ON THE one hand, the result of the public enquiry, sending Destination Kirkby down the same chute as the Kings Dock and Peter Johnson’s Xanadu on the golf course, means that the stomach-churning prospect of a wrecking ball crashing through the Main Stand has receded for the time being.

In an ideal world, almost everyone – even those who were advocates of the Kirkby project – would prefer to stay at Goodison Park.

However, on the other hand, Goodison still suffers from all the limitations that have forced successive regimes to look at relocation.

Many of the most vociferous opponents of the tie-in with Tesco and Knowsley Council acknowledged that Everton have outgrown their present home; it was this specific new destination that they had the problem with.

So, as soon as the announcement filtered through to the KC Stadium, the question on everyone’s lips was simply: “What now?” Well, actually it was: “Are we really making Stephen Hunt look like Cristiano Ronaldo?” And then: “What now?”

Publicly, Everton have always insisted that there is no Plan B. They had to, really, in order to sell the whole deal.

However, we must assume that privately they have already considered their options in the result of the Kirkby plans being rejected by the Government.

The board now have the unenviable task of starting again from scratch, building bridges and looking at alternatives to what they at least, rightly or wrongly, believed to be the best deal out there for Everton’s future.

Where that eventually takes them is anyone’s guess at this point, as we wait to see what the knock-on effects of this decision will be.

In the future, will Evertonians look back at November 25, 200, as the day when a suicidal move was narrowly averted, or as the point when a stagnating football club was denied the opportunity to finally make progress and lift itself out of the doldrums?

Only time will tell.