Things appear to be going from bad to worse for Everton Football Club, the Toffees having a second charge of financial mismanagement still hanging over them.
As they get set to move into their new state-of-the-art stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock in Liverpool, the last thing that the club need is to be relegated from the Premier League to the Championship.
Everyone knows how difficult England’s second tier is to get out of, but it’s the club’s murky financial state that could, ultimately, see them pushed into administration according to former super agent and co-creator of the Premier League, Jon Smith.
“I’m hearing from the financial markets that (Everton’s potential new owners) 777, until fairly recently, had allegedly been in the marketplace looking for additional funds, which wouldn’t fill me with a lot of confidence,” he said in his exclusive column for CaughtOffside.
“They’re, elegant, they’re good guys and I think they’ve got a good track record, so in some way, shape or form they’ll pass the proper person’s test.
“I know a lot about Everton and the funds, and the finances are incredibly messy. A lot of the money has come out of Russia for example, so that’s probably going to have to be addressed in terms of what is actually physically owed and what isn’t, and what comes under embargoed funds.
“They’ve also had a loan out there with a particular fund on which they’re paying a very high interest rate.”
If that outlook weren’t bad enough for Toffees fans, the money that’s required to complete the new stadium puts things in an even worse light.
“Not to mention a contingency of £300m in additional funds for the new stadium that I’ve heard about,” Smith continued.
“You and I both know that when you do anything with your house though, the last bit is always the most expensive, so I think you’re looking at £500m for the final piece of the stadium, which is a lot of money.”
At present, Sean Dyche is doing his level best to keep Everton in the English top-flight, however, no goals in four of their last six in all competitions and no wins in the Premier League in their last five underscores just how poor their current form is.
It’s clear that Smith really does fear for this storied club if the worst should happen.
“My big worry is that Everton get caned, they lose their appeals and, ultimately, they go down,” he added.
“Then I’d be fearful, given and being aware of some of the financial issues, that quite possibly the only exit for them from those problems would be to go into administration.
“That indeed would be a very sad day.”