http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/09/30/2688648/if-you-were-compiling-a-premier-league-worst-xi-hed-be-first

Who will be the key player for your team in this match?

If he starts in his best position of just behind the striker, Tim Cahill will be Everton’s key player. He has shown his derby prowess in recent years having scored in last season’s Goodison derby, which ended in a 2-0 win
for the Toffees.

If they start, Ross Barkley, Seamus Coleman, Louis Saha and Apostolos Vellios could all be influential in orchestrating a win for the Toffees, but I think defender Phil Jagielka will need to be on top form to keep Liverpool at bay.

Who will be your team’s most dangerous opponent?

Luis Suarez looks a snip at £20m. His technical and finishing abilities have been evident for all to see already this season. Everton will need to keep Suarez quiet should they win this match, but Andy Carroll is a notable mention; he hasn’t exactly set the world on fire thus far but is likely to cause Sylvain Distin problems on Saturday.

Who will be the opposition’s weak link?

The quality of Liverpool’s starting XI has vastly improved since the summer transfer window. Players that would have been deemed a weak link have been sold, whereas the likes of Lucas have improved.

Many Liverpool fans have been on Jordan Henderson’s back recently and so he could be the weak link in their side.

Which player has a point to make in this derby?

Louis Saha. The Frenchman has hardly seen much action this season after a combination of both injury and fitness problems. His Twitter ramblings did not help matters, but the 33-year-old will be determined to start and score against Liverpool.

Most likely player in your team to see red?

Tim Cahill, Phil Neville, and Tony Hibbert have all had derby troubles in the past, but I think Maroune Fellaini will need to be careful if deployed in his defensive midfield role.

Which opposition player will get booed the most by your supporters?

Everton fans don’t share a fondness for the likes of Steven Gerrard or Jamie Carragher. If they are involved I wouldn’t expect either of them to receive a favourable reception.

Your favourite Merseyside derby memory

The derby success of 2006 brings back good memories. It was Andy Johnson who scored two goals in a 3-0 victory. Liverpool had the better results from derby matches in years before so it was nice to see Everton win for a change.

Your starting XI for the match…

Howard
Neville, Jagielka, Distin, Baines
Fellaini, Rodwell
Coleman, Cahill, Osman
Saha

Reasoning behind the team

This is the side I feel the Everton manager will go with. As much as I’d like to see the likes of Apostolos Vellios and Roysten Drenthe start, judging by the players’ comments this week it seems much more likely that the experienced ‘tried and tested’ players will start instead. Everton have a near full strength squad so David Moyes will find it tricky to pick his starting XI, but one thing is for sure; Everton must start with at least one natural striker if they have ambitions to win this game.

Some Evertonians will suggest Seamus Coleman has been ineffective recently, rushed back too soon and should be benched or moved to right-back, whereas others will wish for Tim Cahill – without a goal in 2011 – to be dropped in favour of the impressive 19-year-old striker Vellios. However, most importantly for me, I think Moyes should unleash boyhood Evertonian Ross Barkley. He wasn’t involved against Manchester City last week but I think the England Under-21 international has the ability to unlock Liverpool’s defence and be a key player for the Toffees should he start.

It will be difficult to see Jack Rodwell not start against Liverpool, after an impressive performance against Manchester City last week.

Q) Firstly can I ask about the history of the Everton’s charitable work in the community. How long has there been an Everton charitable presence in the local community?

A) There has been an Everton in the Community / Foundation presence as such in the local communities it was started by Ted Sutton and progressed onto becoming Everton in the Community and then Everton Foundation.

Q) The Everton Foundation was until recently called Everton In The Community. What is the reason for this name change? Is it purely cosmetic or is there a wider reason for it?

A) There is a wider reason for the change it gives the charity more avenues in which to pursue funding from and also enables the foundation to include more projects.

Q) So what exactly does the Everton Foundation do?

A) The Everton Foundation provides both academic and sporting opportunities for the local and greater Merseyside communities because of its track record in performance it had know gone International and has offices in Anglesey, Shanghai and also soccer camps in Canada, Vietnam, Laos, Kenya, and Morocco.

