Back now....should not go on to an Everton Forum when an important phone call is likely to come through!
The fact that Bill Kenwright is what some people call a 'luvvie' and has his core business interest in the world of theatre and films in itself is looked upon by many Evertonians as a bit suspicious and is not the macho image that many would wish to be associated with 'their' club. Bills success in his core business is what has led him into serious problems in the running of Everton Football Club. In the theatre, when a producer wants to put on a new show, the finance is almost always obtained from investors(known as 'angels')...and while small investors can by shares in a new show, there are bigger players, with spare money, who invest regularly. An investment many years ago in Phantom Of The Opera would by now be very profitable, and will continue to be so. Bills own investments in Educating Rita and Stepping Out will pay him fairly handsomely for the rest of his life. So when Bill found himself Chairman of Everton, with limited knowledge of the football industry, and with negligible personal wealth in football terms, he fell back on the business method which had been successful for him in the theatre. He started to sell the dream of 'Everton' to potential investors ,usually those same investors who had made profits from his theatre shows...now I have to add an 'allegedly here....Gregg, Phil Green and others. Gregg used to buy run down theatres, refurbish, and rely largely on Bills touring versions of established stage hits for his profits...thats presumably, or alklegedly, how they became buddies.Then Bill 'sold the dream' of the KD to Gregg...after all, Gregg owned theatres and put shows on, and in Bills mind owning a stadium and putting on football matches was not a lot different. Its probable that Philip Green invested in Bills shows , and I have often wondered if this was the extent of the 'investment' that Green had in 'Bill Kenwright'...they were and still are close friends. The dream that Gregg was sold was the dream of big money for Gregg from the KD, and Bill being very good at selling dreams, sold it well. Trouble was, Everton couldn't get their part of the money together, and Bill, the natural publicist, had said that the money was 'ring fenced'...Bill I suspect thought that the banks would have no problem with the deal on the table, but for some reason the banks turned him down. As you can see, all trouble for Bill and largely of his own making, because he knew no other way to do business. Gregg was then removed by a method which was lets say, expedient. It happens all the time in show business, stories are told to absolve a situation ...the whole of show business is based on half truths, smoke and mirrors, and versions of 'the truth'. Trouble for Bill was that the football business is an entirely different animal, and the money involved is astronomical. Robert Earl came on board via Philip Green, apparently, because Bill sold him the dream of profits from DK...Earl saw opportunities for his chain of burger joints...but of course DK failed as well. So Earl now has shares in Everton, but won't sell unless he gets a good profit...a massive problem for Bill who actually knows that he has to sell soon.Jon Wood may also want a profit on his investment...although he is very definitely an Evertonian, and is very supportive of Bill. So...if you were Bill Kenwright in the current situation...would you not want to get out of the situation you had yourself created...not created deliberately, of course, and would you not know that the club must be sold soon, for your own peace of mind.
We are all different. Bill Kenwright thought he was doing right by 'saving' the club he loved when no one else was willing...but because he used the only business methods he knew, he finds himself in lets face it, an impossible position. We still need the RIGHT owners, but we do need new owners, and owners who understand and have the ante to compete in the modern day business that is Premier League football.
