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      The Premier League has shown it is serious about enforcing FFP, all eyes will be on the Chelsea and Man City verdicts

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      NOW we know the Premier League really is serious about enforcing its financial rules.And Manchester City as well as Chelsea in particular may need an industrial scale mop to soak up the sweat pooling at their feet.
      Everton have been slapped with a 10-point deduction from the Premier League
      For all the talk about scrutiny, rules and a determination to ensure clubs lived within their means, nobody really thought Prem chiefs meant it.
      The general view was that it was all a bit of a show. Window dressing. Never actually going to be acted upon.
      Yet, suddenly, with Everton sucker-punched with the biggest penalty in the League’s 30-year history — a ten-point deduction — and facing a likely season-long fight against a relegation that could be the final nail  in the famous old Merseyside club’s coffin,  the entire picture has been altered.
      The Toffees, swinging in all directions, made clear they will push for equal action elsewhere.
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      Attacking the “harshness and severity” of the punishment, Everton’s statement noted: “The club will monitor with great interest the decisions made in any other cases concerning the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.”
      But a new standard has been set. In their 41-page written reasons, a three-man independent commission, headed by David Phillips KC, made clear that the Premier League — under fire from Westminster and other critics — has an obligation to come down hard on clubs who try to cheat the system.
      They wrote: “The Commission has no doubt that one of the primary purposes of the sanction is to punish the transgressing club.
      “We must not be swayed by sympathy — for example, the fact that the penalty might make the prospect of relegation greater.
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      “The inference of a sporting advantage should properly be drawn from the fact of a breach, and that sporting advantage was enjoyed for four seasons.
      “One of the purposes of a sanction is to provide a deterrent effect. That is a legitimate purpose.”
      Unsurprisingly, Everton supporters have asked why they have been hit so hard, so quickly, when other cases drag on, seemingly endlessly.
      Rival clubs have no expectation that the 115 charges against City will be concluded inside the next 12 months, while the League is still to charge Chelsea — although they were fined £8.6million by Uefa for issues they themselves flagged up.
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      Manchester City are also facing serious Financial Fair Play charges
      Even Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher, admittedly a boyhood Blue, wrote: “The ten-point deduction is excessive and not right.
      “They have been working with the Premier League about this for the last couple of years. Would it have been better to be evasive and try and drag it out like other clubs? Until other clubs are sanctioned  Everton will feel they are being used to show there is no need for an independent regulator, and they are right.”
      Last summer, the Premier League clubs voted through new rules that mean  “simple” sustainability rule breaches MUST be dealt with within three months of a charge being laid.
      That did not apply to City’s case while it is understood the Chelsea issue is made more complicated by the non-involvement of any officials currently at the club.
      Everton, though, now face the prospect of a major financial blow as well.
      While Leeds, Leicester, Southampton, Nottingham Forest and Burnley were  prevented from interceding in the case by a commission, they have 28 days to apply for compensation claims to be assessed.
      Fans will expect the Premier League to be as strict with Chelsea and Man CityCredit: Reuters
      In the cases of the teams relegated over the past two seasons that could run into millions of pounds — with Leeds likely to point out they were forced to sell Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha to comply with FFP.
      Everton, in a parlous financial state and now staring at the real prospect of relegation, could not afford to be hit with such a payment demand.
      But what is unquestionable is that the entire financial framework of the Premier League has now been transformed.
      Everybody knows it. And it is why the ultimate outcome for City and Chelsea will be so scrutinised.
      The Charges
      EVERTON were hit with an unprecedented ten-point penalty after being found to have “taken chances” with the Prem’s financial regulations.
      A 41-page  independent  commission report found their bid to improve results led to them acting “irresponsibly” to exceed permitted losses under the League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules.
      Its damning report stated: “This was a serious breach that requires a significant penalty.”
      Despite posting £372million in losses over three seasons, the club were found to have breached the £105m allowed loss by £19.5m, spending £124.5m.
      They persistently denied the charges — until the hearing, when they admitted breaching the regulations.
