Blue Union chief hoping to get the club onside

On the march: Dave Kelly (centre with megaphone) leads the protest.
Image ©2011 Adam Wareing

THE LEADER of the Everton FC pressure group, the Blue Union, expressed hopes, ahead of yesterday’s protest, that the club and its supporters can work together in finding new owners.

He also urged the club’s board to “stop treating the fans with suspicion”. 

Frustration among Evertonians comes after high-profile failures to find investment, while top players have been allowed to leave and none have been signed for a significant fee in two years.

On the day the Blues faced Wolves, Blue Union boss, Dave Kelly, 53 mentioned that the opposition’s former chairman loved the club so much that he sold it for £10.  

He said: “I’m not advocating that Bill and the board relinquish their shares and their control for £10, but what I’m saying is, if you genuinely love the club, don’t look to make money out of the club. Let's move the club forward as one, let’s do it jointly. We all want the same things after all.” 

He added: “I believe that the fan base is one and the only asset that this football club’s got left, they’ve actually sold every other asset that it owns, and they need to stop treating the fans with suspicion.”

Everton’s CEO, Robert Elstone, expressed his disappointment that supposed in-fighting e-mails were exposed on Everton fan sites in his recent blog on the club's official site.

He said: “...certain individuals claiming to be Evertonians have made attempts to undermine the people of Everton Football Club by actions almost every one of us would find wholly unacceptable.”

He added that the biggest difference would be made with everyone working together.

The protesters were loud and clear with their message to Bill Kenwright, chanting: “Let go if you love the club.” 

But, as reported by Andy Lewis on Evertonfc.com, Mr. Kenwright has said: “...they want an owner with much more money…that is exactly what I want and exactly what I spend most of my life working on.”

Blues fan, John Harrison, 59, a social services manager, from Norwich, disagreed with the demonstration.

He said: “It’s completely pointless. There’s people saying “Let go if you love the club”, but you can’t just give it away.

"If we carry on under [manager, David] Moyes —  without being destabilised by fan protests —  we'll end up top half of the table, which is kind of doing better than we deserve to do on the resources we’ve got.”

However, some fans are far less optimistic. Paul Cotterill, 27, who works in insurance, believes Moyes may lose patience. 

He said: “I don’t see why he would want to stay. He’s got no money.” 

He added: “If this board don’t change or find investment, there’ll be relegation for Everton.” 

   Dave Kelly Interview by Adam Wareing