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The Joke Vote For Just 20,000

I've been going to Goodison for 40 years. My Dad and his Dad went for years before me. Nothing unusual in that. There are thousands and thousands of good Evertonians like me. My big sin is I've never had a season ticket. I've been to nearly every home game in those 40 years and I get to about 10 away games per season. The reason I don't get a season ticket is that I can't afford one lump some every season. Not a problem to me, I still get to see my beloved Everton every week. Now I'm told I'm not being allowed to vote in the biggest decision in the clubs history. Why because I can't afford a season ticket. What makes it worse is that these self appointed mouthpieces of the fans in their latest KEIOC statement start off that they are 'pleased' with their work that they have achieved 'one fan, one vote.' What did they think it was going to be? 50 votes for each member of the main stand and 2 votes for everyone in the Gwladys street. Let me tell them the club will do exactly what they want. They are only giving lip service to KEIOC. The club are scared about the vote, so they have the shareholders and the season ticket holders voting, leaving over 20,000 Everton fans having no say in the future of their club. An absolute disgrace. And a group of self appointed Evertonians pleased. Peter Johnson was a rogue, but he let all the fans have a vote. Peter. (22/06/07)

Stadium Debate

After reading many articles here and elsewhere and speaking to Blues where ever I go, I have 3 points to make on this debate.

Do we REALLY want to have a stadium like what we see at Bolton, Reading, Wigan, Coventry? Move to a new stadium gives us a huge number of seats to fill. The general consensus is 60,000. Granted we have enough fans to fill them but would we fill it week in / week out? Doubtful. Would we sell all of the corporate suites? Doubtful. Once you arrive at your destination for afternoon football in any of these towns, what do you do? Fuck all because the wife/ girlfriend/ ‘partner’ isn’t with you to shop and the nearest pub for an ale is 20 minutes walk in the pissing rain. Going to these places is heartless. There’s nothing ‘nice’ about them. And what’s more, when you are there, it’s a fucking nightmare to get away from them. Apologies first but, go to Fulham. The ground is a shit hole. But it’s got what it needs. It’s in the community, where it’s wanted, where they can get to it.

Remember when they built the New Mersey Tunnel? Neither do I, I’m too young (30). What I do know are the TV documentaries showing what the community around the Vauxhall area was like before they ripped the middle of it out in favour of a fucking great hole to get to the Wirral. Take away the reason why the people are in the area and the area dies. I’m not Einstein. Vauxhall had a large portion of people dislodged from their homes when the tunnel was built. The construction went through the middle of a community. It’s taken the Council 40 years to realise they need to re-develop the area. Are they doing this because of 2008 and they have buckets full of cash to spend and it’s close to the city centre? What ever their motive, it cost them then and is costing a fortune now. L4 be warned. What a great place it is to go and watch football. I don’t go there during the week or other than for the football. Maybe I should. When you are there you are made welcome. What a disaster it would be to remove the soul from this community. How many shops would be there without ‘football trade’? For those who are relatively housebound- where do they shop when the local store can’t survive? I suggest that the council of Liverpool would end up with a situation similar and no idea how to fix it.

What can the club do on the current site with a little support from the Council? Supposing the council wants revenue (taxes and all the other perks that come with people visiting their ‘Capital of Culture’ show-pony), in 4 phases the development of GP could be complete. Anyone courteous enough to give www.keioc.net a viewing will read that we start with an initial downturn in capacity to about 29, 000. After 6 months or so we’re up to 40 odd. So this goes on for the next couple of years until we have 55, 000 seats at the current site. We’ll have corporate boxes encircling the stadium, brand new bogs for those who love to spend the day in them, a bit of a hotel providing more jobs and revenue and all still at L4 4EL. Fucking ingenious I thought. Before anyone says; ‘what about the lost revenue?’ You get the return on it with a slightly inflated stand ticket price to start, increased (up front) sales from corporate hospitality and finally the increased capacity at the end and for the rest of the life of a shiny new stadium in a place where the majority want it. Now that the exclusivity has ended with the Kirkby site, hopefully we can move in this direction. The residents of Kirkby are supporting us- rejecting a stadium and saying the club should BALLOT- as they promised. Bring on a Grand ‘New’ Lady. Cheers, Spirit of the Blues. U Gwladys. (22/06/07)

Kirkby. Are We Really That Desperate?