      The panel confirmed Everton flagged up issues as early as January 2021 with the club wanting to claim £54m in stadium expenditure. That claim was rejected by the League.
      Everton are facing relegation after their Premier League sanction
      The club recognised by early 2022 they would fail to meet Premier League guidelines.
      That saw other clubs take advantage in transfer deals. Spurs bought Richarlison in a £60m deal, some £20m less than Everton had anticipated.
      The Toffees argued the Ukraine war, which saw billionaire owner Farhad Moshiri’s business partner Alisher Usmanov placed on the UK sanctions list, cost £10m per year in lost sponsorship income.
      In their official accounts of 2022, Everton tried to exclude £17.4m in stadium loan interest. The club also claimed £61m of Covid-related losses, dismissed by the League.
      The 2023 accounts claiming a loss of just £87.1m over the three-year period were rejected.
      In 2021, the Premier League warned Everton about signing new players but the  commission stated that for the club to continue its transfer policy was “recklessness that constitutes an aggravating factor”.
      Everton will be looking for the same restrictions to be applied on the bigger clubs
      It added: “It was unwise for Everton not to have curtailed player purchases.
      “It was aware of potential Profitability and Sustainability Rules difficulties but pressed ahead in the hope that it would make sales of players that would enable it to achieve PSR compliance. Events have proved that to be a poor judgment.
      “The position that Everton finds itself in is of its own making — it is Everton’s responsibility to ensure that it complies with the PSR regime. The excess over the threshold is significant.
      “The consequence is that Everton’s culpability is great.
      “Further, Everton was less than frank in its dealings with the Premier League over the stadium interest issue.
      “The reality is that Everton failed to manage its finances so as to operate within the generous threshold of £105m.
      “Its mismanagement led to that threshold being exceeded by £19.5m. A financial penalty for a club that enjoys the support of a wealthy owner is not a sufficient penalty.”
      The Defence
      EVERTON’S failed attempt to escape a record points deduction saw them claim they should be allowed extra wriggle room for NOT suing a player.
      They said that after ‘Player X’  was arrested in July 2021, they sought to protect his “mental welfare” at a financial cost.
      The player — who is not named in the independent commission report —  was sacked the following month but Everton opted not to sue him for breach of contract.
      Yet at the hearing, Everton argued the £10million they could have demanded should have been included in their losses, minimising the breach of League rules.
      According to the written reasons, Everton claimed they were “entitled to credit for not  pursuing an economically viable claim” against the player.
      But the commission branded the argument “speculative”,  adding there was “no evidence that Player X would have been able to meet whatever judgement might have been obtained”.
      Everton were slapped with the heaviest punishment in Premier League historyCredit: Reuters
      Prem chiefs were also underwhelmed by a claim that Everton missed out on the transfer value of another star — ‘Player Y’ — because of Covid.
      Lawyers claimed the “factual reality” was that Everton had made a decision NOT to sell.
      Prem rules allow losses of £105m over a three-year period but Everton’s up to 2021-22 were found to be £124.5m.
      The club put forward various items they felt should be excluded from the calculation, including interest costs related to construction of their new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, the portion of the club’s transfer levy related to youth development plus the £10m lost by deciding not to seek damages against ‘Player X’.
      Everton also argued that a depressed summer transfer market in 2020 owing to Covid-19 reduced the revenue they would have earned from player sales.
      They also said they had lost  out on a £200m stadium-naming-rights deal with conglomerate USM as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and sanctions imposed by the British Government.
      Everton boss Sean Dyche is now dealing with a relegation battle
       USM’s single largest stakeholder is Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.
      The club said in a statement: “Everton Football Club is both shocked and disappointed by the ruling of the Premier League’s commission.
      “The club believes that the commission has imposed a wholly disproportionate and unjust sporting sanction.
      “The club has already communicated its intention to appeal the decision to the Premier League.
      “Everton maintains that it has been open and transparent in the information it has provided to the Premier League.
      “The club does not recognise the finding that it failed to act with the utmost good faith and it does not understand this to have been an allegation made by the Premier League during the course of proceedings.
      “Both the harshness and severity of the sanction imposed by the commission are neither a fair nor a reasonable reflection of the  evidence submitted.” More

