A CALL TO ARMS: AN OPEN LETTER TO EVERTONIANS

A CALL TO ARMS: AN OPEN LETTER TO EVERTONIANS

by The Bullens Ultra

"The seed of revolution is repression"

Woodrow Wilson

Goodison Park, The Grand Old Lady is full of electric energy, you can feel it, the enthusiasm, the hope, the Goodison roar, Gwladys Street sucking the goals in, we all know that feeling because despite whatever our financial situation a great majority of us get to the game whenever we can and every now and then these great days and nights come along and live long in the memory.

In recent times I feel we have fell behind slightly, we may not have grasped the new age quite as well as we might have, whilst we certainly don't want to become the dog and pony show that has festered itself at certain 'soccer' clubs (one maybe not a million miles away from ourselves) I think there are things that we can do to make our match day experience that bit more enjoyable.

A friend of mine was discussing Everton's form over the last few seasons and how it improves after Christmas with a West Ham supporter who described Everton as being "a fine old Bentley, a little slow to start but once it kicks in it is a refined, stylish & classy ride". I think that is a great analogy, we are a 'proper' football club, we applaud the oppositions keeper when they approach the goal, we are known in football circles as a knowledgeable, well liked set of fans.

As we all know we have a rich history, founder members of the football league & premier league, players have turned into legends here, silverware (although not in recent years) has adorned the clubs trophy cabinet, our reputation is known worldwide, our sister team in Chile these are major selling points that as fans or as a club we are not exploiting as well as we could.

A quick example of us not exploiting the internet as well as we could:- Go to youtube and type in 'Johnny Heitinga' you will see that the top 6 videos are tribute videos from Ajax fans, a funny short video where Phil Neville interrupts an interview Johnny is doing and then finally we get to a proper Everton related one where Heitinga shoulder barges Ashley Cole on his way to take a penalty against us in the FA Cup........THAT WAS UPLOADED BY A MAN UNITED FAN!!!!! Now whether or not you are a big fan of Johnny Heitinga or how good a player you consider him to be you can tell he is passionate about the club and his place in it, he always comes over to thank travelling fans when we play away win, lose or draw. There must be talented people amongst us who can knock up little videos like that, there is a youtube user called Susiehood who does great season reviews with a good soundtrack that is relevant to the action that is being played by the video.

Celebrating Our Icons

Go to Arsenal's fantastic ground, they have banners up all year around that celebrate their legendary players, even though that is a new ground you feel a great sense of the history of Arsenal, they have a banner of Dennis Bergkamp that has a picture of his face and reads "Why fly when you can walk on water?" (making light of his fear of flying).

How many Iconic images do we have? Sharpy's derby goal, Alan Ball with the league championship, Duncan Ferguson swinging his shirt over his head, Alec Young, Ratcliffe winning so many honours and too many more to mention. The famous quotes from Alan Ball, Brian Labone etc.

Why not get permanent banners up around the ground? Where the advertising board on the Upper Bullens is empty why not fill them?

Power In A Union

A supporters union, where we can have an open dialogue for new ideas, but where we can respect each others opinions. A new venture called Trust Everton has been launched with a view to providing sustainable long-term funding for the real-estate assets of the football club. The two that spring to mind are the training ground and the stadium. What a great thing for Evertonians to get behind no matter whether they side with The Blue Union or the current board or have no opinions either way.

What I have put foreword is just a brief letter with a few points on it, you may agree or disagree with these points but I think there is far more we can do as both fans and as a club to further help ourselves and further our enjoyment of our club.

Anyone who would wish to look at helping create a more visible online presence or those who have any further ideas in how we can assist the club in moving forward I would be most interested in hearing from.

Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

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