The head of the Everton Fan Advisory Board (FAB) has recounted his meeting with a member of 777 Partners’ top hierarchy.
Farhad Moshiri has agreed to sell the Toffees’ 94.1% interest to the Miami-based business. Josh Wander and Steven Pasko, co-founders, were both at Goodison Park for the 2-1 loss to Luton Town on Saturday. Don Dransfield, CEO of 777 Partners, was also in the directors’ box.
Dransfield is the former chief strategy officer of City Football Group, which owns Manchester City, and he just met with FAB CEO Dave Kelly.
Kelly maintained that 777 could not reveal too much information, but feels it may be a ‘game-changer’ if dialogue with supporters is consistent if the takeover occurs.
“The pleasing thing at this early stage is that they’ve reached out and spoken to various groups over the last couple of days,” Kelly said. Although it was extremely challenging and there were caveats they could only meet informally, I believe it will be a game-changer for the great majority of Evertonians if they continue with fan interaction and the extent they intend to. In the seven years Farhad Moshiri has been here, he has never held a meeting of that kind or nature.
“We were discussing football in general, their business model, and their other clubs.” He left an impression on me. I’ve been in the CEO office at Finch Farm several times over the years, and it was great to chat with someone with a football experience.
“We had empathy for each other, me as a long-suffering Everton fan and him as a long-suffering Barnsley fan.” He’s really bright and communicative. His history is noteworthy, as he was the former chief executive of the Man City Football Group and previously held a similar role at the Red Bull Football Group. He has a great resume.”
777 already owns Genoa in Italy, Standard Liege in Belgium, Hertha Berlin in Germany, Red Star in France, and Vasco de Gama in Brazil. Sections of supporters are skeptical of 777 because fans from Liege, Hertha, Red Star, and Vasco have all protested against them.
“We did speak generally about various football teams and footballers, it was good to get his insight on that,” Kelly remarked. We also discussed their perceptions of misinterpretations and misquotes in the news.
We talked frankly and honestly about Genoa being 17th when they took over, being relegated, but then being promoted and starting the season rather well. We discussed all of the other clubs.”
Kelly stated that 777 expects the transaction to be completed by late November or early December. “I actually said to him personally and on behalf of the FAB as a group, I needed it to make it clear we were not pro-777 or anti-777 and will judge based on actions rather than words,” he added.
I don’t want to see slick HD films or clever press releases. We’ll assess them based on their behavior, and I believe the best thing they can do right away is communicate with fans and the larger fan-base.”
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