Kenwright – To Be Or Not To Be? In Depth Analysis
By Unclassified • Aug 3rd, 2008 • Category: Fan Articles | For those of us who are unable to play for our beloved blues because we’re cursed with two left feet, both of them Neville’s, and you can’t manage your cherished team because your UEFA Pro License isn’t quite in date, or in existence, then being the owner of Everton Football Club during a glorious era would be our dream. At the moment one man, Bill Kenwright, is currently trying to live out what he called his ‘dream’ in his letter to the Liverpool Echo way back in 1999 when he was fighting for control of the club, but is the curtain set to come down on this old producers latest show. So as crucial times for Everton lie ahead, this famous scouse impresario should borrow a famous theatrical quote and ask himself ‘To be or not to be?’.
Back in 1994, when Kenwright was wrapped in a battle for control of Everton, he unsuccessfully warned the club to steer clear of Johnson, and failed to gain control of the club. After a brief taste of success under Royle in Johnson’s first year in charge, normal service resumed, and following Royle’s resignation due to lack of backing, Everton found themselves in a dire position.
By 1999, when Kenwright launched his second attempt to bid for Everton, the blues were a club on the edge. Everton are a club steeped in a fantastic heritage and traditions, but in 1999, Everton were stuck in the 60s. Our stadium was world class, in the 60s, our training facilities were world class, in the 60s, we were pioneers of football, in the 60s, were significant movers in marketing football, in the 60s, and were a major power in football, in the 60s. In the 90s when the Premierleague was formed, and the likes of Manchester United and Newcastle went global, Everton built a shop.
Everton were a sinking ship, being forced to sell any decent players we had, including the high profile sale of Ferguson to Newcastle, with a very poor squad looking relegation in the face, and with unmanageable debts crippling the club. Everton were on the brink of relegation into the abyss of Nationwide football, from where they would not have returned for quite a considerable time. Considering this, you can call Kenwright’s decision to re-mortgage his house to save Everton from the brink sheer idiocy or sheer passion. His glasses were very definitely tinted Royal Blue at the time, and his heart, more than likely desperate to save the club, lead his head, which would have told him to wait for the nearly inevitable relegation and get the club on the cheap. But whether through wisdom or utter madness, Kenwright seized control of our ailing club, and just about pulled it back from the edge.
In these last 9 years since that fight for control, the sailing has been anything but smooth. Everton were left in such a position that the sale of fixed assets and many players was needed to raise funds for players and pay the debts, the debts were re-organised to a more manageable arrangement and the true extent of how bad things at the club had become was revealed, to the point were CEO Trevor Birch resigned after just 6 weeks at the helm. Everton, for the first half of Kenwright’s reign, struggled to attract investment, and were weighed down by the mismanagement of the previous regimes, as well as the lack of ability for True Blue Holdings to pump more money into the club.
However in the past four years, both on and off the pitch there has been a general upward trend. With the sale of Wayne Rooney in 2004, Everton marked the end to the sell before we buy policy that had crippled our development since the end of the Royle era. Everton once again began to look ahead, concentrating on improving marketing with EvertonTV, Keijan, Chang and more recently SoccerPrince and the North American equivalent. Everton have in many ways, on a small budget, began to move out of the 60s, our marketing and merchandising is now probably on par with the level set at the turn of this century, our training facilities are world class, our squad is at its best in terms of talent and average age since the mid 80s, and other clubs, most notably Aston Villa, are following our model towards success. And although it is a divisive issue, we are within an announcement of moving out of a 1960s stadium. Kenwright has, it can now be said, successfully turned Everton FC around and saved a sinking ship. But is it now time for him to hand the helm over to someone new?
Although generally we are in a much stronger position to that of 1999, there are still huge hangovers from previous boards which have proven too difficult to shake off. Our debt, although now more manageable, is rising, and with most clubs in the league now spending beyond their means to sign players, Everton are being forced to do likewise and play Russian roulette with the big money men of the league, as we hunt the cash cow of the Champions League. Add onto this the funding for a new stadium, and Everton’s borrowing will have to rise again, meaning that a sharp rise in revenue and a cutting of non-essential costs is needed to bring the club into profit soon. Everton also have an upward battle in terms of marketing. Although we can boast about being the 4/5th most successful club in England, that means very little in terms of our international stance with spectators. Our glory came before English football went global, and by the time it did, when other clubs were selling themselves overseas, we were too busy dodging relegation. These are issues which need to be addressed urgently if Everton are truly going to emulate the success of old.
Now is a pivotal time for Everton, with possibly the most telling news we can expect this summer not being the signing of Moyes’ contract, or the number and value of new faces who will wear the Royal Blue next season, and not even Kirkby. In my opinion, the most telling sign of the direction and ambition of the club will come in from the calibre and drive of the person who replaces Keith Wyness as CEO. For the club to move forward and really drive on up to the next level, Everton need a winning team both on and off the pitch, consisting of a manager, chairman and CEO:
Chairman
The chairman needs to be strong, passionate, have a clear goal in mind for the club and the money to make it happen. In my opinion Kenwright has two of these qualities sewn up.
