As some of you who are reading this know, I am an Everton supporter who lives in Baltimore, MD. In Baltimore, we have a football (NFL) team and a baseball team. The two teams and their ownership groups could not be more different in their commitment to the teams. The one I will discuss here is Mr. Peter Angelos, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles, and compare him to Mr. Kenwright. You may think this is absolutely ludicrous, but let me explain. Angelos took over the Orioles in 1993 after previous owner Eli Jacobs declared bankruptcy and was forced to sell the team, putting the Orioles back into local hands for the first time since 1979. During Angelos's tenure as Orioles owner (slightly longer than Kenwright's at Everton, but we'll let that go), the Orioles had just moved into their home, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and it hosted the 1993 All-Star Game (a contest between the best players from the American League and those of the National League -- the rules of baseball are for a different article). In 1995, the Orioles finished 2 games below a .500 record (equal wins to losses). In 1996, Angelos proved that he had money and was willing to spend it, giving the then-general manager the resources needed to win the division and make the playoffs. Since the late 1990s, Angelos has ated a lot like Kenwright, refusing to continue to spend money in order to make the team better. The Orioles failed to make the playoffs from 1998-2012, when they finally made it back in after a rule change allowed for a play-in game between the first and second placed teams in the wild card standings.
However, this is where the comparison ceases to be fair n the success side, as in baseball, you do not need to spend premium money to win every year (though Angelos has traded away top stars for prospects even this year). In (real) football, that money needs to be spent in order to acquire and keep top talent. Kenwright has failed to spend the adequate money to keep talent around, selling Wayne Rooney to Manchester United for a pittance in 2004 while the Orioles let local boy Mark Teixeira walk to the hated New York Yankees without even giving him a fair (according to him) offer for his services. Teixiera rubbed salt in the wounds as he declared in his opening press conference that his best memories as a kid who grew up in Baltimore were when his dad would take him to Yankee Stadium to watch baseball. (Imagine the fume had Rooney said something similar to that!)
Now, this is where I get to talk about fan culture. In America, fan culture is generally unified to support the team, no matter the circumstances. There are always divisions (and some radicals), but generally everyone is there to support the team, no matter what. From what I've seen of UK-based Evertonians, they may feel similarly, but there comes a point when there are drastic differences. Some years ago, a sports talk DJ in Baltimore who has been harping on the subject of Angelos for years orchestrated a full walkout of Oriole Park at Camden Yards for a home game. now imagine if one of the BBC Radio Merseyside presenters even attempted to something like that. AC Milan fans took it upon themselves to do it without that need. Americans generally like things organized for them rather than doing it themselves when it comes to sports fandom. I understand that it is wrong to speak in generalizations, but I feel that it is appropriate to single out the (real) football fans in America for being the antithesis of the generalization. For example, the people at OTF Soccer, a Chicago Fire website and podcast, are doing a #90MinuteTailgate to oppose their owners. No other sport in America gets people to do those things. There is a certain sense of apathy among Americans, and most see it as nothing they can do to change, so support must be given. To the few that are actively doing something about terrible owners, I applaud your zeal and wish my fellow Americans would do the same if that is their view. So, to all of the people reading this from the Blue Union and other groups that are campaigning to rid Everton of Kenwright, keep going, hold strong, and never give up. Oh, and also ask Americans who travel to Goodison their opinion about Kenwright and change some minds about apathy. I think the best solution to this is to start an Everton Supporters' Trust and emulate what Swansea did to Petty (with the exception of threats to break his legs) This trust is to be unified with as many Evertonians as can muster, and will hopefully span the globe with blues from different countries and with different perspectives. If one exists already, this is my callout to you to make yourselves better known.
Wool
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