Extended transcript from BU meeting at The Casa

Last night SOS1878.co.uk blogged live from The Casa bar on Hope Street as The Blue Union held their third public meeting since formation.

Below is an extended ‘blog’ timeline of the evenings proceedings, expanding on the live transcript with the addition of a few other points of interest that we simply didn’t have the time to type.

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21:05 – The meeting finishes with a unanimous decision for further and more consistent positive action (protest) starting at the earliest opportunity. The Blue Union will be consulting with Merseyside Police as early as tomorrow.

21:03 - Dave Kelly: ‘We’re going to take on board all the views that have been made tonight and we’re going to put the wheels in motion from tomorrow. We’ll be straight onto the City Council and Merseyside Police in the morning.’

20:57 – From the floor (in response to a call for boycott): ‘The most important thing foremost in everyone’s mind should be this club staying in the Premier League this season. But lets not forget at the same time when we’re talking about financially damaging the club, this is a club that Keith Harris suggests is up for sale at one hundred and fifty million pounds….there’s certainly no harm in knocking some value off that figure’

20:53 - The Blue Union are currently in the process of applying to become an official supporters club affiliated with Everton, Dave Kelly confirms.

20:50 - From the floor: ‘I don’t know whether we have a membership and you pay £10 or £20 but you can have my money. We need that to get planes. I spoke to you last time about putting a full page in the Echo. Johnson was a twat, but he was nowhere near as bad as Kenwright has been for this club. Lets do it, lets buy a page.’

20:45 – From the floor: ‘We’ve got 300 people here who want to protest against City, what happens if Everton blow us out the water on Saturday and sign a £10m striker?’….a massive level of laughter follows.

20:40 – From the floor: ‘We can talk all night, we’ve got to have a consensus of opinion on our direction going forward. We need to be more constructive in what we’re going to do.’

20:37 – Lots of calls and support for a demonstration outside the directors entrance before the Manchester City game on Tuesday.

20:30 – From the floor: ‘We need a figurehead; we need a legend behind us. Someone who will stand up and speak out for us. What about Neville Southall? We all remember his famous pitch protest.’

20:28 – Dave Kelly: ‘The people involved in The Blue Union have already spent their own hard earned cash. We need to raise funds. It’s quite expensive to put a plane in the air with a message. I think we need to get real. We’ve got to grasp the nettle now and go for it. There is momentum being gathered, there is an undercurrent. People are genuinely concerned for the club’s immediate future.’

20:25 – From the floor: ‘While the team is struggling and Moyes looks frankly depressed, if we protest in the ground we leave ourselves open to massive criticism from our detractors and the club. If the struggles continue on the pitch, we’ll be blamed for the malaise.

I’m absolutely frustrated. I spend most of my waking days thinking about how we improve the situation at our club but we have to do it sensibly against a hierachy who have already proven they will use any means necessary to blacken your name, good objectives or not.  We need to give this serious consideration. This is a strategy meeting and that is a serious strategy. Consideration, that is all I will say. Thank you, it’s time for change.’

20:22 – From the floor: ‘We need to show him up for the charlatan that he is; and he is a charlatan’

20:11 – From the floor: ‘Robert Earl is worth 290m, he’s not a pauper. There’s people at the top level of EFC who have hundreds of millions of pounds, where is the exposé on these people? We must target them.’

20:09 – From the floor: ‘We need to leaflet and have a presence at every game. We must educate.’

20:07 - From the floor: ‘Why is the club’s fans liaison officer allowed to go on an independent football phone-in and shout down Evertonians who don’t agree with his employers? I phoned up City after the Tamworth game wanting to talk about Kenwright’s claims that we had betrayed the club. They woudn’t let me on. We’re controlled.’

20:05 - From the floor: ‘The most important thing that we have to do as a group is get more Everton fans on board, it’s as simple as that. It’s packed here tonight but I personally wish we were in a big hotel conference room with thousands of Blues. We should be, the fact that we’re not comes down to apathy.’

20:03 – From the floor: ‘Evertonians who applauded us in the Oak beer garden like we were returning from the war need to put the pints down and join us. We need to become the majority.’

20:00 – Dave Kelly calls for a show of hands amidst calls to take protest into the ground. The response is unanimously in favour.

19:59 - Call from the floor: I don’t believe the protests are really effecting anything. The way to hurt them is in the pocket. We must target the sponsors: Chang,  Sodexo, Kitbag, Thomas Cook. Barclays too. We have to target Robert Earl and Philip Green’

19:57 – Call from the floor: ‘We need to take the protest into the ground. Let’s do something after a game in the Main Stand where the media can’t ignore us.’

