Remembering Bill Kenwright

[Tom Hughes]

To be fair - we were running down as a big beast while we were winning the league and ECWC. We increasingly couldn't afford big signings and then Johnson took over and things got worse. Kenwright at least saved us from that charlatan and managed to preserve our hallowed top flight status, despite years of poverty, when we could easily have spent, lost money and failed like Leeds, Sheffield Weds, Bolton, Blackburn etc. Through those years we have kept at least one thing other clubs cant buy - all those years in the top flight. I put that dien to his values and tradition forcthe club and I'm grateful we still have that presence - even if it meant years without trophies - we are eventually in a position to build back up.

We were the prime-movers in the formation of the Premier League. Firmly amongst the biggest clubs in the league, with one of the largest stadiums and fanbases. We had only been crowned champions twice a few years before BK got on our board. So it is nonsense to say that we were in decline.

When all other clubs started to address their stadium issues following the Taylor Report, we did next to nothing and easily the least of all our rivals, and even the minnows throughout the entire league ladder.

Over the next few years, we were left behind in terms of infrastructure and resultant matchday incomes and commercial growth by several clubs. Johnson was effectively run out of town for doing a fraction of the damage that Kenwright would eventually do..... partly because he was formally a red. Kenwright was given grace by many simply because he claimed to be a blue and he manipulated that situation, ironically even paying for GFE to provide alternative stadium redevelopment plans behind Johnson's back, while publically supporting him.

Over a period of over 10yrs under BK our net spend was practically zero.... When football was first becoming flush with TV money, we were mysteriously paupers compared to most of our supposed peer group (most didn't have any sugar daddies then). Could it have perhaps been because our illustrious chairman somehow managed to acquire a shareholding that was several times greater than his entire listed personal wealth, first using one group of friends then scheming against them over the Kings Dock debacle, then paying them off using Philip Green (silently) and Robert Earl as a front, then eventually paying them off using the club's money and landing the club in an endless spiral of debt? A situation only resolved several years later, when he eventually found a Russian who fancied laundering his money via his accountant to amongst other things pay off our massive accrued debts of the previous almost 2 decades.

We lost Kings Dock entirely because of BK.... even when offered the opportunity to meet the club's relatively meagre financial commitment by one of his fellow board members.... he failed to step aside, and killed what the then Arsenal chairman described as the deal of the century. The missed opportunity cost of that decision was almost catastrophic. 20yrs of lost matchday income from a state of the art 55k multi-purpose stadium in the city centre.

Then, at the behest of his new pals he formulated the Kirkby debacle.... an entirely ill-conceived scheme, supported by further numerous lies.... exposed over several AGMs and ultimately during the well-documented public inquiry, where it was laughed out of town.

Of course Moyes kept the fairy tale alive for the whole period by repeatedly having to sell to buy and performing minor mirracles despite BK and his board, and certainly not because of them and their investment. The wolves were at the door almost throughout his tenure because we were a basket case and so poorly run for so long..... with almost every property asset sold or mortgaged. Trevor Birch took one look at our accounts and run as quickly as he could!

AGMs were stopped for the first time in our history because all of this nonsense was being questioned and they could no longer answer the shareholders. These included the infamous FSF/Samuelson episode (a now exposed rogue of some repute) and/or when the leader of the council questioned the club's assertions about planning permission requests, exposing more lies at a packed AGM. This historic shareholder forum was shutdown, reinstated then shutdown again.

So let's not be revisionist with our history.

 

[windymiller]

To be fair - we were running down as a big beast while we were winning the league and ECWC. We increasingly couldn't afford big signings and then Johnson took over and things got worse. Kenwright at least saved us from that charlatan and managed to preserve our hallowed top flight status, despite years of poverty, when we could easily have spent, lost money and failed like Leeds, Sheffield Weds, Bolton, Blackburn etc. Through those years we have kept at least one thing other clubs cant buy - all those years in the top flight. I put that dien to his values and tradition forcthe club and I'm grateful we still have that presence - even if it meant years without trophies - we are eventually in a position to build back up.

