Steve Rotheram speaks out on Everton takeover as Andy Burnham makes new stadium claim

Mayor of Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram has described Everton as a “crown jewel” of English football when stating how he hopes the takeover deal for the club agreed by prospective buyers the Friedkin Group with Farhad Moshiri can enable the Blues to move forward.

Wantaway majority shareholder Moshiri – who has not attended a Premier League game at Goodison Park for almost three years – embarked on an ambitious spending spree after taking control of Everton in 2016 but despite delivering on the construction of a new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock which will be in use from the start of next season, the Blues have been blighted by chaos on and off the field throughout his deeply troubled reign.

With eight managers in as many years, Everton only survived relegation in their final home match of both the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, recording the joint lowest equivalent points total in the club’s entire history in the former and then sinking to a new low in the latter, avoiding going down for the first time in 72 years by a single goal on the last day of the campaign. The Blues were also hit by two separate sporting sanctions for PSR breaches which resulted in a total of eight points being deducted in the Premier League last season.

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Monaco-based Moshiri, who cut his ties with long-time business partner Alisher Usmanov in 2022 with the Uzbekistan-born billionaire receiving several international sanctions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has been actively trying to offload his 94.1% stake in the club for two years having been in talks with the Kaminski Group, MSP Capital, Eagle Football Holdings (John Textor) and 777 Partners, striking a deal with the latter just over a year ago only for a protracted eight month process across the majority of last season to end with the controversial Miami-based private investment firm not receiving regulatory approval.

Although the Friedkin Group now needs to pass such tests to get its own agreement rubber stamped, when it comes to the regulatory side, there are not expected to be any issues given that Friedkin already sits on numerous UEFA and European Club Association boards. Similarly, while the Premier League’s more stringent Owners and Directors Test, which assesses proof of funding and a potential new incumbent’s plans, was an area where 777 fell down, Friedkin is ranked at number 267 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s richest people, and is calculated as having a net worth of almost $10billion.

Kirkby-born Mayor Rotheram, who makes no secret of the fact that he is a passionate fan of Everton’s neighbours Liverpool, wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “As founding members of the Football League and one of the country's most successful teams, Everton are a crown jewel deserving of careful and committed stewardship.

“This is great news for the club, fans and our wider region. Hopefully now it can begin to turn the page and move forward.”

On Monday, Mr Rotheram – who set up his own construction company aged 22 after starting out as a bricklayer – was pictured visiting the site of Everton’s new stadium with his fellow metro mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, who is a lifelong Blue.

With the Labour Party Conference currently taking place in Liverpool, the pair of them posed for a light-hearted photograph inside Everton’s future 52,888 capacity home alongside Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy.

Mr Burnham shared the images on X with the caption: “Pleased to show the Secretary of State and the Mayor the third (and best) football stadium that Everton Football Club has built in his city.”