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Liverpool Echo

Sport

Chris Beesley

Everton fan group writes open letter to Graeme Sharp calling for Farhad Moshiri changes

Everton Graeme Sharp Farhad Moshiri Sean Dyche Brentford Echo

The NSNOW Campaign has issued an open letter to Everton board member and non-executive director Graeme Sharp, urging him to fill what they describe as “the leadership vacuum” at the club and to personally communicate with fans.

An NSNOW Campaign spokesperson said: “Graeme has accepted the role of non-executive director at Everton Football Club. That role carries important responsibilities. We ask him to communicate with the fans, to close the unfounded allegations which have damaged the club’s reputation and destroyed the relationship between the fans and the Everton board.

“Equally important we ask that Graeme requests that Farhad Moshiri strengthens the Everton board with new appointments bringing greater expertise and much needed oversight to the board’s dealings. Our support for the team and our ongoing fight against relegation will never waiver, but nor will our demands for change, not least an improved and strengthened board with those not adequately skilled standing down.

“Graeme has seen and contributed enormously to Everton when we were at our best. Now, in more challenging circumstances, it is time for him to do so again, in the boardroom rather than on the pitch.”

The open letter also references the alleged Denise Barrett-Baxendale 'headlock' incident, of which the ECHO reported on January 17: In response to questions posed by the ECHO and other outlets, Merseyside Police has said the force received no formal complaints over any incidents from the club and was not part of the intelligence picture that led to the warning to directors. The club has refused to comment further on what it described as “historic” incidents.

Questions are also raised about what would happen to the club, its functions and its employees should the worst case scenario of relegation occur this season. In a recent response to the Fan Advisory Board, an Everton spokesperson said: "The club plans for all scenarios based on all potential Premier League final positions, given the significant financial implications league placings have."

NSNOW’s correspondence to Sharp reads as follows:

Dear Graeme

We write this open letter as Everton Fans to you as the only current non-executive director on the Everton board.

Given your illustrious Everton career, winning two League Championships, an FA Cup and the European Cup-Winners’ Cup, it must pain you deeply (as much as it does us, the fans) since your appointment as non-executive director in January 2022, to see Everton languishing in the relegation zone for the second season running.

As one of our greatest centre-forwards and our second highest goal scorer of all time with 159 goals, you must be aghast about our current total goal scoring record. Looking through English football league tables down to the Southern League, Northern Premier League, Isthmian League etc, none have scored fewer than the 19 goals that Everton have scored this season.

The selling of Richarlison last summer, and the failure to bring in a striker (or indeed any new players) in the January transfer window, despite the sale of Gordon and the owner promising that the club would sign a striker demonstrate how deep our problems run.

The prospect of relegation continues to haunt us. As you must be fully aware, relegation would be absolutely catastrophic for the club, the fans and for the city of Liverpool. There would be a fire sale of our better players, and we would be left without a viable squad for the Championship or the financial resources to rebuild it, given FFP limitations and the cost of completing the new stadium. The Championship is extremely competitive, and there would be a high chance that we would not be able to bounce back, instead languishing in the Championship, or even lower divisions, for many years.

There would undoubtedly be a loss of Everton’s cultural identity and many especially younger supporters, plus the disintegration of supporter groups both in the UK and worldwide. There would be significant job losses amongst long standing and loyal club employees, and a reduction in the invaluable support that EITC provides disadvantaged communities on Merseyside. Relegation may also put the completion of the new stadium in jeopardy, or at the least, significantly risk the Goodison legacy project. Indeed some commentators have suggested that Everton may not survive relegation.

Regardless, Everton have lost our proud reputation as being a well-run club, with our unbalanced squad and our inability to compete despite the hundreds of millions of pounds spent on players over the last 7 years under Farhad Moshiri’s ownership. We all suffer the indignity of pundits now branding Everton as the worst-run club in the Premier League.

We have reached a position where the owner has not attended a home match since October 2021, the board including yourself instructed (by whom?) not to attend home matches, and we, the fans, believe that our reputation has been deeply damaged by the club. As you know, there have been shocking allegations of the CEO being put into a headlock by a fan, which have neither been substantiated or withdrawn.

Despite all of this the fans remain committed to putting their full support behind the team. However, there is the danger of becoming completely exhausted after our efforts last season to pull Everton out of the relegation zone and the recent attacks on our reputation.

Yet, despite the deep crisis that the club currently finds itself in, we have heard nothing from the Chairman, CEO or board of which you are a member.

We desperately need real leadership from within the club. We, as the fans, ask you as the board’s sole non-executive director to rise above all of the turmoil and accusations and provide the necessary leadership the club desperately requires.

The role of non-executive director is an important and demanding one involving acting independently and challenging the direction, performance of the company and its board in the interests of the company’s shareholders. It carries significant legal obligations. We recognise that taking action could be very difficult given your long term relationships with fellow directors and your current isolated position as the sole non-executive director.

Accepting the non-executive director role means accepting responsibility. We urge you to fill the leadership vacuum and to personally communicate with fans now and regularly until the club is on a more stable footing.
We ask you to ensure that the board issues an immediate communication to clarify and bring to a close the allegations that have been so damaging to the fans’ and the club’s reputations and in particular the alleged headlock incident.
We also ask that you formally request the majority shareholder to strengthen the board – with a current board of only three executives and yourself, it is difficult to see how we compete.
As part of this we ask that you formally request that additional non-executive directors are appointed alongside you to broaden the board’s expertise and provide independent oversight to the running and management of the club.

We hope that you as one of our most illustrious players and now non-executive directorship will answer our request and take the necessary urgent leadership action. If you do, we, the club’s fans will be fully behind you supporting you to make Everton a better club, Nil Satis Nisi Optimum.