Season › 2014-15 › News Kitbag deal continues to sell Everton short , 28 June, 18comments | Jump to most recent In an article over at independent Everton website SOS1878, Joe Jennings questions the wisdom of the club's £3m p/a contract with merchandise supplier and distributor, Kitbag. The deal outsourced what was a loss-making endeavour for Everton but locked the club into a 10-year arrangement in an area that has expanded rapidly in the interim, even netting clubs like relegated QPR £10m per season from Nike. » Read the full article at SOS1878 Reader Comments (18) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Dave Abrahams 1 Posted 28/06/2015 at 20:24:16 It says in the above report that the Liverpool Echo are going to delve and dissect EvertonÂ’s deal with Kit Bag this week; letÂ’s see what they come up with in the "New-Look Echo". Conor Skelly 2 Posted 28/06/2015 at 20:31:47 Kitbag deal is one of the all time cock-ups. WhoÂ’s idea was it anyway? John Crawley 3 Posted 28/06/2015 at 20:40:30 Conor - Robert Elstone was the brains behind the kitbag deal! Chris Owens 4 Posted 28/06/2015 at 20:55:58 Trying to think of a rhyme for "kitbag" ... Conor Skelly 5 Posted 28/06/2015 at 20:55:22 He should have been sacked - no question. I donÂ’t know the man but as someone thatÂ’s job it is to sell our club commercially and literally I couldnÂ’t think of anybody I would least want to buy off. Unlikeable and untrustworthy. The two things a salesman must never be. Jay Harris 6 Posted 28/06/2015 at 21:10:44 That's what happens when an inexperienced yes-man accountant is promoted to Chief Executive.We are run like a Mickey Mouse club – and I don't mean Disney. James Flynn 8 Posted 29/06/2015 at 00:31:16 "Robert Elstone was the brains behind the kitbag deal!"Nah. That he was the guy made to stand in front of the media and talk about the deal? OK. What else is he on the payroll for? HeÂ’s an employee, though, nothing more. EFCÂ’s retailing business is where you find Green. Dave Abrahams 9 Posted 29/06/2015 at 09:02:13 James, "heÂ’s an employee nothing more". You are right, James except heÂ’s a very, very well paid employee. Ray Roche 10 Posted 29/06/2015 at 09:13:13 James, if Sir Philip Green was that useless heÂ’d not be living in Monaco with £3.3billion under his mattress. IÂ’m sure if Green was "hands on" with Everton retail weÂ’d have been nowhere near Shitbag. Dennis Stevens 11 Posted 29/06/2015 at 09:23:37 Why not, Ray? After all, heÂ’s a Spurs man, not an Evertonian. Alan Williams 12 Posted 29/06/2015 at 09:37:29 Firstly, the Kitbag deal was good for EFC as it turned a loss in to a guaranteed £3 million per year cash return which was greatly needed but I think the 10-year lock-in was the mistake and an option to renew at 5 years should have been considered for both parties. This article is totally misleading and it doesn't compare like for like as the top six deals completely distort the rest of the Premier League. Aston Villa's deal is on par with us which is about right. To put this report in to perspective, we need to take off our blinkers and find out just how many shirts etc we sell as a club, therein should decide if this is a good deal or not. I have said this many times before on TW: EFC fans generally don't wear a lot of colours; I go the game and a group of at least 10 of us meet every game for a pint and only one adult person has a top on – the rest of us wouldn't be seen dead in one. It's just not what we do and the era we all grew up in is the reason why. Interestingly, I buy my son one or two kits per year plus he has EFC everywhere in his bedroom but I guess like my friends these things change once they get to 18. Another strange point is I have loads of EFC shorts for when I go way on holiday that I like wearing but I hate tops, very weird but my mates do the same! Regardless of what we think about EFC and its commercial acumen, actual sales figures will determine how much we should receive. Then, all you have to consider is good will and brand expansion plans and this will add a premium. If the markets actually think we can increase sales in some areas like myself and my mates, we are a lost cause. Ray Roche 13 Posted 29/06/2015 at 10:09:42 Dennis, I KNOW heÂ’s a Spurs fan, IÂ’m saying that if he was running EvertonÂ’s commercial side weÂ’d be quids in. You donÂ’t get £3.3b in your bank account for being crap. No, you get a Kitbag deal for being crap. Andrew Ellams 14 Posted 29/06/2015 at 10:21:02 Dennis, we have had an Evertonian running the show for 17 years and that hasnÂ’t really got us anywhere.LetÂ’s face it, we need somebody who wants to come into Everton and make some money, because to do that they are going to have first produce success on the pitch and then use that to turn the club into an international brand name. Derek Turner 15 Posted 29/06/2015 at 15:44:04 Unfortunately, Andrew, that's exactly what we seem to have now, people who want to make money. Instead of producing success on the pitch, they have been content to watch their £30M initial investment in a club with minimal debt turn into a £120M+ sale (if they get their price, when they decide to sell) without having to invest any real money at all. That's a pretty good return without much risk? Instead of investing, they took on debt and payday loans to finance the ride. Right now, they are probably just seeing what the next couple of years of bounty will provide in terms of club value increase through increasing market value of an established PL club... Andrew Ellams 16 Posted 29/06/2015 at 16:13:10 Maybe I should have phrased that a bit better, Derek: we need somebody who wants to make money and has the first idea on how to go about doing it.We donÂ’t need piecemeal investment and loans between mates, we need somebody to make a firm commitment to take hold of Everton Football Club and take them forward. And if that person gets rich from making us successful with a sustainable plan, then good luck to them. Helen Mallon 17 Posted 29/06/2015 at 19:11:18 Philip Green has a 10% share in Kitbag – that's why he okayed it. Chris Brownbill 18 Posted 29/06/2015 at 22:14:24 For the last 6 years, Kitbag have sold nothing on their website for Everton, only redirecting you to the BluesÂ’ store. This deal, along with the shambles of changing the clubÂ’s badge, amaze me how any kids growing up today would decide to support the club when you just donÂ’t see any Everton gear in any shops anymore. Unfortunately, if it is isnÂ’t already too late to undo the damage this deal has done, in 4 yearsÂ’ time it certainly will be too late. If all the fans can see this, why canÂ’t the club? Richard Jones 19 Posted 30/06/2015 at 09:08:07 Interesting that Helen and people say that these people donÂ’t take money out of the club!! Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. About these ads © ToffeeWeb