Kenwright joined the board in 1989, his entire time at the club is notable only for decline. Yes, Johnson was a poor owner but Kenwright was equally bad. You say "despite years of poverty" but we were impoverished as a consequence of Kenwright's reign. His job was to secure investment in the club and when he finally managed that after so many missed opportunities, often because of his own vanity and desire to remain in control no matter what, he even managed to mess that up. You can try and rewrite history all you like but Kenwright's custodianship set this club back by decades and the club still bears the scars of his tenure to this day. Hopefully we can consign his ownership to the annals of history soon as it was the bleakest era for this club in living memory.

 

[Tom Hughes]

I know were your coming from but the supporters took him to task he was banished from the stadium which I think was warranted.how bad is that to a ill man who loves the club I'm not defending him but that must have hit him

He was taken to task long before that.... he and his board effectively banished themselves due to taking the club right to the edge of financial disaster, and then trying to blame the fanbase, and to the throw the fans under the bus by falsely accusing them of threats/attacks etc. One lie too far!

 

[Rita_Poon]

We were the prime-movers in the formation of the Premier League. Firmly amongst the biggest clubs in the league, with one of the largest stadiums and fanbases. We had only been crowned champions twice a few years before BK got on our board. So it is nonsense to say that we were in decline.

When all other clubs started to address their stadium issues following the Taylor Report, we did next to nothing and easily the least of all our rivals, and even the minnows throughout the entire league ladder.

Over the next few years, we were left behind in terms of infrastructure and resultant matchday incomes and commercial growth by several clubs. Johnson was effectively run out of town for doing a fraction of the damage that Kenwright would eventually do..... partly because he was formally a red. Kenwright was given grace by many simply because he claimed to be a blue and he manipulated that situation, ironically even paying for GFE to provide alternative stadium redevelopment plans behind Johnson's back, while publically supporting him.

Over a period of over 10yrs under BK our net spend was practically zero.... When football was first becoming flush with TV money, we were mysteriously paupers compared to most of our supposed peer group (most didn't have any sugar daddies then). Could it have perhaps been because our illustrious chairman somehow managed to acquire a shareholding that was several times greater than his entire listed personal wealth, first using one group of friends then scheming against them over the Kings Dock debacle, then paying them off using Philip Green (silently) and Robert Earl as a front, then eventually paying them off using the club's money and landing the club in an endless spiral of debt? A situation only resolved several years later, when he eventually found a Russian who fancied laundering his money via his accountant to amongst other things pay off our massive accrued debts of the previous almost 2 decades.

We lost Kings Dock entirely because of BK.... even when offered the opportunity to meet the club's relatively meagre financial commitment by one of his fellow board members.... he failed to step aside, and killed what the then Arsenal chairman described as the deal of the century. The missed opportunity cost of that decision was almost catastrophic. 20yrs of lost matchday income from a state of the art 55k multi-purpose stadium in the city centre.

Then, at the behest of his new pals he formulated the Kirkby debacle.... an entirely ill-conceived scheme, supported by further numerous lies.... exposed over several AGMs and ultimately during the well-documented public inquiry, where it was laughed out of town.

Of course Moyes kept the fairy tale alive for the whole period by repeatedly having to sell to buy and performing minor mirracles despite BK and his board, and certainly not because of them and their investment. The wolves were at the door almost throughout his tenure because we were a basket case and so poorly run for so long..... with almost every property asset sold or mortgaged. Trevor Birch took one look at our accounts and run as quickly as he could!

AGMs were stopped for the first time in our history because all of this nonsense was being questioned and they could no longer answer the shareholders. These included the infamous FSF/Samuelson episode (a now exposed rogue of some repute) and/or when the leader of the council questioned the club's assertions about planning permission requests, exposing more lies at a packed AGM. This historic shareholder forum was shutdown, reinstated then shutdown again.

So let's not be revisionist with our history.

begins with 'sh'

finishes with 'ight'!

I'm all for truth but where did you find this? In a rejected christmas cracker?

 

[Tom Hughes]

begins with 'sh'

finishes with 'ight'!

I'm all for truth but where did you find this? In a rejected christmas cracker?

Is that "shine a light?"

Glad to illuminate for you....

Feel free to correct any part you disagree with.... It was only a brief summary of some of a whole littany of failures and lies. With many more covered on various threads/articles over the years.

 

[canuckblue]

Today, marks the second anniversary of Bill Kenwright’s passing. I know there were a lot of people against him, but I was always one of his fans.
Irrespective of opinions, it’s still an Everton life gone.

It was the end of an error.

 

[supertoffee98]

I know were your coming from but the supporters took him to task he was banished from the stadium which I think was warranted.how bad is that to a ill man who loves the club I'm not defending him but that must have hit him

The thought of this makes me sad even now.

Reading this thread makes Kenwright sound like one of these ageing Central African despots like Mugabe or Paul Biya. I am sure he made mistakes. But so did our managers and players who aren't being mentioned. No one is completely blameless and at the same time Kenwright shouldn't take all the blame, which on here he seems to.

If we are taking the last few years of Kenwright's time, Moshiri was the owner. We went from a Top 7 side to a side that was nearly relegated. Fans up in arms rightfully, protests rightfully, but the billionaire in charge had a board to hide behind.

Just remember before the Friedkins who Moshiri was going to sell to, 777/Textor etc. look at the character of them and where they are now. If you genuinely cared about a club you'd go nowhere near these people.

 

[Timbucktoo]

Whether he was right or wrong, I believe that he thought he was doing the best for the club.

His ownership is a bit of a butterfly effect. Would we have been more successful without him holding onto the club for so long? Honestly who knows, it could have been better it could have been worse.

Thankfully we are where we are now, Bramley Moore with good foundations to build the club back up to the giant it once was before he owned us.

Having lost my dad recently I know the pain his loved ones will still face everyday, so RIP Bill and thoughts with his family and loved ones today.

He was very badly wrong with thinking that.

 

[Tom Hughes]

The thought of this makes me sad even now.

Reading this thread makes Kenwright sound like one of these ageing Central African despots like Mugabe or Paul Biya. I am sure he made mistakes. But so did our managers and players who aren't being mentioned. No one is completely blameless and at the same time Kenwright shouldn't take all the blame, which on here he seems to.

If we are taking the last few years of Kenwright's time, Moshiri was the owner. We went from a Top 7 side to a side that was nearly relegated. Fans up in arms rightfully, protests rightfully, but the billionaire in charge had a board to hide behind.

Just remember before the Friedkins who Moshiri was going to sell to, 777/Textor etc. look at the character of them and where they are now. If you genuinely cared about a club you'd go nowhere near these people.

Why should we take just the last few years into account? Why cherry pick to suit a narrative? Regardless of anything, Kenwright was the chairman throughout with his own board of directors. The financial, structural and commercial damage was already long done before any of us had even heard of the new owners. Moshiri/USM only came in when the flush was well and truly bust, and when there were no more assets left to sell off or remortgage..... the cupboard was bare. The training grounds had been sold off and we were now renting. Multiple club owned properties had been sold off and even part of the Goodison estate itself. Despite selling almost everything, the first thing the incoming owners had to do was pay off massive debts accrued over the previous decades, refinancing the whole club and introduce a whole new lucrative sponsorship scheme, just to keep us afloat. There had to be new shares issued to inject more funding. Moshiri was essentially a frontman and largely an absent landlord for the bulk of his time. He didn't even step in until after BK and his board completely blew the whole initial warchest on a mixed bag of crap players and subsequently a whole suite of inadequate/disinterested managers.

Once the plug was pulled on USM, the accountant was essentially left to get rid of the club with a half-started stadium that had won no CWG, no financial institution backing an no other enabling funding. However, it was then packaged to sell the club on as its only remaining tangible USP. Let's be clear, without Moshiri/USM, it would never have been started, nevermind completed. He took a massive financial hit in the process.... and of course by that point would've probably sold to anyone to minimise that loss. An absolute mess of unsustainable finances and highly questionable loans that nearly saw the club relegated multiple times and almost completely collapse in the process..... all with BK still as chairman.

