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The Fan Conference

Louis

By Louis
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c1982 Mentor

c1982

Posted
Posted

Nice stuff Matt but a bit light on actual content if I may be severe. (Naah not your fault I know) But it would be nice to get some detail of questions and answers.

 

Taken from Toffeeweb via Blukipper

 

http://www.toffeeweb.com/season/10-11/comment/fan/17657.html

 

Sorry about the odd symbols - &*%^% you $^$£^ can ^%&%{:content:}amp; just %&%{:content:}amp; about *^*$% still "$£" make $£$%^£ sense!!! (Symbols removed...Mike :) )

 

Half asleep on the couch Sunday afternoon the phone range and the good lady answered. “It’s Everton on the phone,” she said. Convinced it was about nothing of any great significance I requested she take a message… the message being confirmation of an invite to an exclusive Season Tickets Fans Conference this evening.

I arrived earlier than the 7pm start and took advantage of another offer temporarily on to season ticket holders at the Everton One store. On entrance to the rather empty store, I was greeted with a bottle of Chang and a little goody bag… all staff nice and friendly. I rarely buy Everton merchandise and feeling half guilty for being one of the few in the shops and possibly leaving with nothing… and the other half sold by a 20% discount, I purchased a training top.

 

The time neared 7pm so I made my way back towards the ground. A gentleman stopped me on the way in, handing me a yellow leaflet, probing me with the question “See if you get any answers from these”. While queuing up, Phil Jagielka walked on past me… moments later, Phil Neville strolled in all smiles… this was looking very interesting. The leaflet was from ‘Evertonians For Change’, a group of Evertonians attempting to change the goings on of our club for the better.

 

From previous, various events I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to at Goodison Park the majority have entailed tea and biscuits though I was impressed with the complimentary bottle of Chang along with potato wedges and sandwiches, plus a printed photo of Phil Neville and Tim Cahill (it should have been obvious what was coming!). Phil Jagielka wandered in and walked straight past us and started fiddling with a video camera…until it became obviously apparent it wasn’t actually Phil Jagielka but an excellent look-a-like of.

 

Darren Griffiths introduced Alan Irwin from Radio City who was to present the forum. I think just about everyone was pleasantly surprised with the panel that included Ronnie Goodlass, Graeme Sharp and Kevin Ratcliffe along with Phil Neville and Tim Cahill from the current era… and Robert Elstone present to take the tricky questions; everyone generally in high spirits…

 

Down to business… and Elstone dodged no punches whatsoever. He’d seen one of the yellow leaflets and, without prompting, got straight down to answering the questions listed. Having left my notebook in the car, I picked up the yellow leaflet and began taking down notes from this… not much space to work with but this is the best I’ve got… the questions and the general answers:

 

• Why is there a sustained lack of investment in the playing squad?

 

There isn’t a lack of investment in the squad, the academy, the scouting network or player development and David Moyes has big support from the board. The current squad on paper has cost £90M.

 

• What value have the owners and board members placed on the club?

 

This is private and confidential information which can not be shared. However, it is not an unreasonable price — and is NOT the reason the club hasn’t been sold.

 

• Why has no-one been appointed with the sole remit of finding a potential buyer?

 

Several people have been appointed. Agents have approached Everton… Everton have used agents. Keith Harris is aiding the search. You have to look for the right person as this is not a rational business. Whoever does come needs to come with deep pockets, such is the job required. You have to be careful what you wish for, however, as we don’t want someone like the Glaziers, Gillete & Hicks etc.

 

• Which major shareholders actually have their shares for sale?

 

All of them.

 

• What are the “legal quagmires” that have caused the Park End Development to grind to a halt?

 

Unforeseen landscaping securing. A breakthrough is hopeful. Robert is convinced it will go ahead and generate £9/10M investment.

 

• What plans are in place to either redevelop Goodison or find a new home within Liverpool?

 

The current site is too small and we are restricted by schools and houses surrounding Goodison Park. The cost is too high. We are in constant dialogue with Liverpool City Council and have earmarked three or four new sites. Nothing is likely to happen soon. Main problem is that outside investment is very much required.

 

Robert got straight into things after this, clearly stating there is no transfer budget currently in place for David Moyes to work with. David Moyes decides exactly who comes; David Moyes decides exactly who leaves... Everything is decided by the manager. Not all money made by Everton through player sales will go to David Moyes for squad funding but some will. Not news you wanted to hear but you were drawn towards respecting Elstone for fronting up to the facts.

