Without doubt, Bill Kenwright is in the cross-hairs of many Evertonians at the moment and would be removed from office immediately if they had their way. At this point, I must make it crystal clear that I am no supporter of Kenwright and this has been the case since the King's Dock fiasco.

However I have never met or spoken with the man and I certainly would not want to have an unfair opinion on anyone , even Bill Kenwright. All I can speak about are outcomes of his tenure at Everton as Board member from 1989 to second largest shareholder in 1999 when his consortium, True Blue Holdings,  bought 68% of Everton from Peter Johnson. 

In the spirit of fair play, I decided to have a search for the positives of Kenwright's reign, starting with Kings Dock.

I wished I hadn’t bothered as it quickly became clear that I am not the man to begin the forensic search necessary to enable some or more importantly accurate judgement of the Kenwright positives. Further, it would require some input from the man himself as he really does not keep supporters informed or explain to any degree the major decisions.

I don’t think that, from the early 2000s, the other major players (Paul Gregg and Lord Grantchester) would come forward or they would have done so before now – not even sure if Paul Gregg is still alive. All-in-all, it is a massive task as it requires searching from 1999 and analysis of major points from Kings Dock, AGMs (all on ToffeeWeb), Paul Gregg's departure and roll, Fortress Sports Fund, Philip Green, Robert Earl, Keith Wyness's departure and why Green and Earl appeared to want a non-disclosure agreement initiated, through Destination Kirkby, to who actually owns us at the moment – and why is Kenwright still at the club? etc etc…

What does seem to come out from reading about events from 1999 is that there were divisions on the Board with Paul Gregg who was a successful businessman and worth about £120 million – possibly supported by Lord Grantchester on one side with Kenwright and his supporters on the other. Gregg had a plan to make King's Dock a reality but Kenwright was against his plan.

 

Around August 2004, things were coming to a head with debts around £40 million and money in short supply. Paul Gregg wanted True Blue Holdings to be dissolved and bring in extra investment. Kenwright did not want to relinquish control. Trevor Birch, the CEO brought in to get the club out of trouble, advised that the club be sold. Was there a buyer out there? His advice was not taken and he resigned.

Granchester would invest £15 million and work with Gregg but Kenwright would not hand over the reins as he thought it was not enough. Gregg pointed out that “the continuing prevarication and delay is frustrating the club's future and every Director has a fiduciary duty to act at all times in the company’s best interests and to prefer their personal interest for any reason”. Were either of them acting accordingly? Again, explanations required.

Gregg sold his shares in October 2006 and Robert Earl came aboard with allegedly Philip Green in the background and the club started to obtain loans from offshore. Explanations and reasons would clarify this situation.

When Kenwright took over in 1999, we were not in the best of shapes, either on or off the field, but my feeling is that our problems of today trace back in the main to the failure of Kings Dock and the lack of action or planning in the years after. Proper leadership could have arrested our decline and it might have been possible at that time to rejoin the elite in the Premier League.

I believe we can learn much from history and I hope that one day the period of Kenwright's time at Everton is forensically analysed. I would also hope (but very much doubt) that he would provide answers for his decisions. ToffeeWeb covers pretty much all the issues very well and there are other good and informative articles that can be searched out there but what is lacking are the explanations for actions from the key players. 

If pushed, my best guess is that Kenwright convinced himself that he was the right man for the job and was acting in the club's interests. Paul Gregg was possibly the best man to have taken the club forward but he was not a football fan and wanted to make money from the enterprise. He appears to have been an exceptional businessman. However, if he was to make money, we would probably be moving forward. The only positive I could find about Kenwright is that his role in signing players was considered to be reputable.

To be frank, I wish I had never started to read about this subject as all the unanswered questions leave a massive sense of frustration. I am of a type that prefers to “die knowing” and there are just so many unexplained events that I feel Evertonians deserve answers. Maybe somewhere in the fan base, there is a person to investigate. Even if Kenwright explained his actions – could he be believed?

I guess we are left with where we are – and Kenwright is such a major player in the last 24 years, he must shoulder much of the responsibility. His influence might be diluted now but he was responsible for bringing in Farhad Moshiri.

I came across the article below from an early ToffeeWeb publication that I thought might be interesting given the type of criticism levelled at the current board. I could have cherry-picked but thought readers deserved to read all the article from 5 August 2004.

 

Speke from the Harbor Meeting with Paul Gregg

TIME: 10am lasting approximately 30mins (for those that feel that’s
important!)

PRESENT: Mark Staniford (Editor), Stephen Gerrard (Sub-Editor) and myself (chief tag along out of pure voyeurism/Website Editor), Paul Gregg and two of his advisors/facilitators.

Questioning basically fell into three areas....

THE PAST:
Gregg adamant that he has tried desperately over the past 15-18 months to get the changes he wants sorted out within the boardroom and away from the public eye. He claims to have been met with little response and the dragging of heels.

His main problem lies within the structure of the club as it stands at the moment and that not only is it blocking incoming investment, it is failing to provide any support or leadership for the rest of the staff at Goodison. He praised the work being done by the staff down at Goodison at the moment but says without a proper structure in place things are stagnating, staff are becoming increasingly frustrated but that they are capable of helping turn the club round with the right leadership and guidance.

