area? I've got grave reservations!
We scousers know that Kirkby IS in Liverpool, but as far as the global media
is concerned Everton will no longer be a Liverpool club.
If that happens, we'll be allowing the reds to take a visibly higher
position in terms of the City of Liverpool and do we really want to
surrender the City to the Liverpool fans?
Due to our name, most people outside of Liverpool already believe that
Everton FC is from another area of Merseyside, such as the Wirral - people
that sound similar, but not quite scousers.
I have to then explain that we Evertonians don't follow our team because we
come from the area, but that we CHOOSE to be Evertonians.
We didn't wait for the success bandwagon to come along and then claim to be supporters, because the team is named after our city. We are from
Liverpool, although our name is Everton, and we are very proud of it.
Back to the Kirkby project - No disrespect to our friends on the Wirral,
(and Kirkby) but the City of Liverpool is Everton's home.
Anyway, there are lots of sites in Liverpool that could be used for our new
ground, so let's drop the "there's nowhere else" argument.
Of course we need a new ground, but the plans for a 50,000 seater stadium
are too small, it needs to be a minimum of 60,000, with plans to increase
the capacity as we grow. There's hardly any point in leaving Goodison if we
only gain 10,000 or so extra seats.
And, in doing so, we would have to virtually sell out to Terry Leahy and the
Gold family, who already take one in every three pounds that we Brits spend.
If Tesco's board is that keen, why don't they buy the club, and put some
real investment into it?
I would rather share a 90,000 seater stadium with our neighbours, than
become the butt of red jokes about "buy a player - get one free", and
'you're no longer a Liverpool club'.
I don't believe that all of the options have been exhausted yet. And, it
strikes me that there is a 'Kirkby or nothing' argument coming from our
board of directors, which smacks of a gun-to-the-head!
If we still believe we are 'The Pride of Merseyside' and that nothing but
the best is good enough, why are we being asked to settle for something less
than second best?
Everton fans know that we are much better and much bigger than our recent
history might suggest, and there are plenty of billionaire's that would be
only too happy to buy such a well established Premiership club.
The question is how hard have we tried, to find an alternative?
The only way I'll be happy with this proposed move to Kirkby, is if our new
ground is much bigger than our neighbours' new ground.
That way, we could argue that we moved out because there, genuinely, was
nowhere else big enough to accommodate such a fine club as Everton FC.
But, this current proposal will put us permanently behind our red rivals,
and we'll become known as just 'one of the other Merseyside clubs'.
Evertonians need to know what other options there are. And, if Mr. Wyness
insists that there aren¹t any other offers, and there is no chance of
attracting any other interested parties, then I would suggest he is talking
through his 'thingy' and should consider a career move.
"Altogether now..."