Everton FC

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.

(continued below)