I marked my first day of notional retirement with a day out in Liverpool where there is always so much to see in the museums area. I was able to pass the Liver Building where my pension fund is based, but one target was the new Museum of Liverpool. It is still incomplete (there have been some legal arguments) but there is already some very interesting content on the city’s fascinating football history.
I marked my first day of notional retirement with a day out in Liverpool where there is always so much to see in the museums area. I was able to pass the Liver Building where my pension fund is based, but one target was the new Museum of Liverpool. It is still incomplete (there have been some legal arguments) but there is already some very interesting content on the city’s fascinating football history.
As always, I found myself running out of time and needed to get back to Lime Street to catch my train. I don’t know the city that well and I am certainly not familiar with the buses, but almost by accident I stumbled on a station of the city’s central underground railway which took me swiftly back to Lime Street.
I did wonder, however, if any of the prospective purchasers for Everton had got lost on Merseyrail or perhaps were going backwards and forwards on what is left of the ferry service (‘Ferry Across the Mersey’ being a favourite track from my youth). Even worse, perhaps they had ended up on the Wirral and gone to Tranmere Rovers. Or perhaps they are caught in an eternal time warp looking for New Brighton’s lost ground.
The time has now surely come for Everton’s Blue Union (who were involved in another protest at Goodison yesterday) to organise search parties. They could even keep a permanent presence at the John Lennon airport, although any key meetings coud well be held in London.
According to a statement yesterday by Everton chairman Bíll Kenwright, ‘There are three of four interested parties at the moment. But what you tend to find with interested parties for this kind of deal is it takes time,’ Doubtless so, although no doubt some ‘interested parties’ have been put off the scale of investment required, particularly in relation to the ground.
I don’t doubt that Bill Kenwright and the Everton board have the best interests of the club at heart. The Blue Union protests are not directed personally at him. It isn’t the easiest of times to find investors, particularly for an investment that is going to cost them rather than bring a return.
But I can also see why the fans might get the feeling that they are being strung along with a series of leaks and vague reassurances that something is happening. The rebuilding effort at Everton needs to start soon if they are to rejoin the group of top clubs or even be in contention for a Uefa cup place.