Director of Football Kevin Thelwell answered questions on the January transfer window and presented details of the strategic framework he has implemented at Everton when he met with the club’s Fan Advisory Board (FAB) - although the group expressed their disappointment that no members of the board were able to attend the meeting.
Both Everton and the Everton Fan Advisory Board announced statements about the meeting – which took place on Friday, March 31 – on Monday. The FAB’s published Meeting Summary records that apologies were noted from Graeme Sharp (Non-Executive Director) for not attending while part of their release read: “The remit of these meetings is non-football/off-pitch matters and they take place four times per year; with a commitment that the EFC CEO attends two of them and EFC’s Independent Non-Executive Director attends all four. The FAB were disappointed that no members from the EFC Board of Directors were able to attend the meeting, despite it being rearranged on two occasions.”
Thelwell, who had given the FAB an overview of the four key pillars at the centre of his planning at a meeting in October, took questions from members about the January window – in which Everton, who sold Anthony Gordon to Newcastle United for £45million, failed to bring in any new signings despite the ECHO understanding they intended to sign two attacking players – and provided context to the club’s decision-making around outgoing players and potential targets. The Director of Football also illustrated how enhanced use of data is supporting Sean Dyche and his backroom team and helping him to track progress against the strategic framework.
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While giving FAB members an insight into the wider football strategy, Thelwell explained the key initiatives and projects that have been put in place to underpin the framework and ensure all the departments under his remit are aligned in working towards clearly defined objectives. Those objectives include creating a clear culture, identity, and style of play – a principle-based game model – that is consistent across all Everton’s teams, and ensuring the club supports its players and staff with the best people, practice, and provision although it is obvious that under Dyche, the Blues senior side are operating very differently than they were under his predecessor Frank Lampard.
Thelwell was accompanied by Everton’s Chief Commercial and Communications Officer, Director of Communications and Engagement, Director of Governance and Senior representatives from the legal and communications team. Richard Kenyon, Everton’s Chief Commercial and Communications Officer, gave an overview of the Blues’ 2021/22 accounts, which were made public on the same evening.
He also explained the Blues’ drive for sustainable commercial growth and the increases in values generated for the their main partnership assets including, a club-record Main Partner agreement with Stake.com. He outlined record revenues from Official Memberships, and several new and enhanced partnership agreements secured in the last 12 months.
Kenyon also confirmed that the club is making positive progress in discussions with new partners for Everton Stadium and has already secured what the club describe as some exciting deals which they claim will be announced soon.
To support Thelwell's presentation, the FAB were given an overview of Everton's vision and strategy document and how it identifies key objectives for staff across all club departments. Areas of focus within the document include listening to and engaging with fans through structured dialogue, the transition to and supporter experience at Everton Stadium, maximising commercial opportunities, recruiting and retaining the best talent, and delivery of the Goodison Legacy Project. Ensuring the Finch Farm training ground remains state-of-the-art, that Everton Stadium is a 365-day-a-year venue, and that the new stadium is future-proofed in terms of its digital and technological offering are also included within the plan.
In response to a question from the FAB, the club reiterated its stance that it was “disappointed” to hear of the Premier League’s decision to refer an allegation of a breach of Profit & Sustainability regulations to an independent commission for review but that it would not be making any further comment at this time. A summary of the findings of the latest Premier League Fan Survey was also given, with results indicating significant improvements in Everton’s Fan Zone, matchday atmosphere, fan engagement, communications and overall matchday experience. The club say results of the fan survey will be released in the coming weeks while the next meeting between the club and the FAB will take place in May.
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