With another season of steady improvement behind us, every Evertonian is now waiting for news of new signings, speculating on the size of our transfer budget and most importantly, the news that every Evertonian is eagerly awaiting – confirmation that David Moyes has put pen to paper on a new 4 or 5 year deal.

As part of his contract negotiations David Moyes reportedly put together a new 5 year plan, which outlined his view of where the club should be aiming over that period. The question I would ask is, exactly where should we be aiming and what can realistically be achieved?
Having finished 5th & in the “best of the rest” spot this season – the logically next step is to attempt to topple one of the “Big 4” or “Big 3 plus Liverpool” as we would prefer to call them.

the logically next step is to attempt to topple one of the “Big 4” or “Big 3 plus Liverpool

But is that goal realistic? Can we overturn the odds and gatecrash their party on a consistent basis? Based simply on finance the answer would appear to be no – by the clubs own recent admission, we are currently “over achieving”. This comment by Keith Wyness was taken in some quarters as being negative – when in fact he was merely stating a fact. Our on field achievements when compared to our expenditure – means that in comparison to the “Big 3 plus Liverpool” and most of our nearest competitors for the “best of the rest” spot – we’re vastly overachieving.

Our current wage bill & net spend on player transfers during Moyes tenure as manager – should see us in the lower reaches of the league standings – if football was as simple as “you get what you pay for” – thankfully for us, it isn’t. Thanks to Moyes ability to spot an affordable gem & polish it up into a sparkler – we’ve risen from what our finances would suggest, was our rightful position and to establish ourselves in the Top 6 of the PL.
So having established ourselves in the top 6, firstly we need to cement ourselves there. If we’re to do that, we can’t keep banking on Moyes continuing to turn “water into wine” in the transfer market – we need to provide him (and future potential manager’s) with a budget comparable to our nearest competitors. Without a wealthy benefactor backer, this can only be done by increasing the turnover of the business.

So we need a bigger stadium – asap – without debating the rights and wrongs of Kirkby – this is a must if we’re to maintain and improve upon our current position in the medium term. The increased revenue generated by a new stadium i.e. increased capacity, vastly improved corporate facilities, concourse facilities that fans would actually want to spend some time and therefore money in etc etc, is an essential factor if we’re to keep pace with our competitors.
Secondly, merchandising – our merchandising sales are way behind the big boys – and there’s a number of reasons for this. We’re not as well known globally as the likes of Man U, Liverpool and more recently Chelsea – to improve our support and thus merchandising revenues, both nationally and internationally – we need to raise the profile of the club. Winning a domestic trophy or the UEFA cup would be a huge stride forward in achieving this.
Lastly, ticket prices – all of the Big Boys have higher ticket prices than us – since the Glazier’s have taken over at Manchester United, their average season ticket price has doubled in cost. It’s an unpalatable fact of life, that if we want to see the best, we the supporters are at some point going to have to help pay for it, via the turnstiles.
So what’s the conclusion? In the short term we’re blessed with a very talented squad and with the right additions this summer we could well end up with a team, that’s capable of even better things next season and who knows, if one of the established Top 4 slip up, we may have an opportunity to get that “golden ticket” to the Champions League.
In the medium term, we need to improve the financial foundations of the club, if the present team is to be turned into a sustainable long term success story. Moyes has laid the foundations on the pitch, it’s up to the board, to ensure that this period of success is built upon & that it’s not yet another false dawn. If this happens, Everton Football Club have a chance to take their place back at the top table of English & European football.

Please, get your money out Bll!

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