On the subject of the Friday deadline for viewing proposals, Gregg says this was in place and Kenwright had agreed on it, only to deny it ever existed. Gregg says he would welcome any possible investment Kenwright can raise and is willing to sit and listen to other proposals providing they aren’t based on Everton borrowing money. He confirmed the current debt (all-in) is approx £40 million.

When asked why he isn’t using his own money to fund the investment, he said that the problem does not just need money throwing at it, he claims this has happened for the past five or so years already and we are not moving forward as a club. He again spoke of the need to restructure the club and get the right people on board and into the right positions.

He did say that if he was successful with his plan he would put in his own money as part of his investment, knowing that changes were going to be made and things put right and back on track. Trevor Birch quit because of True Blue Holdings and its blocking of investment. Gregg says he spoke to Birch and offered him the Chief Executive job back should Gregg be successful in removing TBH but Birch is having/wanting none of it.

Past mistakes by the board were discussed, Gregg held his hands up with regards to reckless contracts given to players, particularly Kevin Campbell. Gregg indicated that at the time they had no idea about the arse dropping out of the transfer market but should have been a little more careful with length and value of contracts that are currently crippling the club.

He also spoke about extra costs involved in signing players on top of the actual fee and he questioned whether in the past we would have signed certain players (no names mentioned) had they sat down and properly taken into account all the costs (wages, fees, bonuses etc).

Gregg claims to have wanted to sack Walter Smith several months earlier than he was and, with hindsight, Gregg is disappointed that they didn’t move earlier and do that. He says that at that time he was still with ClearChannel/SFX and he was already being advised back then to install Moyes as boss. 

With regards to Duncan Ferguson’s return, it was a Kenwright thing, who claimed it would be like a messiah returning. With regards to the board getting involved with transfer targets, Gregg says if you have a manager in place then he should be allowed to get on with it and manage. He mentioned Francis Jeffers as being another costly mistake and one which lessons should be learnt; "Never go back" was his basic comment. 

Speaking about the King's Dock, you still sense that Gregg is bitterly disappointed about it (aren’t we all). He says a lot of work was undertaken
to make it work and it would have worked had Everton been able to find theire share of the funding, we couldn’t and other avenues, such as a 125-year lease from the Council were dismissed out of hand as Kenwright would only accept full ownership.

THE PRESENT:
Things cannot go on as they are, things have to change and they have to change quickly. Gregg is hoping that it will be resolved quickly and all
parties agreed that, the longer this drags on, the more shit the club is going to be in. He is hoping for a resolution by the end of the week but, should Kenwright dig his heels in and refuse to budge, then we could have a problem. Gregg says he doesn’t want to get legal, as much as it’ll take more time and effort to get it all sorted out and again drag on and on.

Should Gregg be successful in his plans, he says an initial £4/£5 million will be available to David Moyes for transfers; whilst this isn’t a great deal at least it is £4million more than we have at the moment. He also says that more money would be available in January whilst they continue to work on bringing in as much investment as possible. He talked about the Carrick bid and how (all-in) it will cost us approx £2.5m a year, although with him being young, as with the majority of Moyes's signings, he has a sell-on value even in the current market.

Gregg believes Moyes is the right man for the job and agreed that what he has had to put up with so far during his tenure as manager has been shocking; he hopes to give as much backing to Moyes as he can in the future and promises that the manager will always be allowed to manage. Gregg was questioned about the work Kenwright does with transfers such as dealing with agents, other clubs etc, and, with his lack of football knowledge or accepted interest, what would Gregg do in regard to this area?

He accepted that Kenwright does good work on this front but that they would look to have a team in place that can cover this area, a good chief executive for example should be in a position to negotiate contracts and with players and agents.

Onto the stadium issue, Gregg, like all of us, realises that without increased revenue streams we will always struggle; we missed the boat with the Kings Dock but we still have options. He will not under any circumstances be a tenant of Liverpool FC’s but he would be willing to be a tenant of Liverpool City under a shared stadium scheme but at the moment Everton do not have the available cash to sit down and discuss it.

Rather worryingly, he mentioned temporarily sharing someone else’s stadium whilst building up some funds without running costs; however, he did say, for every year we don’t build a stadium or move into a shared one, the costs are rising by 10%.

On the transfer front, as well as Carrick, Gregg said they were hopeful that, as the deadline approaches, clubs looking to move players on may reduce their asking prices or be more willing to enter into loan deals.

THE FUTURE:
Who knows, personally I don’t trust Gregg as far as I can throw him. It's obvious he wants out and is doing everything he can to get people on his side. He says that, should he be successful, they will put a board in place that will work continuously for the benefit of the club. He believes, with the right appointments in the right departments, that the support and structure could be in place and allow us to start repairing the problems at the club. 

I am highly critical of  Gregg and he has shifty eyes!! But what alternatives have been offered at the moment? … I know he is not the saviour, he is not the answer. But the major problem at the moment seems to be TBH; at least if Gregg gets his way, this will be dissolved and then shareholders will have more of a say.

To be honest, the sooner Everton is rid of Gregg and Kenwright from being in control, the better – but what other options are there? There are no queues around Goodison of rich men wanting to buy us out so what can we do?