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      How Kroenke family may have SAVED Arsenal from Everton-style fate with huge decision five years ago

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      THE Kroenke family may have inadvertently saved Arsenal from suffering an Everton-style penalty. Everton were handed a ten-point deduction that has seen them plummet into the relegation zone after being found guilty of breaching Premier League Financial Fair Play rules.
      David Ornstein explained how a decision from Stan Kroenke five years ago may have saved Arsenal from an Everton-style fateCredit: PA
      Everton-linked Alisher Usmanov was brought out of Arsenal five years agoCredit: EPA
      Josh Kroenke has been heavily involved in the running of the club during their rise up back up the tableCredit: Getty
      The Toffees recorded heavy financial losses of £124.5million over the past three years. This is £19.5m over the Prem’s budget of £105m.
      Part of these losses came as a result of Alisher Usmanov, a former shareholder in Arsenal, seeing his assets frozen in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
      Everton suspended its partnership with Usmanov’s holding company USM which had a five-year deal worth more than £12m.
      Usmanov held over 30 per cent of shares in the Gunners as of October 2013, before accepting a £550m bid for his shares in Arsenal from Stan Kroenke in 2018.
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      And it has been suggested by David Ornstein that the North London club could have suffered a similar fate to Everton had things worked out differently.
      Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE, he said: “You’ll look at clubs like Arsenal for example who had, as a large minority shareholder, Alisher Usmanov at some point.
      “Who with Farhad Moshiri moved over to Everton and a lot of the problems Everton are facing are due to the loss of money that was on behalf of Usmanov.
      “You could say that might have been Arsenal had things worked out differently and KSE, the Kroenke family hadn’t taken full control.”
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      Amid Ornstein’s hypothetical argument, there has never a suggestion that Arsenal have broken FFP rules.
      Ornstein continued: “There were so many questions about why aren’t you spending more money for so many years.
      “And clubs like Arsenal, now Manchester United and even Newcastle under their Saudi ownership are saying ‘we can’t because of financial fair play rules and profit and sustainability.’
      “‘We don’t want to break them because of the potential consequences’, and perhaps now we are seeing why they were so firm on that.
      “And maybe their supporters will give back a little bit of credit or reduce their frustration that they expressed at lack of spending because if you’re not careful it could be you in this position.
      “Ultimately, whatever the politics or agenda around this – and there will be so much conversation and conspiracy theory – the Premier League are clearly trying to get tough and show they can govern properly and create a league that has the trust of the people.” More

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      Premier League must hit every team with same harsh penalties after Everton ignored financial rules

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      THE Premier League has finally shown it has the teeth to deal with clubs ignoring financial rules.But having handed Everton the harshest penalty in the competition’s history, League chiefs must now demonstrate that the same bar is there for EVERYONE.
      Everton were found to have deliberately lost £19.5m more than allowed over three yearsCredit: Reuters
      Everton have been pushed into the relegation zone, but fans will be looking to see if the likes of Chelsea and Man City are treated as harshly if found to have breached rulesCredit: Getty
      Yesterday’s ten-point deduction, plunging Everton into the relegation zone, could imperil the club’s very future.
      Everton were found to have deliberately lost £19.5m more than allowed over three years and then attempted to mislead the League over their finances.
      Their punishment is tough but fitting.
      Yet Everton fans — and those of other clubs — will now expect even tougher sanctions if giants Man City and Chelsea are also proven to have ridden roughshod over the rules.
      READ MORE ON EVERTON
      City were hit with 115 charges, for alleged offences in seven seasons, in February, just weeks before Everton were next in the Prem’s bad books.
      And while the Treble winners are contesting the allegations, there are plenty who do not believe you can have that much smoke without some fire.
      Chelsea actually flagged up breaches that allegedly saw millions syphoned illicitly out of the club, pinning the blame on Roman Abramovich’s old regime.
      Yet fans of many clubs, not just Everton, will demand City and Chelsea are held to the same standards. And if that means relegation for two of the Prem’s shining symbols, so be it. If they are guilty, they MUST be hurt.
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      Everton claimed they should get ‘credit’ for not SUING ‘Player X’ in bid to escape record points deduction

