User:TheBigJagielka/Chairman

Chairmanship
On 1 June 2004, Bill Kenwright achieved his life long dream of becoming Chairman of Everton Football Club. On the same day as Kenwright's achievement, Trevor Birch was appointed Chief Executive Officer to replace the outgoing Michael Dunford. Birch resigned six weeks later.

In August 2004, it was announced that a fund organised by Geneva-based Chris Samuelson were interested in purchasing a stake in Everton.

By September 2004, concerns amongst fans had grown about the future of the club thanks to the collapse of the King's Dock project, the sale of Wayne Rooney, growing amount of debt, low league position and a highly publicised 'media battle' between directors in the local press. An Extraordinary General Meeting was called by shareholders; "The shareholders of the Company express their deep concern at the current state of affairs in the Company". It called for the board of directors to resign if they did not address previous motions to the satisfaction of shareholders. Bill Kenwright is considered approachable by fans and prior to the EGM he contacted a fan website before the press regarding the meeting. Keith Wyness was unveiled as the new Chief Executive Officer at the EGM.

In 2007, Kenwright announced that he would like to relocate the club to Kirkby as part of a proposal known as Destination Kirkby which included a Tesco supermarket and a retail park. The pursuit of this project led to minor shareholders of the club calling for an Extraordinary General Meeting in 2008. After it was confirmed that the EGM would go ahead, Keith Wyness resigned and was replaced by Robert Elstone who was promoted to the position from within.

At this meeting, Kenwright revealed that he took business advice from retail industry leaders Sir Philip Green and Sir Terry Leahy. A vote was held on whether the club should pursue the project due to a growing number of concerns, the vote was on the basis of "one share, one vote" as is in keeping with normal shareholder's meetings, and the motion to abandon Destination Kirkby was defeated. The result of the ballot was 622 votes for and 26,553 against, representing 97.71% of all votes cast against the resolution.

In April 2008, he agreed to produce Dixie: The People's Legend,a documentary on Everton legend Dixie Dean produced by Liverpool-based company Tabacula.

Bill Kenwright is sometimes compared to those who own other Premier League clubs and has said he can't afford to compete financially with some of the larger clubs: "People often say to me: 'Get your cheque book out, Bill. If these people think that I have a cheque book with tens of millions of pounds at my disposal, they have the wrong person. I could no more buy all of Peter Johnson's shares than play centre-forward this Saturday. These amounts are not in my personal ball park."

In July 2009, Kenwright explained the club's financial position under his stewardship: "Our debt is a big debt and a worrying debt, but it is manageable because of our performance on the field".

Kenwright is also very fond of former players and considers many personal friends. He also invited several former players to Wembley for the 2009 FA Cup Final as guests.