In November, Blackburn Rovers was taken over by an Indian group promising much. Venkys, a company which specialises in poultry farming and pharmaceuticals, held numerous meetings with Rovers and the Premier League over two months and in their opening press conference, promised marquee signings and Champions League football.
Not shocking claims by any stretch of the imagination; even if they have proved to be utter nonsense.
In the months around the deal concluding, it was impossible to sit through a sports news bulletin without hearing about the saga that eventually concluded at Liverpool or bearing witness to the huge waves of ridiculous spending underway at Eastlands; all done with the intention of propelling Manchester City closer to their goal of becoming the world’s biggest football club.
Takeovers are part and parcel of the Premier League in the 21st century. Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Sunderland, Liverpool, Blackburn and Queens Park Rangers can all count themselves among the expanding group of foreign-owned clubs playing in England’s top flight and the intention is that that number will continue to increase. According to Keith Harris, chairman of investment bank Seymour Pierce, 16 of the 20 clubs in the Premier League were officially or unofficially up for sale in the 2009/10 season.
But with the greatest respects to both Manchester City and Blackburn… Why are foreign investors not looking a little closer to Merseyside and putting their money into Everton? Why aren’t The Toffees constantly subject to ridiculous takeover deals from some of the world’s richest people instead of their Premier League rivals?
Before Manchester City were taken over in the summer of 2008, they finished the 2007/08 Premier League season in ninth. Ten points ahead of them in fifth place was Everton. The following year, City finished tenth, even with their record-breaking signing Robinho in the ranks. Everton were fifth once again and actually finished three points closer to fourth than they did in 2008.
There is a squad already in place that is capable of getting the team into Europe. Player-for-player, it is one of the most capable and sought-after squads in the entire Premier League. In Tim Howard, the Goodison Park team possess a goalkeeper that is constantly heralded in the same breath as the best that the English league can offer. In front of the consistent American, Phil Jagielka is fast becoming a mainstay in the England squad. Brilliant since returning from a potentially career-ending injury, the former Sheffield United player has struck up a strong partnership with Sylvain Distin and his performances have been good despite the team starting the season poorly.
In midfield, Everton are at their strongest. Marouane Fellaini is another of the seemingly long line of capable footballers to be produced from Belgium’s Jupiler league and he is apparently on the radar of a host of top European clubs; and in Jack Rodwell and Ross Barkley, David Moyes and his coaching staff have brought through two very promising, if slightly raw, midfielders. They are the kind of players that could make an impact at the very top clubs and around them at Everton, Moyes has recruited an abundance of attacking midfielders capable of contributing goals and assists including Leon Osman and break-out winger Séamus Coleman. Of course, Tim Cahill is the pick of the bunch. He breaks late in the area, has a knack of getting onto the end of pretty much every cross and tirelessly works for ninety minutes
Only up front are Everton really lacking. They don’t yet possess a clear-cut striker capable of constantly scoring 20 goals or even more. It would be the only area that any new owner would need to pay immediate attention too. Unlike the takeovers of Man City and Chelsea when players had to be brought in to cover each and every position to make them regular European qualifiers, that has all been done. A great striker could be the difference
And it has been put together without having to break the bank constantly. In the eight and a half years since taking over, David Moyes has made his name on spotting shrewd signings capable of enhancing and improving his squad. Fellaini remains the club’s record signing after joining for £15 million two years ago. Any future owner wouldn’t need to simply dig deep and throw money at Everton to make it successful; just simply give Moyes more financial clout than he is previously working within.
Plus they have an illustrious history and a rampant fan base. They have been League Champions of England on nine occasions and won the F.A. Cup five times. There is a legacy there that can be carried on, supported by some of the most fanatical supporters in the entire Premier League.
Everton should be in foreign hands by now. Bill Kenwright has made it very clear on many, many occasions that he is ready to sell it on to someone with deeper pockets than him and I can only think of two reasons why it hasn’t happened already: Kenwright himself and the Goodison Park stadium.
Kenwright has been a fan of Everton Football Club for his entire life and he has been attending games at Goodison Park since probably as long as he has been able to get into the ground on match day. It’s reasonable to think that he wants what is best for Everton and could therefore be potentially pricing the club out of any potential owners’ acceptable range or even refusing to sell to what is his to what he might see as the wrong type of person.
Goodison Park has a capacity of 40,157 and no real scope for expansion. To compete with the big guns of the Premier League, that capacity needs to be increased so that match-day revenues can be optimised to their maximum but with housing and roads surrounding Goodison, the only solution remains a new stadium and they don’t come cheaply.
While on pitch improvements for Everton are made at the smallest possible outlay, a new ground simply won’t and unless they can conjure up a completely new home that boasts a capacity to match their long-term ambitions, Everton fans may have to get more and more used to the sight of those around them welcoming in foreign owners and leaving them behind.
Photo courtesy of danny-19.