I fear it's shit or bust time and, to quote Paul Gregg “We would all love Bill Kenwright to have £100million in the bank, because he would sit writing cheques all day to the benefit of Everton FC. However, he doesn’t and you can't run a club on passion alone”

Lots of people believed meeting with Gregg was a PR stunt with a hidden agenda of using the fans groups as puppets. To be fair to Gregg, he sat down with us, poured a cup of tea and told us to fire away with our questions and concerns. We all want honesty, transparency and communication from the club and so to not go would have been very silly indeed, it was a worthwhile meeting but we learnt very little that we didn’t know already.

Let's just hope for some sort of investment ASAP, wherever it comes from.

Ste Daley 

5 August 2004

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Reader Comments (51)

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Michael Kenrick
Editorial Team
1 Posted 16/02/2023 at 21:44:53
I feel bad, Barry, because of the effort you must have put in searching for stuff that could shed any light on this murkiest of subjects.

The fact that you didn't come up with much doesn't surprise me. You might have been tempted to post the Blue Union's transcript of their infamous meeting with Bill Kenwright but, while that revealed quite a lot about the man's personality, it too didn't provide much by way of answers.

And indeed that is the nature of the beast. As we all know to our potentially infinite cost.

Kieran Kinsella
2 Posted 16/02/2023 at 22:02:04
Barry,

I can provide one bit of clarity for you. Paul Gregg is still alive. He is now in the casino business, so not much change there then.

Brendan McLaughlin
3 Posted 16/02/2023 at 22:02:08
Wow!

To quote Paul Gregg, “We would all love Bill Kenwright to have £100million in the bank, because he would sit writing cheques all day to the benefit of Everton FC. However, he doesn't and you can't run a club on passion alone.”

Tony Abrahams
4 Posted 16/02/2023 at 22:09:25
I wrote today what the Echo had written about how Bill Kenwright suddenly conjured Chris Samuelson to an Everton AGM in 2004 but no investment followed.

Kenwright has always conjured lie after lie after lie but, when he conjured his latest lie, everything suddenly fell around him like a pack of cards.

He's already played all his aces and the only card he has left is absolutely worthless because nobody wants a joker and nobody believes any of his lies, anymore.

He thought he was clever once too often but still this shameless man remains. Not for long, Bill, you don't have long left now, you horrible deceitful bastard.

Tony Abrahams
5 Posted 16/02/2023 at 22:11:11
Passion for what, exactly, Brendan? Kidding idiots!
Barry Hesketh
6 Posted 16/02/2023 at 22:23:49
The issue, to my mind, has always been the media, local and national, they have never taken a real interest in Everton Football Club. Had most other clubs of our size been operating as a one-man dynasty in the 21st Century they would have perhaps shed light on it and examined what type of person was behind the mask.

For somebody who has been so closely associated with Everton Football Club for so long, he has never been truly scrutinised by the media, everything is sound-bites and nostalgic memoirs, nothing of substance seems to have made the back or indeed the front pages.

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that Mr Kenwright is the perfect politician, never explaining, always defending himself and his closest allies and shutting down any critics as soon as they might threaten his position in any way.

I would also hazard a guess that he is a formidable opponent, because nobody survives in the two industries he's involved in by being soft or easily dissuaded.

I wish the man no ill; however, I have believed for some considerable time that Everton Football Club would be far better off if he were to relinquish his position at the club and allow the club to move forward.

But it looks as if both Mr Kenwright and ourselves are going to suffer our worst season since records began – not the legacy that Bill would have wanted and certainly not anything that the fans deserve.

Dupont Koo
7 Posted 17/02/2023 at 02:42:03
"Where's the Arteta Money? ==> "Where's the Gordon Money?"

King's Dock ==> Destination Kirby

(Although we now have Bramley-Moore Dock to look forward to)

Kenwright was lucky to have Moyes for thos11 years; otherwise, what we are having in front of us now would have been exposed a lot earlier, ie, he has no clues running a viable business, let alone a competitive one against world beaters.

We need to stop the déjà vu and the root cause for all those are Kenwright and his entourage: I'm quite sure any puppets that Moshiri would have put at the Board would still be a hell lot better than Kenwright and his entourage.

Brendan McLaughlin
8 Posted 17/02/2023 at 08:40:13
Dupont #7

"I'm quite sure any puppets that Moshiri would have put at the Board would still be a hell lot better than Kenwright and his entourage."

Given Moshiri's choice of managers... I wouldn't be so certain.

Tony Abrahams
9 Posted 17/02/2023 at 09:50:15
Moshiri’s choice of managers. 1; Ronald Koeman - I hated him, and couldn’t understand how such a talented footballer, could never get his team to play with any discernible style.

2: Marco Silva - I liked him, but a lot of people didn’t. His team kept giving away set-Piece goals, but then after a 20 day break, they finished the season with 8 clean sheets in their last eleven games, played some very good football, and beat a few good teams. He lost Gueye, and Zouma, wasn’t replaced, and suddenly things fell to pieces. #NB, when Brands never replaced Zouma, no Everton manager since, has been able to play with a high line?

3: Sam Allardyce - Didn’t like him, and although he shored us up, his football, and his two signings, never really had much thought behind them, imo.

4; Carlo Ancellotti; we signed a world class manager, but obviously never had the money required, and after playing pragmatic football, that kept us around the European places, we sunk like a stone, possibly because the man was already losing interest before the season finished?