I can't help feeling gobsmacked that we are even discussing moving Everton Football Club out of this city. Shankly's old cliche about there being only two teams in Liverpool will soon be right. Isn't anyone feeling a bit indignant about all this? I think some of us don't mind having our noses rubbed in it. We have been the senior team in this city for the best part of the last century. Doesn't anyone feel aggrieved that we have been let down by the Liverpool FC Council on this one??? Does everyone really get it how much the Council are doing at the moment for LFC- the infrastructure they're building?- the regeneration they've promised as a sweetener on LFC's behalf? All this so they could build in a park which we weren't allowed to touch. Anyone going to feel happy when you can't park at the Vernon Sangster because they're building their corrupt new ground? When did we get this pathetic and second class? A stadium is there for a hundred years and this is an outdated concept before we even start. Windswept characterless retail parks on the edge of motorways suit one thing only and thats the crappy retail experience in the car. Has anyone tried to get out of Bolton's ground after a game? Has anyone wondered how come Derby, Coventry, Sunderland, Middlesborough, Man City, Blackburn etc etc arent in the Champions league since they got a new grounds? I've been to most of them and the football's shite...if its football you're after that is. We've got the best squad we've had in years, we've got more money coming in through TV deals in years. We
aren't as desperate as we are being led to believe. We have got time to reject this joke and put serious pressure on the inept Liverpool Council and truly expose how they've favoured one team over the other.

The NWDA had to be dragged kicking and screaming into putting public money into a single club stadium in Stanley Park. Has anyone stopped to think where the money is coming from to build this new stadium? Is Tesco going to "give" it to us for free? Do Tesco's ever do anything for nothing? They're only planning a retail development - is this seriously going to stack up if they fork out £100 million plus on a stadium for us gratis? You need to spend half a million in their shops to get a crappy laptop for the school. What they have got is a smart publicity machine and a development department which drives a coach and horses through real local views everywhere it goes. In who's interests was it for EFC to sign an exclusivity agreement - why should EFC have not kept its options open? We owe Tescos nothing. Make no mistake this has already got serious momentum behind the scenes. They don't pay their designers and consultants thousands (probably over a million by now) chasing lost causes.

If, or when we get asked our view, you can bet the choice we will be offered will be a phoney one: Either go to Kirkby, redevelop Goodison (and we know that is a non starter don't we), or do nothing (and what luddite is going to vote for doing nothing). So my guess is we will in effect be offered no choice and the trust Bill brigade will win the day. A real option should be for the club to hold its plans and start a campaign to put real pressure on the city council to move mountains (like they did for LFC) and expose this injustice and find us a real proposition. One which keeps us in the city, where home and away supporters can enjoy a vibrant booming city before and after a game, where you can hop a cab, a bus, a train, walk home, stay around in town or whatever. If you object to moving to Kirkby, it doesn't mean you want to stay put...but we shouldn't do it at any price. Mark, Garston. (22/06/07)

Stadium

Hi fellow Evertonians. I have followed our team and can remember my dad dropping me off in the boys pen. Then he would go for a pint. What great days. I guess it's time we changed but before you vote bear in mind Stoke City. They moved to a new stadium and just like us they needed to move or rebuild. They couldn't afford to rebuild so move they did into a new stadium away from the city. No atmosphere in the ground but just as important everyone used to meet in the city and go for a drink and talk football the walk to the match, then do the same after. Now it's in the middle off nowhere and a way of football supporting life has gone and even if they ever get back in the premier. I don't think they will get it back. Are we prepared to let this happen to us. I would be the first to agree a new stadium would be fantastic but I would hate to lose this tradition. So when the plans come out if their is no clubs, pubs and many bars enough to cater for up to 10,000 at least then I may say no. Getting easy access to the M62 or M57 isn't everything. Having a massive new stadium with no atmosphere is a no no. Lets hope the new stadium has thought about these things and also it would be just as easy to have the middle section of the new Street End to have our rightful standing section which was cruelly taken away. The way I would do it is the same amount of supporters would be able to apply for these seats but their would be no seats but a barrier in every isle across for protection and your standing number on the floor and barrier in front of you. This way there would never be overcrowding and there would be no safety risk. If you didn't like your standing position you could apply for a swap at the end of the season, or if you didn't sing enough if more than 2 people near you wanted they could vote you out. This could happen with the will of the club and supporters.What ever the out come lets all be as one. Andy Finigan. (22/06/07)

