Following an insipid performance in last season’s Premier League, coupled with what is currently one of the lowest levels of transfer activity in the country, revolt is in the air at Goodison Park and Evertonians appear to have ran out of patience with
the most unsuccessful board in the club’s history.
When Bill Kenwright and True Blue Holdings had their bid accepted to purchase the club on Christmas Eve in 1999 from the controversial Peter Johnson, Evertonians rejoiced and lauded him a saviour.
Kenwright promised that he didn’t have endless cash to plough into the club but he did have a plan.
Sadly, almost sixteen years on and having not invested a single penny into the business, Kenwright and his board have lost both the trust and respect of a growing section of the passionate fanbase.
The theme has been consistent throughout Bill Kenwright’s reign at Everton: failures and broken promises.When the club
were pursuing a stadium move to the Kings Dock on the banks of the River Mersey, Kenwright assured everyone for over two years that Everton’s contribution of just £30m was “ringfenced”.
The money never materialised, with disgruntled former director
Paul Gregg having pushed for the board to entertain a reverse-mortgage package to secure the move. Kenwright didn't agree and
Gregg was eventually bought out in 2006 by Robert Earl with the
Kings Dock dream having long collapsed.
In 2004, after Wayne Rooney lit up the European Championships in Portugal,
Bill insisted that he would not be sold, “not even for £50m”. Rooney was eventually sold to Manchester United on deadline day for a meagre £10m upfront.
Come December 2004, Kenwright was coming under increasing pressure. At a stormy AGM, he paraded Chris Samuelson in front of Everton shareholders, and claimed he was going to
invest £30m into the club through the Fortress Sports Fund.
Kenwright claimed that “the money will be in the bank on Monday morning”. Suffice to say, the cheque never cleared and Kenwright refused to explain where Samuelson disappeared to
or why the deal broke down.
In December 2007, on live television prior to Everton’s UEFA Cup fixture with Zenit St Petersberg,
Bill Kenwright claimed that Goodison Park “would not soon not pass safety tests” in a cheap and disgraceful effort to gain support for a controversial stadium move outside of the Liverpool city boundary to nearby Kirkby despite a significant 41 per cent of Evertonians
having voted against the move.
Despite the litany of failures overseen from his board, Bill Kenwright is clearly a likeable man, and it’s entertaining when he’s telling yarns about holding Eddie Kavanagh’s jacket as he invaded the Wembley pitch in 1966 and travelling to Goodison Park on his Uncle Cyril’s handlebars.
Sadly, as proved with the club’s unforgivable attempts to move to a retail park in Kirkby, it becomes very serious when he’s jeopardising a 137 year old institution.
It is difficult to see how Evertonians, with the history of broken promises and failures, can still trust Bill Kenwright and this board.
They have spectacularly failed in their efforts to sell the club, despite Kenwright insisting that there is "no better salesman for Everton".
Kenwright's pursuit of the man, company or consortium to purchase the club has left more questions than answers.