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      EVERTON’S failed attempt to escape a record points deduction saw the Goodison club claiming they should be allowed extra wriggle room for NOT suing a player.The club’s case was that after “Player X” – who is not named in the independent commission report – was arrested in July 2021, they sought to protect his “mental welfare” at a financial cost.
      Everton are in turmoil after being hit with a huge Financial Fair Play sanctionCredit: REUTERS
      The Toffees have been slapped with a ten-point points deductionCredit: GETTY
      While the player was sacked the following month they opted not to sue him for breach of contract because of the potential personal impact.
      But at the hearing, Everton argued that the £10m minimum they could have demanded should have been calculated into their financial losses, minimising their breach of League rules.
      According to the written reasons, Everton claimed the club was “entitled to credit for not pursuing an economically viable claim” against the player.
      The commission dismissed the argument, branding it “speculative” and pointing out there was “no evidence that Player X would have been able to meet whatever judgment might have been obtained”.
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      Prem chiefs were also underwhelmed by a claim that Everton missed out on the transfer value of another star, “Player Y”. because of the pandemic.
      Indeed, the League’s lawyers claimed the “factual reality” was that Everton had made a decision NOT to sell him – thus meaning no Covid-based financial deduction could possibly apply.
      Everton are now in 19th place in the Prem table following what the claim to be a “disproportionate” and “unjust” sanction, which they plan to appeal.
      A club statement read: ” Everton Football Club is both shocked and disappointed by the ruling of the Premier League’s Commission.
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      Everton points deduction
      EVERTON have become the first Premier League team to be deducted points for breaching Financial Fair Play regulations for profit and sustainability.
      The Toffees’ ten-point hit comes after an independent Commission determined Everton recorded losses of £124.5million as per Premier League regulation calculations over the three years up to 2021-22 – exceeding the permitted £105m limit.
      The Goodison Park club have posted financial deficits for five years in a row.
      Manchester City are fighting 115 charges of FFP breaches put forward by the Premier League last season.
      Only two clubs in Premier League history have been docked points.
      Middlesbrough saw three points deducted in 1996-97 for failing to fulfil a fixture against Blackburn.
      In March 2010, Portsmouth had nine points stripped for entering administration.
      Both Middlesbrough and Portsmouth were relegated following their respective points punishments.
      The ten-point deduction drops Everton to 19th in the Premier League table, level on four points with bottom-club Burnley.

      “The Club believes that the Commission has imposed a wholly disproportionate and unjust sporting sanction.
      “The club has already communicated its intention to appeal the decision to the Premier League.
      “The appeal process will now commence and the Club’s case will be heard by an Appeal Board appointed pursuant to the Premier League’s rules in due course.
      “Everton maintains that it has been open and transparent in the information it has provided to the Premier League and that it has always respected the integrity of the process.
      “The club does not recognise the finding that it failed to act with the utmost good faith and it does not understand this to have been an allegation made by the Premier League during the course of proceedings.
      “Both the harshness and severity of the sanction imposed by the Commission are neither a fair nor a reasonable reflection of the evidence submitted.
      The club will also monitor with great interest the decisions made in any other cases concerning the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.
      “Everton cannot comment on this matter any further until the appeal process has concluded.”
      Sean Dyche’s troops are now 19th in the Prem table following their points deductionCredit: Getty More

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      Bill Kenwright was last local lad to own a grand old football club – I’ll never forget first time I met Everton legend

