Everton chief in plea to fans over Kirkby move

Aug 11 2007 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

EVERTON FC chief executive Keith Wyness will use today’s first match programme of the season to appeal to club supporters to back the proposed move to Kirkby.

Writing in the Wigan match programme, Mr Wyness explains to fans why he believes the club must move to a new 50,000-seater home outside the city boundary.

He attempts to answer the concerns of fans who are currently voting in a ballot on the move away from Goodison Park.

Mr Wyness reveals that 16 sites were looked at within the Liverpool boundaries but none came near to being able to match the same £50m contribution the club will get from a development which includes supermarket giant Tesco at Kirkby.

He also reveals that an international stadium rights company has already been signed up to work on selling the naming rights for the proposed new stadium.

The club chief executive states categorically that it will not be called the Tesco Stadium, a fear many fans had harboured.

In the programme Mr Wyness said: “There were over 16 sites we looked at. It’s not a case of having a site to build a stadium on, you’ve got to have a site that can also deliver the retail development that gives you the £50m contribution.

“We worked long and hard to try to find these options but they were not possible.

“We spent 18 months working with our specialists and Liverpool City Council and we were unable to find anything that could come close to what we have had from the Kirkby/Knowsley option.

“Stadiums are such a costly exercise these days; you do need assistance like this from a third party.

“This wasn’t an option we could find in the city.”

Mr Wyness agrees that the move is the biggest decision affecting Everton in a generation.

“I can’t see anything that could be bigger than actually moving the spiritual home of the club. I don’t underestimate in any way, shape or form how serious this decision is. But we have to understand that options like this, the one we have on the table right now, do not come along that often either,” he said.

Mr Wyness said there were sites within the city of Liverpool “but none which can deliver the contribution we are going to get from the Knowsley project that can make the stadium affordable.”

It follows the call of cash-and-carry company Bestway for talks with Everton to investigate building a stadium on its “tunnel trumpet” site in Scotland Road.

That site has the backing of council leader Warren Bradley who is keen to keep Everton from moving to Kirkby.

Mr Wyness has dismissed the site as too small for a new stadium.

However, Bestway is drawing up plans which head of property Malcolm Carter said could accommodate a 48,000-60,000-seater stadium.

The move from Goodison Park would involve a new £75m stadium built at a cost of £50m, thanks to the involvement of Tesco’s contractors.

With land values thrown in – it is being provided free by Knowsley Council – and internal fit-out costs, the total value of the deal rises to somewhere around £150m.

Campaigners to keep Everton in the city are expected to make their voices heard loud and clear at Goodison this afternoon.

They are determined to let chief executive Mr Wyness and the rest of the club hierarchy know the strength of their feeling about the proposed move to Kirkby.

davidbartlett