The Liverpool Echo
 

BILL KENWRIGHT has delivered a brutally frank assessment of the problems facing Everton following one of the most wretched seasons in the club's history.

The Blues' deputy chairman, (right), has responded to the "Open Letter to Everton Football Club," a leaflet dropped around Manchester City's Eastlands Stadium on Saturday.

A group of disgruntled Evertonians posed 10 key questions they wanted answers to, from the Blues' board of directors.

And Kenwright's answers make compelling reading for all Evertonians.

1. Where are the funds for David Moyes?

This question probably assumes an earlier question - will there be funds available for David Moyes in the close season. The answer to that is there has to be!

With regard to the actual question - as the club has carried a debt for a long time, it is obvious that any funds have to come through the bank facility.

Player sales can also generate income but that is totally the manager's prerogative. This board will never dictate to the manager what players he should or should not sell.

2. How much will be available?

It is imperative that we have new faces in the close season, and as we talk, I have assured David that the minimum we are looking at would be the £5m that we had last summer.

Make no mistake, we want that sum to be bigger, and we are currently working on ways not only to stabilise the club, but also to take in new investment. If we are successful, then fans can rest assured that David will receive a bigger pot.

Since we took over we 've always supported the manager and the strengthening of the squad. It is my belief that this has to continue, but we are obviously very wary of over-stretching ourselves to a point that would leave us in the kind of trouble that other Premier League clubs have found themselves in recently. David is totally in agreement with me on this.

3. What role does Paul Gregg play at EFC?

Paul is a member of the Board and as such has a keen interest in ensuring the future prosperity of the club. He has always said that he is not a football fan - and I give him much credit for that - but he wants desperately for this club to succeed - and not just because he and his family have invested £7m.

More specifically, throughout this season, Paul has been working constantly by my side to try to stimulate new investment.

4. Was Paul Gregg brought in by Bill Kenwright solely to acquire the King's Dock?

A resounding and unequivocal NO. For starters, Paul Gregg was not "brought in by Bill Kenwright". Paul asked me if he could get involved, because he saw the club as "a sleeping giant of football" that he wanted to help take back to its former glory.

Secondly, the first time I heard the King's Dock mentioned was several months after we had acquired the major shareholding.

5. Has the board ever discussed the sale of Wayne Rooney, and if so, why?

No.

6. Is there any real ambition, or possibility of investment by this board of directors?

I personally find the first half of this question insulting. Why do you think we acquired the club in the first place? Do you not remember how long it took me to find the money and the circumstances under which we took over?

Do you really think anyone lacking ambition would give up a huge proportion of their life like that? Surely supporters don't have memories that short?

On the day we took over I personally said we were only custodians of this football club until someone with more money, more ideas, and more passion came along. That person (or those people) simply do not exist. Or if they do I haven't met them - and I've met a great number of people. All have proved to be big on talk, and small on action.

The board of True Blue is currently in talks to help secure the club's overdraft, and in so doing free up money for the manager.

7. What has happened to the Youth Academy? It has been talked about for 4 years.

A 63 acre site has been acquired in Halewood and planning permission obtained to build a state of the art Youth Academy. The project remains on track to be completed by the summer of 2006.

8. Wasn't the money from the sale of Ball, Jeffers and Dunne used to pay off debt?

No! In the two seasons that those three players were sold, we purchased Watson, Pistone, Gravesen, Nyarko, Alexandersson, Tal, Radzinski, Linderoth, Carsley and Ferguson. Where do you think that money came from?

Obviously, in hindsight the three sales have represented excellent business for Everton, but the excellence of that business has only been reinvested in to the playing squad.

9. The debt when the Kenwright consortium bought the club was listed at £20m, it is now £38m, why?

Simple - we've not made profits but have still managed to support the two managers in bringing in new players, and obviously at the same time increase the wage bill.

I will try to keep things simple - for starters if a, say, £20m debt is where we begin, with no other activity, at the end of four years that debt would be closer to £30m after interest alone!

So we decided to securitize our debt (ie. take on something rather like a mortgage), We borrowed £30m in a securitization fund, to be paid back yearly just like a mortgage. This is called a long term debt and we pay over 25 years.

On top of that we have a £5m over-draft facility at the bank. It is this overdraft facility that we constantly have to watch. Several of you reading this will have overdrafts, and you will all know that you have to be extremely diligent with your bank in order to keep your facility, and indeed to, maintain a good relationship.

We have an excellent bank and an excellent relationship. But it is difficult for any business where the general clamour is to invest money that is not in the bank on new players.

I am an Everton fan, and believe me I want success just as much as any fan on the planet - but we have to live within our means. And that is becoming more and more and more difficult as the gaps between the haves and have nots in football seemingly grow larger - and as the clubs at the top receive 10s of millions of pounds more than the rest. Now you could say let's chase them!

But that's exactly what Leeds did and look what happened there. The last two seasons, for instance, we've spent £14.5m on Wright, Yobo, Li Tie, Rodrigo, Jeffers, Martyn, McFadden and Kilbane. We have received £1.5m on Pembridge, McCann (sell on clause) and McLoud, plus a small loan fee for Nyarko. A deficit of £13m.

This year we will also be £7.5m down on our income from last year based on league placings and TV income. Consequently the debt can only build until success arrives, and/or we receive major investment. We constantly search for both.

10. Would the Board be willing to meet a delegation of Everton fans to discuss these matters?

The club already holds a network of regular meetings with official supporter groups and the Shareholders Association Committee. We've also held successful fans forums, and both Ian Ross and Graeme Sharp seem to constantly deal with fans' queries.

[The above is unedited and provided within ToffeeWeb for archival purposes.]