Q) How much of a say does the club have in the running of the foundation, is it an independent charity acting in the club’s name or do the club take an active interest in the running of the foundation?

A) The club play an active interest in the Charity our CEO is a trustee and the club is our biggest funder.

Q) As a coach of the Everton Tigers, possibly the highest profile symbol of the foundation, could you explain why the foundation chose to partner up with the Tigers?

A) The Foundation choose to partner up with the Tigers to give it an even bigger profile in the hard to reach communities Basketball is a world wide sport that encompasses people from all ethnic and cultural backgrounds

Q) Would you say the Tigers have been a success and where would you like to see them progressing in the future?

A) They have been a success in the UK over the last three years I feel that we would like to progress in the next few years to playing a European competition.

Q) How can Everton fans go about watching the Tigers?

A) They can come to watch them at the Greenback Sports Academy, Sefton Park, Liverpool L17

Q) Of course there are other things the foundation does. I believe the Everton Foundation boasts the world’s largest disabled football programme, how important do you think this is to the foundation?

A) Very important we have a wealth of experience in working with people who have both physical and Learning disabilities it gives the foundation a really positive image in the communities that we work in

Q) I also believe Lee Carsley helped with the disabled programme. Do the players often make contributions, either financially or otherwise, to the foundation?

A) Yes the players do play a major part in the Foundation activities and make themselves available to support the foundations staff at various activities.

Q) Are there any other significant contributions the foundation makes to the community of Merseyside?

A) The foundation have a good reputation in the Merseyside Area as a model of good practice and pass on there expertise to other organisations to help with there own programmes

Q) There are many different sporting charities like the Football Foundation. How does the Everton Foundation work with these charities?

A) They work in Partnership with other sporting charities around the country a lot of them run the same type of community programmes i.e. Kickz, Positive Futures etc

Q) What would you say is the future of the Everton Foundation?

A) The future of the foundation is to build on its strengths and develop more projects that are deliverable to the local communities also to broaden and increase its image around the world

Q) How can fans get involved in the foundation?

A) We have a volunteer programme that runs within the Foundation enabling supporters to get involved supporting and learning about what the Foundation does.

For more information on the Everton Foundation visit http://www.evertonfoundation.org/

Our next interview to be put up on Wednesday 6th January will be with Jah Jussa of Tabacula, the company behind the Dixie Dean movie.

Max Dunbar the project manager of the Everton Collection agreed to answer some questions on this fantastic collection.

How did the club go about raising the funds required to buy the collection?

The Club did not want to purchase the Collection itself but wished to work with an experienced heritage partner. Therefore, Liverpool Record Office, the archive service for the City, based at Liverpool Central Library was approached in about 2006 to provide a safe and secure long-term home for the Collection. This would mean that relevant conservation and preservation standards would be met along with the benefit of being able to provide public access in the Record Office seven days per week and have qualified archivists and conservators to assist and advise on preservation, cataloguing, digitisation, and access.

The Everton Collection Charitable Trust was formed in 2005 as an independent charity to raise funds to acquire the Collection and to ensure its access and use for education. David Stoker, Manager of Liverpool Record Office, researched and compiled the successful application to the Heritage Lottery Fund on behalf of the Trust with the Record Office as the heritage partner. The extensive documentation to support the application was submitted in March 2007 and a decision as part of the competitive and rigorous HLF process was made in September 2007 to award nearly £1 million – very close to the maximum amount possible. The overall project cost was £2.1 million which included acquiring the David France collection and carrying out the project to catalogue, digitise, exhibit, and make available the Collection, not least to schools and new audiences. Everton FC donated the Club’s own archive to the Trust, the value of which also counted as match funding, and Lord Grantchester made a significant contribution.

Of course it already was a huge collection, and then Everton combined their collection with it.  How difficult was it to catalogue this massive collection together?

Both collections were organised differently and located in different places. With much of the Club’s Collection at Goodison under the Park End Stand, the priority was to ensure these valuable items were re-located to Liverpool Record Office. It took over a year to finally integrate both collections together. With David’s collection largely paper-based and the Club’s collection including trophies, shirts, boots and other players’ memorabilia, I’m sure you’d agree the two collections complement each other perfectly!