5; Rafa Benitez; A decorated manager who has had success throughout his career, but a ludicrous choice to manage Everton, given the past history between him and the Evertonians. (The press said Evertonians were poisonous - although we acted like saints, compared to the Chelsea fans, when Benitez managed their club)

6; Frank Lampard. The fans choice, but looking at the short list of people who were interviewed for the job, then he never had much to beat.

7: Sean Dyche. Kept Burnley punching above their weight for years, and hopefully his pragmatism can help keep Everton in the premier league.

Seven managers: Two of whom have managed their respective international teams, one of them even selected to be the Barcelona manager. Two more have won European trophies with different clubs, one of them might even be the most decorated manager in European football. Silva was and still might be, a very good up and coming manager. Lampard, was very poor, and now we have Dyche.

I genuinely don’t for one minute think that the selection of managers has been the problem, although I do believe Moshiri’s first appointment, was badly wrong and it’s possible we haven’t recovered from this? Spending money like a kid in a sweet shop, but with a net spend of around two hundred and something million, since he arrived at the club, it’s obviously the wages he’s given to average players, that has been the biggest killer financially?

Kenwright is sickening, Google some of his past interviews, the man is an absolute conman, with skin like a rhinoceros and a neck like a giraffe. I’d love to find the one where he stated that he would buy Everton a striker with his own money, but I suspect he’s had one of his cronies remove this from the public domain?

I agree with Brendan, Moshiri is definitely a worry, and the quicker he also gets out of our club, the better it’s going to be for all concerned, except the jinx and his nepotistic friends.

Dave Abrahams
10 Posted 17/02/2023 at 11:25:25
Barry (6), Good summing up, Barry, of Kenwright although when you state he must be a formidable opponent because nobody survives in the two industries he’s been involved by being a soft or easily dissuaded I think it is worth mentioning that the business he had his own money in was very well run by him and also very successful while the multi million business he had control of has been a huge failure except to Kenwright himself, he has made millions out of his venture there without anybody really knowing how much money, if any, he put into the club.

People could say Billy Boy was very successful himself, in a financial way, being in control at Everton FC.

Christine Foster
11 Posted 17/02/2023 at 11:43:29
Tony, my God mate, I have stood on my soapbox on this site for 15 years trying to get people to understand what a coniving charlatan Kenwright is. Some of his horrible bedfellows over the years equally so. This is the man who idolized Philip Green, this is the man who lied about the search for the sale of the club, when it never was for sale. Now has finally, irrevocably, thrown the fans and shareholders under a bus.
Finally, people get it. Eradicating this infection before it kills us, is down to Moshiri who has shown zero inclination to do anything.
Tony Abrahams
12 Posted 17/02/2023 at 12:28:12
It was reading one of Chris from Burton’s posts, on this website not so long ago, that made me think, that it actually might be Moshiri, who is playing Kenwright, now Christine?

Ludicrous, I know, but is there anything more ludicrous than the situation we currently find ourselves in now?

I’ve read your posts for many years regarding Kenwright, Christine, but I never expected that he could pull the wool over the eyes of any knowledge scouser, but speaking to loads of scousers about him over the years, I’ve found out that this just isn’t true?

I’ve gone overboard about the bastard, over the last few months, but I’ve always been a great believer in my sub-conscience, and it’s telling me that Everton, are at a really critical stage in their history, and getting rid of the fraud, is absolutely crucial right now.

I seriously believe he’s a closet Liverpudlian, but if I’m wrong, then I believe he should be in Rampton, because if he hasn’t meant to inflict so much damage towards Everton, then he his obviously an absolute lunatic, who should be put in a straight jacket, immediately!

Danny O’Neill
13 Posted 17/02/2023 at 12:31:38
That's a great assessment Tony.

My take.

Very disappointed in Koeman. I was taken in by the player but it was like he never wanted to be at Everton so wasn't committed.

I wasn't enthused by the appointment of Silva, but he is a good coach and I did gradually warm to him. We should have been given more time.

I don't want to say to much about the corrupt Allardyce. It makes me sad. I could have got us into 8th place that season.

Ancelotti; we had a chance and blew it. He brought in 4 good players, one who I hope returns soon. Yes we tanked once he realised what he was dealing with and many will point to 10th, but he was still one game from European qualification had me not capitulated and surrendered at the Etihad.

Benitez. Well, that was some decision. Do they actually understand the club and supporters? Obviously not.

Lampard. Never convinced from the start.

Let's see how this Headmaster type character goes. He might be what we need for now.

I guess the moral of the story is that we are going through managers quicker than Usain Bolt can run the 200m.

For me, so many different and diverse managers are not the problem. They just get hung out to dry to deflect blame from where real the issue lies.

Martin Mason
14 Posted 17/02/2023 at 12:40:10
Kenwright, whatever he did, did not cause the Kings Dock circus to fail and no he did not say that the money for it was ring-fenced.

It was our stupidity in believing that the snake charmer could deliver when it was always an impossibility, even if he had got the money initially. The price was double or 3 times what was stated and the circus would have collapsed sooner than later.

Sometimes we are our own enemies.

