Everton
FC E-mails 220 - Stadium Special (3)
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Whatever
you think e-mail your views to info@bluekipper.com
We have had hundreds of mails on the proposed Stadium Move. We will put them on the site over the next few days Don't Surrender Our Rationality Over the last 19 years, since our last period at the top of English football, I have watched in dismay as Everton have slipped gradually from their status as one of the ‘big five’, as it was then called, into being Premiership make-weights. In the mid-nineties, when the ground move was first tabled, I thought that this was essential if our club was to raise its profile and generate the extra income that has always been vital to this game. It was just a shame that Johnson was behind it! Let’s not forget that Everton were called ‘the Millionaires’ back in the 60s and it was John Moores cash that enabled us to ‘buy’ the type players that now hot foot out of GP to Old Trafford. Do you think Alan Ball came to Everton because he loved the history and the tradition or because Everton offered the greatest chance of success and a large pay-cheque? Finance doesn’t guarantee success, but without it no club, will win the Premiership. The Kings Dock saga was also correct in its intentions and unfortunately, as this did not materialise, another option has to be looked at. We have two choices as fans. One is to stay at Goodison Park and keep our finances on an even keel by selling our best players (forced or otherwise). The other is to move with the times and generate cash off the field by jumping into bed with corporate giants. (I personally shop locally but if someone is going to be Tesco’s bitch I’d rather it was us than another team who would end up coming from the arse end of nowhere, to our old historic ground and rolling us over because the only quality midfielders we can afford are out injured. I’ve spent too many cold and wet winter days paying for the privilege of watching this. Kirkby is, for all intents and purposes, Liverpool. It may not fall under the council boundaries but it used to and surely everyone agrees that people born there are Scousers. It’s not the Wirral for God Sake! The argument of Everton Surrendering the City to Liverpool just does not hold water. People support their chosen team in this city not because of where they are born or live but because of their parents and grandparents. Evertonians will not let there offspring defect to the dark side just because the ground is not in L4. I think some geographical distance between us and them might not be a bad thing either. Firstly, I’m sick and tired of hearing ‘we don’t care what the red sh*te say’ or ‘hanging kopites one by one’. It’s patently obvious that we do care what they do cos we’re always singing about it. How about a decent anthem that is just about Everton and has more than the repetition of our name in it! It is time for Everton to reassert their individual identity and focus on what we used to do in the days before colour TV… being the best team in the world. I am convinced if Liverpool had already agreed to move to Halewood there wouldn’t be any negative reaction to this announcement. The ‘surrender’ of Stanley Park will not be our downfall but what will be is if we continue to surrender our rationality! David Mooney. (18/12/06) Embrace A Move A
move to somewhere is essential and part of the future, we should embrace
a move and wherever we go it will become our home very quickly. Move before it's too late! I
think we should definitely move away from Goodison. I know that it has
one of the greatest history's of any ground in Europe, but that doesn't
mean we have to stay here forever. If we don't move now then when will
we? In another 10 years? Another 20? Or will it have fallen down by then? We've Voted To Move Before What a fucking joke this stadium move has become. I never thought i would say this but we starting to sound like the shite with all the moaning. we need to face facts Liverpool city council have screwed us, they haven't done a thing to help us since we first suggested a ground moved. we have to remember our original option was Stanley Park and they turned us down, we wanted the king dock, they hardly helped us with that and any other plan we have had they have shit on. Now we have been offered prime land, a company wanting to support us and the distinct opportunity of attracting real investment into the club and we moan about it because the proposed site is less and 1/4 mile outside the city boundaries. Everton football Club is not about location, it is about Everton football club, so lets do what we do best and support our club. And remember we all voted about a ground moved 8/9 years and site was Kirkby Golf Course and we all voted in Favor of it, have we all got short memories! Sharpy from Kirkby. (18/12/06) Let's Thrive I
am fed up with all the pessimism regarding moving ground, some suggesting
that we will have no support in the future, if we move "outside the
city". Kirkby has a Liverpool postcode, so as far as I am concerned,
Kirkby is in Liverpool. Sure it is not served by Liverpool city council
but by Knowsley, all this means is that different people are responsible
for emptying bins in Kirkby than in Walton. Let
me start by stating categorically that I hate the thought of Everton leaving
the city boundaries. It would be gut wrenching to not be able to Liverpool prides it self on having 2 major clubs in its city but will not make provisions to let it remain the case. We cannot wait any longer. Everton need a new stadium. That is an undisputable FACT! If liverpool council will not give us any support but knowsley will bend over backwards (it seems) to accommodate us I feel it is too good an opportunity to turn down. Trust
