More than 20,000 people have signed a petition calling for Everton to abandon their choice of a betting firm as their new main sponsor.
Earlier this month, the Blues confirmed that they had agreed a club-record deal with Stake.com to replace Cazoo on the front of their shirts from the 2022/23 campaign onwards. The multi-year partnership is set to commence on July 1 and will also see the company's branding appear on screens and media backdrops at both Goodison Park and Finch Farm.
However, the decision has divided supporters, who believe that Everton should not be in partnership with betting companies. A petition was set up shortly after the club's announcement calling for the decision to be reversed - and last week it reached over 20,000 signatures.
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Speaking to the Press Association, season ticket holder Ben Melvin, who lost hundreds of thousands of pounds over more than a decade, explained exactly why he was firmly against the Blues' move.
He said: “When I heard Everton had signed a partnership with Stake.com it was a shock because it wasn’t something I saw as fitting well with Everton’s standards they set themselves. This jeopardises that and I don’t see how it can fit with the work they do with Everton in the Community looking after vulnerable people.
“A lot of people were saying, ‘we need every penny we can get’, but that doesn’t involve selling the soul of the club for it. At a time when clubs are trying to step away from it and think it is not a good thing, Everton have taken a giant leap towards it for a big payday.
“We hosted a Gambling Harms education programme for Everton in the Community last year and it went really well and I now think, ‘what’s the point in that?’."
The ECHO understands that Everton have no plans to reverse their decision on their Stake.com agreement, which is viewed as the biggest front-of-shirt deal outside the top six.
The Blues have insisted their support for vulnerable people will continue through EITC, which is a separate organisation. The club's decision to go with Stake.com was a financial one and represents the biggest such deal in Everton's history, at a time when they have suffered huge losses over recent years and have suspended their agreements with companies associated with Alisher Usmanov.
The petition itself reads: "Everton are the People’s Club. It is a club that cares deeply for the people, and it’s supporters. Everton, over the years, have constantly set very high standards and trends for others to follow. We have to maintain these high standards.
"A partnership with Stake cannot sit comfortably alongside the fantastic work done by the club’s Everton In The Community in tackling mental health issues. I'm calling on fellow Blues, and other football fans, to urge Everton to U-turn on this gambling partnership."
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