Has the archiving of the collection unearthed many interesting facts about our club?

Every page of every minute book is now on our website for everyone to read – that’s 10,000 pages of original Everton history! A new perspective on the Anfield Split and the characters behind the split have been revealed through the minute books. There are also 1,000s more pages of match programmes, contracts, reports, letters, etc now freely available to read on our new website, so I’m sure plenty more facts will be unearthed in due course.

Has all the collection now been sorted and archived?

The vast majority of the Collection has now been sorted and archived at Liverpool Record Office. But we’re constantly acquiring new memorabilia, so this is just the beginning!

How much of the collection is available to view online at evertoncollection.org?

The entire Everton Collection is now fully searchable online. At the moment we do not have images of every item. There are currently 40,000 images of the Collection online and we will be adding more images in the future.

Is all the collection currently available to view for the public in its current exhibition?

All the treasures of The Everton Collection are on display in the free exhibition at Liverpool Central Library. However, due to limited space, the displayed material equates to just 1% of the Collection. To search everything you need to go on our website. If there is an item on the website that has no image, you can visit Liverpool Record Office and see the item in person.

Are there any events taking place involving the Everton collection?

Since we launched the Collection in September, we’ve had many events going on to coincide with the exhibition. Football historian and author, Peter Lupson, has given a number of history talks about the shared histories of Everton and Liverpool FC, including topics such as the Anfield Split and the joint match programmes. His last talk will be about Sir John Moores and will be held on Monday 21st December at 2pm in Central Library. We’ve also had Everton legends coming in to do talks and answer questions – including Duncan McKenzie, Derek Temple and on the 22nd December, Graeme Sharp (2pm).

During the school holidays there have also been family events, including hands-on tours of the exhibition and a special children’s trail around the displays – the same applies for the Christmas holidays coming up.

Is there any way fans can contribute and interact with the Everton collection?

We are always looking out for more items to add to the Collection. If we haven’t already got it, we’re keen to speak to people willing to donate their memorabilia to the Collection. Fans can also share their Everton stories on our website at www.evertoncollection.org.uk/storyteller.

The Collection is owned by a charitable trust, which relies on public fund-raising to continue its work preserving and promoting Everton’s heritage through the Collection. To support the Trust and its work you can donate online at www.justgiving.com/evertoncollection or purchase replica Everton Collection medals in the Everton stores or at http://evertondirect.evertonfc.com/stores/everton/products/product_browse.aspx?free_text=medals.

How else is the Everton collection being used?

We are also using the Collection in schools around Liverpool. Our Learning Officer delivers sessions to schools, exploring subjects such as history, literacy and poetry through the Collection. Our loan boxes include replica items from the Collection and are sent out to schools for children to handle. On our website there is also a wide range of learning resources for teachers to use in the classroom. To find out more about The Everton Collection Learning programmes see our website at www.evertoncollection.org.uk/learning.

Are there any plans for new exhibitions after the current one?

The current exhibition at Central Library ends in Spring 2010. After that, we hope to travel the exhibition around city centre venues. We will also be interviewing fans, players and officials next year as part of the Everton Collection oral history project. At the end of this we hope to have all these interviews available for everyone to listen to. The new Museum of Liverpool opens in 2011 and many of the Everton Collection treasures will also go on display there.

Up Next – “Everton At Christmas” to be put up on Wednesday 23rd December.

Everton’s Head of PR and External Affairs Ian Ross agreed to do an interview to discuss how the club manages to communicate with all the different stakeholders in the Everton Family.

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Q. CEO Robert Elstone has said that communication with fans is hugely important. I’m aware he’s done several fans forums, what exactly are they?

A. They are precisely what they sound like – a group of fans gathered under one roof is invited to ask questions of Club representatives. It is usually frank and honest – and fun.

Q. Who else does these fans forums?

A. We try to invite a player or former-player along. I think in the past 12 months we have been able to offer the likes of Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines, Graeme Sharp etc.

In addition we have used leading Club officials. For example, around the FA Cup semi-final and Final, we were asked many questions about ticketing policies so we rolled out our Head of Ticketing, Andy Ward.