in Bill, he bleeds blue and I believe this is as heartbreaking for him
as it is for us but at the end of the day we are a sleeping giant and
the We Need To Move As an Evertonian In the South West of England I find It Inevitable that this move will happen. However, I feel It Is such a crying shame that Everton will move out of the city, and that surely cannot be good for Everton's long term future, although I do understand that a need to move Is sadly Inevitable (typed with a very heavy heart). Take care. From Justin. (18/12/06) Lazy Gets Get over the move to Kirkby. Everyone is going on that it's in the sticks. Its only 2 stops from Kirkdale. Lazy gets. Stop moaning an concentrate on the league and the push for Europe. Up the Toffees. Ste EFC. (18/12/06) L Postcode It seems to me that the people who are against the move to Kirkby (With an L postcode) all live within a couple of miles of Goodison and therefore would have to get their fat lazy arses into gear of a Saturday instead of staying in the Pub till 2.50pm. Does this mean that Alan Stubbs (Kirkby), Tony Hibbert (Huyton), Peter Reid (Huyton) are not scouser’s??? I don’t think so – Look further than the end of your nose!!!!! John Y, Huyton with an L postcode a proud blue and SCOUSER. (18/12/06) Undecided At this present moment I am undecided about the move to Kirkby. I believe it is Tesco who have identified the site and not the club. I too believe that LCC should make more of an effort to keep EFC within the boundaries, though it pains me to say so, the club should look to the south of the city. Because both clubs are situated in the north end, by moving to the south end we open up a bigger catchment area for future supporters. There is already a better infrastructure in the south, especially if looking around the old airfield. I have no problems with kirby, but with a little cynicism it is easy to see that it is Tesco driving this plan forward with the club happily tagging along. I accept that Goodison has had it's day, so to be hit with a double whammy of leaving Goodison and leaving the city is a bit hard to swallow. I heard reports that LCC had offered EFC a site close to Heritage market, close to Sandhills, which would be worth looking at, but with the r/s having restrictions due to infrastructure, I can see that coming into play with that proposal. Look south, within the city. Magic Juan. (18/12/06) Follow Everton Anywhere I
would follow Everton to the ends of the earth to support them, and Kirkby
is nowhere near the ends of the earth. Get off your high horse Like
it or not Everton need the money from investors and the Tesco money is
ideal, lets face it no one else has shown an interest? But Tesco will
not want to build a retail park in Liverpool there are too many already
(there's even one in speke). The new stadium in kirkby would be only 4,
yes 4, miles from Goodison and even less from the city boundary that everyone
keeps bleating about. Remember these boundaries only And as for losing future generations of supporters, wake up and smell the coffee. Remember Evertonians are born not manufactured. And as for the stick off the RS. Don't you think that is a little hypocritical after all they will soon be owned by an arab!!! Anyway there is foreign investment into that club every home game, lets face it there is very little English money spent there. All that crap that Chelski are buying success and how it's not real, they haven't earned it. It's all gone a bit quiet now, hasn't it????? Leaving Goodison Park is not an option is is a must and to all you people that wont go to a stadium in knowsley - Call Y'self an Evertonian? Steve, Liverpool. (18/12/06) Name Game It should called "THE SCIENCE STADIUM!", but I bet blue bill has already agreed with tesco to name it THE TESCO STADIUM!! ALAN ORDISH. (18/12/06) Stay At Goodison Someone please explain to me why a new ground AUTOMATICALLY means more profit? More revenues possibly – but more profit and therefore money for better players……? Not proven. Also let’s be clear as to the obstacles preventing the upgrading and expansion of GP. Obviously there are the financial aspects, but these are there whether we redevelop or leave. But the real obstacle is the refusal of the Council to support any extension to the GP ‘footprint’. The club has previously of course extended its ownership of surrounding land at the Park End. There was also a time in the 90s when Peter Johnson ordered the buying of the houses in Gwladys Street. If the Club was free to bid for and buy the land between Bullens Rd and Walton Lane then it would have all it needed to construct a 50,000+ stadium with attendant facilities. What about the school? Well why not have it housed inside one of the stadium stands? What a coup for the ‘local community’ aspect of the Club’s activities. Playground? One of the stadium’s car park areas. Can’t be done? That’s what they said about St James’s Park and Old Trafford. It can be done. It requires vision; it requires money – it also requires a supportive City Council. Stephen Carse. (15/12/06) Listen To The People Dear "Blue Bill", we are EVERTON FC - The Peoples Club!!!! well listen to the fucking people. Who wants to be the biggest club just outside of Liverpool when we can be the biggest club in Liverpool. Born a blue, live a blue, die a blue. NSNO. John Byrne. (15/12/06) Ground Move Fellow Evertonians. Kirkby is