corrected he was on the board thanks to BK its rumoured - Lord Grantchester is worth 1.3 billion!
THE DIRECTORS
Jon Woods
After selling his Ocean Software company, Jon Woods joined the Everton Board by virtue of his role as a major investor in Bill Kenwright's True Blue Holdings. He is understood to be a loyal supporter and for a long while, his low profile successfully averted the venomous opprobrium many fans reserved for Mr Paul Gregg.
Sir Philip Carter, CBE
Sir Philip joined the Everton Board in 1975 when he was drafted into the club by Sir John Moores following success as a one-time senior executive at Littlewoods. Previously Everton Chairman from 1978 to 1991, encompassing Everton's most successful period, Sir Philip was reputed to be a straight and honest man, one of whose most endearing qualities was his loyalty.
During his time as chairman and under the guidance of Howard Kendall, with whom he famously kept faith in the face of calls for his dismissal, Everton won the League title in 1985 and 1987 and lifted the FA Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup.
He was president of the Football League from 1986 to 1988 and played a leading role in the formation of the Premier League. Reappointed Chairman of Everton when Peter Johnson stepped down on 1 December 1998, with architect of the move Bill Kenwright initially taking up the post of Vice (later Deputy) Chairman. He spent another six years on the Board before retiring in 2004, age 78 and was named Life President of Everton FC.
He passed away 11 years later in April at the age of 87 following a short illness.
Unfortunately, many of the fans are not so impressed with his prime credential as far as the current and recent history of Everton is concerned: the demise of the club as a real footballing force during the last 10+ years, over which he has presided.
The staunch Conservative is viewed by many fans to epitomize the problems with the Everton Board: conservative, behind the times, lacking in ambition, condescending, and grudgingly unappreciative of the fans themselves.
Robert Earl
An leisure and entertaiment mogul most famous for founding Planet Hollywood in 1991, Robert Earl was officially named as the man who purchased former Director Paul Gregg's stake in Everton following an increasingly bitter schism with Chairman Bill Kenwright in 2006.
A personal friend of Kenwright's, billed as an energetic presence who could enhance the club's prospects and visibility, particularly vis-a-vis the proposed leisure components of the Destination Kirkby scheme, Earl did not initially take a seat on the Board of Directors but he was eventually voted on at a meeting of 18 June 2007, with ratification coming in late July.
Though reputed to have been heavily involved with the Kirkby project behind the scenes, Earl remained elusive as a publicly active member of the Everton hierarchy. He attended his first Everton game, versus
Reading in 2007 accompanied by a flag-brandishing Sylvester Stallone but subsequently vanished behind the curtain again, particularly when the Kirkby scheme was called in by the Government in 2009.
PAST DIRECTORS
Keith Wyness
Former CEO Keith Wyness was elevated to the Board in 2005 and was an instrumental figure in the controversial and ultimately doomed Destination Kirkby venture that proposed a new 50,000-seat stadium for Everton in neighbouring Knowsley Borough.
An ex-Scottish businessman, who was chief executive officer of the Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen following a role in marketing the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney, Australia, Wyness's tenure as Chief Executive at the club was notable also for his outsourcing efforts aimed at reducing costs – he initiated the catering contract with Sodexo and a merchandise retail deal with JJB Sports – and the sale of the club's old Bellefield training ground.
He also oversaw the acquisition of David France's collection of memorabilia that formed The Everton Collection, described by Sothebys as the "most important football memorabilia collection in the world".
Given how it was criticised for its requirement that the club move six miles from its roots in north Liverpool and ultimately discredited as being financially viable for the club, it was natural that Wyness' legacy at Everton was interwoven with the doomed Kirkby proposal and it was no surprise that he left his position not long after the scheme was called in by the Government.
Paul Gregg
One-time millionaire British boss of US entertainment giants SFX, subsequently selling out to Clear Channel, he was a major investment partner with Bill Kenwright in the ultimately successful bid to oust Peter Johnson from Everton at the end of the 1990s. A personal friend of Kenwright's for over 30 years, he was brought in to the club apparently as a personal favour to provide business support.
