http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/spor...verton-investor-farhad-moshiri-wants-12660463
Everton investor Farhad Moshiri wants atmospheric new stadium, says shareholders' chair
John Blain also reveals Moshiri currently has no plans to buy out minority shareholders
BY
PHIL KIRKBRIDE
- 20:33, 26 FEB 2017
- UPDATED20:53, 26 FEB 2017
SPORT
Farhad MoshirI conversation during the Everton General Meeting
The chairman of Everton Shareholders’ Association believes Farhad Moshiri is determined to retain the Goodison atmosphere in the club’s proposed new stadium.
And John Blain has also revealed that Moshiri currently has no intention of buying out the club’s minority shareholders - but has confirmed there are plans for him to increase his stake in the Blues.
Everton first announced the billionaire’s intention to buy 49.9% of shares a year ago tomorrow and ahead of his Goodison anniversary, Blain has offered his thoughts on the first 12 months of the investor’s reign.
Blain met with Moshiri and chairman Bill Kenwright in the summer and has given the ECHO insight into their exchanges as well as providing us with his own thoughts on the opening year under the businessman’s guidance and his hopes for the next 12 months.
Everton major shareholder Farhad Moshiri with chairman Bill Kenwright
After the announcement of Moshiri’s arrival at Everton, the EFCSA chair told the ECHO that the “promise of investment in the football club is, at face value, exciting” before adding he was looking forward to “hearing more detail” on what the Iranian’s plans were.
“Most of us, and the majority of the fan base, would’ve asked at the time: who is this guy and has Bill delivered on that quest for a billionaire?” Blain said, earlier this week.
“He’s certainly a billionaire but the flip of that was that we really didn’t know who he was and what his motivations were.
“Quite quickly we knew of his partnership with Alisher Usmanov at Arsenal, and that he was originally a Manchester United fan, but many were still asking why it was only a stake of 49.9%, meaning he wasn’t taking control?
Everton majority shareholder and billionaire investor Farhad Moshiri arrives at the general meeting
“But what came out over time, and was then qualified when I met him last summer, was that he does have options on shareholdings of the guys he has already bought from - Bill Kenwright, Jon Woods and Arthur Abercromby - and I believe that would take him into the 70s in percentage terms, so he can have control.
“He, presumably, wanted to stay below the radar a little bit. I suspect he didn’t want to disrupt the status quo and, going back to the Arsenal case, Usmanov was very much in the light and Moshiri doesn’t want to be.
“He then put his own man, Sasha Ryazantsev, on the board, rather than himself.
“And so, on reflection, it was right to be cautious and say ‘let’s see’ but nothing has happened since that has been negative.
“Everyone feels as optimistic, if not more so, than they did a year ago.
Farhad Moshiri, Bill Kenwright and Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson visit Bramley Moore Dock on the waterfront for plans to provide Everton with a new stadium. Pictiutred far right is new Blues board member Keith Harris
“And from an off field perspective do fans feel better than they did 12 months ago? The answer has to be yes.”
“People were seeing that the club had a billionaire backer so were asking: What are we going to do now? Are we going to buy a load of players? “ Blain added.
“But at the other end, people were asking: Is he going to fund a new stadium? And is he going to buy all of our shares off us? Does he want control?
“That was a concern.”
But Blain reveals that any feeling of uncertainty was allayed by Moshiri in their summer meeting in London.
“As far as the overall shareholding is concerned, he has no intention at the moment of buying all the shares,” he said.
Farhad Moshiri and Bill Kenwright in conversation during the Everton Annual General Meeting on January 4, 2017
“That would’ve been enough but he added to that: ‘That would dilute your membership and I wouldn’t want to do that’.
“My take on that was that he’d been a minority shareholder (at Arsenal) who had been pretty much ignored and he wasn’t then going to become the man who was doing the ignoring.”
Everton are expected to make an announcement on their proposed new stadium next month and Blain was impressed with the way in which Moshiri outlined his vision for Everton’s new home.
“His view on the stadium was that he wanted to be really careful that it was something of quality and not just full of the things an accountant would be happy with – lots of seats, lots of lounges – but that it is iconic and he certainly knows the value of it being on the banks of the Royal Blue Mersey,” he said.
“If you’re talking about him as a man, granted we have only met once, then he’s a football fan, definitely, a very knowledgeable one too, and he’s invested in Everton because Bill sold all that history and passion to him.
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“Farhad brought up the Goodison atmosphere, he was blown away, and he couldn’t believe it.
“He said: ‘I’m sat there, in a fabulous seat, right on top of the pitch, the noise, the atmosphere and every time I walk up the steps the atmosphere hits me’.
“That’s great because we’re fans and we think ‘It’s a miserable place sometimes’ but he’s comparing it to what he knows, which is the library that is the Emirates.
“So when I asked him about the stadium, understanding it was still early doors for location and all of that, he talked very cautiously about various sites but his eyes seemed to light up when we talked about the potential for one on the banks of the Royal Blue Mersey.
“He wants to transport the atmosphere we currently enjoy at Goodison and the proximity to the pitch, to the new stadium.
“Moshiri’s design brief to the architect, you can imagine, would be: ‘I want the most atmospheric stadium around and I want it to look good’.
“He’ll still lean on the costs and ensure we get value for what we get but I'm sure that’s what he wants.”
Moshiri provided Everton with the funds to pay off Roberto Martinez and his backroom staff, prise Ronald Koeman from his Southampton contract and appoint Steve Walsh as the club’s director of football.
Erwin Koeman, Ronald Koeman, Jan Kluitenberg during the Everton FC training session at Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex on February 14, 2017 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Everton FC/Everton FC via Getty Images)
An interest free loan of £80m has also helped with the club’s debts while USM, a company in which he is involved, has signed a deal to sponsor the training ground.
“Moshiri is very astute and knows these things take time” Blain continued.
“He wants to build the club’s financial strength, not from the fact that he has hugely deep pockets – because in absolute terms he hasn’t – but what he can do is enable things to happen, through his own network of contacts, and through his own businesses as we’ve seen with Finch Farm.
“It is about building for the future and building a sustainable club that is not reliant on him as an individual and can stand on its own two feet.”
Everton new stadium - what should the capacity be?
So what does Blain hope the Everton landscape looks like in 12 months’ time, at the end of year two under Moshiri?
“This time next year, if we are progressing the way I’d like us to progress, then there wouldn’t be any doubt if we were going to be in Europe or not, that ‘certainty’ of being in Europe is something we should expect and hope for,” he offered.
“And looking at the so-called top six, we need to make it a top seven, and break into that elite group.
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson tweeted this image of himself meeting with Everton majority investor Farhad Moshiri and chairman Bill Kenwright in London
“Off the field, the stadium needs to be getting built."
“If we’re sat here a year from now and still two or three months away from an announcement, that wouldn’t be acceptable.
“But I expect there will be tangible progress this year and I expect they will have announced the site.
“Tangible progress also means to me that the site is getting cleared or work has started, the World Heritage Organisation are happy with what we’re doing and the city is behind it."