only a couple of miles away from our home so why not move if it means getting a modern stadium. Let's go where we are wanted as LCC seem to pander to the redshite and treat EFC as second class. Think of all the positives a new ground would bring and they outweigh staying where we are. Goodison park will always be close to the heart of Evertonians but the future is there for the taking. Imagine if we had stayed at analfield way back when, Goodison Park would never had existed, but the name of Everton would still have been there as it will if we take this opportunity to move forward again as we did then. John. (15/12/06) Remain In The City Please convey my remarks to who will listen,I am not talking sentimental Or being a old fashioned supporter but why have we got to leave our spiritual home,I am fifty Years of age and the buzz I still and have always had when I walk down to the ground on match days Is nothing short of feeling part of something special, I am really saddened to think that if we move, we will become a club of profit not heart and without a heart things die,all of my family have supported EVERTON probably since EVERTON was formed,what will this ground move do for EVERTONIONS,it will make us a heartless club which will destroy its lifeline us the supporters,and bring in people who don't give a dam about anything else but to be seen in company boxes acting like prats with the look at us syndrome,well if that is what Mr kenwright wants well he is welcome to my season ticket and my seat and give it to a loads a money prat who has nothing like the blue blood me and the many EVERTONIONS have ,I don't want us to be called knowsley united I want us to remain in the city and be called EVERTON what's our name exactly renovate GOODISON don't take its heart away Kind regards TRUE BLUE. (15/12/06) Move Is A Must Here's
a thought....who would you rather be right now? Good Support Lets face it we will have to move, with Tesco and a council on our side, support second to non, mostly from within 20miles of GP ( I come from Widnes and don't miss any home games). We will have one of the biggest most profitable company's as partners and we will all still be BRITISH .Tesco don't go into things with the idea of loosing money,the marketing of the club will then be, i'm sure, a lot better than it has been for many years lets move on together as the PEOPLES CLUB. Phil (15/12/06) I'm Up For It So, they want to move to Kirkby, eh? Ok, he’s my 5p worth. I’m up for it, a great idea. Why? Well, let me tell you a couple of facts regarding this club that most people seem to forget. Politics, yes, the majority of Scousers are Evertonians, I know that, Parry the Rat knows that, Kilfoyle knows that. But, politics in this city has been rotten to the core for years – when we wanted to develop Goodison it was “NO,NO,NO”, yet the leather apron load in Analfield give the good ahead without proper financial backing. What can be done? We have to rise to the top, as cream always does. So, we have to be clever; we have to be savvy, if we moved to Speke, we’d have the same bloody arguments (it’s out of the way, not in the City, etc), well, tough. LCC won’t help so Knowlsey will, great, I’ll take that option, sounds good to me. Fan base – ok, we all know we can fill GP over and over week in and week out, but remember, as North Wales, Yorkshire, Runcorn, Warrington supply us with a huge fan base as well, there’s no transport infrastructure, there’s no parking, it’s a mess. LCC will bend over and take it for the shite, not for us. I'm originally from North Wales but live in the South now, but don't forget the thousands to come into the City everytime to visit the shrine, home and away. Remember the visiting fans bring their dosh to - we want to make the club a viable giant, competing in the top 5 - if this gives us the capital to do it, I'm well for it. Holty’s e-mail says it all, Middlesborough, Bolton Wanderers, Derby County, all moved out of town, even Sunderland to the city limits, but with good transport links, they are all tidy; if you remember the old Baseball Ground in Derby, fuck me, that was a hole, but look what it did for the club when they moved. And, it's not a Wimbledon job is it - Stubbs is from Kirby isn't he, are you telling me he's not a Blue because he's from Kirby? Talk sense. Kevin Perkes is right also, a tram to Kirby, (there used to be one I believe may yonks ago), what a bloody good idea. An finally, the old ground – have a look around and see the mess that the government and the LCC and the housing associations have made around GP and Analfield – boards up houses, ghettos for want of a better word, regeneration (my arse), people ashamed to say they’re from the area, I saw an article on Sky last week, people afraid to show their faces as it’s turning into Moss Side. The regeneration is way way too late -if we stay we will be symbolic of the same slanderous and cancerous way that people who don’t come from this City portray us as. Breaking away from GP does not mean leaving the City. The shite can have Stanley Park, I’m true blue, and Everton is the club of the whole metropolitan area of Liverpool; we’re bigger than that, we will overcome. All I’m saying is don’t knock Kirkby, L33 here we come, and it’s sounds better than King’s Dock, and it wont be in some millionaire's back pocket overseas. No one would say owt if Leahy worked for Owen Owen. Rich Welsh Blues. (15/12/06) New Ground Debate I find it hilarious that so many people are panicking about the proposed move to Kirkby. There are so many points to favor a move, the complaints don't stack up: 1: "I don't want to travel the extra 4 miles to Kirkby" - Tough. The majority of people with this gripe probably live in close proximity to the ground and are just lazy. When I was a kid I traveled from Formby every week, I now travel from Manchester. If you can't get the train for 5 mins to watch your team there's something wrong. 