A trail of "almost disaster" that could've been readily averted 20yrs ago.... if BK had allowed his fellow shareholders to pay off the club's meager share of the Kings Dock project, which had generated massive leveraged enabling funding. However, that would've pushed BK's nose out of joint, so he and his clique of cronies killed the project at the 11th hr, to the absolute bewilderment of the city council, Liverpool Vision, their investors and the Greggs...who were swiftly exited stage left. All brushed under the carpet at the following AGMs... when the questions were asked about the failure and later Philip Green's involvement, with BKs now infamous response about Green being a "financial genius and good friend of the club"..... yet another charlatan of dubious character/motive and another lie-ridden episode involving BK.

 

[Blue peter]

We were the prime-movers in the formation of the Premier League. Firmly amongst the biggest clubs in the league, with one of the largest stadiums and fanbases. We had only been crowned champions twice a few years before BK got on our board. So it is nonsense to say that we were in decline.

When all other clubs started to address their stadium issues following the Taylor Report, we did next to nothing and easily the least of all our rivals, and even the minnows throughout the entire league ladder.

Over the next few years, we were left behind in terms of infrastructure and resultant matchday incomes and commercial growth by several clubs. Johnson was effectively run out of town for doing a fraction of the damage that Kenwright would eventually do..... partly because he was formally a red. Kenwright was given grace by many simply because he claimed to be a blue and he manipulated that situation, ironically even paying for GFE to provide alternative stadium redevelopment plans behind Johnson's back, while publically supporting him.

Over a period of over 10yrs under BK our net spend was practically zero.... When football was first becoming flush with TV money, we were mysteriously paupers compared to most of our supposed peer group (most didn't have any sugar daddies then). Could it have perhaps been because our illustrious chairman somehow managed to acquire a shareholding that was several times greater than his entire listed personal wealth, first using one group of friends then scheming against them over the Kings Dock debacle, then paying them off using Philip Green (silently) and Robert Earl as a front, then eventually paying them off using the club's money and landing the club in an endless spiral of debt? A situation only resolved several years later, when he eventually found a Russian who fancied laundering his money via his accountant to amongst other things pay off our massive accrued debts of the previous almost 2 decades.

We lost Kings Dock entirely because of BK.... even when offered the opportunity to meet the club's relatively meagre financial commitment by one of his fellow board members.... he failed to step aside, and killed what the then Arsenal chairman described as the deal of the century. The missed opportunity cost of that decision was almost catastrophic. 20yrs of lost matchday income from a state of the art 55k multi-purpose stadium in the city centre.

Then, at the behest of his new pals he formulated the Kirkby debacle.... an entirely ill-conceived scheme, supported by further numerous lies.... exposed over several AGMs and ultimately during the well-documented public inquiry, where it was laughed out of town.

Of course Moyes kept the fairy tale alive for the whole period by repeatedly having to sell to buy and performing minor mirracles despite BK and his board, and certainly not because of them and their investment. The wolves were at the door almost throughout his tenure because we were a basket case and so poorly run for so long..... with almost every property asset sold or mortgaged. Trevor Birch took one look at our accounts and run as quickly as he could!

AGMs were stopped for the first time in our history because all of this nonsense was being questioned and they could no longer answer the shareholders. These included the infamous FSF/Samuelson episode (a now exposed rogue of some repute) and/or when the leader of the council questioned the club's assertions about planning permission requests, exposing more lies at a packed AGM. This historic shareholder forum was shutdown, reinstated then shutdown again.

So let's not be revisionist with our history.

Still mind boggling how some supporters can’t see all of this. How he’s still has admirers and supporters god only knows and his passing shouldn’t be a trigger for revisionist nonsense.

The only thing I’d add to the post above is his constant miserably ‘failed attempts’ at trying to secure investment (he never mentioned a buyer, just investment) because of the caveat he needed to be kept on (at either his own behest, or as a proxy for the shadow investors).

The guy was a charlatan who invested more time in his own PR than anything else.

 

[Richard Alex]

I wanted to leave this thread alone but people have short memories.

