Open Letter to Everton Chairman, Bill Kenwright
The following letter has been forwarded to The Footie in order that the feelings of a sigificant number of Evertonians from around the world about how the club is behaving regarding the proposed move can be aired and also passed onto the club, and specifically its Chairman Bill Kenwright.
Dear Bill
Moving from Goodison is going to be a major heart wrench, I know without massive investment staying there is impractical. So, like most Evertonians, I waited to see the club’s plans. I genuinely quite like the new stadium however the financial proposals lack substance. Colin Fitz has, more eloquently than I am able, asked pertinent questions about the Kirkby proposal.
http://www.toffeeweb.com/season/07-08/comment/fan/article.asp?submissionID=2125
I am now genuinely concerned at how the club is conducting itself in presenting the facts to the fans. Recently on the official site outrageous use of the Deloitte and Touche report was made to dress up the Kirkby proposal without presenting a balanced argument or referring the potential downsides referred to in the report.
Today the local papers are quoting the club as saying that the proposed alternative site, the loop, can only accommodate a 25,000 seat stadium. Given that Bestway have employed reputable architects who have quoted up to 60,000 and the club hasn’t even carried out a study of the site, then on what basis is this figure given other than to dissuade voters from considering it as a possibility? I am utterly disgusted at the blatant attempt to win votes. Why give us the vote in the first place?
Bill, you are the Chairman of Everton Football Club and I implore you to get the house back in order and to conduct this process with more decorum.
We have been told all along there is no Plan B and yet, albeit at the 11th Hour, Liverpool City Council have come up with what may be a viable alternative to Kirkby. This, I appreciate, complicates the work done with Tesco and Knowsley, but it is the future of Everton Football Club that we should all be caring about.
I urge you Bill to investigate this proposal and report your honest findings, because at the moment a Plan B does appear to exist, despite the club’s blatant attempt to discredit it before they have even looked at it.
This whole vote is breaking up the people’s club and blatant propaganda from the club is adding fuel to the division amongst us.
This whole debate should be about what will be a fitting home for Everton Football Club for the future, if that means looking at the loop site in detail, then so be it.
Whichever is the best proposal of Kirkby or the Loop site is what Evertonians should be deciding. You don’t want to be the man to take us to Kirkby, here is your last chance.
Yours Sincerely
Bluey
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Uncategorized
14 opinions for Open Letter to Everton Chairman, Bill Kenwright
keith wyness
Aug 17, 2007 at 11:59 am
Bluey, do you realise that the loop sight is bulit on an old indian burial ground and if we moved there we would be cursed?
MOYESYSIDE
Aug 17, 2007 at 12:00 pm
I find it disrespectful of our manager Mr Moyes that anyone should question his judgement on the new Kirkby site. If its good enough for Moyes its good enough for me.
Liam Cassidy
Aug 17, 2007 at 12:01 pm
Could not have written it better myself. I dont want the PR just the facts and let me decide Bill, please
Liam Cassidy
Aug 17, 2007 at 12:04 pm
In all due respect to the man who I think is one of the greatest managers we could ever hope to have. The link provided shows Kirby wont be that fantastic and seemingly errors in Evertons PR stunts. I love the club but I dont know where to turn, just hand me the facts and Ill decide. Moyes can concentrate on the team building. (ps dont mention extra revenue please plucked out the air by wyness upto 10mill also means possible nothing more)
Tony Ateman
Aug 17, 2007 at 12:10 pm
They have investigated the options and all but Kirkby are not viable because of cost (who’s going to pay?) and in the case of the Loop, size. Just looking at the site in the middle of a roundabout by the tunnel shows that it has nothing to offer. For goodness sake get real. Colin Fitz’s article is OK and very when talking about the clubs finances but it suddenly gets vague and inaccurate when talking about the costings. If you look at the Fitz article, look at the responses as well.
Kirkby is the only option because it is financially viable and is on a plot of land that allows a stadium of Everton’s ambition. The Loop comes up with a hotel on top of the exit to a Mersey Tunnel, who’d want to stay there!
andymac
Aug 17, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Sorry, Bluey / Sack The Juggler, but, in my opinion there are “a sig(n)ificant number of Evertonians from around the world” who take the very opposite view of that explained in your open letter. Yes, virtually every Evertonian will be sad to leave Goodison, but the vast majority accept that we have to. Yes a considerable number feel that a move to Kirkby represents “abandoning our roots”, but I hope the number of persons spouting this poppycock is now a diminishing proportion of those who will vote. BUT, anyone with half a brain, let alone any experience in engineering design, or a grasp of basic economics, will surely by now have seen through the flaws in the “Loop” scenario. The “reputable architects” employed by Bestway haven’t even begun a feasibility study to support the theory of a 60000 seater stadium on the Loop. All we have are amateur scetches and wishfull thinking. Any other Football Club or business other than one run with his heart on his sleeve by Bill Kenwright would have made the business decision to move to Kirkby, got on with it, took a bit of flack from the fans, but would have been vindicated when the stadium was delivered. Bill has “gone the extra yard”, to his credit as an Evertonian through and through, but not as a businessman, and given a vote to the fanbase. And a vocal minority have the nerve to castigate him for it? Lets just get past the vote (hopefully a sensible one to go with the Kiirkby option) and then sit back and enjoy the rest of the season.
BlueBlogger
Aug 17, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Has everyone gone stir crazy? We can’t afford the loop site. Idiot.
Chris
Aug 17, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Why do people believe LCC and not EFC. Think of it logically, which of the 2 is more likely to have Evertons best interest at heart - people responsible for running the club or a council scared of losing one of its football teams. All this talk of the loop site only appeared when Everton gave the fans an opportunity to vote on Kirkby. If anything is an aim to win votes it is the Loop plan which is just a smokescreen to hide the fact that LCC & KEIOC are desperate to stop Everton moving - for no good reason that I have seen other than some complaints about a theoretical line in the ground and some attachment to history.
Christopher Connell
Aug 17, 2007 at 12:52 pm
The board certainly want us to move to Kirkby and are doing what they can to persuade people to vote for this. They actually have made no secret of this. Since none of us really understands the financial and architectural details very well it comes down to a simple question really. Do we trust them? Have we any reason not to?
billy sea
Aug 17, 2007 at 12:54 pm
If we go to Kirkby then so be it but if that happens there will be only one team in Liverpool. We are Everton fc from the CITY of Liverpool.We should play as near to OUR city centre as possible.If we do go to Kirkby then so will i.
Steve Mc
Aug 17, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Moyesyside - FFS lad have you not got a sensible reason for voting on the future of our club? God help us.
Tony Ateman
Aug 17, 2007 at 1:12 pm
follow this link to find the opinion of somebody who knows what they are talking about.
http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/loopo-feasibility-analysis.html
If you say this link is “propaganda” I wonder what your hidden agenda is!
Bluey
Aug 17, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Thank You Mr Moyesyside, if Mr Moyes ever becomes the Chairman I will address the open letter to him.
MOYESYSIDE
Aug 28, 2007 at 10:47 am
Steve Mc - I was sent a vote and didnt use it, how dya like them apples?
The whole club is on board with the move to Kirkby, sooner or later its the fans rather than the board/chief exec/chairman/Richard Wright who will be making a laughing stock of us. If you dont like it the only option that you as a fan currently have is to stop going to watch Everton once GP is closed down. Or you could of course moan about it for the next 2 or 3 years and play the martyr which Im guessing you will.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: