Everton FC - Fan' s Views - E-mails 169

Whatever you think e-mail your views to info@bluekipper.com
and we will put your views here.

An investigation was launched by Everton, travel partner ATP, Servisair, Starlight Charters and Liverpool Airport after the 164 supporters were left grounded at John Lennon Airport on 15th September 2005.

As part of the investigation ATP stated that Everton were in no way to blame for the cancelled flight. But that said, Everton understand everyone’s frustration in relation to this and the inconvenience caused and accept this was the ‘official’ Everton trip. Everton are satisfied that ATP did everything in their power to make this trip happen – their only error was the lack of formal announcements given but that would not have had any impact on whether the flight actually went. It was an unfortunate sequence of events that was outside the control of both Everton and ATP. The trip was extremely unfortunate to have been caught up in legal wranglings at East Midlands airport and in fact the plane was later released at 5.30pm, highlighting the complexities of such situations.

Everton Chief Executive Keith Wyness says: “The events of Thursday September 15 were unfortunate for all those involved not least our supporters who had planned to come out and support the team in Bucharest. We as a club are satisfied that once we were made aware of the situation and assessed the implications, every attempt was made to get the plane in the air. Reasons beyond the control of all the organisational bodies meant this could not happen and we would like to apologise to all our fans for the inconvenience caused.”

Everton claim all passengers have received a full refund plus a £50 goodwill voucher that can be redeemed in any of the club’s retail outlets and Box Office. (01/10/05) What do you think? E-mail your views to info@bluekipper.com

Wyness & Bucharest

I read with some anger, the comments of Mr Wyness over the flight debacle to Bucharest. To quote him here he said:

"We initially ensured a full refund was made available and that was due to ATP (our travel partner) being fully bonded and insured. We have also been able to offer further compensation in the form of a £50 voucher (redeemable at our Megastore's and Box Office). We have spoken to the group leader and individuals concerned who were on the flight to ensure that they have had their refund and to let them know they will receive their voucher. I met with one fan group last night and we will involve them in the continuing inquiry. One area of concern is the events that took place at the airport and we will continue with our enquiries until we get to the bottom of this. The vast majority of fans have been happy that we have made contact with them and whilst unhappy at what happened that day, appreciate that the club did all they could in the circumstances."

Well that's news to me, especially the last sentence. Despite promises of calls from the club, NO-ONE has been in touch with me to get my views or to offer me compensation. If someone took the time to contact me, they would find that I was far from happy with events at the airport (in particular some of the stewards) and the way the club has sought to wash it's hands of the whole sorry affair.

Also left stranded with me was Brian Garner. Will somebody be contacting me? Mick Hoban. (08/10/05)

Still No Call

Wyness is a big fat liar ! I take exception to this comment :

"The vast majority of fans have been happy that we have made contact with them and whilst unhappy at what happened that day, appreciate that the club did all they could in the circumstances."

Despite promises of calls from "either myself or senior managers", no bastard has been in touch with us and no voucher has winged it's way here either. If they do deign to phone me, I wont be saying I was happy with the clubs response either at the airport or immediately after the event.
The way he spun himself out of the Villarreal ticket fiasco as well proves he's after a job in the Labour Party's "communications office".

He'll have a big nose and singed kecks in the next photo you see of him ! Mick & Brian. Pissed off with being taken for mugs. (08/10/05)

At Last A Call

I today received my phone call from EFC. I know the website says that we have received a £50 voucher, but the manager from EFC confirmed that we will receive one. A hollow gesture maybe, but a gesture all the same. Bill Cooper. (03/10/05)

Fans Still Waiting

I've just read that I, along with everyone else on the flight that never was, have received a £50 voucher from Everton. This is a complete load of shite as I have received nothing. I am also waiting to be contacted by someone from the club. I am sick and tired of the bullshit that comes out of Wyness. The man is a complete and utter waste of space. After the debacle at the airport, I came home and immediately wrote a letter of complaint to our so called Chief Executive and he hasn't even had the good grace to acknowledge the letter, let alone reply. It's no wonder we are in such a sorry state at the moment when you consider the calibre of the people running the club. It's about time they took the 'People's Club' banners down at Goodison as that phrase is the biggest joke of all time. Mat Rawlinson, Childwall. (03/10/05)

Everton have finally decided to do the right thing and contact the 'John Lennon 164' personally. Everton C.E.O. Bully Wyness and his senior managers (who are they?) will be in touch when the full enquiry into the events is completed.

Keith Wyness says: "Our major concerns were the way that things were handled at the airport. We are looking fully into that and we have already received a lot of comments from fans who were there. That is a main focus of our enquiry that we launched immediately upon our return from Bucharest and that we will be continuing over the coming days. ATP, the company responsible for operating the charter and for all the club's travel arrangements, will be part of that enquiry. ATP are a very reputable travel company who have been in existence for many years and who have run the FA's travel for many years. They were as disappointed as we were that the events on Thursday transpired as they did. However, we have got to make sure this situation is handled in the most appropriate way.

We expect to have the enquiry completed this week and we will then be in a position to decide what further action should be taken. Obviously it is something we take very seriously. We are aware of the inconvenience this led to for the fans. We will repeat our apologies, although the trip was ATP's responsibility and so out of the club's immediate sphere of influence. Once we have the full facts we will ensure that each group of fans that was booked on to the flight will receive a call from either myself or one of the senior managers at the club to go through any other comments they may have and to ensure the full refunds have been received. It is something we deeply regret and we are doing all we can to ensure it is handled appropriately. I have said continually we have got to be better at customer service and we have got to show that when things happen we handle them in the best way." (19/09/05)

Hundreds of Everton fans have been left stranded at John Lennon Airport, after the collapse of the airline leased to take them to Bucharest. The flight was originally scheduled to take off at 8:30am, but by 1:30pm, the fans were told to pack up and go home, after the stewards had left the building. Police were called, as the fan's voiced their disapproval, as they had been led a merry dance all morning. More to follow as it comes through, but once aging Everton's admin have not covered themselves in glory. Fans had paid £300 for the trip, but it could end up costing the Blues more in the long run.

Everton have now announced that the stranded fans who were left behind after the the Air Scandic Company went into liquidation will all be refunded. Apparently Air Scandic ceased trading on Wednesday evening, and after a replacement plane was found, the pilot decided to have a sickie we are told. Refunded the fans will be, but it would be nice if we also heard the word compensated as well. Days off booked, money spent in the airport. Unbelievable, fuckin' unbelievable.

Ian Ross says: " It is deeply regrettable that 164 of our supporters were unable to travel to Bucharest for the game. This was due to circumstances beyond our control, circumstances which fell outside our sphere of influence. Once we were made aware that there was a problem, we did everything we could to try and ensure that the supporters were kept fully-informed of developments. Sadly – and despite our very best efforts – the flight had to be cancelled, leaving our supporters bitterly disappointed."

Mike Beacher (ATP Spokesman) says: “We discovered at 8pm last night (Weds) that Air Scandic – the company whom we had leased the plane from – had ceased trading. We immediately set to work through the broker involved to source a replacement aircraft. We then learned that the aircraft we had originally planned to use for the trip was in fact owned by Viking Air and had only been leased to Scandic. Viking promptly agreed to allow the aircraft to be used as planned. At 7.30 am this morning the Viking pilot called in sick and we arranged for another plane – with a new pilot – to fly to Liverpool Airport from East Midlands Airport. Although we were aware that this would result in a delay, the supporters would definitely have still arrived in Bucharest in time for the game. Unfortunately the aircraft in question was subsequently impounded at East Midlands Airport. Despite the best efforts of ourselves, Everton and Viking Air the plane could not be released in time to ensure that the supporters would arrive in Bucharest in time to see the game.

All Everton supporters are entitled to a full refund of all monies paid to us for the trip. Those supporters who paid by credit card will have their money refunded back to their card – all other supporters will be issued with a refund in the form of a cheque. All supporters will be refunded automatically – without them having to apply. For any other incidental expenses, supporters should claim on their own travel insurance policies. We naturally regret what happened and we can only apologise to those fans who were unable to travel out to Bucharest. I hope people will appreciate that this situation was most definitely not of our making and was totally beyond our control. " (15/09/05)

* Read all the emails,,,got to say beyond the stewards control they were as guttered as us and spoke to them since their fuming ,,,Head Stewart Mr Fletcher was advised by BILL KENWRIGHT that we could have a refund but no plane would leave the airport,,,NO PLANE WAS GOING TO LEAVE WITH US ON IN THE FIRST PLACE,,,and we didnt want a soddin refund we wanted to go and watch our blue boys in Bucharest,,MUST ADVISE that I have had it from the horses mouth that Day Trip 1 which was US got left behind because Day Trip 2 had the Corporate Members on board plus other Evertonians who I know as I am on the away coach with them every week,,,Il speak to them at Arsenal tomorrow....After no info and the police treating us like CATEGORY C Football Hooligans we were frogmarched out the airport,,,We did go to EFC and spoke to assistant chief executive Robert Elstone gave him the benefit of the doubt and asked could we watch our game in one of our lounges he came back 40 mins later we were advised that due to police security no chance,,, I told him that was a load of CRAP and Everton have done or wont do anything re this situation today...we had upto 3pm to leave the country and they could have chartered another plane in I know I work for BA but I chose to go with my club,,, he advised that we will have a meeting to discuss this and took our names and numbers,,TOO RIGHT WE WILL HAVE THIS MEETING,,, after 2 hours we left our club guttered,,,,I told him the club is a shambles and there is no organisation because it is ran by the likes of him,,Wyness and Kenwright ,,,Il keep you posted about the meeting...Nasiye xx. (19/09/05)

* Having made it out to Bucharest and witnessed the utter shite we played, at least me and my mates had the privilege of a night on the piss in a foreign town. My Company organises corporate travel, when we tender for Corporations we have to provide our accounts, trading figures to ensure we will not go bust and leave clients stranded. I bet "old fat head" Wyness never instructed this sort of due-dilligence. I also bet that the cheapest option was taken to ensure the "old fat head" made a few extra quid for the club.
Lets be clear, I'm a chief exec, the buck stops with me and me alone. In this case the buck stops with Wyness, no excuses, no cop outs, no passing the buck. How can we be the "peoples club" when we treat our own loyal fans, the ones who turn up in Thailand, America and Dundee United on a Tuesday night like animals? I'm embarrassed for the Club I love and always will. Lets get Bill and Fat Head out of our Club. Lets get some professional leadership and management into the Club. Most of all, lets get behind the lads on the park and turn this Season round.
Iain Evans. (19/09/05)

* Attached is the letter I posted to Everton on Friday morning. Feel free to print it. I’ll let you know what happens. Liz.

I am writing to tell you my version of events as a fan who had booked Day Trip 1 to Bucharest through the official club package. I am a 34 year old woman and I travel on my own watching Everton everywhere. I organised my own transport to the Villareal game but decided to go through the club package for the Bucharest game.

You will already know about the various events which meant that we could not travel, but you may not understand how the situation was made much more difficult and frustrating than it needed to be. From the very beginning the Everton fans were in good humour. However, the clock was ticking and we did not receive a single announcement over the tannoy. The flight kept appearing and disappearing off the board with different times on, and the Everton stewards were difficult to find and seemed to know no more than us when we could find them.

Over time it seemed obvious to me that we would not fly, but we were told that there would be a definite announcement at 12:00. 12:00 came and went and we still hadn’t been told anything; but at 12:20 we were told to gather at gate 14 where an announcement would be made. When we arrived at gate 14 we were greeted by police in flak jackets with dogs. We were left standing around and still no announcement was made. I asked a policeman what was happening and was told that there was no chance of flying. I asked why we couldn’t be told officially and he replied “I’m not letting you lot out there with decent people”. I must stress that the behaviour of the fans was impeccable and this was far in excess of what was required for probably less than 10 fans, who, whilst sitting in an airport for 7 hours, had had one or two drinks.

At this point I decided to go home and I believe a partial announcement was made about 20 minutes later. I don’t blame the club for what happened because I understand that things can go wrong. But I do question:
1) What sort of checks were made and why the club chose this particular travel company ahead of the companies that managed to get their customers to the game
2) Why no announcements were made at the airport to keep us informed of the situation – even admitting that you didn’t know what was happening would have been better than no information at all
3) Why we were left for almost 8 hours without being offered any refreshments
4) Why it was felt necessary to call so many police to cope with 150 people who were all, under the circumstances, extremely well behaved.

I expect a full and frank discussion to take place at the club and a public announcement should be made about how this type of problem can be avoided in the future. I would also expect, on top of a full refund, that Everton Football Club will bend over backwards to show its sympathy and respect to some of its most loyal fans. There are some things that travel insurance do not cover: asking my brother to get up in the middle of the night to give me a lift to the airport; using up 2 days of precious holiday allowance; missing my chance to explore a new city; but most importantly of all, my heartbreak at not being able to support my beloved Everton on a night when they needed me there.

* Just thought you should know, I was one of the 164 stuck at Liverpool JL yesterday. I thought it was handled terribly by all concerned. We weren't given any information and some of the Stewards were downright insulting and rude. I left at 11:45a.m. when it became obvious to me that no plane was coming. The head Steward phoned Bill Kenwright and he said anyone who wanted to leave could have a refund, but the plane was on it's way. There were a few of us who left at this stage. Luckily I wasn't around to witness the final insult of being shepherded out by police like criminals after the Stewards had done a runner.

The way the club has washed it's hands of all blame has left me with a sour taste in my mouth (not the 16 hours drinking yesterday!). I'm not after money from the club. I don't want them to compensate me for my lack of sleep, taxis, food, pay for the day. I would like them to hold their hands up an say they made a mistake. (apparently the club arranged flight for the Villarreal was 4 hours late - and they still used the same company). Also a small token gesture to the 164 (minus the Stewards - bastards), say a voucher for the shop, may go some way to restoring some faith in the club.

I for one will not spend another penny on away matches or merchandise until the club properly take responsibility for a trip that was organised by them, in their name. The peoples club ? My arse. They treat us like shite and like the mugs we are we keep coming back for more. And don't even get me started on the shite that the team served up in the second half ...... Mick. (17/09/05)

* I was one of the fans left high and dry (along with my 2 sons). Why wasn't those who booked early not put on the first flight out ? Bitterly Disappointed. Steve D. (17/09/05)

* This is not just a problem of the unlucky travellers it is a problem of every Everton Fan. If there's any real evidence that corporate travellers were put ahead of ordinary fans and that misinformation was used to hide this fact then it is scandalous! The ploy to get rid of the supporters by telling them they could board the plane is disgusting and an investigation needs to be carried out and a full report needs to be issued from Everton highlighting what was to blame and what changes will be made next time, if we are ever to have confidence that people will not be treated so badly in the future. The ordinary fans will be there when times are hard - and it looks like that may not be too far away - treasure the loyal support - they buy the expensive tea, pies, shirts, tickets etc etc, it is their kids who pester them for the new strip every year included the hardly worn 3rd strips and it is working peoples cash which pays the big pay packets - treat them with contempt at your peril EFC! Going to goodison for 43 years and always will, if it was all about winning I wouldn't be a blue! Stan Afflick. (17/09/05)

* Woke up an hour or so ago numb as fuck realising the 2nd half wasn't a bad dream. Then read on BK what had happened to some of the fans trying to get a flight & felt a thousand times worse. Christ all fucking mighty. Up until now I've been prepared to put up with the endless bullshit and lies from Luvvie Bill, well not any fucking longer. Not even Chelski or Man Ure would treat supporters in such a contemptuous manner. The club's administration is a fucking disgrace & should resign en masse. Guess how many will? Most certainly it is time for our
knobhead chairman to fuck off back to pantoland & Wyness to something he'd be more suited to, like trying to run a burger van. Neil. (17/09/05)

