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Bill Kenwright — Evertonian

Some Evertonians pride themselves on dissing Bill Kenwright's efforts
This excellent posting redresses the balance somewhat 

 

 BILL KENWRIGHT — The Personal Touch

Posted by Ged the Hun on The People's Forum, 25 July 2002
 
I have never understood why some "Evertonians" slag off Bill Kenwright...  What the hell do they want?

Look, this bloke, like him or not, saved us.  Have you forgotten the days of Mr P Johnson... remember the "Agent Johnson" banners and taunts?  The red-coloured season-tickets?

So, Bill stepped in and used his money; true, he didn't have as much as, say Walker at Blackburn or Edwards at Man U or Harding at Chelsea, etc, but he put what he'd got in... to bail us out.  There was no master financing plan in place; that's right, and all you City boys cried.... no, it was an act of FIRST-AID.

Look, you are lying in the road, hit by a car, dying... the medics pull up... and start to discuss whether they'll get thru the traffic to the hospital, if there'll be a surgeon available, if there'll be room in the theatre, if you've got insurance... "For Christ's sake" you cry "get me in the friggin' ambulance!"...

Seems to me that Bill K always does the right thing... he steps in, gets PJ out, sacks Walter and Archie, brings in Moyes, goes for the Kings Dock when his heart says Goodison forever...

And he's an EVERTONIAN... do you know how most fans envy that?  I mean, despite all their success and money, the Man U fans I know would LOVE to have a proper born and bred Man U fan running the club; same for most clubs I suspect.

But you know what convinced me that he's the right man?  The personal touch:

A couple of seasons ago, I was standing outside the Winslow in Goodison Road talking to a mate.  I was with our Dom aged 6 at the time and the bloke says, "Ged, there's Kenwright; get his autograph for yer lad."  Sure enough, there's Billy K heading for the players' entrance with a mob in pursuit. 

I go over with Dom and somehow Bill's eye meets mine and I say "Want to meet Budapest's youngest Evertonian."  Bill stops, says "Budapest?" then gets down on one knee to be the same height as our Dom, smiles and asks "Why do you support Everton then?"  Our Dom says, "Because me Dad does."  And Bill asks me "And why do you?"  I say "Because me Dad did..."

Bill looks around, asks if everybody has "seen this," asks his man with a video to get our Dom and him on tape and then offers us tickets, meet the players, the works... (We couldn't take the offers up for various reasons).

I swear that BK had a tear in his eye and a lump in his throat when our Dom said "Because me Dad does"...

OK, so being a big softie, I was won over by the personal touch... don't care.  Look, the bloke's one of us.

And then to Bruck, Austria last week...  Me and my lads stop Moyes as he follows the players and approaches the changing rooms.  We ask for autographs, and to take a photo...  He says "sure" and puts his arm round me lads and poses...  He was being seriously harassed by adoring Evertonians there, but he stayed calm, cool, posed, wrote his name, said a few words.  He applied the personal touch.... class.

I trust him, too, for same reasons as above with BK.

I don't care if all our new-found optimism is mis-placed and we flounder again this season.  I'm staying with Kenwright and Moyes.

Ged the Hun

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