Better the devil you know?

Better the devil you know, than the devil you don’t? This is the current debate to be found on the issue of the imminent American takeover of Everton Football Club. We’re in a ‘safe pair of hands’ at the moment with little risk of financial ruin, but are Evertonians ready to put their trust in owners who may see Everton just as a business, not a club? Will they see us Evertonians as customers, not fans?

Whilst all fans want the perfect takeover and fresh investment, some don’t want to gamble at the potential negatives that have come with a few American takeovers in the Premier League. Whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist on the situation, it’s easy to find examples to help both arguments. Man City and Chelsea have struck it lucky with foreign owners, Arsenal are in safe hands with their American owner but of Liverpool’s two American owners, one nearly made them bankrupt and they’re currently protesting about the other.

There have been good owners and bad owners throughout the history of the Premier League. Teams who thought they were getting a golden ticket, only to lose it all, and teams who went from nothing, to Premier League winners. On the face of it, embracing any new owner looks like a gamble. The only certainty is that with the current ownership, Everton’s finances will never improve. A new stadium has increasingly felt like a mirage in a desert. You think you can see it but it’s never actually there, and more than ever we’re being left behind. Tottenham, Chelsea and Liverpool are all getting development, and the likes of West Ham are getting a new stadium. We may love the grand old lady, but she’s 124 years old.

One of Bill Kenwrights biggest saving graces during his tenure, and specifically since the Kings Dock stadium plans fell through, has been the fact he is an Evertonian. Every fan wants their chairman to be a fan, but I doubt Man City fans care that Sheikh Mansour didn’t go into the boys pen at Maine Road when he was a little boy. It’s idealistic, but in reality, worthless. A good chairman is a good chairman. What it does give fans however is trust, trust that Kenwright will do the right thing, and sell to the right people. I’ve always seen Kenwright as a good man who’s just not particularly good at being a Chairman. If his last act as a custodian of this club is to have found us the right buyer, then his legacy will be looked at a lot more favourably, and people remember us being saved from relegation rather than paying overdrafts and missing out on stadium moves.

Time will tell whether Moores and Noell will be the owners we’ve always wished for. Stagnation has been the buzzword for a few years and it’s true. Only buying with what you’ve sold and a stadium that is not fit for modern football is never going to be recipe for success. Better the devil you know? Hopefully not. It’s going to be a new era for Everton Football Club, one hopefully we can all get excited about.