Tony Abrahams
15 Posted 17/02/2023 at 12:46:28
We became enemies when we got such a lying divisive figure, in charge of our great club Martin. A club that even in our darkest times, was always to good for this man.
Bill Gall
16 Posted 17/02/2023 at 13:16:49
Is there any truth in the Kings Dock fiasco that Bill Kenwright did not want Gregg and his partners, as they would have 51% of Ownership and Everton 49%?

And from all the concerts and other sporting events held at Kings Dock, they would get all the proceeds and Everton none?

Eric Myles
17 Posted 17/02/2023 at 13:50:10
"The club have six months to prove the £155 million scheme is viable and put the finance in place"

"Everton hope to be playing at their new home by 2005. The new stadium - yet to be named but likely to include a corporate sponsor in its title - will boast a sliding roof, moving tiers of seats and a retractable pitch"

Link

Eric Myles
18 Posted 17/02/2023 at 14:09:52
Bill #16, no.

Kenwright seemed quite OK with the Club owning 49%.

"The future name of the new stadium unlikely to be Goodison Park and the fact that the Blues will own 49 per cent of the development are undoubtedly two contentious issues for fans of the club.

But the bigger picture, Kenwright insists, is one that Everton simply must grasp.

He added: "Would you rather own 100 per cent of a stadium that is worth say £10M or 49 per cent of a development where the stadium on its own is worth £150M? It's a simple answer."

Kings Dock will see Everton resurface – 24 July 2001

Pete Clarke
19 Posted 17/02/2023 at 15:18:21
At the time Kenwright took over Everton it seemed like a good move. Being owned by a fellow scouser, fellow blue and a respected playwright. However, it seems now that all this did was fill him with the egotistical power of a tyrant who has begged, borrowed and lied his way to a point of feeling indestructible.
He’s not only lied and betrayed us Evertonians but has done it to his once great friend Peter Hall in show business by threatening to close down productions. This was also a fight for power and one that he failed carry out. Peter Hall claiming that Bill does not see himself as a liar because “he believes his own lies”.
That nice feeling I had of our club being owned by a fellow scouser and blue disappeared many many years ago when it became clear he would not allow anyone near our club who could threaten his power. It was about himself and not about the club or any success. I’m embarrassed by the man and doubt both his credentials as a scouser or a blue.
Kings Dock may well have been achievable with the right people in charge. Bill denied us that opportunity.
Shutting down the AGM’s was a clear sign that he was now a Despot. He wanted unchallenged power and his rule would almost take us to Kirkby where for sure we would have simply conceded the city to our horrible neighbours. That would have been cruel and surely the end of the club with that move. How did he survive this ?
Then we have the love in with Moyes who was the perfect partner to accept mediocrity even though right now we would be happy with those times. He never pushed Moyes to do better and Davey boy took the piss out of him and us in the end by accepting both himself nor Everton had any ambition. That final send off for Moyes in his last game will haunt me forever as to the state of our club.
Just like the Rooney Saga, Kenwright knew what was going on but was happy to keep on lowering the club’s expectations and status. Michael Ball, Franny Jeffers, Joleon Lescott, John Stones, Lukaku, Arteta, and many more players sold whilst he built up his fortune and
put nothing back into the club.
The job of a chairman is to oversee that everybody else is doing their jobs properly but he clearly failed on this whilst not being accountable to anyone else and surrounding himself with nodding donkeys.
So here we are on the eve of another truly monumental game in the clubs history and for all of the wrong reasons of course. What led us to this without a doubt has been the sole leadership of Bill Kenwright. This lying, horrible phony who had taken us all for a ride. We all know deep down that a loss tomorrow will likely be the nail in our coffin for survival. Let’s face it, we have been beaten by all the clubs around us so reality will hit home at some point. A win on the other hand will keep our hopes alive and give us real hope of survival. My bet for tomorrow therefore is that we snatch a draw from certain victory in a typical Everton way that will leave us in our continuing state of limbo.
Result aside I hope that it’s payback time for Kenwright and he receives all of the abuse he deserves for the years of lies and failure he has heaped upon our club and supporters. We won’t get answers because he answers to nobody. Who would trust what comes out of his gob anyway ?
He’s testing all of his slippery dirty skills against the fan base and will keep trying to manipulate the media against us. The fans have to be very vocal against Kenwright because Just like the result of our game tomorrow it’s a battle we cannot afford to lose.



Kieran Kinsella
20 Posted 17/02/2023 at 15:33:31
Pete

I have to disagree. I never thought it was a good idea for Bill to buy the club. I remember when Johnson bought it, Bill tried to. But simply put Johnson was putting up 20 million, Bill had put together a consortium who were trying to jointly muster around 7 million. The math didn't make sense for Bill's group. Ultimately Johnson was hampered (get it?) by his failing business but consortiums rarely work. Look at QPR? Billionaires in a consortium and they couldn't get on the same page. They had money at least. Bill's pauper consortium's were always destined for failure.

Barry Hesketh
21 Posted 17/02/2023 at 15:37:47
He can't be all bad, if this report from the 'ever reliable' Football Insider is correct:

Bill Kenwright intervened to stop Everton signed former West Ham United striker Marko Arnautovic in January after the terms of a deal had been agreed, sources have told Football Insider.

