buy Everton? I'm not so sure.

A Premier League club with a new stadium. If you had a couple of billion lying around, you buy the club, finance the debt or completely pay it off, and look to ensure a profitable team, year-in and year-out with the upside of selling Everton as an asset in 10 to 15 years time.

The Premier League is a good investment if you can ensure you don't flirt with relegation.

Therein lies the real issue, I'd think? Keep Everton up, the asset will appreciate and make you some dough. Plus it's the "shiny new car" thing for billionaires, or so I hear...

Ahhhh just seen that! I live in Horsham!

Cheered me up as well Laurie, we're still on for that pint in the Bramley Moore, I might even pay for it!!

What The Fuck!!!!!!!

I really don't think there would be any point in a "face to face" if the differences between the two sides were significant.

Realizing they have created a problem, they have now decided to bring in rules that strangle the clubs below the Top 6 and, trying to be impartial, mention that Man City are under scrutiny, and then decide to punish other clubs lower down.

This should have been sorted out years ago when Chelsea under new ownership suddenly began winning silverware regularly, and other regimes, seeing there was money to be made, started investing in other clubs.

It has now come to a point that other people have alluded to and football as we knew it is over.

There is more money to be made by viewing the game abroad with the average fan being a Top 6 viewer – outnumbering the amount of fans at the game by millions. This is controlled by Sky Sports that goes to the highest bidder and needs the Top 6 to increase their viewers.

Why has it taken the league so long to either say yes or no to the Everton takeover? Is it going to affect someway Sky Sports control over their media distribution? Or are they a front for someone else?

What is the difference from all the information that has been made available to them, that the same information has to be made in front of a committee?

The general feeling with supporters is that 777 Partners are not the ideal owners we would like as owners, but we would at least like to be treated the same as other clubs, and the behavior of the Premier League for some reason this last year deemed not to.

As for 777 Partners, I'm really not sure what to hope for. Clearly they aren't the fairytale package and have lot of bad press and question marks over them. But it's not clear what the alternatives are? Another buyer? Administration? Moshiri being forced to re-engage himself?

I know some people who have worked with 777 Partners and say they are competent people and not nearly as bad as some of the bad press makes out. But there's seldom smoke without fire.

Part of me wants the 777 Partners deal just to go through as if it does not then we will presumably have to wait another 6 months at least for an alternative buyer to surface and be greenlit by owners checks. The constant waiting and fretting about our unclear future is beginning to wear!

Great to know he is still about.

Apparently the Premier League have sent all the paperwork to the last stage of the process (not sure what it's called).

They just check all paperwork to see if it's all right. Once they say Yes, then the deal will be done.

Think I would even take the guy in the bed sit in Manchester before these.

Bill might have left a big donation to Everton Football Club, watch out for the flying pig, or he may have left a donation to pay for the Bill Kenwright stand, with a bicycle shed erected on the Fans Plaza in his honour of Uncle Cyril.

He has done more damage to our club than Clive Thomas, Clattenberg and Collina put together, and yet some glorify the biggest bullshitter who has destroyed our football club.

We have to hope there is at least another interested party out there, especially with the ground being completed by December, they know they will get their money back, concerts at the ground etc, that is why 777 Partners want it, to make a quick buck then sell on for a huge profit.

If 777 do get it, do not be surprised if Calvert -Lewin goes to Standard Liege for £90 Million, making them revenue for Everton, and not worrying about their other clubs, if they fall foul, Everton Football Club is their biggest cash cow if they get it.

Just have to hope there are other investors out there waiting to see if 777 Partners get approved, before they make their move.

Apologies. I just wish I'd heard you say those special words to me.

I might even pay for it!!

Sigh!

See you soon.

I might be a bit late just get your drink and put it on my tab, I use the name Mark Murphy in there… if you're on shorts, make it a double.

Very interesting if true.

He only sold it to anyone who let him stay on as chairman, and now we've hit rock bottom. Well done, Mr Chairman.

I am equally suspicious of the Premier League. Though I have put forward a responsible scenario that the Premier League may be involved in, I would not put it past them to wriggle out of their responsibilities given their past form and the flexibility they seem to have regarding their rules.

Their attitude to the government breathing down their neck, Rob #34, is to distance themselves as much as possible down the self-regulation trail.

You make it sound like it's a done deal which is extremely worrying if true.

