On Tuesday 24th April 2012, at the Everton supporters club end of season awards, CEO Robert Elstone was asked if there was any interested parties.
He answered “At the minute it’s very quiet. If you’d have asked me 4 or 5 months ago, then there were 12 interested parties who all came to meet us in London.â€
He was then asked if David Moyes will have funds available this summer?
“Funds are very tight at the minute. We’re 3000 tickets down each game, which is costing us around £1.5million. We have been down, around 7 T.V games this season, which cost us a lot of money. So I think we will be looking at trading players, which in the past we have done very well at. We have a great deal on at the moment, £95 for an Under 11′s season ticket. So I think if each supporters club could help by buying 5 under 11′s season tickets at a small cost of £500 and finding and bringing 5 under 11′s to bring to Goodison every other week.â€
One of the last questions asked, was if he thought David Moyes would stay? “I hope his relationship with the Chairman keeps him here.â€
12 interested parties, all disappear quicker than The Liverpool Echo printing a groveling apology. There could be several reasons why all 12 interested parties scarpered. For now, i’ll touch on two.
There is a cancer eating away at the organs of our club, evident by the grim financial figures that forced Robert Elstone to make up the 85 pence in £1 spin.
A quick scan through the Everton finances will tell you that, wages apart, Finch Farm is costing £38,000 a day. Bellefield and Netherton were costing £8,000, which is the same amount it costs Liverpool to run their academy.
I can honestly state that Robert Elstone is a liar. How do I know? He told me to my face. In the summer of 2011,The Peoples Group began raising media awareness on a national scale, letting people know that things are far from rosey in the Everton garden.
I’m sure you know by now, that Derek Hatton arranged for myself, Mark Jones and Barry Jones to meet with Robert Elstone. Here are a few things we discussed:
- Is it true Jagielka needs must be sold to Arsenal to appease the banks? He was worth around £15mil at that time. His answer was “The banks need to see some money, but nowhere near on that scale†LIE! That summer we sold Yakubu, Vaughan, Beckford and Arteta. Yobo was loaned out and Dan Gosling jumped ship. Despite The Echo apologising for stating that the money went to the banks, David Moyes confirmed this to be the case. It’s also worth noting that in January of the same year, we sold Pienaar and Bellefield.
- When the Kirkby move was alive, Bill claimed that very soon, Goodison Park would not pass its safety certificate. We were worried that this could still be an issue. Robert laughed and said “I doubt very much that Bill said anything of the sort.†He was then informed the video of the interview was on YouTube then said “Well look, we all said things we didn’t necessarily mean because we were desperate to make the move happen.†In other words, WE LIED!
- Derek Hatton was asked, does Phillip Green control the club? “No! I wouldn’t be surprised if he has lent Bill money though.†So it may be the case that these interested parties refuse to buy the club, because we are actually in a pretty poor state. Hence the constant lies and spin from the top. Another reason could be because the club insist on associating with useless idiots such as Keith Harris and Chris Potts, who works for corporate estate agent Savills. Incidentally, these two have been involved with the club since 2001.
The following event was relayed to me on the authority of a man representing a firm of developers, sent to meet with Everton officials including Robert Elstone, by a Liverpool City counsellor with regards to a development project at Stonebridge Cross. It was Potts that done all the talking then announced “£10million needs to be paid up-front to Everton to use their name for your development.†There wasn’t even a development in place, it was an initial meeting, a fact finding mission if you will, to see ‘if’ there was scope for a development. Needless to say, they headed for the exits quicker than John Thompson can edit an anti Kenwright article.
The men present did not care much for Potts’ tone either. Chris Potts finger prints are all over the Kings Dock, Destination Kirkby and Bellefield. He is a bad smell we can’t get rid of. The club will attempt to tell you his C.V speaks for itself. It is utter tosh. A lad by ours called 18 months (he has an ear and a half) can boast he was involved in the development of Wembley stadium. He was, he done the tiling in the toilets. Quite simply Chris Potts is a little weasel?
Bill Kenwright and his friends in the media are forever telling us, he has Everton’s best interests at heart. NO HE DOES NOT!! The Kings Dock arena was the biggest missed opportunity in the clubs history but it didn’t have to be. Paul Gregg offered to make the dream happen if Kenwright relinquished power. Kenwright refused the offer.
Fenway Sports have recently declared Liverpool Football Club’s stadium plans are on hold until the economic climate improves. Well, did you know, that if a similar statement from Everton had come all them years ago, The Echo arena would not exist? The funding would have been reserved for Everton to eventually build the Kings Dock arena.
What happened though, was Bill Kenwright pulled the plug. I ask you this, Is that the action of a man with Everton’s best interests at heart? I would argue it’s the action of a very spiteful man with his own interests at heart.
The Oldham Echo and the mainstream press quite rightly tore chunks out of Tom Hicks and George Gillett for their ownership of Liverpool Football Club. Compare this:
Hicks and Gillett
1. Lied about having money to build the club.
2. Lied about piling debts on the club.
3. Lied about threat of administration.
4. Described upset fans as noise they’re dealing with
Kenwright
1. Lied twice. The “ring fenced†y money for Kings Dock and Tesco paying £52 million towards Kirkby.
2. Bill lied about debt. Vibrac loans are a disgrace and £1.1 million a year for 50 years, just to pay for Finch Farm is ridiculous.
3. Bill lied about administration and the leaked emails prove it.
4. Bill has said that The Blue Union have “betrayed the club.â€
When The Blue Union first began with their “Support the team. Oppose stagnation†message, a large number of Journo’s were quick to pour scorn over it. They insisted Everton had not stagnated and had become a victim of their own success.
However, ‘success’ is a word used very loosely, especially when it comes to plucky little Everton. League positions over recent years are 6th, 5th, 5th, 8th and 7th. This season you would imagine we will finish 7th/8th. So last year we finished 7th, didn’t win a trophy and had no money. This year we could finish 7th, have won no trophy and are still skint. When you consider that a lot of our players have their best days behind them, with no sale value, stagnation becomes quite appealing because sooner or later, the proverbial will well and truly hit the fan.
If we cast our minds back to the start of the season, we understand that Everton operates on a £5 million loss per year. The aforementioned Mr Elstone tells us that around £1.5million is being lost on ticket sales and T.V games are costing a lot of money. For arguments sake, lets say a reasonable figure of £3.5mil. That means we now must find £10million just to break even, so the eternal optimists in our ranks need to wake up. Steven Pienaar, the man who has transformed our season since January, is highly un-likely to sign.
This brand of lazy journalism which paints Kenwright as a man of truth and integrity, is just not good enough. It really is about time that some of you investigated what exactly is happening at our club.
Obviously there are some absolute head the balls, who can’t see the woods through the trees. Andy Dunn, Oliver Holt, Dominic King, Dave Maddocks, Martin Samuel and of course, old big undies himself Mike Parry. To them Bill Kenwright is the white Martin Luther King.
Like anything in life, it takes just one to make a stand and get things moving. For me it has to be Dave Prentice. Dave, you have to start realising your own importance to The Echo. You wont be sacked, you’re the main man there and they know it. From one Evertonian to another. Please, do the right thing. Evertonian’s now need to make a stand and let the men in power at OUR club realise we are no longer willing to accept it.
A lot of people argue that the Blue Union and The Peoples Group aren’t doing enough and I agree. However, Evertonian’s as a whole are not doing enough. There is no point sitting behind a keyboard on forums moaning. Every Evertonian who is worried must now, really stand together.