Kenwright was a terrible chairman. Told so many lies and needed to go many years before passing.
Constantly selling the family jewels. Paid next to nothing for the club and making a huge profit. Moshiri was a trusting idiot and that was his problem.
Even Paul Gregg and his wife were friends of Kenwright but by all accounts was double crossed by Bill about the previous kings dock fiasco.
Kings Dock was all set up to go via the council and Paul Gregg was adamant that Bill pulled the plug when everything was In place.
That’s all on an Echo podcast with Paul Gregg himself by the way.
Let’s not go there about the supposed fan attacks against the board either.
I could go through a lot more but there’s no point.

 

[mightymoyes]

He was very badly wrong with thinking that.

And he was doing what he thought was best for him first and foremost

 

[Caolam]

I was always taught that if you have nothing good to say then say nothing. I have nothing to say about Bill Kenwright.

 

[banno]

Probably been said 100 times............Massive Evertonian no doubt about that. Crap Chairman no doubt about that either. We were his train set and he didn't want to let go...........unless he was kept on so he could keep his bad work up.

 

[Rudolf Hucker]

We were the prime-movers in the formation of the Premier League. Firmly amongst the biggest clubs in the league, with one of the largest stadiums and fanbases. We had only been crowned champions twice a few years before BK got on our board. So it is nonsense to say that we were in decline.

When all other clubs started to address their stadium issues following the Taylor Report, we did next to nothing and easily the least of all our rivals, and even the minnows throughout the entire league ladder.

Over the next few years, we were left behind in terms of infrastructure and resultant matchday incomes and commercial growth by several clubs. Johnson was effectively run out of town for doing a fraction of the damage that Kenwright would eventually do..... partly because he was formally a red. Kenwright was given grace by many simply because he claimed to be a blue and he manipulated that situation, ironically even paying for GFE to provide alternative stadium redevelopment plans behind Johnson's back, while publically supporting him.

Over a period of over 10yrs under BK our net spend was practically zero.... When football was first becoming flush with TV money, we were mysteriously paupers compared to most of our supposed peer group (most didn't have any sugar daddies then). Could it have perhaps been because our illustrious chairman somehow managed to acquire a shareholding that was several times greater than his entire listed personal wealth, first using one group of friends then scheming against them over the Kings Dock debacle, then paying them off using Philip Green (silently) and Robert Earl as a front, then eventually paying them off using the club's money and landing the club in an endless spiral of debt? A situation only resolved several years later, when he eventually found a Russian who fancied laundering his money via his accountant to amongst other things pay off our massive accrued debts of the previous almost 2 decades.

We lost Kings Dock entirely because of BK.... even when offered the opportunity to meet the club's relatively meagre financial commitment by one of his fellow board members.... he failed to step aside, and killed what the then Arsenal chairman described as the deal of the century. The missed opportunity cost of that decision was almost catastrophic. 20yrs of lost matchday income from a state of the art 55k multi-purpose stadium in the city centre.

Then, at the behest of his new pals he formulated the Kirkby debacle.... an entirely ill-conceived scheme, supported by further numerous lies.... exposed over several AGMs and ultimately during the well-documented public inquiry, where it was laughed out of town.

Of course Moyes kept the fairy tale alive for the whole period by repeatedly having to sell to buy and performing minor mirracles despite BK and his board, and certainly not because of them and their investment. The wolves were at the door almost throughout his tenure because we were a basket case and so poorly run for so long..... with almost every property asset sold or mortgaged. Trevor Birch took one look at our accounts and run as quickly as he could!

AGMs were stopped for the first time in our history because all of this nonsense was being questioned and they could no longer answer the shareholders. These included the infamous FSF/Samuelson episode (a now exposed rogue of some repute) and/or when the leader of the council questioned the club's assertions about planning permission requests, exposing more lies at a packed AGM. This historic shareholder forum was shutdown, reinstated then shutdown again.

So let's not be revisionist with our history.

^^^^ absolutely this!



Let’s be honest, if he hadn’t passed away we’d still be stuck with him.