 

The current squad value of £90M has been raised partly by player sales (Lescott, Johnson, Beattie, Rooney)... partly by funding. Season ticket sales for the Early Bird discount finished at around 19,500 season tickets — down 8 or 9% on last season — and also slightly down on the previous season, though still up on the 08-09 season. Disappointing, said Elstone... but certainly understandable in very tough economic times.

 

Everton are currently having to borrow every year, though apparently sensibly, though further finance has been raised in recent years with the FA Cup Final appearance, the last-16 run in the Europa League, plus the small matter of £750,000 per league position — all clearly very important. 85p in every £1 spent on tickets is re-invested into Finch Farm (player, squad, scouting, development).

 

The way forward? To continue to sell better and then buy better than our competitors; continuing to do it this way in tough economic times with no money... though he insists this is the same for 16 or 17 other teams in the league. He feels we’re better at doing this than everyone else and the overall objective is European football every season. Again, no punches seemingly ducked by our Chief Executive... then onto questions from the audience... again, all from my notes:

 

• How much of any money generated goes to David Moyes for the squad and how much goes on debt?

 

It’s too early to answer with regards to the budget but it is David Moyes who makes the overall decisions with regards to players coming and going, though Robert Elstone and Bill Kenwright et al do everything they can to strengthen the squad.

 

• Would David Moyes walk if there’s no cash?

 

Robert “can’t speak for David Moyes” but we will back him.

 

• Should we make any changes to our investment search?

 

Many searches have come close though all have fallen over for various reasons.

 

• Do we have any safeguards for preventing bad owners from taking over, eg, Blackburn Rovers?

 

The Chairman and Board of Directors won’t let this happen.

 

• Quite a depressing speech Robert. We have no money for new players and no ground investment?

 

“I didn’t say there’d be no new players. Come in for a cup of tea with me any day of the week and we can look at bringing this forward”.

 

• Should we not be looking at greater socio-economic or demographic analysis given the tough economical times?

 

Key is to get more people through the turnstiles. We roughly have 2,000 empty seats after the away fans' allocation isn’t used up every game. That’s £1M a year. An alternative is to put £1 on every seat... this will provide £750k. Everton’s Chang sponsorship deal is the 6th or 7th best in the league. The KitBag deal is the best after Manchester United and Chelsea. Our commercial turnover is quite good. We need to generate more from sponsorship, more from hospitality and more people through the turnstyle.

 

The ease of buying from Everton has improved. We’ve strived for online sales as easy as Amazon, Box Office sales as helpful as John Lewis and as quick as Tesco Direct. Things are improving in this regard. Fans communications has improved; supporters clubs have been visited all round the country.

 

• I can buy things everywhere with my bank card except for on the website. It’s the only place I can’t do it.

 

“I hang my head” said Robert. "Give me your details and we’ll look at fixing this for you. This needs to improve."

That brought an end to the questioning. It’s fair to say most were quite impressed with the openness and honesty of our Chief Executive though the depressing reading is indeed what we already knew — we have to sell to buy.

 

Alan Irwin moved on to Phil Neville for an interview. Overall, our captain is disappointed with how the season has gone as he felt we could win the league at the start of the season. Well I don’t think anyone really thought that was the case but I think everyone feels we’ve underachieved a little. He says he felt quite confident stepping up for the penalty at Chelsea as, no mater what happened, we’d have still had another stab with the next spot-kicks anyway. His highlight at Everton thus far: the 2009 FA Cup Semi-Final win vs Manchester United... Tim Cahill mocked his goal celebration at Wolves.

 

Tim Cahill says he should be fit in a couple of weeks. He spoke of how he fought so hard to play for Australia that he was never going to let it go easily and hence will play for his country whenever he can. He also shares Phil Neville’s disappointment on the season, saying that in pre-season when they were in Australia he and Neville both felt they might not get into the team such was the quality of the squad. He insists he would not have signed for Everton if not for David Moyes and Bill Kenwright.

 

Also that he understands everyone wants a new striker, but this could cost £20M, and that when he sees Seamus Coleman, Jose Baxter, Ross Barkley and Jack Rodwell in training he’s very optimistic about the future. He feels lucky to have been at Everton for seven years and having been bought up with Duncan Ferguson, Alan Stubbs, Kevin Kilbane etc, so he could learn and understand what it meant to play for Everton.

