Everton failing as a club and a football business

As late as the beginning of the eighties there was though still little real money in the game and hostility to private wealth and big business in the football culture of this country.

And, considering how central TV money is to the game today, the BBC the main broadcaster then was also resistent to showing things such as company shirt sponsorship, which wasn’t allowed to be seen on TV until the 1982-83 season.

This was part of a gradual adoption by football of the eighties’ culture of commercalism and lauding business values and how private business could bring their skills to other fields like sport and academia.

Even so, during the eighties the game was in the dolldrums and many clubs were in dire straights and were often close to going bust, which some smaller clubs of course did. Football hooliganism was also a big factor and dissuaded many with money from getting involved in the game.

By the end of the decade English football was in serious crisis with many clubs facing potential bankruptcy and a five-year European ban after the Heysel disaster in 1985 hitting English clubs very hard, including Everton for whom it proved a disaster.

So, that was the background to the Premier League being founded in 1992 to revolutionize the culture and structure of the sport and bring new investment in. Now, money is integral to a game that generates huge amounts of income especially for the most successful of course.

For most of the Premier League era Everton were struggling both on and off the pitch even when they had money through Peter Johnson’s ultimately failed takeover and still resembled the traditional football club model. Meanwhile other clubs were being taken over by very wealthy individuals or corporates, who spent huge sums to bring success in a way more similar to the European tradition.

The Blues’ made a virtue out of their circumstances with the whole ‘People’s club’ mantra seeking to emphasise the Toffees’ history as founder members of the Football League and their commitment to the local community through the club’s charity work.

However, despite David Moyes’ teams generally defying gravity on the pitch for a decade, it was clear that the Toffees’ couldn’t really compete at the top without money.

Then, Farhad Moshiri came along and Bill Kenwright having said he would sell if the ‘right’ person came along, did so and Moshiri took over in early 2016.