Everton in the safe hands of old-school Bill Kenwright
IN AN era in which Premier League owners are becoming as famous – or infamous – as their star players, swapping club colours, threatening managers and even trying to change their team’s name, one anniversary will go largely unnoticed today.
By: Paul JoycePublished: Thu, December 26, 2013
Roberto Martinez believes a lot of Everton 039 s recent success is down to chairman Bill Kenwright Roberto Martinez believes a lot of Everton's recent success is down to chairman Bill Kenwright [EVERTON FC/PA]
It is 14 years since Bill Kenwright officially took control of his boyhood favourites Everton, the symmetry continuing with Sunderland arriving at Goodison Park this afternoon just as they did back on Boxing Day 1999 to help usher in a new dawn.
Had the theatre impresario written his own script that day, he would have struggled to come up with a plot to match the one that saw Everton romp to a 5-0 victory. Fast-forward to the present and he will take his seat on the front row of the directors’ box pinching himself once again.
The sight of Everton installed as top-four contenders, playing with a panache that will see Goodison filled to the rafters and seeking to protect an unbeaten home league record in 2013, serves to underline that there remains a place, even within the high finance of modern football ownership, for one of the last fans standing.
Kenwright has always perceived his greatest weakness to be his failure to be able to compete with those money-flushed oligarchs and billionaires, yet the deep-rooted love he has for Everton, backed up by his negotiating skills and ability to spot a manager, is acting to counter the financial imbalance.
This is not Malaysian businessman Vincent Tan infuriating Cardiff supporters with his abuse of manager Malky Mackay when he is not changing the colour of their strip to red. Nor is it Egyptian owner Assem Allam trying to change Hull’s name to Hull Tigers.
Everton manager Roberto Martinez considers himself fortunate to have worked with the likes of Huw Jenkins (Swansea) and Dave Whelan (Wigan) prior to being picked by Kenwright in the summer to succeed David Moyes.
“One of the problems of the modern game is that the chairmen and owners are normally business people who have no links or connection with the club,” said Martinez. “That becomes a problem because your decisions are going to be based on finances.
“I have always been very aware that for a manager the relationship with his chairman is unique because you need to have that stability. Bill Kenwright, Dave Whelan and even Huw Jenkins at Swansea – all three – are mad fans of the football club and then, on top of that, they are people with great vision.
“I don’t think people from the outside realise how influential Bill has been over the years because he has had to make very tough calls, but always for the good of the club. That is something we are losing in the modern game.
“But when you are in the hands of an investor, rather than a football man with the right thoughts, you are risking a lot. Not just the history of over 100 years, but the memories of thousands of fans who have been growing up with that football club in their community.”
Some 18 months before Kenwright bought out Peter Johnson to take majority control of the club, Everton had stayed up on the final day of the 1997-98 season with Bolton toppling out of the top division instead.
Of the other 19 clubs in the Premier League when he seized control only six have remained in the top flight every season since with Everton.
It has been far from plain sailing at times. Two proposed ground moves have not materialised and financial pressures two seasons ago prompted a fans’ group to question how the club planned to progress. Martinez has stressed this season, however, that Everton are financially stronger than they have been for many years.
That is partly due to the Premier League’s TV deal, which kicks in at the end of the campaign, and is helped by the transfers which took Marouane Fellaini to Manchester United for £27.5million and Victor Anichebe to West Brom for £6m in August.
Martinez also revealed that Kenwright is a formidable negotiator.
“I don’t think our chairman has got the credit he deserves over the years,” he added.
“All I’ve had from him is support and I think that is the start of everything that happens in the football club. You can never have enough money if that is how you want to run the football club. What we are is a football club with an incredible history and passion. That is the biggest strength we have.
“The finances we have, we have to use them well and be creative. I have no problems whatsoever with that.
“A manager’s position can be a lonely place and you need that support from above. I am delighted that at Everton we have that.”
Now all Kenwright needs is for a happy anniversary.