Q. How would a fan go about organising one of these fans forums?

A. They would simply contact the Club’s Communications Department and express an interest. Self-evidently, there is a waiting list as the forums have proved to be extremely popular.

Q. How else do the club get insight into the fans?

A. Through basic and predictable inter-action….emails, phone calls, letters, talks on street-corners etc. All football fans – and particularly Everton fans – love to have their points of view aired.

There are loads of fanzines and fansites which are full of opinions from fan.

Q. Do the club monitor these in any way?

A. Well, I don’t……but I am sure many inside the Club do. I am often accused of actually posting ( under assumed names ) on Toffeeweb etc – but I have no interest at all in doing that.

Q. How are the club embracing new forms of communication like Bluetooth?

A. We are as technologically advanced as it is possible to be – we were the first on Twitter, Facebook etc

Q. There have been issues recently regarding the stadium issue. Many feel the club didn’t know enough about the fan’s preferences for design and travel arrangements, such as what travel methods the fans were willing to take. What is your response to this?

A. We liaised fully with the fans during the stadium process……..the simple truth is, no matter how much dialogue you engage in, no matter how much information you provide…it is NEVER enough. We tried our best to get across all the salient points.

Q. Do you believe there was room for improvement?

A. Always is…always will be. No-one is perfect.

Q. What methods of consultation did the club do with the fans before the plans for Destination Kirkby were drawn up?

A. Well, you can’t consult before you have a basic plan, a scheme, to discuss……..once Destination Kirby became something more than a distant possibility, we sought to engage the fan-base.

Q. What methods of communication are planned with the fans as we move towards looking for a new solution to the stadium issue?

A. The same ones we have always used. Ours is the most open club within the Premiership…..many will argue against that notion…..but it is a fact.

Q. Do you believe a fans council or supporters trust would be beneficial to helping communication with fans?

A. No, not really. We had something similar when I arrived here nine years ago and it was a mess – a series of poorly-attended meetings featuring people who claimed they were the ” voice ” of the Everton public. They weren’t.

Q. Of course the club communicates with many more people than fans. The club is obviously a big attraction in the media. How do the club organise communication with the media?

A. We have a large and professional Communications team which covers every conceivable aspect of the modern media – from bluetooth to standard press releases. We have direct lines of communication with every arm of the media – locally, nationally and internationally.

Q. The club also has the Everton Foundation. Do the club use this as a way to put Everton into the heart of the local community?

A. Yes..I am a Trustee of the Foundation and the work they undertake inside the city – and particularly inside the Walton community – is quite remarkable.

We’re also an important attraction across the Merseyside region. Q. Last week on the way to the Tottenham game the bus stopped outside the old Everton ground (Anfield) and a large group of Germans held the bus up for 10 minutes as they squeezed on with bags of Liverpool FC merchandise. How do the club liaise with tourism organisations etc. to ensure Everton get their fair share of this custom?

A. We spend our lives attempting to make Everton a true, world brand. Whether we like it or not, LFC are just that – a world brand, along with Man Utd and, arguably, Arsenal. This process will, naturally, be accelerated by success out on the field.

Q. We’ve also just signed up to a ten year contract with Kitbag for retail. For me it has been fantastic with world class launches of the shirts and stores, but then again the JJB deal seemed to go sour. How are the club communicating with Kitbag to ensure these high standards are maintained?

A. Kitbag have been great since they joined forces with us. I haven’t met one supporter who has a bad word to say about them. Sales have been extraordinary and the success of the two stores speaks for itself. I think our relationship with them will continue to grow and blossom.

Q. We also have a Thai sponsor in Chang. I’d imagine that would be a hugely different culture. How much of a difference is it to communicate with these foreign sponsors?

A. In many ways it is what is termed a ” reverse ” sponsorship deal. The Chang product isn’t widely available in this country but the English Premier League is huge in Thailand – so they benefit from the blanket TV coverage of the premiership. Our relationship with Chang is excellent.

Do you have any opinions on this interview and that state of Everton’s communication? Please do comment on our Everton Forum, the link is below.

