Business With Blain: Stand And Deliver
It is a new era for Everton.
By JohnB
Everton owners The Friedkin Group took control of the club in December, and wasted no time making changes that many Everton fans felt were overdue, starting with the dismissal of failing manager Sean Dyche.
Replacing him with David Moyes on January 11th, 2025, was a popular decision. And it has proved to be the right one.
The Toffees are guaranteed to finish in 13th in the Premier League, and while that is not a bar that they will be wanting to judge themselves on moving forward, it shows significant improvement compared to where they have been in recent seasons.
As Moyes proceeded to reenergise the club and quickly eliminate the likelihood of relegation, the owners made another critical decision by allowing Director of Football Kevin Thelwell to leave by choosing not to extend his contract.
Changes were afoot on the business side of the club, too, as TFG extended the ownership group with the arrival of billionaire Christopher Sarofim on April 23rd, and the following day it was announced that double Olympic champion, 10-time NBA All-Star and Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd had also joined the group.
Finally, and in a move that could be described as the end of the beginning, Everton formally announced their new Chief Executive Officer as Angus Kinnear, formerly of Leeds United (as CEO) and previously, in senior executive roles, at West Ham and Arsenal on May 10th, 2025, which was less than 150 days after their takeover. Kinnear had been expected to start on June 1st, but with Leeds’ season wrapped up by the start of May, he has come in earlier than planned.
TFG, then, have been decisive in their decision making and so far, effective in their communication and if their ownership behaviour at Roma is anything to go by, we can expect them to stay in the background and cede day-to-day control to Kinnear.
Kinnear, with deep and relevant experience gained from three different Premier League clubs, has already spoken about the great challenges and opportunities Evertonians can look forward to. He is a young, decisive leader, and it is clear he is not going to shy away from making the big calls.
Indeed, in his first week, he appeared on Everton TV and spoke directly to the fans, outlining his plans for the near and medium-term future of the club.
“I think there has been a move in recent years to a single Director of Football model, and that can be challenging, [but] we’re going to move to a broader, flatter structure, where we have experts in Data and Analytics, in Football Operations, in Recruitment and Talent Identification, and then on Player Trading”
-Angus Kinnear
His comments have been backed up by actions. He has already appointed Nick Hammond (who collaborated with him at Leeds) as his lead on Player Trading, and who, alongside Moyes, will be a key member of an expected transfer committee.
“Some of these people have already come on board and there are going to be some more announced over the next couple of weeks. I have been delighted by the quality of individuals that we have been able to attract.”
-Angus Kinnear
Charlie Reeves, Head of Performance Insights, is a possible committee member as the Head of Data Analytics.
The much-needed Head of Football Operations will join from outside, and with David Harrison having left Manchester United, Kinnear may see him returning to Everton for a job he is ideally suited to.
Dan Purdy, Everton’s Head of Recruitment, had been expected to stay on in a new role — Head of Player Identification — but he has decided to move on, so that is another role that will need filling.
The pace of transformation after so many years of apparent stagnation has been clear, obvious, and very well received by Evertonians as a wave of optimism builds and they look forward to what could be a unique volume of turnover in playing staff.
With 12 or more members of the first team squad out-of-contract or on loan, Everton have already announced that goalkeepers Asmir Begovic and Joao Virginia will leave at the end of the season, as will Abdoulaye Doucoure and Ashley Young.
Key announcements expected in the coming weeks concern club captain Seamus Coleman, striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, midfield general Idrissa Gana Gueye and fourth-choice centre-back Michael Keane.
Kinnear must surely hope that not every week is going to be as hectic as his first, as Everton also found the time to announce that Goodison Park would become the home of their Women’s Super League team from the start of season 2025-26.
Before that, Kinnear had been in attendance at Craven Cottage to take in an exceptional 3-1 win at Fulham, and his first week in the gig was bookended by Everton playing their final men’s first team game at Goodison Park, their home of almost 133 years.
Everton’s long-awaited migration to the magnificent Hill Dickinson Stadium, on the banks of the Royal Blue Mersey, will now commence.
The surprising announcement of a stadium naming rights partner, made on Friday 16th May, is reported to be worth upwards of £10million per year, making it one of the largest such deals in Europe.
TFG and Kinnear have both made excellent starts as custodians of one of world’s most storied and iconic football clubs. Scenes at the last home game of the season, with as many fans packing the streets outside the stadium as there were inside Goodison, highlighted to the world the scale of the potential of this great football club.
It should also have highlighted the same to Kinnear, who had to navigate the pandemonium, while Moyes — in his post-match speech — put the onus firmly on TFG to realise the scale and potential of the club that is now theirs.
Everton fans expect nothing but the best, and this sleeping giant may soon wake from its slumber to find that the owners, and in Kinnear as their appointed leader, are showing signs of being up for the challenge of delivering upon those demands.
Nice John.