Everton Expanding International Scouting Network
The Friedkin Group's promising investment in scouting and expanding our Academy is a great thing
OF EVERYTHING THE FRIEDKIN GROUP HAS DONE correctly since purchasing Everton, this might be the most important.
According to The Bobble, that wizard of Everton news-breaking, “Everton have hired Academy scouts in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Scandinavia as part of the ongoing restructuring of the Academy.”
What’s the big deal?
I realize this news isn’t as exciting as the rumor that Carlo Ancelotti wants to bring Jarad Branthwaite to Real Madrid.1
But it is a huge deal. Let me explain why.
Everton has kept their youth scouting narrowly focused on England and surrounding areas for over a decade. Before Satan Farhad Moshiri came along, Everton was renowned for finding young prospects for the Academy and developing them into first-team-ready players who, if they couldn’t break through into our first squad, could be sold for a tidy sum.
That mentality went by the wayside with Moshiri, who believed less in scouting and development than he did in spending shitloads2 of money to bring in players with some name value, regardless of their fit for our system.
This new focus should change that. It won’t happen immediately. Setting up scouting networks, especially in foreign countries where we’ve yet to operate, takes time. But this sort of move should pay significant dividends five or ten years as we compete with the world’s biggest clubs for the attention of hot young prospects. Our new stadium will be a substantial part of enticing those youth players.
Referees Assigned for the United Match
Andy Madley has been appointed referee for Saturday’s match against United. Madley’s had some bad reffing performances during Everton matches. Real bad. I’ll give him credit and say he did a good job during last season’s Merseyside Derby at Anfield, which Everton won 2-0. You probably remember that one.
Matt Donohue will handle VAR duties. If Donohue’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the guy who disallowed Beto’s late equalizer against Southampton, which resulted in The Good Guys (Everton) losing 1-0. It was a bad call, which the Premier League excused by noting it was Donohue’s second time on VAR duty.
“I think to be fair it’s only Matt [Donohue]’s second time doing the VAR. He got one last week and he’s doing one this week. It is very, very tight.” MIKE DEAN
So, I have an idea. Perhaps these fellas should practice using VAR technology during a slew of summer friendlies? There’s a bunch of them. Nobody really watches pre-season friendlies.
There’s no pressure to get calls right because nobody cares.
Do it, and the officials will have some experience with the VAR process and tools for the games that matter.
Or we could stick with what we have now, a completely broken system everybody hates.
Fans Pen Letter Over Bramley-Moore Transportation
On Monday night, the club held the first of three test games at the new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium. 10,000 lucky fans became the first to attend a match at BMD between the Everton U18 squad and Wigan.3 I absolutely would’ve gone, except I live in Austin.
I watched the live stream, and boy, does that stadium look good. I can’t wait to see it in person when I visit in December.
But it seems like it’s not all roses…especially regarding parking.
But Everton Fans' Forum expressed concerns about transport, parking and safety at Sandhills station, the closest Merseyrail station to the ground.
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority said they would be taking on board feedback from those who attended the event "to see whether immediate steps can be taken to address the issues raised".
It said Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram would also be meeting with supporters and "publicly respond to specific concerns they have outlined."
The under-18s fixture on Monday was held amid a vocal backlash against an experimental parking scheme around Regent Road and the surrounding streets as well as the installation of a fan management system at Sandhills station.
If I’m reading this correctly: the BMD parking situation is a shitshow.
The restrictions mean any business within a 30-minute walk of the stadium must pay an annual £50 permit per vehicle to park at any time - not just on match days. That’s…not cool, guys.
Liverpool Councillor Dan Barrington, though, sounds downright optimistic about all of this. Barrington, the cabinet member for transport and connectivity, said some words that seemed designed to confuse the listener and also not really say anything at all. Like a true politician.
"By creating this new match day parking zone, we'll be looking to adopt and incorporate those controls which so effectively move tens of thousands on a weekly basis," Barrington said.
You can always count on a politician to say stuff.
Good job, then, Dan.
🔥 ToffeeFest 2025 is Coming to San Diego. Who’s Coming With Me?
The North American Toffees supporter group had a fantastic time at the first inaugural ToffeeFest in Chicago last year. I don’t know. I wasn’t there.
But I’m damn sure going to the 2025 edition, which is taking place April 11-13th in San Diego. There’s all kinds of fun things4 planned, and also a San Diego Padres game.5 I’m registering on ToffeeLink as we speak, and my flight is booked. I’m excited to meet some of you folks.
Get more information on ToffeeFest 2025 at the official website. If you plan on attending, reply to this email or drop me a line at jeremy@readthetower.com.
FRIENDS OF THE TOWER
I like to close out each newsletter I write with links to some cool stories I think you should read. Today, I’m going to link you to some very cool people who you should follow:
🎙️ THE BLUE FRONTIER: I think it’s the premiere Everton analysis podcast. You should really give it a listen. And they have an incredible Discord.
🧔🏻 ANDREW MILLINGTON Andrew is our community lead here at The Tower, or will be once we have a community going. The kindest human you will meet on this Earth.
F O O T N O T E S
As I noted in Monday’s email, this story is nonsense. The Mirror is a prolific purveyor of fiction, and their story—headlined Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti targets £75m transfer reunion with Everton star—features no sourcing whatsoever. Would Ancelotti like to have Branthwaite at Madrid? Of course he would. There’s not a manager alive who wouldn’t want Branthwaite on their back
Everton spent £663 million on transfers during Moshiri’s reign of terror.
They were unlucky, however, to see the U/18 team get their shit pushed in by Wigan.
There’s a bar crawl. I’m 47 years old. This is not going to go well for me.
Sorry, Padres fans. I’m an Astros fan.