The Everton Family obviously covers many things, but the most important part of the Everton Family has to be the supporters and one of the major supporters groups in recent years has been KEIOC a group who have been active during the issue that has dominated Everton in recent years, the stadium debate.

I put several questions to Colin Fitzpatrick of KEIOC.

Q. Firstly can I ask about the name, KEIOC, would you say that your campaign is based around the boundary issue as your name suggests?  Do Everton belong in the boundaries of LCC or could Everton have a future in Knowsley or along side that other great Liverpool sporting institution Aintree in Sefton?

A. The name was indeed taken in reaction to moving out of the city but doesn’t reflect the boundary issue; although any location the club proposes to move to will always be significant. For example, Manchester United play in the borough of Trafford but that’s only two miles from Manchester City centre and it has all the transport facilities you would expect.

Kirkby is nine miles from the city centre, further than any other premiership ground from its regional centre, and doesn’t have, nor would it ever have had, the infrastructure to deal with a massive influx of people. If Kirkby began at the rotunda and that was the site of the proposed stadium nobody in their right mind would argue that Everton should remain exclusively within the city of Liverpool.

It’s the location that’s important, for the benefit of the current fans and the ability to generate additional revenue streams in the future from non-football events, so whilst i wouldn’t rule out moving outside the city boundary local geography dictates that only Sefton could provide an alternative.

Q. As you were set up to oppose Destination Kirkby and to find an alternative in Liverpool you must have needed help.  What sort of assistance have LCC and your supporters offered you to help you achieve this?

A. The door of Joe Anderson’s office and Warren Bradley’s has always been open as far as we’re concerned; we haven’t just sat back and demanded that the council provide Everton [a private company] with a solution to their problem; we’ve attempted to promote specific issues, they have looked into these and have either accepted them or explained why they wouldn’t be possible.; for example a stadium on the Clarence dock site was discussed with Warren Bradley, he took this to the chairman of Peel Holdings,  John Whittaker, and he dismissed it as it didn’t fit into their plans for Liverpool Waters.

The supporters have been fantastic; the campaign has cost tens of thousands of pounds and we’ve received donations from right across the broad spectrum of support; from guys sitting in the St End to those watching games from the comfort of the platinum suite. We’ve also been assisted by numerous people from every walk of life, literally, butchers, bakers and candlestick makers; we’ve had politicians, accountants, painters and decorators, lawyers, QC’s, OAP’s, environmentalists, planners, you name it we’ve had them help, they all had one thing in common, they were all Evertonians.

Q. What do you think of the council’s efforts to find a new stadium?

A. I’m always at a bit of a  loss over this; what responsibility do the council have for solving Everton’s stadium problem? They didn’t solve Liverpool’s, they [LFC] went to the council with an outrageous plan to build within the park, LFC set up a team and delivered the proposal. Everton hasn’t done that, they expect someone to come along and when Tesco did it was with a plan that suited Tesco, not Everton. If Everton want to deliver their next attempt they’d better learn quickly how to handle the council.

Q. The key problem highlighted by the club has been affordability, whether through the enabling partnership in Kirkby or effectively selling parts of the stadium at the Kings Dock Everton have needed to find some form of external funding.  Have KEIOC come up with any alternatives for funding for a new stadium?

A. Yes we have, there’s a whole raft of proposals one of them being a financial product known as Equity Seat Right, we’ve been promoting this for over a year now and it has recently been chosen to generate  £120m for Tottenham’s new ground. Everton, for geographic and demographic reasons, wouldn’t be in a position to generate anything like this figure but 50% should be a realistic target according to the representatives we have spoken to from the company promoting ESR.

We’ve introduced other innovative ideas; these are currently with the club. It should be remembered when discussing enabling funding that what we were receiving from Tesco was value, not cash, despite what Everton have and embarrassingly continue to claim. In November 2007 Tesco informed radio Merseyside that their contribution wasn’t cash but was derived from the value of the project overall. The public inquiry subsequently heard that it was derived from the uplift in the land value that Everton would obtain on a peppercorn rent 999 year lease; Tesco having purchased this land at a heavily discounted price from the council.

