Colm's Corner
Columnist: Colm Kavanagh

The Chairman Knows…
4 October 2004

Bill Kenwright: Transparency advocate?

“Football clubs and chairmen know who in the game is corrupt, so why do they still use them?  I would question the motives of a large number of managers, chief executives and chairmen in the game.”

No, that’s not an idle claim from myself, a ‘paranoid’ Evertonian, dealing in fiction rather than fact: it’s a statement from one of the game’s leading agents, Colin Gordon.  When some agents are prepared to say such things in public, you know there’s a problem in the murky business of football.  Most fans live in ignorant bliss and unaware of the riches being taken out of the game by some of the more unsavoury types who prey on the financial windfall offered via the business of football.  Most fans see agents as being no better than leeches — and to a degree that is not far off the mark.  However, as is the case in almost every way of life, there are good guys and there are bad guys.  Not all agents are bloodsuckers!

As galling as the transfer of Wayne Rooney was for most Evertonians (bar those who’ve already bought the “Rooney’s a greedy Judas bastard” spin), I would like to believe that this high-profile transfer has opened the door for all to see exactly who gets what in the murky world of dodgy agents and their dealings.  Thanks to the pressure placed upon United by their own shareholders (Messrs. Magnier and McManus), they have now been forced to reveal the intimate detail of every transfer incoming at Manchester United.  No bad thing that…

I know we’ve spent an entire summer well and truly divided on the Rooney issue... but it does need recording that, as part of that transfer deal, Manchester United paid Rooney’s agent an extra fee – an incentive – to ensure they got their man.  If that’s not a conflict of interest, duly noted by the Football Association, then I don’t know what is! 

The smallprint of the Rooney deal showed that United paid ProActive Sports Management a princely sum of £1.5M — “Fees payable to Proactive Sports Management Limited in relation to both the acquisition of the player and negotiation of his personal terms.  Of this sum, £1.0M is guaranteed, of which £0.5M is payable immediately and the balance over the following 5 years in equal installments.  The remaining £0.5M will be paid in 5 equal installments over the duration of Rooney's contract — provided he remains registered to Manchester United at the due dates for payment.”

That £1.5M paid to Paul Stretford and his company is reportedly the equivalent of two years' wages for Rooney.  How crazy is that?  For his ‘efforts’ in representing Wayne Rooney’s ‘best interests’ this past summer Paul Stretford has earned £1M for his company.  United, fearful of seeing Stretford doing to them precisely what he’s done to Everton, have also committed themselves to paying this agent a further £500k if and when Rooney fulfils his initial Manchester United contract. 

The personal management of Wayne Rooney is now a multi-million pound ‘industry’ and there’s an argument on-going that managing Rooney’s affairs is more desirable than representing other ProActive clients.  Lest we forget, there is also the income via StoneyGate 48, the company responsible for Rooney’s image rights.  Merry Christmas, Mr Stretford — irrespective of the outcome of the on-going court case with Rooney’s previous management team. 

It was also with great interest that I noticed the name of Philip Green being mentioned in relation to the transfer of Louis Saha, from Fulham to Manchester United.  This is the same Philip Green who has recently become “an extraordinary supporter” of our Chairman — so close to Bill, in fact, that he lent us an interest-free £15M ‘credit line’ (of which £15M or thereabouts has yet to be spent on incoming players).

Apparently, it was with some helpful assistance from Bill’s mate Philip that United managed to push through the deal taking Saha to Cold Trafford.  Mr Green, it appears, also enjoys a healthy friendship with Manchester United’s CEO, David Gill.  When United signed Louis Saha from Fulham in January, they paid Saha's own agent, Branko Stoic, £250k for negotiating Saha's contract, and gave £500k to the Israeli agent Pini Zahavi.  Mohamed al-Fayed, Fulham's chairman, was adamantly opposed to selling Saha, his star striker and refused to talk to Gill, United's chief executive.  Gill then called upon the services of Zahavi, who has built a career on, and I quote – “treating football as a global business of human talent flows, an industry in which building and nurturing relationships is all.”

Philip Green, who is a friend of Zahavi's, helped pave the way for the transfer to take place.  Zahavi worked on Fayed to open a door.  Fayed had a player who wanted a move and, knowing that he would soon become a free agent - Fulham were in debt - slowly talks began. If he were to even think of letting Saha go, Fayed wanted plenty of money, so Zahavi negotiated with United to see how many millions were available. 