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      BILL KENWRIGHT was the last local lad to own a grand old football club.His devotion to Everton was total, from childhood at Booker Avenue Primary School to the end.
      Karren Brady, who was managing director of Birmingham at the time, gives Bill Kenwright a hug before a Premier League match in 2008Credit: Reuters
      Bill Kenwright, seen here with Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, will be sorely missed by all who knew him in the PremCredit: Getty Images – Getty
      His family will be proud of his immense achievements in showbiz, theatre and football biz — and I dare say his final thoughts were with them and a wish for an end to Everton’s significant problems.
      Bill was an actor to his bootstraps. While his success as a theatre impresario and film  producer made him a very rich man, he wasn’t rich enough to buy the club wholesale.
      That, I believe, was the major cause of his rift with many Everton supporters.
      He couldn’t wave a wand to fulfil his dreams and so he had to depend on people with cash to burn.
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      Because he was approachable to supporters, a true Liverpudlian and a responsible man, he took heavy flak.
      I first met him in 1993 when I was 23, all big hair and shoulder pads, specifically as managing director of Birmingham City.
      He welcomed me with open arms, called me “Beauty” and, immediately, we were friends.
      At the time he explained that a football club chairman and his inner circle must always have the best interests of supporters at the heart and they would not go wrong.
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      Everton skipper Seamus Coleman and manager Sean Dyche lay wreaths in memory of long-serving chairman Bill KenwrightCredit: Getty
      Goodison Park has paid tribute to Bill Kenwright, who died this weekCredit: Getty
      Last season, when we at West Ham won our first European  trophy for decades, his message read: “I can’t believe how great that performance was!!! Incredible from the first moment.
      “A magnificent night for you. I’m so glad you’ve got David Moyes (they had a close relationship) . . . and him you.”
      We messaged ‘good luck’ before games unless we were playing each other when the stress could be almost unbearable.
      I have known Bill to leave a match and sit in his car, overwhelmed by the pressure of it all.
      He must have been heartbroken that Everton fans, people he loved, turned against him in his final seasons.
      Last May, he asked if he could come and watch West Ham play Leeds in the hope that we would win and help Everton stay up.
      Supporter unrest made his attendance at Goodison allegedly unsafe. That is a terrible commentary on crowd mentality.
      Eventually, he cried off, calling himself “a wimp”. He told me the last seven months had been the worst of his life after the worst seven years possible, adding: “My time is limited . . . I just don’t want us to go down in what I think will be my final season.”
      He joked he would watch it from behind the sofa. The good news was that we beat Leeds 3-1 and, better, Everton stayed up.
      He will be remembered for his passion and total dedication to the club, his huge personality and natural warmth.Karren Brady
      I wrote to him then to say: “My legacy is that I stayed the course . . . from the beginning to the end, because I believed in something” —  words from the late, great Tina Turner and apt for you, too!
      “Congratulations (they had not been relegated). Whatever happens, remember the remarkable things you have done for Everton over 34 years as chairman. The last glass you ever raise to the club will be on your terms.”
      Bill made a huge contribution to the Premier League over those three decades of involvement with Everton.
      He was the voice of reason and fairness. He will be remembered for his passion and total dedication to the club, his huge personality and natural warmth, as well as his great sense of humour.
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      He will miss the opening of his club’s  new stadium next year.In the name of loyalty and love he more than warrants recognition in it.
      For true Evertonians, a star has fallen from the sky. More

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      I signed for Everton for £25m after interest from Arsenal and Spurs, now I’m looking for new club after injury disaster

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      FORMER Everton midfielder Jean-Phillipe Gbamin is without a club after suffering a nightmare time with injury.The 28-year-old joined the Toffees in 2019 on a five-year contract in a deal worth £25million.
      Jean-Philippe Gbamin’s Everton contract was terminated last monthCredit: Getty
      His agent, Bernard Collignon, has claimed he was previously wanted by Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool, before they decided upon Goodison Park.
      However, it turned into a nightmare four-year stint for Gbamin.
      He struggled to hit the ground running due to fitness issues and when he eventually got up to speed, Covid hit.
      Then while playing football tennis at home, he snapped his achilles in a freak injury.
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      Once he had recovered, loan spells at CSKA Moscow and Trabzonspor failed to re-ignite his career.
      And last month the Ivorian decided to forfeit the final 12 months of his contract – worth around £5m in wages – in an attempt to get his career back on track after playing just eight games for Everton.
      Speaking to The Guardian, Collignon said: “Everyone is aware that JP is available.
      “But all the clubs have budgets and most clubs use all their budget in the window.
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      “JP is an international player; he is not affordable for all of the clubs.
      Also, in France, clubs have to wait until mid-October to receive their share of the TV rights.
      “After that, maybe they can sign a player. It’s like musical chairs.”
      Gbamin has earned 16 caps for Ivory Coast’s national team – including one appearance earlier this year.
      He was also a France U21 international until 2016.
      But he has played just 45 club games in four years since leaving Bundesliga side Mainz. More

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      How Everton chairman Bill Kenwright rose from Corrie to chairman of hometown club via some of West End’s biggest hits