* 100 % Everton football clubs fault. If you want to charge top notch prices give a top notch service. It would be nice to say that the lads and girls, who missed out, many go every game would be offered a free trip on our next european adventure, unfortunately that could be some time off. Just like 95 incompetence will be what fans talk about again, but what do they care Blue Billy was on the telly again. Martin. (16/09/05)

* Once again the fans are left swinging by the club. Things like this are known well in advance, and to be left in the airport (they never tell you, that's the worst part!) Maybe were not up to European soccer. The ticket arrangements are always a joke. Even the red shite can organise better. Brian Simms (16/09/05)

* I am one of the fans who was left at John Lennon Airport. I bought my ticket and travel from Everton. I was 6th in the queue having been there from 6.00am on the morning they were sold. Yes I love Everton that much. My flight ticket says trip 1. Yet when I arrived at the gate to board a plane the officials said that I was on another plane. Surely with a ticket saying Trip 1 that was the plane I should have boarded. It makes me think that Everton new about this and decided to get all the Corporate people on board and leave the rest.

I'm disgusted with the Everton stewarding. They were the official people we approached for information. They told us nothing. I have been up from 4.00am this morning. I was told at 1.00pm to go to Gate 14. This was right at the end of the airport. You had to go through a doorway to get to it. When the fans were in like a pen the door was closed. When I arrived there, the fans were surrounded by police and told the flight was cancelled. Then told to leave the terminal. Obviously fans were upset. The police just frogmarched fans out. Then more police came with dogs. Some fans were arrested. It's absolutely scandalous. No sign of the stewards.

When outside a group of about 15 of us decided to go to Goodison. When we finally saw someone, the person said it was out of their hands, but that Everton had been given the fans vouchers for food and drink. Not so. The group I was with never got any. So someone had them. I feel utterly dejected. I don't even think I'll watch the game. Harry. (15/09/05)

* We were told nothing by the stewards at the airport. Some fans said that the radio was saying that ATP had gone bust. I rang ATP to get some information and was told that the firm had not gone bust and that a plane in Birmingham was to fly up, when they had a pilot as the original pilot was ill. I told the head steward this information. To my amazement he told me he "knew this at 7.00am" I asked why he hadn't let the fans know as it was now 10.30am. He said that they didn't think it was important. You have 200 fans not knowing what's going on and the head steward keeps the information to himself. At that time we all still thought we would still be flying. In fact the fans were singing Everton songs and in good humour.

When we were finally told to go to Gate 14, I got a phone call so I stayed back taking the call. When I got to gate 14, the door was closed and I noticed quite a few police. I then feared the worst. What I witnessed next was unbelievable, the head steward called all the stewards to him and informed the rest of the stewards that the flight was cancelled and that they wouldn't be going into the room where the fans were, because 'they will have a go at us'. He told them to leave via another exit. A few stewards spoke out saying " We can't leave then. We should be with them." The head steward said: "You are still working for Everton. Go out now." Some still protested, but then they all left. Everton at their best! Terry. (15/09/05)

* It was madness. Everyone was shouting and it kicked off and then the arrests started. It's understandable that they don't want trouble in the airport but it's mayhem. People are really upset. There was so much anticipation over this trip. We should have been having a drink in a square in Bucharest by now. Jonathan Deus. (15/09/05)

8.30am called to gate

9.00am three other flights have boarded from gate we were called to, we were sent away

12.00pm told by ATP representative an announcement would be made shortly

1.00pm called to gate 14, and shepherded to baggage collection by police.

* Being one of the 164 left stranded in JLA Bar ( until it closed at about midday !), can I just ask you to put up the ATP telephone numbers cos the club aren't volunteering them. the main number is 08704 603451 - they will then pass you on to 0207 8033000 - who will say they will ring you back and won't.

Once again Everton are denying any responsibility for this latest fiasco , but they have at least got to get a new travel agent for the next round. Also, the EFC stewards ploy for getting people out of the airport was to say the flight was ready and ask people to go to gate 14 , where they found themselves surrounded by the police and escorted out of the airport. Peoples Club? You ARE havin a laugh. Ando. (15/09/05)