It is believed the Merseysiders had agreed to pay Bologna £2.5million as well as hand the 33-year-old a contract worth £150,000-a-week running for two-and-a-half years.

Goodison owner Farhad Moshiri had authorised the deal late in the window and everything was in place for it to be signed off.

However, longstanding chairman Kenwright is understood to have strongly advised Moshiri from completing the transfer for Arnautovic.

He feared an extremely negative reaction from an already mutinous supporter base towards signing a striker on big money at the tail end of his career.

It's a great pity he didn't find it necessary to intervene about five or six years ago, we may not be in the mess we find ourselves in today?

Kieran Kinsella
22 Posted 17/02/2023 at 15:43:43
Barry

The problem is that even if this is true, Bill's plan was probably to offer the same terms to Rooney to return as player manager. I don't think many of would have been happy about paying all that money to Arnautovic but would we feel marginally better about scoring a few goals right now if we had signed him? Probably.

Also, supposedly according to Mosh, Thelwell and the manager both sign off on signing a player after they've done a background check to find out if he is nice. Then DBB and Kenshite sign off, the Moshiri. So was Mosh lying again and going rogue? Did Bill sign off then have second thoughts? Or is this one of Bill's leaks to try and make himself sound like the savior? If the latter and he is so in tune with the fans, then why is he still here?

Barry Hesketh
23 Posted 17/02/2023 at 15:49:46
Kieran @22

At the core of that report is that the decision wasn't made solely for football reasons but for political reasons - which explains ever so much as far as I'm concerned, but of course that could be the author putting his own spin on things?

Of course we'll never know, if Arnautovic would have worked for us, he could just as easily have been another bad signing in the January window.

Kieran Kinsella
24 Posted 17/02/2023 at 15:51:05
Barry

Sorry I added to my post while you were replying.

Jay Harris
25 Posted 17/02/2023 at 16:01:25
2 points.

Paul Greeg agreed to fund KD provided BK stood down as chairman. He refused and then went on a media drive to discredit PAul Gregg and said he had investors willing to put 15m into the club and that the cheque would be in the bank in the morning. Suffice it to say the check nor the investors never arrived.

Secondly Koemans first year was moderately successful but in the close season Kenwright agreed to let Lukaku go and arranged to bring Rooney back and Moshiri brought Sigurdson in without Koemans knowledge so in typical Dutch style he went off on a golfing holiday and totally lost interest in the club.

Kenwright is a deceitful egotistic maniac who has brought ruination to the club.

Tony Abrahams
26 Posted 17/02/2023 at 16:13:56
Interesting Jay. I always thought that Sigurdson was a Koeman signing, even though I couldn’t understand it because Everton had already brought in Klassen and Rooney.

From the outside looking in, i always felt that although Swansea got great money, it was like they had signed away their premiership future, in a similar way that I feel Everton, not signing any forwards in January, might end up doing the same thing to us?

Deborah Maria
27 Posted 17/02/2023 at 16:35:24
I thought Gregg agreed to fund the £60m shortfall if Dunford and Carter were removed from the board.
Pete Clarke
28 Posted 17/02/2023 at 17:22:27
Keiran.
I have a few mates from Stoke who used to meet Peter Coates regularly and have a good chat with him over a beer or two. Yes, the owner of the club and a local guy who genuinely loved the club and put a lot of his own money into the club. I loved this but Coates is genuine whereas our leader has proved to be a phony.
This didn’t stop them hounding him out of the club and even invading the directors box during some troubled times and relegation only to apologize to him on his return a few years later after failed foreign ownership. Very turbulent times indeed at the club but things don’t always work out the way it’s hoped.
My initial thought was Kenwright would understand what us blues wanted and work towards making the club great again. His lack of finances should not have stopped him trying to find a way to build the club back up again and let’s face it, he had plenty of opportunity to have brought people in with the expertise to do this. Unfortunately for us he is a control freak and Everton was his toy that he would share with nobody. The power he had could hide his lack of intelligence.
His dreams come true with Moshiri for sure because he still maintained control whilst becoming a multi millionaire.
He may have actually been born local but that’s where it ends with him. He has joined a long list of scouse celebrities who have forgotten their roots and don’t give a toss about the city or it’s people. He probably doesn’t even care about the club due to his head being so far up his own arse.
Whereas my mates shared a beer with Peter Coates I could not think of worse company than BK to share a beer with unless it was to throw it over him.

Kieran Kinsella
29 Posted 17/02/2023 at 18:38:05
Pete

The only time I'd share a beer with BK or rather provide him with one would be in a scenario like The Red Wedding in Game of Thrones. As for Coates, I felt like he was hard done by as was Pulis. The danger of heightened expectations. Same thing that happened with Richard Murray and Curbishley at Charlton when people decided being a mid table Prem team was no longer enough.

Jay Harris
30 Posted 17/02/2023 at 18:46:41
Tony ,

I was told by someone on the training staff at the time that Koeman wanted Klaassen and then was shocked to find Lukaku had been told he could go and Kenwright had decided on Rooney and Moshiri, no doubt in consultation with his agent mate, brought Sigurdsson in and then there were ruptions at the club hence Koeman went on his version of gardening leave until he was sacked.

Is it any wonder we are in a mess with those two interfering clowns thinking they know about football?

