Everton FC fan group Trust Everton launches plan to buy club’s £15m Finch Farm training ground

Feb 8 2012 by Greg O'Keeffe, Liverpool Echo

A GROUP of Everton fans want to become landlords of the club’s Finch Farm training ground by using supporter donations to buy the £15m complex.

The idea, which has the backing of shadow health secretary and Goodison season-ticket holder Andy Burnham, has been received with interest by club officials who have already met with the Trust Everton group.

Everton currently rent their 55-acre training base after selling it to ROM Capital for around £2million in 2007, but last October Hudson announced they wanted to sell.

Now one of the men behind Trust Everton, web entrepreneur Tony I’Anson, is trying to gauge interest in the proposal with an online survey.

Tony, 42, said: “Everton has a long history of firsts in football. This could be the next – supporters of a Premier League club owning one of its main property assets.

“To get the wheels in motion we need to show the current owners of Finch Farm that there is a genuine will amongst the fan base to make this happen, and that’s why we’ve set up the survey.

“The training ground is currently owned by a third party finance company who’ve put it on the market.

“The logic is that someone has to own it, and at the moment the club is paying rent, and that money will continue to disappear.

“Ideally Trust Everton would buy Finch Farm using subscription-based memberships and other sources of finance. Any surplus could then be used to finance other fixed commercial assets, for example to support the financing of a stadium redevelopment.

“We see it as a positive move where the fans feel like they are really part of something. We’d be working with the current owners of the club.

“But the aim is to still exist in 150 years when we are all gone, and the next generation are working with whoever owns Everton, whether it’s a local businessman or a Sheikh.”

Tony said the online survey, which can be accessed via www.trusteverton.com also addresses the level of subscription fans would be willing to pay to be a member of a supporters’ trust.

He added: “We need supporters to complete the survey in their thousands.

“As well as vital research for Trust Everton, it is sheer weight of numbers that will persuade the current owners of Finch Farm to come to the table to discuss something concrete that Trust Everton can then put to the fan base.”

Mr I’Anson is originally from Netherton, but relocated to Scotland for University in 1988 and settled in Stirling.

A former pupil of St Mary’s College in Crosby, he currently runs two web based businesses – Stirling Internet Ltd and Mytownonvideo.co.uk Ltd.

“I believe we really have a great concept here that could work and something the fans could get behind,” he said.

“We will cater for people see it as an investment opportunity as well, and want to pay more for shares which they could eventually get a return on.”

Since its inception nearly a year ago Trust Everton has maintained an active dialogue with Supporters Direct, the government funded organisation established over 10 years ago to encourage fans to set up supporters’ trusts and provide them with vital support.

James Mathie from Supporters Direct said: “We have had some very productive meetings with representatives from Trust Everton and have been impressed with their plans to explore ways that supporters can have a positive impact at their clubs, even at Premier League level where the finances are obviously that much more daunting.

“At this stage it’s really about generating interest and consulting with Everton fans to see what the appetite is.

“We therefore urge Evertonians to take a look at the Trust Everton website and fill out a survey so that you can make sure that you have your say.”

An Everton spokesman said: “Club officials met earlier this season with Trust Everton members, welcomed their objectives, were pleased members understood the challenges of raising significant funds from the fan base and asked to be kept informed of any progress.”