Stay In Walton

Sorry Alan. Walton is not a dump. It is not a prime area of the city either. But to many of us, it's home to our club and we want to remain in the area. I won't argue the points for a move because it won't be down to me. I will put you right about your 'two pints and a bag of crisps' jibe. I'm forty four and enjoy going into some of the pubs around the ground post match. I go into different ones at different times and can assure you that the pubs do well from the fans (ask them yourself). What is wrong with a sing song in the Wilmslow after the game? what's so 'gangsta' about it?. People are enjoying themselves, why change it.

If the club can be run more professionally and not carry on like in recent years, then investors may well take notice. A new ground on the original site is a possibility if the people in charge at EFC can show investors they know what they are doing. The area around the ground will improve as the council will be taking part in the venture. The pubs will improve, no one will invest now with the uncertainty about a new stadium.

Forget Munich and Leipzig. The club has been going for over 125 years and tradition is a big thing to some of us and was to many who have passed on. Younger Blues will do the same as us in years to come. They will go in the same pubs. Entertainment outside the ground will never work, we are to old in the tooth for it. It may not be everyone's cup of tea but neither is waiting in car parks trying to get home. I know the area of Kirkby and I don't think it will be as rosie as some make out. I feel it will kill the club.

I respect your view Alan but please, don't insult us. Dave Charles. (22/06/07)

No To Kirkby

Sorry, I'm not from the city but bring my boys and wife (a West Ham fan ) to Goodison Park about 3 or 4 times a year. When we do, we make a weekend of it and pump at least £500 into the economy - half of which goes to Everton F.C. We love Liverpool, the people and their humour, The Beatles, and the fantastic maritime history of the place. It has never let us down! The highlight of each visit is going to watch our blue boys at Goodison. The feeling we all get (yes even the wife) getting off the bus and seeing the ground is always a special feeling, no, a unique feeling, ( it has only one equal, watching Wales at The Millenium Stadium) . There seemed to be no way of building a super stadium in the middle of Cardiff but look what they achieved there. The question I am constantly asking myself is would I take my blue family to a stadium probably named after a pretentious corner shop, half empty with little character and atmosphere on the outskirts of Liverpool? The probable answer is no! We love our Everton experience and it would break our hearts to see an overspill car park for the redshite on our turf. The move to Kirkby has to be a no, If we feel like this living in West Wales, I would expect all true blue bloods to feel the same!! Please don't let the reds win this one, it would be a disaster, an absolute nightmare!! Colin Reynolds. (22/06/07)

Stay In The City

I have never lived in Liverpool, but my dad and his dad etc all grew up and lived in the city. I am the 5th generation of Evertonian in my family, tracing it back right to the origins of the club, yet it is Liverpool I call home. One of the most enjoyable parts of attending the match I find is the banter you get when walking up to Goodison, with both my family and the fellow Blue's around us. As the excitement builds and the singing starts, this is something that will not be re-created in Kirkby. Yes, it is only 5miles out of the city, but when 40,000 must get a bus or train to the ground, it becomes ridiculous.

Everton can simply not afford to move to kirkby. As a short-term solution it is fantastic, but it makes far better financial sense to stay in the city boundaries. It has been said before but you HAVE to look at the long-term aspirations of this club. There will be a huge loss in support by moving out of the city, even just a little way. It is not the next generation of supporters that is the issue, nor the generation after that, but in 100years time that the club must look at, and the loss of support by then will be great, you must bank on teams such as Wigan dropping 2divisions to pick up their support aswell to counter the loss.