 

Liverpool could be very nervous having spent £75M and sitting only one place above us. In the questions for the players later, Cahill stated how his best moment is: every derby! Both Neville and Cahill were very complimentary of Leighton Baines when probed on his quality by a member of the audience.

 

Ronnie Goodlass spoke of yet another frustrating season with injuries as he feels our fit squad is as good as anyone's. He mentioned how proud he is to see away ends always full at games and how the top teams really don’t like coming to Goodison. He appeared a very proud Evertonian.

 

Graeme Sharp appears a big fan of Seamus Coleman and feels we’ve been a little unfortunate this season. His favourite moment — the Leighton Baines free kick against Chelsea in front of 6,000 Evertonians.

 

Moving on... and we had a short break to allow everybody to get some autographs of the players, to which I dually obliged. Kevin Ratcliffe capped off the night with a very nice talk on his time playing for Everton. The way he talks, it seems they had a great time doing so. He remembers the turning point for the team, and for Howard Kendall, when we played at home to Coventry City in front of just 9,002 supporters... with Graeme Sharpe grabbing the winner. Howard Kendall would have been sacked in the morning had they have lost — and we trailed 0-1 at half time! The rest is history as they say.

 

Neville Southall is the best player he’s ever played with. He told a humourous story of how they played Real Madrid away once and found themselves 0-5 down at the break with Bobby Mimms in goal rather than Southall, and of course spoke fondly of the European Cup Winners Cup semi-final vs Bayern Munich. The toughest opponent he’s played against? Graeme Sharpe for Scotland... though Klinsmann, Voller, Careca, Rush and Dalglish all received honourable mentions.

 

Speaking of the current squad, he feels they’ve done “blinding” this season with the injuries though the slow start has been disappointing again... suggesting it is maybe time to tweak pre-season methods — though we can still finish on a high, and “finish above the red shite!”

 

A nice night from Everton and good to see our Chief Executive speaking so frankly about current issues. I got the impression he was rather sincere with his answers and it was excellent to see and hear from players both past and present.

 

Still, it’s clear to me just how difficult a job David Moyes has. Let’s hope he can pull something out of the bag next season as it seems clear to me that the squad, the staff and the board are all united as one behind our manager. Let’s knit together and who knows — maybe the best is yet to come.

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c1982 Mentor

c1982

Posted
Posted

C1982.. great read and nice of you to take the time to type it all out. Thanks a lot.

 

It was no trouble... :blush:

 

I only actually copied and pasted it from another site... :yellow CARD: (for simulation!)

 

MikeO on the other hand, tidied it all up... :worship[1]:

 

So thanks MikeO for your hard work!!! :COYBs[1]:

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MikeO Grand Master

MikeO

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Posted

From what I've read, the Liver bird was chosen because it wasn't copyrighted and it was synonymous with EFC before LFC were formed.

Was it synonymous?

 

It was on the champions medals we had struck in 1891 but according to the certificate that came with the replicas sold recently..

 

"This medal features the city of Liverpool’s emblem, a liver bird, to honour the home of Everton FC. The liver bird is now used by Liverpool FC on their club badge, but Evertonians are proud to claim the liver bird was first used on their 1890-91 League Championship medal – a year before Liverpool FC were formed."

 

Makes it sound like it was a one-off.

 

Also, we played in pink that year, so maybe they should re-think the colour :P .

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Louis Apprentice

Louis

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I've copied and pasted this from the Evertonians 4 Change website:

 

Robert Elstone

 

"Today is absolutely about us, talking to our fans, updating you on the things that, we believe are important to you, it's also important that we listen, indeed, I guess, attacking it straight head on, their has been six questions tabled on various yellow slips that are flying around the room a group ?of people have decided they are the six question they want to ask and, if am overdoing, their credibility and giving them too much credence then forgive me, but I may as well start by answering those six questions so, if you can forgive me for going slightly off script.

 

The first question that we were asked, well you might have been asked to ask us is why has there? been a sustained lack of investment in the playing squad?

 

And my belief absolutely is that there has been, the last 6 or seven years has seen continued support for David Moyes and i'll talk a little more about where your season ticket money goes and indeed where all the money goes, because all the money at Everton football clubs goes into supporting the best possible first team squad that we can, absolutely, all our efforts, every last bit of revenue, every opportunity we have, we give, as much as we can to give David Moyes the best crack of the whip in the transfer market we can, we invest heavily in academy, we invest heavily in scouting, in youth development and all sorts of areas, so there has been in my view sustained investment and i'll come on to that in some more detail.

