Blame LCC not EFC

It is one of LCC?s prime duties to the City to keep business in the City and help that business grow; whether through arrogance or apathy they have done neither with Everton

If Liverpool City Council had wanted a different scenario then I cannot believe this could not have been pursued prior to (and even in parallel) to the discussions being held with Knowsley. The exclusivity period is a red herring. We have all known since the King?s Dock project collapsed that Everton needed and wanted a new stadium. LCC could have been lobbying hard to engage Everton in looking at alternatives, but they did not. It is one of LCC?s prime duties to the City to keep business in the City and help that business grow; whether through arrogance or apathy they have done neither with Everton.

After the stable door was opened and the exclusivity discussions started with Knowsley, empty posturing was all that LCC offered; when they should have been providing serious, well thought out, funded alternatives. Liverpool will be City of Culture next year and the town is flooded with money (just look at the crane filled skyline), so don?t tell me this could not have been managed much better by LCC.

Instead LCC have managed to deflect much of the criticism which should have been levied at them onto both the Everton Board and Knowsley Councillors. LCC?s attitude over the last ten years towards Everton and the ground move has consistently smacked of the pursuit of personal, short term political agendas with no view as to the bigger picture of what the Club moving out of the City would actually mean. Why was this never a major issue at election times (both local and national)?

It is unfair to continually heap blame onto the Everton Board for getting into serious dialogue with a Council who actually seem to want Everton around and who are putting their money where their mouth is. LCC have caved in to the demands from across the Park at every turn and in so doing have limited the options subsequently available to Everton FC. Not only did Liverpool FC flatly refuse to consider a ground share (which LCC capitulated on too easily), they have subsequently insisted on also laying waste to one of the oldest parks in the City (if not the country) and LCC fell over themselves to comply. Compare this to their approach to all things Everton and you will hopefully see why I genuinely believe that the situation we now find ourselves in has as much to do with the LCC?s lack of enthusiasm as it does to anything the Everton Board can be accused of.

It is also a bit rich for individuals to start second-guessing how the vote might actually be structured. The only things we know are a) that the Everton Board is recommending a move to Kirkby b) that they won?t necessarily be bound by the vote?s result c) the vote will be monitored by an independent body and d) that somewhere between 30 and 40 thousand regular season ticket holders will get to take part in the vote. The reaction to these bald facts from TW contributors make the conspiracy theories of the X-Files seem tame. The plain fact is, vote against the move in enough numbers and it will make very difficult for the Board to ignore the outcome; I honestly believe (naively the conspiracists will say) that an 80% plus vote against the move would make it very difficult for the Board to carry on without a serious re-think. It might even wake LCC up to the opportunity to present alternatives (but for the reasons mentioned above, don?t hold your breath).

Finally, don?t moan that it?s limited to season ticket holders, at least these people have made a financial investment of sorts in the Club. We all have an emotional investment, but please offer an alternative practical set of criteria by which the voting pool could be defined if you don?t like the one the Club has come up with. By the way, if you never go to the ground (?it?s too far?, ?I can?t afford it?, ?I live abroad now?), why should it bother you where the team actually play as you will be watching the game from the settee anyway ?

I imagine by September the fate of the Club will have been decided and I will be surprised if there is enough of a ?no? vote to put off a decision to move to Kirkby. A more positive discussion should ensue, starting now, about what the stadium will look like and will it be a fitting venue for one of the oldest and greatest Clubs in England. Our energies and angst would be better utilised in lobbying for things we might still be able to influence rather than things which increasingly we cannot.

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