I'm not sure what the process is called but basically all the paperwork is sent to a department that checks that everything is okay and legal, I suppose.

Once they say everything is fine, then the Premier League will probably sign the deal off.

I'm sure someone on here knows what the process is called.

I think the stages of approval were amended so that after Premier League approval final sign off is passed to an Independent Oversight Committee…

God knows who sits on that, we will probably get more points deducted...

But Moshiri doesn't care, he just wants out so that he can stop thinking about Everton.

But with it getting to the final stage, I doubt it.

And of course there are other bidders waiting in the wings. You never, ever hear of a top-level club in any sport going without eager buyers.

A damaged Premier League club with a brand new stadium at a bargain price is just too good a deal to pass up for anybody with billions in the bank and a yen to own a sports team.

Tech founders and private equity mavens fall all over each other trying to buy NBA and NFL teams when they come up for sale. Everton will be no different.

Howard
Coleman Jagielka Stones Baines
Mirallas Barkley Barry Pienaar
Naismith Lukaku

Breaks your heart, that team we had.

I'm hoping that it's getting to the final stages of 777 Partners not being able to show the necessary credentials because even the Premier League surely can't just let things keep dragging on.

If it's true that Iggoe sat on the commission that docked Everton 10 points after successfully defending West Ham from avoiding a points deduction, which would have seen them relegated all those years ago, Ian, then you might just be correct!

Hope we see John Daley back here soon too.

I wonder where you got the idea that Sky Sports control overseas broadcasting of the Premier League, as I'm pretty sure that is not correct.

My understanding is that fuboTV has exclusive rights to broadcast Premier League matches in your country of Canada, and I assume they broadcast all matches, with pretty equal coverage of all teams – not just the Top 6 – as is the case with NBC, Peacock and the USA Network south of the border. Sky Sports has absolutely nothing to do with this.

In fact, it's the Premier League itself, through its subsidiary Premier League Productions (PLP), which is responsible for the centralized production of all Premier League matches from the UK. This includes setting up cameras at grounds, hiring and coordinating a pool of commentators, and producing the main live feed.

PLP then licenses the rights to broadcast these centrally produced matches to different broadcasters in different territories around the world — most of whom have nothing whatsoever to do with Sky Sports.

I would take that team now, but you left out our midfield kingpin — James McCarthy!

Now 777 Partners, who seem to have little money and seem dodgier than a dodgem, are in the driving seat – maybe they are just what we need?

Michael # 94 - Optus the big Singapore telecom company broadcast the premier league here in Australia under their Optus Sport banner.

They won the rights off Foxtel quite a few years ago. Here is a point of interest. I was paying $14.99 a month for my subscription. I could and can still watch every Premier League match recording – the full 90 minutes of each game.

However, last year the subscription was increased to $24.99 a month - a 66% increase. But, if you are an “eligible” Optus customer, $6.99 per month. A major incentive for people to sign up for their mobile and internet services.

They have the naming rights for the Perth stadium.

Optus Stadium

Let's face it, we wouldn't give Moshiri a vote of confidence based on his track record, should he want to keep hold.

If it's possible that the Premier League can accept the assurances of 777 Partners via due diligence, then the deal will close, I assume shortly after this meeting.

Like many on here, I fear the 777 business model, and administration if it all goes tits up.

I'd just like to ‘fast forward' a year or two to find out whether it's worth giving a toss.

No doubt EFC will survive, but shining brightly in the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock or hanging by a thread?

I hope someone smart can take control of the finances, whoever the owner may be.

This lot look like a bunch of cowboys. I hope it doesn't get approved.

Amen to that brother!

Kicking the financial can down the road, getting into the new stadium and clinging on in the Premier League is about the best outcome we can hope for.

Does that mean we could loan some of the best players from the other clubs, and say send some of our youngsters to Brazil on loan through inter-club ownership?

The Brazilian kids are so technically gifted that they would laugh at our laonees. Maybe we could loan some of their coaches to teach our first framers to pass and control a football?

This 777 Partners takeover is very likely to go ahead just based on their net worth alone. They are like a lot of other multi-national businesses that swing money from one sector to another with some parts prospering and others suffering.

Their main men are wise guys with enough smarts to deal with the Premier League but I do hope I'm proved wrong on this and we end up in the hands of a filthy rich owner — who has brains.