Everton stadium hopes dashed

November 26, 2009

Everton’s plans to leave Goodison Park, the club’s home for 117 years, for a new 50,000-seat stadium outside the city of Liverpool have been blocked.

The new stadium was to have been built as part of a new retail park in the nearby town of Kirby in partnership with Britain’s biggest supermarket chain, Tesco.

But the proposed 400-million-pound development will not now go ahead after the British government ruled that it could drain jobs and spending from surrounding communities in what is one of the poorest regions in England.

The decision is a serious setback for cash-strapped Everton’s hopes of enhancing the club’s ability to generate match-day revenues.

Goodison Park, described as “crumbling and hopelessly inadequate” by local newspaper The Liverpool Daily Post, has a capacity of 40,158 which cannot be increased. It also has limited facilities for corporate entertainment in comparison to most of the club’s Premier League rivals.

Everton chief executive Robert Elstone said he was “bitterly disappointed” by the government’s decision.

He added: “We will now regroup and carefully consider the options which are open to us. I feel I must stress that we do remain totally committed to finding a new home for our football club. The hunt for that new home will now intensify.”

The collapse of the Kirby stadium plan could reignite discussions on Everton sharing a stadium with near neighbours Liverpool FC, who have themselves been forced to shelve plans for a new 60,000-seat stadium because of financial constraints.

The idea of sharing a stadium on the model of AC Milan and Internazionale at the San Siro has been ruled out by both clubs in the past but is supported by local politicians and could now return to the agenda.

Goodison has been Everton’s home since 1892, when the club moved from its former base at Anfield, which was taken over by Liverpool FC.

The proposed move to Kirby had been projected to increase Everton’s annual revenues by around six million pounds a year, substantially increasing manager David Moyes’s ability to strengthen what is one of the smallest squads in the Premier League.

Everton have punched above their weight recently, finishing fifth in the Premier League in the last two campaigns as well as reaching this year’s FA Cup final.

The club was however unable to resist a 22-million-pound offer from Manchester City for key defender Joleon Lescott in the close season and his departure, combined with a string of injuries, have contributed to a sluggish start to this campaign.

A 3-2 defeat at Hull on Wednesday left Everton 14th in the table and prompted a warning from Moyes that the club could easily find itself involved in a relegation battle if performances did not improve.

LIVERPOOL (AFP)

Tags: anfield, Britain, british government, collapse, corporate entertainment, David Moyes, England, everton, financial constraints, football club, Goodison Park, HULL, internazionale, Kirby, league rivals, Liverpool, liverpool daily post, liverpool fc, manchester city, Milan, nearby town, neighbours, premier league, retail park, Robert Elstone, San, san siro, seat stadium, supermarket chain, tesco, town of kirby

Hughes to entice Torres to join City Revolution

November 21, 2009

Manchester City boss Mark Hughes reportedly has not lost hopes of signing Liverpool superstar Fernando Torres and believes a strong show form the Citizens at Anfield today can tempt the Spaniard to join the City revolution.

Liverpool regarded as the Premier League elite, have made a torrid start to the current campaign and are struggling to maintain the pace currently being set at the top section of the table. However, the Citizens have made a fairly strong start to the new campaign, despite a recent blip, and are still strongly tipped to be there or there-abouts come the end of the season.

City look to entice the Spaniard striker, who will miss out again as he looks to recover from his groin problems, as beliefs around City breaking into the top four this season is strong. They are reported to have made a £70 million bid for the 25-year-old in the summer, but Rafael Benitez has admitted that he would quit the club if the Spaniard was sold.

However, Mark Hughes has the financial backing to offer anything, and if City take a top four spot and secure Champions League football at the end of the season, a bid could follow from the Eastlands club.

If the Reds fail to make it into the competition for europe’s elite, then their hands might be tied with the financial constraints that come with missing the competition. This report puts a huge added meaning to the early Anfield kick-off.

Anurada Bhat

Tags: bhat, blip, champions league football, citizens, city boss, elite, Europe, Fernando Torres, financial constraints, groin, Liverpool, manchester city, Mark Hughes, premier league, rafael benitez, Spaniard, striker, Superstar

Martinez set to become new Wigan boss

June 4, 2009

WIGAN, England (AFP) – Roberto Martinez is set to become the new manager of Wigan after the Premier League club reached an agreement with his current club Swansea on the terms of his release.

Wigan owner Dave Whelan confirmed Thursday that he had agreed to pay the Championship club around two million pounds in compensation and voiced confidence that he could quickly wrap up negotiations on Martinez’s personal terms.

The 35-year-old Martinez is a former Wigan player who has established a reputation as an astute manager after guiding Swansea to the League One title and then within two places of the Championship play-offs in successive seasons.

“Roberto played good football and I’ve followed his career go on and on,” Whelan said Thursday. “His players play football from back to front, I like what I see and I am really excited Roberto is coming back to Wigan.

“Compensation was something we had to agree, that is only fair and right. We did that with Birmingham and we have now agreed with the chairman of Swansea.

“Hopefully things will be sorted out and contracts signed by tomorrow morning.”

Martinez had also been linked to the managerial vacancy at Celtic but Swansea had refused the Scottish club permission to talk to him without a prior agreement on compensation.

The new manager will succeed Steve Bruce, who guided Wigan to 11th place in the Premier League but opted for a move to Sunderland after growing frustrated with the financial constraints that resulted in key players including Wilson Palacios and Emile Heskey being sold.

Antonio Valencia is expected to follow those two out of the JJB Stadium this summer but Martinez has been promised some funds for rebuilding.

“We are not the biggest club but we will talk and we have the money we require to replace players,” Whelan said.

“Roberto will be getting the funds that we can afford to replace the players we need.”