After six or seven weeks, the parties were prepared to look ateach other, sit down and talk.  Philip Green flew David Gill to Monaco in a private jet; there, Gill met Fayed and the deal was done: £12.825M in total from United.  For his services, Zahavi was paid £500k.  Manchester United confirmed that David Gill had flown to Monaco in Green's jet; Fulham dismissed the story as inaccurate.  Green himself said: "I talked to David Gill and to Pini (Zahavi) and took David to Monaco when Mohamed was there. I didn't know where they'd got to in the deal, but I helped them to finish it up."  Lovely.  Gone are the days of completing a transfer in some non-descript service station on the M1!

Despite so much information now being out there in the open, we still see clubs continue to deal with agents in a cloak and dagger fashion.  Why?  What’s to hide if all is above board and transparent?  The agent Colin Gordon offers this: “If you picked any 20 foreign transfers, you'd find that a large proportion of them would involve over-priced players and money that's gone missing.  But who's going to stop that?” 

I can’t help but think of modern day Everton legends like Peter Degn, Claus Thomsen, Ibrahima Bakayoko, and Alex Nyarko when considering the above statement from our honest agent friend.  It really would make for some appalling reading when weighing up the cost of many incoming ‘foreign transfers’, at Everton, and the total income we received when they left.  I’d wager that Everton FC ended up very much out of pocket, deeper in debt.  At least our agent friends continue to make a healthy living from the “acquisition and disposal of players”.  Well for some…

And yet, despite descending deeper and deeper into debt, we continue to deal with these people.  Why?  Why do we not disclose the breakdown of fees paid with each and every transfer involving Everton FC (not that there are many these days!)?  If Manchester United now make themselves accountable for their every transfer deal, then why not Everton?

At the recent EGM, I asked our own Chairman a direct question: “Are you going to stop dealing with Paul Stretford and his company?”  His reply — “Just hold on.  Have we done any dealings with Paul Stretford in the last year?”  He’s obviously forgotten that Rooney chap already…

I stand corrected but it’s my own personal opinion that ProActive Sports Management has benefited more from the flow of players in and out of Everton Football Club over recent years than the Club itself.  Maybe it’s the fan base that needs to become more and more aware of this when season ticket prices are announced.  When the Club announces a price increase of 25% on season tickets, ask yourself where that money is going?

Is it going towards strengthening the first team squad?

Most fans, I believe, would readily accept the price increases if they knew that the extra revenue incoming went to the manager in his attempt to fashion a side from an otherwise penniless kitty.  However, two seasons ago, we were riding high and a permanent fixture in the top six from October onwards.  Due, unfortunately, to a combination of injuries, tired legs and a lack of strength in depth, we slipped out of that last UEFA Cup place on the last day of the season — a cruel finish to a season full of wonderful moments. 

The financial rewards that supposedly come with European competition went northwest as Blackburn stole our ‘glory’... but, despite that last-day heartbreak, the smile had returned to many Evertonian faces and we anticipated moving on “to the next level” (oh how I hate that phrase!).  Full houses, extra revenue generated by the “walk up” customer — if ever there was an incentive for the Board to invest in the side, then this was it.  They chose otherwise.  The season that followed was horrible beyond belief.  Grey clouds returned but we should remember that the average home attendance was a staggering 38,943.  Their reward for a season’s worth of utter shite?  Yes!  A staggering 25% increase on season ticket prices…

Ask yourself that question again — the extra revenue generated via gate receipts: does it go towards first team strengthening?  Ask yourself who arrived at Everton this season, to counter those who departed.  Ask yourself how much money will David Moyes get to spend when the transfer window re-opens in January.  Ask yourself one other question: how much of your money is going towards satisfying agents fees paid by the Club in a manner which is anything but transparent.

“There’s nothing dirty about this football club”, said Bill Kenwright at the EGM when asked about agents.  Nobody had openly accused agents of being corrupt yet the Chairman chose the use of the word dirty when defending the honour of Everton Football Club and its relationship with agents.  Strange that, eh? 

I’ll leave the last word with the agent Colin Gordon – “Football clubs and chairmen know who in the game is corrupt, so why do they still use them?”

It remains, as ever, an unanswered question.

Colm Kavanagh

The above is the personal viewpoint of Colm Kavanagh and is not written on behalf of any group or affiliation, even though Colm Kavanagh is an Executive Committee member of the Everton Shareholders Association.

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