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      IN a long and distinguished career, Bill Kenwright was many things to many people.To theatre-goers he was the impresario behind West End hits Blood Brothers and Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
      Bill Kenwright lived with his long-term partner, actress Jenny SeagroveCredit: Rex
      Bill as Gordon, left, on Corrie in 1969Credit: Rex Features
      Bill directed West End hit Blood Brothers in 1983Credit: Donald Cooper
      To football fans he was chairman of his beloved Everton FC for 19 years — and to soap fans Coronation Street’s Gordon Clegg, who appeared from 1968 to 1969 then popped up again until 2012.
      But to all who knew him, his death on Monday, aged 78, from liver cancer was a bitter blow.
      Bill lived with his long-term partner, actress Jenny Seagrove, 66, and had a daughter, Lucy, from a previous relationship.
      Despite his fame he was an intensely private man and hated being interviewed.
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      He said: “People don’t understand this about me because I shout my productions to the rooftops and love talking about Everton.”
      He added: “I am very private, but can only talk in one way — though I don’t want to come across as a passionate buffoon.”
      Liverpool born and bred, Bill got the acting bug after childhood trips to the city’s cinemas with is gran.
      While he lived most of his adult life in London, he maintained a lifelong attachment to his home city and said “my past was what moulded me”.
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      He added: “I don’t think I had an easy childhood. I was very shy, nervous and timid and we weren’t rich. In Everton player Dave Hickson I found a sort of guide — he taught me how to dare.
      “From my family I had protection and comfort and, in Mum, a spirit that said I could do anything I wanted. I wanted to be Errol Flynn and I loved Alan Ladd in (1953 Western) Shane. I didn’t just want to be an actor, I wanted to be a film star.”
      Already treading the boards at the Liverpool Playhouse at age 12, he left home at 17 to join a London youth theatre and in 1968 made his Corrie debut as teenager Gordon, who lived above the paper shop with his aunt and uncle.
      But Bill shocked producers by leaving after just a year. His time in the soapland spotlight had led to him wanting to work behind the scenes.
      Recalling the late Corrie veteran Pat Phoenix, who played Elsie Tanner, he said: “I remember Pat telling me on day one, ‘You’re a good-looking lad from Liverpool — and you’ve got no idea what will happen to you when you appear on that screen’.
      Everton chairman Bill and owner Farhad Moshir unveil boss Frank Lampard in January 2022Credit: Getty
      Bill as a star guest on pop show Lift Off, 1970Credit: Rex
      “I was shocked. My character was the first teenager written into a soap to attract teenage viewers. It was an extraordinary situation and I really didn’t like it. That’s one of the reasons I left.”
      Bill’s love of the West End drew him to producing and directing and his company, Bill Kenwright Ltd, is the world’s most prolific theatre production company in the world, bringing hundreds of productions to theatres across the planet.
      A close collaborator of West End kings Sir Tim Rice and Lord Lloyd- Webber, Bill directed their hits Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar.
      He was nominated for a London Theatre Critics’ Award for his work on West Side Story and a Tony Award for a Broadway run of Blood Brothers.
      He also produced numerous films.
      These included 2009 romcom Cheri, starring Michelle Pfeiffer, 2021 hit Heathers: The Musical, and this year’s comedy thriller The Kill Room, starring Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson, plus Gemma Arterton crime drama The Critic.
      In 2001 he won a CBE for services to film and theatre.
      I was a timid child but I could go on my own to Goodison Park because I felt safe there. When Dave Hickson and that team ran out on to the pitch, I was in heaven with my gods.Bill Kenwright
      But it was perhaps his first love, football, that inspired him most.
      A director at Everton from 1989, he became club chairman in 2004 and remained so until his death.
      The club shone a light into his lonely childhood.
      He said: “I was more timid than shy but I could go on my own to Goodison as a kid because I felt safe there.
      “When Dave Hickson and that team ran out on to the pitch I was in heaven with my gods. It gave me a feeling of absolute safety.”
      He married Anouska Hempel, the actress turned society hotelier and interior designer, in 1978, only to divorce after less than a year.
      There followed a long relationship with actress Virginia Stride, now 87, which produced daughter Lucy, now 45 and a successful TV producer with two children.
      But his true love and partner for his last three decades was actress Jenny Seagrove who he met at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1993 when she was starring in Noel Coward play Present Laughter.
      She said in 2017: “Bill’s a force of nature, larger than life.
      “It’s a privilege to live with him. He’s got the biggest heart of anybody I’ve ever met. He’s made me a better person.”
      She added: “I’ve made him feel safe, given him the confidence to dive off that high board.”
      Read More on The Sun
      A self-confessed workaholic, Bill was worth an estimated £33million — but lived for passion, rather than money and its trappings.
      He said: “I never see myself retiring, not at all.”
      Bill married and divorced Anouska Hempel – an actress turned society hotelierCredit: Rex
      Bill said: ‘I was a timid child but I could go on my own to Goodison Park because I felt safe there’Credit: Handout More

