IN-DEPTH NEWS

Greggs leave Everton Board

Robert Earl: Casino and leisure tycoon buys 23% stake in the club.

Bill Kenwright appears to have finally won his boardroom battle with Paul Gregg after Everton announced that the Oxfordshire-based tycoon and his wife, Anita, have sold their shares in the Cub and resigned from the Board of Directors.

According to a statement posted on evertonfc.com, the Greggs have sold their £7.2M stake in Everton, at 7,850 block of shares that was the second largest behind Kenwright's, to BCR Sports.  While no further details were given, it has emerged that the investor behind the buy-out is Florida-based entrepreneur, Robert Earl.

Earl, who is English born but has resided and traded in United States for the past twenty years, is perhaps best known as the founder of the Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood chain of restaurants. And he is putting his reputation on the line this autumn when he unveils the first Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas, the casino complex that replaces the ageing Aladdin Resort & Casino. David Bond in the Telegraph suggests that he is expected to help provide funds for player transfers and the club's bid to relocate to a new stadium.

Quotes attributed to a source from within the club that suggest the deal was brokered by Kenwright and that Earl is close to the Chairman:

"The people involved are fully supportive of the current chairman and the management of the club. Bill will be able to go to this weekend's match at home to Sheffield United relieved that he has won this battle, and he will be able to relax."

Gregg's association with Everton began in 2000 when he helped Kenwright buy out Peter Johnson's controlling stake in the club and assume control at Goodison under the True Blue Holdings consortium which was eventually disbanded in the winter of 2005.

Paul Gregg: Leaves Goodison after six years

The pair's friendship soured, however, after the collapse of the Kings Dock bid and Gregg's attempt to bring investment into the club in 2004 with a consortium of Far Eastern investors.

Kenwright steadfastly refused the attempted takeover and eventually concocted an investment proposal of his own, first involving a Russian billionnaire and his son, and then, when that fell through, through Geneva-based investment banker, Chris Samuelson, and the shadowy Fortress Sports Fund. Despite numerous assertions that the funds were "48 hours from being deposited into the club's bank account," the money never arrived and the FSF was effectively exposed as a sham.

With the boardroom face-off at an impasse, the whole issue of investors and takeovers died down until today's sudden announcement that the Greggs had sold their shares and left the Board with immediate effect.

It means that Kenwright, who, unless an announcement is made to the effect that a BCR representative will be joining the Board, now only has his ally, Jon Woods, as a Director along with CEO Keith Wyness, has consolidated his power at Everton and removed any opposition to his continued Chairmanship and future plans for the club.