Three Everton directors leave club’s board
Everton have announced chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale, chief finance and strategy officer Grant Ingles and non-executive director Graeme Sharp have left their boardroom roles.
The Toffees said interim appointments and chairman Bill Kenwright’s future will be decided in the next 48 hours.
Last month, Everton entered into an exclusivity agreement with MSP Sports Capital over-investment in the club.
Everton ensured Premier League survival on the last day of the season.
A 1-0 victory over Bournemouth at Goodison Park confirmed they would be extending their 69-year stay in English football’s top tier.
However, fans have been extremely unhappy at the running of the club and vented their anger with protests asking for the board’s removal.
The club’s key decision-makers last attended a home game in January, having been warned of a “real and credible threat to their safety” following “threatening correspondence”.
The construction of Everton’s new 53,888-capacity ground on Bramley-Moore Dock is well underway but has seen costs soar from £500m to £760m, for which owner Farhad Moshiri has been searching for investment.
Talks over funding have progressed with MSP and it is understood the New York-based company will likely expect representation in the boardroom if it does complete a minority investment.
The departing directors said in a joint statement: “We have all been fully committed during our time here and are disappointed to have made the decision to leave Everton.
“We have worked tirelessly alongside our chairman in what has been a challenging period to deliver some of the most significant projects in Everton’s history – projects that will safeguard and sustain the commercial future of the club for generations to come.
“We are proud of the commercial growth projects progressed during our time on the board, including the construction of the club’s new waterfront stadium. This construction project – the largest currently on site in the UK – is progressing at pace.
“The club’s partnership portfolio has also been increased and diversified, reflected in record commercial partnerships and the expansion of our work internationally.”
Kenwright added: “This has been a great board who have all worked tirelessly for the club, no matter what the circumstances.
“My relationship with Denise has been known as one of the closest in football. I thank her for her many achievements, particularly her magnificent work in respect of our new stadium.”
Meanwhile, court records show Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti is suing Everton, his former club, at the High Court.
The claim relates to “general commercial contracts and arrangements” but the listing gives no further details.
Ancelotti, 64, managed the Toffees between December 2019 and June 2021. The Italian’s lawyers declined to comment when contacted by BBC Sport.
‘This is just the start’ – analysis
BBC Sport chief football writer Phil McNulty
Everton’s boardroom changes were the inevitable consequence of years of bad decision-making that led the club to a second successive near miss with relegation from the Premier League and the complete breakdown of relations with the club’s support.
It was a dysfunctional situation that simply could not continue.
Everton’s supporters continued to throw their weight behind the team but now only chairman Bill Kenwright remains and the forthcoming announcement on his future must be confirmation he is out along with Denise Barrett-Baxendale, Grant Ingles and Graeme Sharp.
The bottom line is that if, and it is highly unlikely, Kenwright somehow stays then the discontent and protests aimed at Everton’s hierarchy will continue. It looks, however, that the increasingly untenable position of the chairman is about to end with his departure.
It is all the result of catastrophic policies at the boardroom level and under owner Farhad Moshiri, who has now entered into an exclusivity agreement with MSP Sports Capital for investment in Everton, primarily for the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.
MSP will want their own representation on the board and what looks like a clean sweep of Everton’s boardroom hierarchy is underway,
The outgoing board have also presided over policies that have seen Everton referred to an independent commission by the Premier League over an alleged breach of Financial Fair Play rules – which the club strenuously denies.
Everton had to do something to clear the poisoned air around the club and inject fresh ideas to somehow avoid another season of crisis. This is just the start and it remains to be seen whether more big changes will follow.