The Ballot Question

Everton Football Club have released the ballot question through Mere PR. Ballot papers are due to go out in the next week. Here it is.

Ballot Question:

“Based on the foregoing information, the Board is inclined to pursue the building of a new stadium in Kirkby.

The Board promised to ballot Evertonians to ascertain their views on this move.

The question is –are you in favour of relocating Everton Football Club to Kirkby?

If the answer is “No”, no further negotiations on the current, proposed scheme will take place. If the answer is “yes”, we will continue negotiations with our two project partners.”

(26/07/07)

Under 18's Can Vote

Everton slamed 'silly rumours' suggesting supporters under the age of 18-years-old will not be permitted to vote in the impending new stadium ballot.

Cow Shed Or Three Sites

Warren Bradley called the proposed Everton stadium in Kirkby 'a cow shed'. In an exclusive interview for Blue Kipper, Everton C.E.O. Keith Wyness said that "We have not received anything that is deliverable on any other site."

Warren Bradley says: “If David Moores and his directors at Liverpool had the backbone to bite the bullet and sell their shares to investors, then I do not see why Everton directors cannot do the same. David Moores realised that the club was much bigger than him or any other director, and the result is proposals to build a £300m stadium for Liverpool that will be one of the finest anywhere. And what are Everton fans getting? A glorified cow shed built in a small town outside Liverpool. Everton will regret the day they sign up to the Kirkby deal, should they ever go down that route. In less than 50 years’ time, the stadium would have to be rebuilt. Look at what the likes of Liverpool and other big clubs are spending on stadia and then ask yourself what Everton can expect for £75m. It will be a cow shed.

First Images Of Proposed Stadium In Kirkby

The Blues today carried on their PR offensive when they revealed virtual images of the proposed new stadium in Kirkby.

The debate however rages on, with fans spilt over leaving the City Boundaries, to some not wanting to leave the Goodison footprint at all.

Bully, Blue Bill and Tesco Terry are all calling for the Blues to move to Kirkby, and it is said we could be playing in stadium within four years, one thing though, I hope they fix the floodlights, they seem to be pointing in the wrong direction. (20/07/07)

Deal Or Deal

Keith got all Evertonians talking today with his comments about "Deal Of The Century" and "No Plan B". Liverpool council leader Warren Bradley has had his say. Knowsley Council have had their say. Dave Kelly, spokesman for KEIOC has had his say.

Here is what they've all had to say

Keith says: "Emotions will be running very high on this issue and I understand that. As much as it would pain them to do it, fans will realise it is the only way forward to the future. The Evertonians are very reasonable. It is an amazing deal, the deal of the century. If the heart rules the head, we will never get an opportunity like this again.

We will be left with very little debt at the end of it. The deal compares very favourably with other clubs building new stadiums. We will be getting a very nice stadium for a small amount of money. There is no other site that we have found that will involve the same level of contribution.

The money to build the stadium is completely different to the money that goes on the team. This is bricks and mortar. But the extra revenue brought in from the new stadium will enable us to better compete on the pitch. It means that there will be more money flowing back to the manager, something in the region of £10m a year. There is a long way to go. If the fans vote in favour, which I am confident they will, we still have to go through the planning stages. There are potential for delays, but if everything goes smoothly, we could be ready by 2010.

If we have to carry on at Goodison, there will be serious issues. Attendance numbers will go down and then revenue will go down and when that happens, you can’t compete. There is no Plan B. There is no other option."

David Kelly says: "We believe that anybody who is a match-going Everton supporter should be able to take part in the ballot, simple as that. Supporters of the so-called People’s Club should not be disenfranchised. Bill Kenwright said he will put six or seven hours aside to discuss the ground move and the ballot, so I am shocked at their announcement.We had assurances it would be the first of a series of meetings to discuss any fears and seek our input.

Now they are saying they will enter into no further negotiations now they are in the ballot process. They gave us assurance there would be a consultation on this. Now the people of Kirkby are going to have a consultation but no ballot, and Everton supporters are going to have a ballot but no consultation."

Knowsley Council spokesman says: "Everton’s move to ballot their fans marks a further phase in the consultation on the possibility of Kirkby becoming the new location for the football club. It is critical that the opinions of Everton fans are known alongside the views of our own community.