Q. The main stadium issue on the agenda now seems to be the shared stadium, what are the views of KEIOC on the prospect of sharing a stadium with Liverpool FC?

A. My own view is that perhaps the shared stadium issue is worthy of debate and that whilst perhaps the environmental, technical, commercial and cultural problems could always be overcome there could be a much better solution for all parties.

Q. The preferred solution for most fans seems to be redeveloping Goodison.  How does KEIOC feel it can be achieved and of course is it affordable?

A. Yes, it would have to be a phased incremental redevelopment, probably starting with the park end; there’s an early suggestion on our website at the moment; the ultimate solution would be to have the stadium as part of a much larger development which could then bring in additional funding and income for the club to use on the field of play; this is what all fans are ultimately interested in.

Q. What sort of plans do you hope to see coming out in the future for a new Everton stadium?

A. We’d hope to see a return to the original concept for Kirkby, world class, iconic, 50,000 seat stadium with improved facilities for fans and staff alike. If the funding is in place we could achieve everything we needed; easier said than done but not impossible if the vision and the will is there to deliver it.

Q. Obviously there have been problems with the exclusivity agreement, but what sort of contact have you had with the club and what sort of communication would you like to see between yourselves and the club in the future?

A. It may surprise people the contact we have with the club; admittedly it was non-existent in Keith Wyness’ day, at that time we received the usual bullying tactics of legal threats and such but they found we weren’t about to be shaken by such nonsense. Today we have what I can only describe as cordial contact with those running the club but we still encounter the lack of professionalism from one or two individuals, those who are responsible for the split fanbase.  It must be galling for them that a group of unpaid football fans, having stuck to their guns, have unfortunately been proven right; Kirkby would be called in and planning permission would be refused because the application went against all local, regional and national planning guidelines. The decision to follow the DK route has wasted four years of valuable time, a time when the team was punching well above its weight; what needs to happen now is for the whole club to get behind the solution to our problems and we’re happy to do that.

Q. Now that Destination Kirkby is dead and buried and the main motivation for initially setting up the campaign is gone what do you see as being the role of KEIOC in the future?

A. Kirkby isn’t dead and buried because of anything KEIOC did specifically, although it would be amiss to say we didn’t pressurise and make certain individuals and groups aware of what was going on; it failed, as I have said, because it was always going to. We never KEPT Everton in our city but we’d like to hope that we could help towards KEEPING Everton in our city, for the good of the fans, the community and the city as a whole. We’ll be shortly embarking on holding a series of road shows around the supporters clubs; we hope to increase the support for our vision of the future for Everton Football Club.

Q. Moving away from the stadium issue, KEIOC has been a major supporters group for the past few years.  What are KEIOC’s opinions on any potential supporter’s trust or council being set up in the future?

A. We’re big fans of supporters trusts, in fact we included such a scenario in the proposed alternative funding mechanism in our evidence to the inquiry; we see it as an opportunity not just for the ordinary fan to make their voice heard but to having a section of the ground that Evertonians will aspire to and know they’re helping the club reach the higher levels we all desire. What KEIOC’s role in delivering this would be open to discussion; we certainly have the people who aren’t shy at tackling the pertinent issues surrounding the club performance off the pitch.

Things have changed a lot at Everton since a group of cricketers from St Domingo’s Methodist church carried posts to Stanley Park to play football during the winter.  Nowadays Everton reach many different people in many different ways.  Whether that’s through the charitable Everton Foundation, sponsors or retail the club plays an increasingly important role across the region.  The club not only has a football men’s football team but now spreads to a ladies football team, an academy, even a basketball team.  There are many stakeholders who have interests in the running of the club from the board to the shareholders association and fan groups like KEIOC and many many more.  Everton nowadays really are far more than a football team, it goes far beyond a kick around of a ball on some grass, Everton are now a large and important organisation.

Over the next few weeks I am going to look into the ‘Everton Family’, how it all comes together and how the many thousands of different opinions from the fans, club and other groups come together and disagree over the challenges the club faces.

So keep visiting FollowEverton.com to see interviews from many people in the Everton Family and hopefully take a fresh look at the great club we call Everton.