Jay Harris
31 Posted 17/02/2023 at 18:55:34
Deborah I don't think Dunford was ever a director. He was promoted from Club secretary to Chief exec in 2004 but the resigned the following year when other operational costs jumped from 1m to 20m in one year and his ultimate successor Keith Wyness came in at 6 times the salary Dunford had been on.
Paul Thomas
32 Posted 17/02/2023 at 19:56:56
Bill Kenwright is a narcissist.

He loves the power and control, wants to silence any decent or criticism and feels he doesn't need to explain himself regarding decisions made. That includes past, present and future.

If he had the clubs interest at heart he would have walked sometime ago. It's all about him.

Tony Abrahams
33 Posted 17/02/2023 at 20:21:32
I just remembered Koeman, saying that he fancied Iceland, to beat England, during the euro’s, Jay, because they had Sigurdsson, and assumed he must have really wanted him, after hearing this, mate.
Jay Harris
34 Posted 17/02/2023 at 21:18:31
Tony,
You could be right. I'm just repeating what I was told at the time and we all know that the further down the chain the message goes the more distorted it becomes.

I do know we ended up with 3 number 10s and no number 9!!

Will Mabon
35 Posted 17/02/2023 at 21:42:23
"Everton hope to be playing at their new home by 2005... will boast a sliding roof, moving tiers of seats and a retractable pitch"

Where Bill's involved, it's only ever the goal posts that keep moving.

Kunal Desai
36 Posted 17/02/2023 at 22:41:59
Kenwright, is (literally and physically) the hemorrhoid that just won't go away.
Phil Wood
37 Posted 18/02/2023 at 03:06:27
The real rot set in as Sir John Moores was in his latter years and unable to run Everton nor his Littlewoods Empire. Sir Philip Carter was basically holding both forts without the power to make decisions on either front.

It was an important time as the Premier League was taking root and Everton were meant to be a big player. When John Moores died, chaos reigned and a steady decline ensued.

But that period of inactivity as his health declined robbed Everton of a rudder to steer us in the same direction as the teams that thrived in the early years of the Premier League. That and the Euro ban, of course.

He was a strong and ruthless force behind the Club and something we have lacked since. This appears to have been lost to history as we look to latter day scapegoats who probably have been well-intentioned to begin with but were or are out of their depth.

Sir John built us as the Mersey Millionaires but sadly we faded with his demise.

Christine Foster
38 Posted 18/02/2023 at 06:08:29
Jesus H Christ. He will not go away will he? Benitez again on a self-promotion today in the Mail, blaming Everton of course for pulling the rug and not having the money he was promised for transfers. Never mind he should never have been there in the first place..

Why are we not surprised that he never got the money promised? Which makes it over 3 years of pulling the wool over the eyes of managers and getting rid of them when they can't make a winning squad out of remnants.

Blame? Benitez got rid of what quality we had, Kenwright and Co "exaggerated" (I won't say lied because it's Benitez) what would be available. (I wonder how many managers they have said that to? Certainly the last 3 then…)

Nothing changes, the con-man goes on, Benitez, Lampard, Dyche... the only good thing is I think for the position they (The Board) have left us in, Dyche is probably the best if only solution we have... but god, the incompetence is only compounded with broken promises. Disgraceful leadership.

Danny O’Neill
39 Posted 18/02/2023 at 06:45:36
I wouldn't grace them with the term 'Leadership'. It's not befitting of them and a slur on the term, even if meant in a critical sense.

I think 'clueless' is a more appropriate term.

That aside, thousands go in today and will be right beside our team and our club.

Derek Thomas
40 Posted 18/02/2023 at 06:52:00
Barry; you forgot VIBAC, where we (allegedly) borrowed £20M every year, paid £3M Interest for the privilege... every year . Then paid it back, then borrowed it again and paid the £3M again every year.

The 'VI' being The Virgin Islands – BAC being the initials of Earl's (or was it Green's?) Kids.

Yeah but Bill was in the Boys Pen, so it's okay.

Oh, and CEO Trevor Birch saw the behindthe-scenes shit show first-hand, complained, then bailed after 6 weeks.

John Hall
41 Posted 18/02/2023 at 06:57:20
Bill does not see himself as a liar because “he believes his own lies”. Great line – Peter@19! Certainly a pathological liar we have as a Chairman aptly named Billy.

In the book Billy Liar, Billy spends his time indulging in fantasies and dreams of life in the big city as a comedy writer. Not so far off the mark to what we have had as our leader for the past few decades…

Darren Hind
42 Posted 18/02/2023 at 07:24:54
Phil Wood,

Thats a good post, mate. We need to recognise history.

The rot had set in long before Kenwright arrived. Today's super-rich clubs were not around then. The playing field was an awful lot leveller. Howard Kendal did an incredible job of masking boardroom inadequacy.

Unfortunately, Sky came along. The rich got richer and we were left behind.

Looking at the costs of the likes of Southall, Stevens, Ratclife, Big Dunc, Harper, Sheedy, Reid etc, I often wonder if what Howard did then could be done today? I don't think it could. I think the scouting systems of today's game would mean we couldn't land any of them today.

Kenwright may not have started the rot, but that cannot be allowed to mask his deception. His fingerprints are all over every step of our continued decline.