2: "It's about tradition"- Like it or not football has moved on and attracts a different type of person. Goodison has inadequate transport links and, to be fair, is in a dangerous place. Do you think your average professional taking his kid to the game wants to get of the train to Bank Hall and walk through an area inhabited by people who would mug him as soon as look at him? I have been attacked more times than I care to remember on my way to the game. The new ground will have decent parking facilities and transport links, not only providing improved access but protecting hard working people from the dole-ite, tracksuited yobs who prey on them. 3: "We're surrendering the City to Liverpool" - No we're not. We are moving to a new ground 4 miles away. It's not Norway. You ask anyone from outside Liverpool where Kirkby is and they'll say 'Liverpool'. Bolton's new ground is in Horwich, which is nearer to Wigan, yet no one questions the fact that they are Bolton Wanderers. It is sheer idiocy to assume that Everton will lose their identity because the wheelie bins around the ground aren't purple. Chris, Evertonian in exile in Manchester. (15/12/06) So we're thinking of moving to Kirkby. Does this make us traitors or is it yet another stage to show how much we've grown? We started out as a church team. Due to our popularity we had to move from the church, then we moved from the parish and change our name. After establishing ourselves with the public and their support we were confidant enough to move yet another ground and change the colour of our shirts. Yes it is all part of our history and tradition and shows how we helped to shape the game over 100 years ago and bring football into the modern era of being a television sport. But we have to think hard and look at reality. I wonder if the people of Saint Domingo Church had sadness, regret or a warm feeling of achievement when we had to move to Priory Road? Did my great granddad go around with a petition trying to boycott our support if we dared to turn up in Stanley Park and had the mordacity not to play in black? We'll never know of course. But with this short section of what is now an important piece of history we help set ourselves up for the future with a sound, secure structure to move on in the game and introduce innovative ideas for others to follow. You know them all by now but think where today's game would be without seats, all around the ground and on two tiers, without floodlights, without programs, even testimonial matches. All of this help promote football to the position where television wanted a piece of the action. This is where the story changes. We didn't embrace television. Liverpool Football Club did and as a result the UK public suddenly knew of their existence and didn't even realise that Everton is in the city of Liverpool. They claim to have a glorious history. Their history didn't start until television and even then it was in colour not black and white. Today, forty years later, I now live in Carlisle and people are still unaware that Everton is in Liverpool. They question me about why I support a team 'from another place' when I'm a Scouser, I should support my own city. All laughable I know when we go on and on about Kopites coming from Norway and Devon (I love it on Radio 5, 6-0-6 phone in when the Red supporters come on, try keeping a tally on how many of them are Scousers hilarious.) But this all goes to show how the game has changed. The clubs don't shape the direction of the sport anymore. Television money and corporate sponsorship dictate what happens next. Sadly it's a reality and we have to join in just to play catch up before we even try to take the sport back into our own hands and try to run with new directions for all to follow. So what are we to do? Stay still whilst everyone else moves on? We did that when television came knocking and paid the price. Do we move onwards and hopefully upwards? We did that in November 1879 and paid that price too? Some things we'll live to regret, others we'll be proud we did eventually. It's tough I know. It's more than a big decision. We've been there before, just that it wasn't any of us who are alive today; it was our great grand fathers. No doubt some die hards left us back then to set up a rival team, you know who' and you know what you think of them today. So, are you coming with us wherever we move to? Or are you to set up your own team to rival us? At least you'll know what we'll think of you in a hundred years time. I know, why should it bother you? You won't be around; but think of your grand children. Gwladys. (15/12/06) Steps I
believe that if everton where to move to kirkby it will be 1 step back
to take 2 or 3 steps forward an this has to be done if everton as a business
and a football team are going to progress into the club we once was. and
if moving 4 miles down the road stops fans coming to watch the blues then
we don't need them fans. they would only be 1 game wonders like the 20,000
kopites that cram into analfeild with the other 25.000 Scandinavians,
an pack***. so i say lets move to kirkby and take a risk that will pay
off for the sake of this GREAT football club. What Do You Think? Have your say! e-mail info@bluekipper.com |