19:55 - Dave Kelly: ‘We need to crank the campaign up a gear, we need to step it up. We need to be more proactive’

19:52 - Call from the floor: ‘The local media are getting away with murder. The Echo’s coverage has been a disgrace.’

19:50 – Call from the floor: ‘I don’t think the club gives a toss. It’s about time, as a group of supporters, we did something that makes the club sit up and take notice. It’s about time we got nasty.’

19:48 – Dave Kelly: ‘Once again I would like to thank you all for attending this evening. It’s your meeting, it’s for you and fellow Evertonians. Together we can win this fight, a fight to rid our Club of the under achievement and mismanagement that has blighted us for a number of years.

19:37 – Dave Kelly: ‘The Blue Union have also been criticised by our detractors of “KOPITE BEHAVIOUR”.Long before Spirit of Shankly engaged in KOPITE behaviour Evertonians displayed a passion for protest.

The GFE anyone?
Kirkby Golf Course?
Cronton?

Who will ever forget the utopia on the final day of the season against Coventry City when a draw was enough to stave off relegation. The utopia quickly turned to anger with we want Johnson Out.

KEIOC and its fight with Everton Football Club, the biggest retailer in the UK in the shape of Tesco and a Local Council.

All campaigns long before Spirit of Shankly or Man United fans against the Glaziers with the Green and Gold campaign, Spurs and the N17 protests. Chelsea Pitch Owners, all relative newcomers by comparison.

Dare I even suggest that they were accused of Evertonian behaviour?’

This is a fight we can ill afford to lose and one we don’t intend to.’

19:24 – Dave Kelly: ‘The Blue Union have been accused of many things by the custodians of our great Club. And YES I will get personal on this one. Bill Kenwright has often accused The Blue Union of betraying Everton Football Club.

Well Bill I challenge you publicly and openly. With only a week left before the transfer window closes I challenge YOU personally before the window closes next week to put up or shut up regarding your outrageous claims that The Blue Union breached a confidentiality agreement by taping a confidential meeting.

Show us your confidentiality agreement or produce one shred of evidence to support your taping claims. If you do we will make a charitable donation to Everton in the Community and Formers Players Foundation. If you do not Bill, we would expect you to do the same.’

19:16 - Dave Kelly: ‘I understand that Greg O’Keeffe is representing The Echo. I am sure that we will all look forward to a full, forthright and honest appraisal of this evening’s proceedings.’

19:11 – Dave Kelly takes the microphone and begins proceedings. The Casa, as predicted, is crammed.

19:09 - A message of support from the Irish Toffees: ‘Would just like to send you and The Blue Union team our very best wishes from Dublin.

We thank you for your time and effort that you have donated in the battle to save our great football club EFC from the hands of those seemingly determined to destroy everything connected with the club including the devaluation of our famous and prestige motto Nil Satis Nisi Optimum.

Not only have you managed to bring our plight to the world of football, you have managed to do it with style, peacefully, democratically with integrity and within the law.

Let’s hope the reign of misery and greed will soon be behind us and a new fresh outlook, approach and financial support can lift this great club back up where it belongs to the peak of British football.’

19:04 – A message of support from The Netherlands: ‘The Dutch Blues ‘know their history’ and wholeheartedly support The Blue Union. The years of unaccountability and off the field mismanagement has to come to an end before it is too late for the institution we all love, Everton Football Club’

15:15 – NINE times league champions and still the FOURTH most successful club in England.

Think back to Wembley and the number of fans we took down there, absolutely dwarfing the turnouts of the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United..and imagine what it will be like when we are dining at the top table again.

13:14 - According to UEFA, a key objective of the liaison officer clause, Article 35 of the 2010 UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations, is to achieve transparency and improved communications between the parties involved.

UEFA go on to say that the evidence shows that if fans have a say in the way they are treated, they will behave better, whereas exclusion and repression demonstrably do not work very well. They believe that liaison officers can help enable supporters to become more responsible partners and also improve the quality and utility of the dialogue.

12:38 - Graeme was invited in his capacity as Everton’s appointed fans liaison officer, a position that is a requirement of the UEFA club licensing platform, a position that centres on improving communication and providing a focal point for supporters to organise themselves better and make their voice heard.

12:15 - The Blue Union invited both Graeme Sharp and John Thompson from the Liverpool Echo as guest speakers for tonight’s meeting. Unfortunately, prior engagements and conflicting appointments mean they will not be in attendance.

10:17 – In nine hours time The Casa will be crammed with Evertonians disenchanted with Bill Kenwright’s chairmanship of the fourth most successful club in English football.