For Liverpool to become a 1 club city it hugely favours the council as it will provide a huge boost in support and revenue for that one club, further providing success. They have to city's name and at the moment are the premier club.

The Council's of major city's such as Barcelona wouldn't bat and eye-lid if Espanyol decided to move out of the boundaries, as it further benefits FC Barcelona and the city's future sporting triumph hopes by keeping only the 1st club bearing the city name. The same goes for Sevilla and Betis.

The council are very unlikely to find a site that is suitable for Everton's needs, and the support of Tesco may even be lost in the process, but if they are unwilling it is up to us to find a suitable site. Whether the stadium is the best, most innovative in the world or not, it is important to remain in the city, the place we all call home.

Walton

Re:Alan Wynne..17/06/07. Walton's a dump……cheeky b*stard your no blue brother of mine. P!ss off back to the rock from under which you crawled !! James. (22/06/07)

We Will Follow The Team

I thought I would have another look at the stadium debate, nothing has changed.

1) We do not fill our ground anyway, so why have a bigger better ground? Absolute rubbish, anyone who goes to the game will see that WE fill our sides of the Ground, but the away teams rarely fill their section, hence not capacity crowd. On this point, we have to acknowledge that EFC has an image problem, and this must be addressed, perhaps a new ground would attract a few more away fans, (following football is expensive, and many fans pick and choose their away days, so therefore if Nigel from Milton Keynes perceives LFC more glamorous than EFC, which game do you think he will choose to spend his money on?)

2) Another thing that annoys me are the people fortunate enough to live within walking distance of Goodison Park, crying foul about having to travel to games on public/private transport, (we wont be able to have a bevvy!). Welcome to the real world, the vast majority of our support already live with these problems, and have done so for many years.

3) Fans who presently walk to game will not go to Kirkby. Why not? what would they rather do, go shopping with the wife? Watch tiddlywinks/hockey on grandstand instead? get real, following Everton is a vocation, it makes no economical or scientific sense, but thousands of us do it every week.

4) Our support will wither away if we move. Why? If no-one wants the inconvenience of going to games that they cannot walk to, why do we always sell our full allocation at away games?

5) the reds will take the mickey if we leave Liverpool. So what, they take the mickey anyway, (as we do with them), it is called banter, and football would not be the same without it. Are we as a club so insecure that we cant make a decision incase some Kopite takes the p***? (" We don't care what the RS say" as the song goes).

6) Is Kirkby actually outside Liverpool? I don't think so, when I look at postcodes, or phone numbers, but apparently postcodes/phone numbers are irrelevant, the only thing you can judge "Liverpoolness" on, is by who empties bins/maintains street lighting. This argument is like saying Uk is not in Europe. I will be sad to leave Goodison (if indeed that is what it comes to), but I will still love and follow Everton. John Molyneux. (22/06/07)

Coventry's Ricoh Arena - A few facts.

Tesco were nothing to do with the building of the Ricoh. It was financed and built by the Alan Higgs Trust and Coventry City council. There is a gargantuan Tescos nearby and they do sponsor a stand, but that is it.

With regard to transport links, the government are responsible for the green travel plan. Parking is available at the ground, but costs about £10. There is a parking exclusion zone around the ground of a mile and a half which means most people are forced to use the bus (there is no train station yet) or park in a local pub and pay about £4. There are plenty of pubs within 10 minutes walk of the stadium.

The facilities within the stadium are superb with a hotel (the rooms convert to hospitality boxes on match days) exhibition hall capable of holding rock concerts and also a casino located below the stadium, however the catering (run by the council) is poor in my opinion. Should the proposed takeover of Coventry City go through, there is proposed development of the stadium to include sports bars, upgrading of the interior areas under the stands and further club branding.

Please don't compare what Everton are trying to do with what we have done. We have brilliant facilities considering our financial situation however I do miss Highfield Road. I hope it all works out for you and we have a good stadium to visit when we finally get back up (May take a while!). Dave - Harrogate. (22/06/07)