Who Really Owns Everton Football Club

Who really owns Everton FC?
Top line: Several football managers have claimed they were interviewed for the managerial job at Everton in the presence of billionaire Alisher Usmanov, raising potential questions about the club’s ownership. The Guardian spoke to multiple sources, whose testimony seemed to support the long-held suspicions of Usmanov having had a larger role at the club than he has let on.

Context: Uncertainty has lingered over the exact role of Usmanov at Everton for years, since Farhad Moshiri — his long-time business associate — bought the club in 2016. The pair were previously linked through their joint shareholding in Arsenal. Usmanov was sanctioned following the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, with the EU calling him a “pro-Kremlin oligarch”. He formerly managed the investment holdings arm of Russia’s state-owned gas company Gazprom and has stakes in many other companies.

The Guardian spoke to associates of three managers who claimed to have interviewed for the job in the presence of Usmanov and the newspaper was made aware of a fourth and fifth (the interviews took place before Usmanov was sanctioned). One potential manager supposedly “left him with the impression that the club belonged to the tycoon” whilst the associate of another said Usmanov offered his own money to close the deal. They said:

“My feeling was that maybe [Usmanov] was helping out with the money and maybe didn’t want to be named as an owner.”

Usmanov said in a statement: “Mr Moshiri did at times turn to Mr Usmanov for advice given the latter’s significant experience in football, but he [Moshiri] made all the decisions.”


Alisher Usmanov attends a meeting during a tour of the venues for the 2013 Summer Universiade in 2013 in Kazan, Russia. Photo by Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images.
Close ties: Usmanov’s links to the club have attracted scrutiny for some time. His 26-year-old nephew, Sarvar Ismailov, joined the Everton board last year but only lasted four months. His companies also signed numerous sponsorship deals with the club, including £30 million for the naming rights of its stadium.

Questions also hang over how Moshiri acquired his original stake in Everton. The pair previously owned a joint shareholding in Arsenal, with Moshiri said to have sold his to purchase a 50% holding at Everton. But as the Guardian reports, “records in the Paradise Papers leak suggest Moshiri’s original Arsenal shareholding was funded by a ‘gift’ from Usmanov”. Moshiri remains insistent that the leak is incorrect.

Freefall: Searching questions about their ownership structure are the last thing Everton need right now. In the words of BBC reporter Phil McNulty, Everton are a “constant tale of chaos” at the moment, sitting second from bottom in the Premier League after narrowly avoiding relegation last season. After a recent 4-1 defeat to Brighton, chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale was reportedly “put in a headlock” by angry fans as she left the ground. Chairman Bill Kenwright is said to have received death threats. Our own long-read from the start of last year explored how huge amounts of money have been wasted at the club in recent years:

“When Anglo-Iranian Farhad Moshiri arrived, there was understandable jubilation. Unfortunately, according to [Everton superfan and philanthropist] Dr David France, the club “behaved like inebriated lottery winners, buying ageing cast-offs with no sell-on or residual value.” In the years since, upwards of £550 million has gone on transfers with very little to show for it.”

Everton and Moshiri released a joint statement in response to The Guardian’s reporting, which read: “Mr Moshiri has steadily increased his shareholding in Everton FC since his original purchase of a significant minority stake in 2016. This is and has always been his investment alone, and any suggestion to the contrary is incorrect, irresponsible and not supported by any evidence.”

www.livpost.co.uk/