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      Bill Kenwright’s partner Jenny Seagrove shares tribute to ‘my darling Bill’ as Everton FC chairman and Corrie star dies

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      BILL Kenwright’s partner Jenny Seagrove has shared a tribute to “my darling Bill” after the Everton FC chairman and Corrie star died.Kenwright’s death aged 78 following a cancer battle was announced by his “devastated” family, including Jenny and his daughter Lucy.
      Bill Kenwright has died, with tributes flowing for the popular Everton chairmanCredit: Reuters
      His partner Jenny Seagrove paid tribute to him
      Posting on Twitter, Jenny said: “I lost my darling Bill last night”.
      The ex-Corrie star went under the knife in August this year when the growth was found in his liver.
      Kenwright was forced to stay in intensive care for longer due to complications in the procedure.
      But he was told he was allowed to continue his treatment at home and was released from hospital earlier this month.
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      Kenwright’s family said he passed away “peacefully” last night surrounded by his loved ones after a “long battle with illness”.
      Everton also paid tribute to their chairman, saying: “Everton Football Club is in mourning following the death of Chairman Bill Kenwright CBE, who passed away peacefully last night aged 78, surrounded by his family and loved ones.
      “Everton’s longest serving chairman for more than a century, Bill Kenwright led the Club through a period of unprecedented change in English football.
      “A lifelong Evertonian, he became a board member on October 23, 1989, and then on Boxing Day 1999 his True Blue Holdings consortium acquired the Club. Initially vice-chairman, he succeeded his close friend Sir Philip Carter as Chair in 2004.
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      “In his 19 seasons as Chairman, the Club secured 12 top eight finishes, including a top four finish in 2005, a run to the 2009 FA Cup final and European qualification on 6 separate occasions.
      “The club has lost a chairman, a leader, a friend, and an inspiration. The thoughts and prayers of everyone at Everton are with his partner Jenny Seagrove, his daughter Lucy Kenwright, grandchildren and everybody who knew and loved him.”
      Everton previously told how Kenwright had been carrying out his club duties still even while recuperating from his op.
      He has been chairman of the Toffees since 2004 after first joining the board in 1989.
      Kenwright was also one of the UK’s most successful theatre producers.
      His most famous productions include in West End hit Blood Brothers and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
      Kenwright was also a judge on the 2007 BBC series Any Dream Will Do.
      The former actor, who had a role in Coronation Street in 1968, was in a relationship with theatre star Jenny Seagrove.
      He was previously married to actress Anouska Hempel from 1978 to 1980 and then went on to date Virginia Stride, who he shares a daughter and two grandchildren with.
      His family said: “Bill was driven by his passions and devoted his life to them; his deep love of theatre, film, music and his beloved Everton, and the families they created.
      “He impacted the lives of thousands, whether that be through the launching of careers or his unending loyalty, generosity and unfaltering friendship and support.
      “In a multi-award-winning career spanning six decades, Bill produced over 500 West End, Broadway, UK touring and international theatre productions, films and music albums. His impact on the arts industry has been profound.
      “During his time as majority shareholder and Chairman of Everton FC, Bill led the Club through a period of unprecedented change in English football.
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      “We will remember him with huge love and admiration – the shows will of course go on, as he would have wished, and his towering legacy will continue.
      “A celebration of Bill’s life and career will be announced in due course. At this very difficult time we ask for privacy and respect for Bill’s family and friends.” More