He could have been a legend at this club. All he had to do was come clean with the fans and he'd have received sympathy by the barrel-load. Now he is despised.

I still don't get it. Did a seemingly intelligent man really believe he could get away with fooling all of the people all of the time?

Danny O’Neill
43 Posted 18/02/2023 at 08:15:58
Phil, I echo Darren's sentiment, and Darren, an equally good post.

I grew up in the '70s following a pretty average Everton – bar the odd good moment. Realistically, we had already fallen from grace according to the stories I heard of the '60s teams.

We had a brief period under Howard that will live me with forever and those memories will never go away. But we have not capitalised on our stature as one of the biggest clubs in English football for decades. We had an opportunity in 1987, but we sat back and twiddled our thumbs whilst other, then peers, built and progressed.

My opinion is that the criticism of the Chairman has grown, even amongst the most passive supporters, because of sheer frustration. A failing regime for nearly 40 years. Who in their right mind wouldn't have walked or been shown the door?

Anyway, onto Goodison. That's all that matters today. And those supporters, young and old will be there for the team as always.

Darren Hind
44 Posted 18/02/2023 at 08:32:41
Indeed, Danny

All focus needs to be on the team today. Uncle Bill won't be going anywhere.

I was up really early yesterday and I was going to post that it was a long time since I was this nervous on the morning of the game. Then I realised it was still only Friday.

Either my Hors d'Oeuvres are no longer up to this, or we are flying closer to the flames with every passing season.

Hopefully tomorrow's threads will be of the celebratory kind.

We can get back to Uncle Bill and his acolytes on Monday

Tony Abrahams
45 Posted 18/02/2023 at 08:53:49
I don't think anyone (even me) would seriously want to talk about Bill Kenwright on Monday, Darren. I believe that the only reason he has been in the news this week is because he had the brass neck to turn up at Anfield last Monday.

It's 11 v 11 but, if Everton's players show fight and work hard, then I'm hoping the 12th man can give them enough energy to get over the line today.

Eric Myles
46 Posted 19/02/2023 at 13:26:28
Deborah #27, what £60 million shortfall?

The total cost of the project increased by £15 million which the Club were asked to cover on top of their £30 million.

Jerome Shields
47 Posted 20/02/2023 at 08:50:25
Simply put, Kenwright's aim was to enrich himself from the start and he has been very successful doing so, with no money of his own. His whole running of the club has been to maintain his position to do that.

He at the moment is (I guarantee) very annoyed that someone else may make more money out of Everton than he did and will be looking to claw back some of the difference.

It is simple to categorise Kenwright: he is the greedy bastard he has always been. Why does he continue? Because greed, avarice, meanness are cancers of the soul. He is totally obsessed and has surrounded himself with similar types. Put a beggar on horseback and he will ride to hell.

Barry you did one of the best jobs of trying to get the facts, but as you say it was difficult.You would have to get evidence from every waking moment to be sure.The lack of investigation is partly due to Kenwright making sure that he never did or will happen, just like so many of the above name persons are not with us at Everton.

My conclusions are drawn from a life time of personnel experience of such people.It is in everyone of us the ability to be mean, but some people particularly when money is involved can take it to extreme.,They may even have a personality disorder.

I thought that the Board not turning up at the Leeds game was very telling.They are not even attempting to do their part in helping us all pull together to save the Club from Relegation..

Actually relegation might be what Kenwright wants, since he might be able to get control of the Club again ,as it comes into the price level he can afford..

That how dillusional a greedy bastard can be.

Tom Hughes
48 Posted 20/02/2023 at 10:19:17
He should've been run out of town for the loss of Kings Dock. Entirely engineered by himself. The multiple failings, lies and serial debacles that followed only reinforce that. A true state of the art stadium on a truly spectacular Kings dock site. Really stealing the centre ground of the whole city region. Almost 20yrs of lost revenue, raised status and opportunity to really cash in instead of simply treading water. All for the want of a small cash injection that one of our directors was prepared to cover. An act of outrageous, criminal negligence! Swept under one of many bulbous carpets.

Instead we had years of managed decline were everything was sold off just to stay afloat to the point where there was nothing left to sell but the club itself. Disaster after disaster appointment since, scatter gun spending, capitalised debts, serial losses, FFP banging at the door and £500m stadium that has yet to secure funding with costs rising to £760m when we could've had a bigger and more flexible stadium for a tiny fraction of that, 20yrs ago! An absolute basketcase of a club with Kenwright the only common denominator! Forget Agent Johnson, Kenwright has done far more traitorous damage than PJ ever did by several wide margins.

Dave Abrahams
49 Posted 20/02/2023 at 10:31:42
Tom (48), Tom your post should be Kenwright’s epilogue with a PS from Jerome @ (47).
Dennis Stevens
50 Posted 20/02/2023 at 10:44:51
Hear! Hear! Tom.
Jerome Shields
51 Posted 20/02/2023 at 18:18:55
Tom #48,

I never looked into King's Dock. Thank you for fully informing me .The one thing that struck me about Barry's piece was the same continuing thread of meanness by Kenwright throughout and that Kenwright template for what is happening to the Club at the moment, which hasn't changed one iota in the intervening years.

Great post, Tom, particularly relating it to years of mismanagement.


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