Everton fans who have marched in protest against the running of the club plan to rally in support of the players ahead of the game with Newcastle United.
A pre-match demonstration has been held before each home match for two months as supporters groups have urged for changes to be made at the top of the club. Organisers are now planning a temporary halt to the march up Spellow Lane and are urging those who take part to instead get behind a player welcome designed to show the squad the scale of the backing they have as they fight for Premier League survival.
The new approach forms part of the response by fan groups to a statement issued by Bill Kenwright on Friday night. A number of comments in reply to that letter from the Everton chairman were released on Sunday night as part of a co-ordinated campaign by a supporter movement operating under the banner of All Together Now.
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The latest developments are set against a backdrop of division between the club’s board and sections of the Everton fanbase. Supporters have urged majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri to implement change with Everton facing a second consecutive relegation battle despite spending hundreds of millions on transfers since Moshiri became involved in the club. An investigation into the club’s financial dealings has been launched while directors have not attended a match at Goodison Park since early January, with the club claiming they have been advised not to on safety grounds.
The rift widened last week as Kenwright released a statement through the Everton website in which he dealt with questions about his health and calls for changes at boardroom level. It was a direct response to a statement issued on behalf of All Together Now days earlier and saw the 77-year-old defend the management of the club, question claims Everton’s fight against relegation from the Premier League would be helped by changes at boardroom level and insist those at the top deeply care about the club’s plight, adding: “It’s not nice going through what we have gone through but it hasn’t stopped the workrate, the desire to grow and improve and the loyalty to this club and to Evertonians.”
On Sunday night, a statement released on behalf of All Together Now branded Kenwright as “delusional” and said his words suggested it would be impossible to win back the confidence of supporters who had lost faith in how the club is currently being run. It described his position as “untenable” and the timing of his statement, on the eve of the away match at Crystal Palace that Everton went on to draw, as “scandalous”. It repeated calls for his departure and added: “As a movement and Evertonians we care about the future of our club and are putting all of our effort into backing the team on Thursday as opposed to protesting, this is all despite your tone deaf media release on the eve of the huge Palace game.”
The NSNOW group, which is among those acting under the All Together Now umbrella, was one of several supporter organisations to issue its own response in which it reasserted its position that Everton is in “crisis” and said the views expressed by Kenwright only deepened their concern about how Everton is being led.
Throughout the turmoil of recent months, supporters have continued to back the side on the pitch, with Sean Dyche recently praising fans for their passion and effort to inspire his players. Full attention will turn to that in the build-up to the tie with Newcastle on Thursday.
Everton’s squad has moved away from arriving at Goodison Park together on a coach since the arrival of Sean Dyche and this is not expected to change, preventing a repeat of the dramatic player welcomes that were a major part in efforts to inspire players at the end of last season. Ahead of the tie with Newcastle, fans are planning a show of support at the ground, however, with details set to be announced beforehand. Fans are being urged to then take their seats by 7.15pm, 45 minutes before kick-off, to show their support as the players warm up.
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