In response to direct questions at the
2000 AGM, Paul Gregg acknowledged that he has no real background in football, but he was impressed with the passion and desire of the club and the fans. He took a key role in pushing forward the Kings Dock project as a major business enterprise, only to see it fail because (as many claimed) he was unprepared to underwrite the project to the tune of £30m, coming up instead with a "reverse mortgage" deal that had many convinced he was somehow set to double-cross the Club out of millions in a cunning financial scam that was ultimately rejected by the Everton Board.
Evertonians, annoyed by the thought of Paul Gregg's mega-millions not being put to good use in the interests of
their club, turned on him en masse, believing he was only in it for the money, and had no intrinsic love for Everton (duh!). These feelings were confirmed by what was seen as an ultimate betrayal when Paul Gregg went on to promote an alternative project for Kings Dock that did
not include a new Everton stadium. Er... what else was he supposed to do?
Rumours that Gregg wanted £18M for his True Blue investment (worth at best perhaps £10M) only reinforced his low image that had been pushed for all its worth by certain portions of the fan base, taht of him being a greedy leech determined to make a profit on the back his friend's perilous venture.
Gregg's disillusionment manifested itself in self-imposed exile, as he failed to attend a game at Everton all throughout the disastrous 2003-04 season. And then, to everyone's surprise he popped up in Thailand to secure the shirt sponsorship of Chang Beer. That was quickly followed by a growing public persona as he set the scene for a showdown with Kenwright over the question of power and control, as embodied in True Blue Holdings. That led to the dissolution of TBH in 2005.
After continuing on occasions to question publicly some of the decisions and direction in which Kenwright was leading the club, Paul Gregg finally agreed to sell his shares and leave the Board in October 2006.
Anita Gregg
Part of the original gang of investors behind TBH, Paul Gregg's former wife joined the Everton Board in 2004. She maintained a low public profile but the perception was that she supported her ex-husband in his efforts to push the Club forward after the fall out with Kenwright. She left the Board in October 2006, when her shares and those of her husband were sold to Robert Earl's front-company, BCR Sports.
Arthur Abercromby
Liverpool builder who came into the club after the 1994 take-over competition. Originally, he had belonged to the Tony Tighe / Tom Cannon consortium but changed sides when Bill Kenwright did, thereby being able to join the board without having to make a major investment. A committed Evertonian with a less than sophisticated appreciation of the footballing politics going on around him and on the field, was particularly responsible for overseeing the development of the stadium during his tenure.
Resigning from the Board at the height of Summer 2004 meltdown, he said in a statement: "For some time it had been my intention to leave the board of Everton Football Club at the end of the 2003-04 season. Due to various circumstances and at the request of colleagues, my resignation was postponed until last week.
"I would like to thank everyone connected with Everton and particularly the staff for the opportunity of working with them over the years."
Keith Tamlin
Re-elected to the Board in September 1998. Apparently not very popular but he is possibly the only director who puts any appreciable work into the club, having the role of overseeing youth development and possibly deserving some credit for Everton's successes in this area. In the summer of 2003, he was seen in his shirt sleeves, getting down and dirty in support of the young Everton teams competing in the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland. He left the Board along with Sir Philip Carter at the end of May 2004.
Lord Grantchester
aka John C Suenson-Taylor, educated at the London School of Economics, now a wealthy gentleman farmer in Cheshire. He was the last of the Moores family on the board although he does not have the wealth of his grandfather, Sir John Moores. A quiet, mild-mannered man, he gives the impression of lacking drive. In private, he was critical of the Johnson regime but by his public silence, seemed to give it legitimacy.
He was inhibited in Bill Kenwright's take-over manoeuvres by the reluctance of his mother, Betty Moores (daughter of Sir John Moores) to see Peter Johnson profit further having been sold the club at a knock-down price because he had convinced the Moores that they were letting their beloved Everton go to a reliable owner.
Lord Grantchester declined to put himself forward for reelection at the 2000 AGM, citing business reasons. However, there are rumours that he left because Bill Kenwright rejected his numerous offers of financial help during or after the takeover by True Blue Holdings. And the rumours have continued since, fueled by the belief of many Everton fans that Lord Grantchester would happily underwrite a massive venture into the transfer market in support of David Moyes, if only Bill Kenwright would swallow his pride and allow the Moores Millions to once again revive a flagging Everton...
