Did you know....?
That when Peter Johnson sold the club, he sold it for virtually the price he bought it for, and actually made a loss.
According to Clifford Finch anyway:
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/johnsons-right-hand-man-forever-3521607
A LASTING legacy to the work of Clifford Finch still stands prominently opposite the Dixie Dean statue at Goodison Park.
The club's impressive Megastore - Everton's answer to the increasingly commercial demands of top flight football - was Finch's baby.
Officially Everton's Commercial Director from 1994 to 1998, Cliff Finch was also Peter Johnson's right-hand man - his loyal confidante, his trusted ally and, occasionally, his bullish trouble-shooter.
And as Johnson's regime disintegrated in the turbulent winters of 1997 and 1998, there was plenty of trouble to shoot down.
Nowadays Finch is an unpaid consultant trying to save Wrexham from administration, but he remains an ardent Evertonian and despite a recent decison to sell a bulk of the 300/400 shares he owns in the club he intends to remain an active shareholder.
"I still go to the matches and I still hurt when they hurt," he explained.
"I've just decided to sell my shares. It would be nice to see them spread around a number of shareholders, but that doesn't mean I won't sell them to one individual - and I will still remain a shareholder in the club."
Finch was party to many meaningful decisions which shaped the course of Everton's destiny.
The most seismic, of course, was the decision which eventually brought Johnson's regime to an end - the decision to sell Duncan Ferguson to Newcastle United for #8m, without first informing manager Walter Smith.
That decision is brought into even sharper focus following Ferguson's latest misdemeanour this week.
But Finch is typically unabashed - and still staunchly supportive of his friend, the then chairman, Peter Johnson.
"Duncan Ferguson was a lovely guy, but it was the deal of the season," says Finch. "Peter Johnson and I were invited to his wedding and were the only people from the club to go. But the pressure was on from the cash side of the business.
"Financially we were in a pretty poor way, there was pressure from the bank and it was one of those things which, in Peter's defence, seemed like a good idea at the time.
"I just thought it was a great shame that enormous pressure was coming from all angles on Peter, the majority of which was unnecessary.
"No-one has put that sort of money into the club since and no-one has been as successful.
"If we go back to 1987 the only time Everton have won anything since is during that two year period from 1995 to 1996 when we won the FA Cup, the Charity Shield, the FA Youth Cup and had a sixth place finish in the Premiership. That was still our highest Premiership finish until last season.
"We got it right in some areas and got it wrong in others, but we had no control over injuries, especially to key players like Andy Hinchcliffe, Dave Watson and Joe Parkinson who were all injured at the same time just after Christmas in 1996/97."
There were also advanced plans for a stadium switch, which Finch believes only the sudden end of Johnson's tenure saw shelved.
"Yes, we had plans to move," he added. "A ground poll indicated that 83 per cent of supporters wanted to move, from 39,000 votes cast.
"But there were problems from fans who write fanzines.
"We were then accused of fiddling the numbers which was a gross thing to say.
"As if people who wanted to do the best for the club would go to the lengths of organising a poll just so they could make up figures. It was a ridiculous accusation.
"The position was that the plans were for a stadium four miles from Goodison Park and they only needed to be rubberstamped. A considerable amount of money was then spent on a feasibility study into Kings Dock when it was quite clear at the time that it was not feasible.
"But then, of course, everything came crashing down.
"With the severity of the criticism of Peter Johnson and the threats he was receiving the point came when he said 'I have had enough. I can't take any more of this. I am trying to do the best but it seems that a sizeable number of people, including the media, do not have confidence in me.' And that was it.
"He sold the club for virtually the same price that he paid for it, therefore not only not making any profit, but actually coming out with a substantial bottom line loss."
Johnson exited Everton just 18 months after the manager he famously "mutually consented" - and it is typical of a club as contrary as the Blues that Johnson and Finch still remain friendly with Royle.
Finch has a copy of Royle's recent autobiography in his kitchen, with a heartfelt, signed message of thanks, on the inside cover. Inside Royle confirms the
mutual respect: "Cliff was much maligned in some circles because he was perceived as Peter Johnson's troubleshooter, the man who did the dirty work. But I must say he was never anything but supportive to me, while remaining loyal to Peter.
"After I had left, Cliff, who was in South Africa at the time, returned from his trip to tell me that the chairman and I needed our heads banging together. Perhaps that is true."
If Finch had not been out of the country during that fateful afternoon, the course of Everton's future might have been very different.
We'll never know.
* Enquiries regarding the sale of Cliff Finch's shares should be made to Blankstone Sington (0151-707-1707) quoting ref: BCF/1