Evertonian Frustrations Are Legitimate

It’s easy for casual observers to shrug off or dismiss the Evertonians calls for Bill Kenwright and the rest of the board to get the hell out of the club. It’s easy to say, it’s just another group of fans whining because times are a little tough, but this situation cannot be easily tossed in to that traditional mold of the displeased football supporter.

Before I get to far, it should be noted I am an Everton supporter (in case you didn’t know) and these are my interpretations of events surrounding he club. I’ve done my best to portray the history accurately, but it’s sometimes it’s tough to know exactly how all this mess really played out.

While there are likely some Everton supporters just annoyed with the team’s drop of form, groups like the Blue Union (which I support) are leading the charge against Kenwright because the future of the club itself is at stake. I’m not being dramatic, it’s really that serious. Just because Everton has had success over the past decade or so and the club’s debt is actually fairly reasonable compared to other Premier League clubs, that doesn’t lessen the serious nature of Everton’s current situation.

Kenwright is highly criticized for several events in the past few years that supporters point to as examples of his inept ownership. He’s apologized for several of these issues and admitted he’s made mistakes, but Kenwright’s recent behaviour proves that just because someone admits fault, it doesn’t mean they are really learning from the mistakes. The failed attempt to have PremiumTV buy shares in the club was the first major financial blunder as the team spent money they assumed they would have and were later forced to sell players to appease the banks.

In 2003, he attempted to relocate Everton to the Kings Dock, but after a public feud with director Paul Gregg over the proposal’s finances and sale of Wayne Rooney, the move fell through. Gregg had wanted to keep Rooney at the club and Kenwright reluctantly felt the sell would benefit the club financially, and it did. Everton lived off the windfalls from the sell of Rooney to Manchester United for several years and it likely delayed the struggles that they are now facing.

Kenwright’s troubles continued when he became chairman in 2004 and immediately embroiled the club in the Fortress Sports Fund debacle that did little more more than provide more embarrassment for the club. In 2007 is attempt to move the club to Kirby failed, more mismanagement and misguided embarrassment.Yes I’m avoiding the details of much of this because I don’t want to drone on forever, and most people won’t care, but the point is this.

Bill Kenwright is killing Everton Football Club.

Yes the team has remained competitive for many years during his reign, they even qualified for the Champions League, but the steady decline is well underway. Every transfer window David Moyes is forced to sell another key player or two to appease the banks and has no way to rebuild his roster other than trying to find players of free transfers or loan deals.

This most recent round of angst from supports is over the summer transfer of Mikel Arteta to Arsenal. It was publicly justified as a football move and Kenwright assured Evertonians the money would be available to Moyes in Janaury. When the Liverpool Echo published a story last year claiming this would not be the case, the club threw a fit and demanded a retraction and apology. Then yesterday, Moyes confirmed to the Guardian what we already knew, there was no money.

“I think everybody knows that the bank wanted the money. I think you all knew that” -David Moyes

Simply put, Kenwright lied.

Everton is dying, because Bill Kenwright is not a good businessman and his series of poor choices are draining the club on and off the pitch. Somehow, through shear will it seems, Moyes has patched together rosters and kept the team going but how long can that last? Relegation from the Premier League would be a disaster. The money the club gets from being in the top flight of English football keeps them afloat and losing that would leave the banks hammering at the door for money the club would not have to give. Needless to say the downward spiral would commence from there.

I won’t deny that Kenwright came along at a time when Everton was in serious trouble. He helped get the team back in order and brought in David Moyes, so it’s not like he’s an evil demon with horns and smoke billowing from his ears. That said, past accomplishments don’t reward you with a never expiring “get out of jail free” card. Kenwright’s good will account with supporters has long been drained and while he might not like it, everyone is subject to criticism.

Then comes along a gutter trash column from Mirror Football’s David Maddock that strangely attempts to defend Kenwright and condemn fan’s protest by trying to connect the situation to Gary Ablett’s death. As if somehow their actions to find the truth and voice their opinions somehow besmirch the memory of a great player and individual like Ablett. Maddock also attacked the individuals that shot this video (in which Kenwright accuses the Blue Union of betraying the club) labeling them as illogical and blaming “tribal instincts”.

Kenwright doesn’t deserve to be defended. He’s a liar, he’s a shitty businessman, and he’s destroying Everton.

The obvious answer is for him to leave, but it’s never that simple. There must be a buyer, an individual or group willing to buy out his shares and force him the hell out of our club. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem likely at this point. So Evertonians must wait, and hope, that Moyes can keep producing miracles to keep the team in the Premier League a little longer, because once the bottom gives out, there’s no safety net, there’s no floor, it’s a long dark bottomless pit that the club might never be able to fully climb back out of.

That’s why supporters are concerned. We’ve seen the plight of numerous other English clubs and we fear that Everton is on the same path. It’s a legitimate concern and it can’t be written off as just a bunch of bored football supporters crying for attention. To do so is insulting and short sighted.