Bill Kenwright declared Everton’s form under Rafa Benitez as “unacceptably disappointing”.
The Blues chairman said the club had been forced to make top-level changes over the past year and named Benitez’s departure among them. He also praised the ambition of his replacement Frank Lampard, telling him: “All Evertonians wish you well, Frank”.
Kenwright’s comments came in the introduction to Everton’s 2020/21 accounts, released on Tuesday evening. He used the platform to pay tribute to ‘Goodison’s great gentlemen’ - Jimmy Gabriel, Walter Smith and Gordon Lee, club heroes who have died over the past year, while also offering his condolences to the friends and family of Andrew Devine. Mr Devine died last year as a result of injuries suffered in the Hillsborough tragedy.
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Referring to matters on the pitch, Kenwright turned to the end of Benitez’s regime. Benitez and the club parted ways in January after just one win in 13 Premier League ties.
Kenwright wrote: “We have been forced once again to make changes in the most important positions at the football club. In January Rafael Benitez left us following an unacceptably disappointing run of results – and we were delighted to welcome Frank Lampard as our new first-team manager.”
Lampard is said to have impressed “enormously” during the search for Benitez’s replacement. Kenwright wrote: “He came across as a modern, ambitious and exciting young manager. He expressed a clear vision on how he wants to take the club forward and he showed tremendous passion and genuine enthusiasm to join us.
“Evertonians embraced him almost instantly and I think we can safely say that Frank has already validated Alan Ball’s famous phrase that: ‘Once Everton has touched you nothing will be the same.’ Although it was heart-warming to witness the unity and passion inside Goodison Park during Frank’s first match against Brentford and, of course, more recently against Newcastle, none of us underestimated the situation he inherited nor how much support he will need in the coming months to lead us through difficult times. All Evertonians wish you well, Frank.”
Kenwright’s words came in a statement of accounts that revealed Everton lost £120.9m in the year to June 30, 2021. The club said the continued impact of the Covid-19 pandemic was a major factor, and also cited squad investment and a “significant contraction” in the transfer market as offering import context for the figures.
Kenwright also sought to thank Everton supporters for their backing and to show support for Vitalii Mykolenko and those impacted by the "appalling and tragic situation" in Ukraine.
Everton has suspended sponsorship agreements with Russian companies USM, Megafon and Yota. Alisher Usmanov, owner of USM and its affiliated companies, has ties to Vladimir Putin - and has been recently sanctioned by the European Union due to those links.
Kenwright said: "We have hopefully demonstrated our support for everyone affected by that struggle with our actions at Goodison Park on matchdays, and we have taken necessary steps off the pitch by suspending our sponsorship ties with our Russian commercial partners."