 

The 2nd question is what value have the club's owners placed on the club?

 

Well, the simple truth of the matter is that, it is private and confidential and it's something that is expressly the opinion of those shareholders and it's for those shareholders to decide, I am not a shareholder in Everton football club its up the individual shareholders to set that price.

 

What I do know is that the price hasn't been the reason why Everton football club hasn't been sold. I am of the absolute opinion that the shareholders are not asking too much money for their football club and that is absolutely not the reason that Everton hasn't been sold, but what value is a private matter and a matter for those shareholders.

 

The 3rd question why has nobody been appointed with the sole purpose of selling the club?

 

There has been lots of people appointed to look at selling Everton football club, our board of directors has a phenomenal network of contacts, that cover the globe, and know who anyone who might interested in buying a football club, we have also been approached?by several agents who have wanted to help us sell the club, we have agents appointed in certain territories, we had a guy looking for investment in the middle east, we have had Keith Harris looking and bring investment to the table, there is a network of people who are absolutely working on selling Everton Football Club, and will continue to do it.

 

We can talk about why that investment occurred, why hasn't that happened, and who knows what the reason are, but I do say we have to be careful for what we wish for because I think for every one good new?owner coming in to football there have been nine or ten bad ones, and good ones we missed out, perhaps we missed out Roman Abramovich and perhaps we missed out on Sheikh Mansour, but did we miss out on the Glazers, did we miss out on Hicks and Gillete, did we miss out on the people who bought Portsmouth or Newcastle, am not sure we did and i think we have to be careful, that doesn't mean to say the board is reluctant to sell that just means that the search for invest is something that, is not something that occupies us every single day, it is, I just think that?we have to sell to the right person with the right motives and someone who is prepared to make an investment into Everton Football Club, because any rational investor looking to buy in to football is looking in the wrong place because football is absolutely not a rational business and anybody buying into Everton will need very, very deep pockets with some degree of uncertainty whether or they will ever get a return on that investment, having said all of that I believe that Everton is very fantastically exciting and attractive investment.

 

Question number 4 which major shareholders actually have their shares for sale?

 

Simple answer all of them.

 

Question number 5 what are the legal quagmires that have cause the Parkend to grind to a halt?

 

An unforeseen set of circumstances were as a result of some security, land security issues we have been in a two month holding pattern where two of our primary lenders are arguing about some security issues on the land from which the development will sit, we hope we have reached a breakthrough on that, we are talking day in and day out to break that, and once we break?that we will start work straight away on that, I am absolutely convinced that the new development will go ahead and we are working day in day out to make?sure it happens.

 

What plans are in place to either redevelop Goodison or to find a new home within Liverpool?

 

Well question 5 really was what plans are there to redevelop Goodison, we are looking at a major nine to ten million pound investment just out there, which will deliver an absolutely fantastic new club shop, a museum, a hospitality block and some new offices, so there is substantial redevelopment?already planned and just waiting to happen, a redevelop beyond that at Goodison we've been through those arguments a thousand times, it is incredibly difficult, the site is too small, if we stayed on this site we'd end up with about 10 thousand less seats, if we looked to extend it, we'd need to extend it in to the school, in the houses adjacent here which would be problematic, no certainty we would get the land, no certainty how, at what price we'd have to pay for it, and?the biggest single problem of all our funding streams are hugely restricted,any new stadium development one of the key funding sources is a naming rights deal, that would be restricted, we wouldn't have the funds from the sale of Goodison, there's lots of reason why sadly Goodison ?redevelopment is difficult.

 

A new home, we are in constant dialogue with Liverpool city council about new sites, there are three or four sites being talked about at the moment , are any of em, are any of those likely to come to fruition in the near future in the short term? I really?don't think so the problem is, is a lack of funds, a lack of money, what we need to do is to find a new Kirbky type model where a 3rd party of private, private company or organisation is prepared to fund 40/50 percent of this development, there isn't a football stadium in the Premier League or in the land in my opinion that has been built without substantial 3rd party help, and that's exactly?the model we need to find, there is a tremendous amount of work going on with that, we have a new a city council that are looking at this 100% more positively but their isn't an easy solution, so that's the answer to those 6 questions, and am happy to take more questions on that.

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