Fans Comment
Alex Young

The David France Collection
 

Everton Scriptures: Boradroom Minute Books

Gentlemen:

I am writing to add my support to the tide of opinion in favour of our great club securing the Everton Scriptures and the other historic items contained in the David France Collection.  I write to you not as the Golden Vision but as an Everton fan who has seen some of these mind-boggling treasures ...

Permit me to declare my prejudice — I am proud to know David France as a loyal friend and as a dedicated Evertonian.  Now allow me to confess my privilege — I was fortunate to have touched some 200 of the rarest items in the David France Collection.  These items dated back to Everton’s days on the other side of the park as well as those in the park itself.  In my humble opinion, the 10,000 items assembled by David France embody the foremost collection of football memorabilia in this country and is comparable to that showcased at Barcelona‘s Nou Camp museum.  I’ll leave the salivating over specific artefacts to others better qualified than me and concentrate on providing a more sweeping description of the collection.

The David France Collection is … a royal blue labour of love … the jewels in the Everton crown … the Peoples’ heritage … the indisputable evidence underpinning our claim to be one of the most respected football clubs in the world.  Clearly no single label can do it justice.  But my friend’s diligence confirms what I have always known to be true — that Everton has always been a truly great club with an distinguished pedigree.  Future generations of Evertonians will applaud him for single-handedly rescuing the club’s history.  And no-one can or should take it away from us ever again!

Regrettably, the standing of Everton Football Club has been marginalized in recent times and our Latin maxim has sounded rather hollow in the Premiership era.  However, I find it impossible to tolerate any denigration of the bold enterprises of either David France or Bill Kenwright.  One man devoted his money and time to salvaging the club’s past, while the other invested his money and time into securing the club’s future.  Without question, David France pursued a more tangible but equally as ambitious goal.  Not only did he spend 25 years saving our history but exhausted another two years resisting unsolicited offers while the Club got its act together.  Most recently, the deposition of the first Rooney cheque coupled with the installation of a new CEO has revitalised the Club‘s ambitions.  Therefore it is imperative that the Club’s directors and their influential partners seize the opportunity to seize the collection.  If they let them slip from their grip, the children and grand-children of Evertonians as well as our neighbours with common roots will be much poorer than merely the monies involved.  This is a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity!

Obviously the faces of football have changed since my career in the famous No 9 shirt but tradition and heritage have always been important to football fans — and vital to Evertonians.  Ask any former-player and they will confirm that the Everton Football Club gets into your blood and never leaves.  During my playing days, the royal blue side of the Mersey sought to compete at the highest possible level, play cultured football, provide fans with the best facilities and embrace the challenges of the future.  From the first day that I bounced into Bellefield, it was instilled into me that Everton Football Club was special and that it was the Club’s proud history which differentiated it from all rivals.  Everybody I met from Mr Moores and the directors, from Dixie Dean and the other ex-players, from Brian Labone and his team-mates, from Harry Cooke and the back-room staff and, of course, from the legions of supporters — echoed that message.  And I know for a fact that this pride in the Club’s past is just as resilient today.

The David France Collection and the unequalled heritage of Everton Football Club go hand-in-hand.  They must be cherished and not separated.

With kind regards

Alex Young

Edinburgh
 

Postscript: We understand from David France that Alex Young is overjoyed with the decision announced tonight by Keith Wyness, Everton CEO, at the Annual General Meeting, that Everton will set up a trust to accommodate the David France Collection, securing its future intact for all Evertonians to enjoy.  A lot of the details still need to be ironed out, and we will carry future articles here at ToffeeWeb detailing the arrangements as they are finalized with the Club and the other parties who are contributing to make the trust a reality.  Congratulations to David France for having the belief, against his better judgement and the wiser counsel of his advisors, to strive for this objective, and big, big "Thank You" to Keith Wyness from all of us at ToffeeWeb for committing to make this happen. — 7 Dec 2004