Thousands of Kirkby residents and businesses have already had their say on how they want to see their town centre developed through a series of consultation events including a two-day community consultation drop in, which was followed up with a postal questionnaire to every household in Kirkby, neighbourhood meetings, meetings with businesses and a road show. We asked anyone with an interest in Kirkby to tell us what improvements they want to see made to their town centre. The results are being independently analysed and will be published in August.”

Warren Bradley says: "The difficult thing for us has been the exclusivity period between Everton, Knowsley and Tesco which means we have not been able to have formal talks with them. I have spoken to Terry Leahy about the sites we have identified as possible new homes for Everton and the fact that there is no reason Tesco could not build their store there either.

We have done more work on the sites and there are now more than two we have identified. If they ask ‘would you like a brand-new stadium with all the bells and whistles on’ then people will vote yes. But if it’s a fair question about whether fans want to leave Liverpool to go to Knowsley then I think the vast majority will answer no.

I don’t see why Everton and Liverpool City Council cannot come forward with a stadium in this city. I wish we could get round the table and talk about it. What I’m not prepared to do is put a huge piece of land up and cost Liverpool council taxpayers £50m. That’s not the way forward. As an Evertonian, and leader of the council, I don’t want to see one of the city’s oldest businesses leaving. (17/07/07)

Deal

Vote Coming Soon

Everton have today announced that many Evertonians have the chance to vote to ascertain the level of support for a possible relocation to a new stadium in Kirkby. Not 100% sure about what that means. Let Mr Wyness explain

Keith Bully Wyness says: "As we promised at our Annual General Meeting in December of last year, we will be holding a ballot amongst our supporter-base to ascertain the level of support for a possible relocation to a new stadium in Kirkby. There was never any question of us reneging on that promise and today we are able to give a basic outline of that balloting process.

Self-evidently this does represent a pivotal moment in our great Club's history and we believe it is only right and proper that our supporters are involved in the discussion and decision-making processes. We have worked studiously to ensure that this ballot is as inclusive as is possible. The plan all along was to include as many of our loyal supporters as we could - and we believe we have achieved this.

We are confident that a very, very high percentage of those who have historically supported the Club will now have the right to have their voices heard. Anyone who has held a season-ticket in the previous three seasons, along with anyone who has purchased one for the coming campaign, will be eligible as will any shareholder who has not held a season-ticket since the end of the 2003-2004 season. In addition all adult members of Evertonia during 2006/07 will also be eligible to participate.

Holders of complimentary season-tickets are not eligible and anyone who holds more than one season-ticket in his or her name will be permitted just one vote, an industry-standard requirement and one supported by the Electoral Reform Society who will arrange and conduct the ballot on our behalf. We have worked hard to ensure that as many genuine supporters as is possible will be able to participate and we believe that the final number of supporters who will be eligible will be in excess of 33,000 - a figure which, roughly, corresponds with the number of Evertonians present for our Premiership fixtures at Goodison Park.

We anticipate that ballot papers will go out in early-August which, with a three-week voting period, should provide us with a result towards the end of that month." (16/07/07)

Exclusivity Agreement Still Intact

Everton Football Club have been in touch with Blue Kipper to say that the rumour that the exclusivity agreement has ended is just that - a rumour and the agreement is still in force.

Liverpool City Council Leader and Everton Season Ticket Holder Warren Bradley, is keen to open negotiations with the Blues again, and it is rumoured that more sites for development will be made available for Everton, as the fight to keep the Blues in Liverpool continues.

Warren Bradley says: "We are keen to see Everton stay in the city and we have discussed two potential sites with the club that we believe could meet their needs." (20/06/07)

KEIOC Hit Back

Keep Everton in Our City (KEIOC) have slammed MP Peter Kilfoyle for only speaking out now in relation to Everton's proposed move away from Goodison. KEIOC have urged the Walton MP to engage in talks with themselves, and in doing so help them to come to a conclusion that will keep the Blues in Liverpool.

KEIOC Dave Kelly says: "We know Mr Kilfoyle was involved in discussions about Everton’s future as far back as January 2006, so I find it astonishing he’s now taken this attitude in June 2007. If he’s serious about keeping Everton in the city, we would like him to contact our group, the only organisation campaigning to do that." (15/06/07)