Last night Everton's CEO Robert Elstone underwent a cross-examination
regarding the proposed move to the new stadium in Kirkby, on behalf of
the Liverpool City Council. The cross-examination raised a number of
interesting points including, where the money for the proposed
development would come from, naming rights for the new stadium, the
benefits (or otherwise) to the surrounding area of Kirkby, and the
impacts on Everton Football Club as a whole. While I simply can't be
arsed going through everything that was discussed, a transcript of the
whole thing can be found on the official website:
http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/ceo-faces-cross-examination.html?page=full
Understandably the proposal for the new stadium has been one of the
most controversial and hotly-contested topics surrounding our club in
all the time I have supported them, but by the same token never has a
single decision been more important to the future development of
Everton as a business both on and off the pitch. While I'm sure the
vast majority of Toffee's would love to see us stay at Goodison, it's
been clear for the past few seasons, and particularly during last
summer's transfer period, that at the moment the club simply isn't
financially able to maintain the position we have found ourselves in
for the past few seasons. That we have done so well with our limited
means has been down to the dilligent efforts of Moyesie, and signing
him up for another 5 years was the best thing Bill Kenwright could have
done as Chairman.
So what do I think (in case anyone cares)? Well, as much as I would
love to see us stay at Goodison, and as much sentiment as I have for
the place, if it comes down to the choice of staying there and
stagnating or moving to Kirkby and hopefully gaining further investment
to compete at the top level, then I don't really see it as being a
choice at all. Alot of Everton fans have been calling for Kenwright's
head over this matter, saying that he should just plow money into
redeveloping Goodison. My issue with this is that there is simply no
way of expanding Goodison without a) Massive disruption to the local
community due to where it is situated and b) Masively reducing its
capacity while it's being redevloped.
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