Firstly he is a strong chairman. Don’t be fooled by his posh voice and his lovey dovey tone, Kenwright is one of the strongest chairmen around, and I’ll give two examples of this. The first is from late 2005, when Moyes was under severe pressure from the fans and the media as the team languished above the relegation zone. Instead of doing what nearly every other chairman in the country would do, and give a knee jerk reaction and sack Moyes, Kenwright stood by his manager throughout these months, and the rest is history. The second being his decision to give Everton fans the vote on the Kirkby proposal, an idea which is virtually unheard of in football, as it makes very little business sense, and was met by shock from his fellow chairmen, and more than likely criticism from his fellow board members, but he stuck by his promise to the fans and gave the vote out.
Secondly his passion for the club can not be question. Born in Wavertree, he is famed for repeating his stories about the boys pen and Dave Hickson, and whether it’s his willingness to oft repeat this tale, or maybe it’s the fact that his accent isn’t scouse, but the definite passion in his memories is often overlooked. This is a man who virtually bet his house on him saving the club in 1999, attends virtually every game, and sings along with pride with his fellow Evertonians. This man is a born and bred blue with the passion to make a good chairman.
However it is the third and fourth one which I have doubts over. Kenwright, firstly with Gregg, and now with Earle, has attempted to find a backer who is willing to match the likes of Lerner and provide guarantees for loans. This method failed with Gregg, whilst this summer’s budget will provide a good indication as to how much Earle will be able to compensate for the empty space in Kenwright’s wallet. And in regards to the clear goal any chairman needs, Kenwright has the simple goal of recreating the success of the 80s, but doesn’t strike me as being entirely sure as how to achieve it, instead he seems to put this weight upon the CEO, making this appointment all the more important.
Manager
The manager needs to be strong, ambitious and talented. I’d be insulting your intelligence if I felt that I had to explain how this relates to Moyes, so I’ll leave that there.
CEO
The CEO needs to be strong, be very apt in marketing and have a canny business mind. Hardly sounds like Keith Wyness does it?
Wyness fulfilled his purpose of helping to move on the marketing and move the focus from stabilising to growing the club, but his expiry date was fast approaching. We need a CEO who has the ambition and ability of not only going global, but also to not forget we still need a presence in the city centre. The new CEO needs to really push the board all the way, and be devoted to helping Everton reach their potential, making up for the fact that Kenwright does not have the business mind of some other chairman. But this has to be done in balance with maintaining Everton’s soul and heritage, avoiding the prospect of becoming yet another faceless franchise.
The mixture between the chairman, manager and CEO should create a team which is always trying to push Everton on. The manager should always be pushing the chairman for more funds, a better wage structure and better scouts whilst the CEO pushes the chairman for more money for marketing, merchandising and other off field ventures. Wyness never seemed to offer this, and so his sudden resignation could prove to be a blessing in disguise for Kenwright.
So is Kenwright the right man, or should he now step down? Basically I believe it all depends on the coming months. Alone Kenwright is not the right man, it all depends on the strength of the team he can put together. If come August 31st it becomes apparent Earle has not backed the club, if the new CEO proves to be as sub standard as his predecessor, and if Kirkby gets called in and Everton can not fund an alternative then Kenwright must go. However, if Kenwright’s new team works as well in getting Everton into the elite as his original one did in dragging Everton away from the abyss, if we get a CEO as ambitious and as driven off the field as Moyes is on it, and if the progress of the past 9 years continues, then Kenwright’s dream, and the hopes of glory for all Evertonians, may yet come true. So with crucial months ahead, it hangs in the balance as to whether Kenwright’s dream will end like a Shakespearean tragedy, or this scouse impresario manages to pull off the best show of his career.
Also, the FE team are taking a six day break, and the forums are being upgraded.
You know what this is a good article! I said to my mum and dad this morning (home from university of Liverpool over the summer) that we too easily forget the Johnson days, forget he remortgaged all he had to save the club and installed a new manager with burning ambition. Moyes himself says he has money, not bags, but he has money. Look across the park and we’ll see that just handing over a club to someone with promises and money wont guarentee a chelski situation. Derby are seeing that themselves with the old owner wanting to buy back after not seeing the significant investment promised for his beloved club.
Lets all remember, moyes and Kenwright (1 of only 2 chairmen in the league not to take a penny for all the hours e puts in) also have a great working relationship. Should we force a man out whose good relationship with our fantastic manager may be one factor in why he hasnt jumped from our constantly waterlogged ship?
Il admit kenwright is no saint, and he may have misled us in the past but everyone shouldnt forget johnson and should rememer sometimes is a case of ‘better the devil you know’
Fantastic article, best i’ve seen for some time. I would only quibble with the comment “Kenwright does not have the business mind of some other chairman”. He is the country’s leading theatrical impressario, and you don’t get to be that without sound business sense.
I agree he is one of the fans (I’ve long suspected that he has a moniker he uses on the 606 boards but i can’t work out which one, and maybe even on this site too. I wonder if he was strikinglyhandsome1!??) and he wants to do right by the club.
So it frustrates me that we haven’t at least signed one player (surely he would have signed Manny by now – assuming he’s going to at all) to keep up appearances whilst also signing a quality player – and thereby keeping morale high around the club and it’s fans.
I’m desperate to see what happens over the rest of this month. Has anyone seen Riquelme outside a burger van on Walton Lane yet??