With the Blues now sitting two points outside the relegation zone, here's your Everton FC evening headlines for Monday, May 9.
Everton have just proven Pep Guardiola majorly wrong and fans show it
Pep Guardiola is wrong when claiming “everyone in the country supports Liverpool” – as we all know there are many thousands of passionate fans on the Reds’ home turf whose allegiances lie elsewhere and they choose to follow the city’s senior club, Everton instead. This correspondent uses that word “choose” deliberately because there is a deluded misnomer among some non-Evertonians that they are made to become Blues by pushy parents and that nobody with free will would take that path given the success of their neighbours.
Some Everton supporters themselves have been guilty at times of perpetuating this myth and a few years back, a slogan emerged that stated: “Evertonians are born, not manufactured. We do not choose, We are chosen. Those who understand need no explanation, those who don't understand, don’t matter.” Many embraced this ethos and Everton themselves, like they had done with David Moyes’ “People’s Club” remark, even included the “We are chosen, we do not choose” on official signs at functions.
While such claims might make loyal but long-suffering fans feel special and every supporter wants to believe their team possess unique traits that marks them out from the rest (with their list of numerous ‘firsts’ Everton don’t need to rely on gimmicks in this respect), the truth is that many Evertonians support and love the Blues because they want to and it’s a decision that is very much consciously their own. It might be that they were brought up to support Everton and be proud to come from a long line of Blues fans, given that the club can claim to be the oldest major fanbase in England after it enjoyed the highest average attendances throughout the first decade of the Football League, but the decision to offer their support is still very much their own.
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You can attempt to indoctrinate youngsters from an early age and dress kids up all you like in replica kits, even getting them to pose with silverware in the Goodison Park trophy room like that infamous photograph of a baby-faced Steven Gerrard engineered by his staunchly-Evertonian uncle but you cannot enforce a level of devotion on somebody that isn’t there. Maybe it was some kind of act of rebellion against his famous father or just an ultimate example of being contrary but one of the great Dixie Dean’s sons was a Liverpool fan.
Read Chris Beesley's talking point article in full HERE.
Everton confirm boardroom decision as election process starts
Everton have confirmed the start of the process of electing members to the club's independent Fan Advisory Board (FAB).
The FAB will ultimately consist of supporters from various demographics and they will be consulted on a plethora of strategical factors. Everton have also confirmed the FAB will regularly be in touch with key decision-makers at the football club, including the board of directors.
There will be 11 members on the new independent Board, seven of which will be representatives of various groups that make up the Everton Stakeholder Steering Group.
These positions will be three-year terms and will include elected members from within the Everton Disabled Supporters’ Association (ESDA), the Everton Fans’ Forum, the Everton Supporters’ Club Committee, the Everton Heritage Society, the Everton Women Supporters’ Club, a member from a group associated to the Football Supporters’ Association and a representative of Everton’s International Supporters’ Club network.
The other four positions will be taken up by winners of "an open and independently-verified vote." However, the club have confirmed that there will be at least one shareholder and at least "one supporter representing a group with a protected characteristic as defined by the Equality Act of 2010."
Two of the unreserved positions will be three-year terms and the other two will be one-year roles. The establishment of such a body is part of the Toffees' effort to ensure fan representation is at the heart of the club's decision-making going forward.
Read the full story HERE.
