FA Cup final 2009: Bill Kenwright hoping to fulfil his dreams with Wembley win

28 May 2009 21:02
But it is a perfect snapshot of both why Everton supporters love Bill Kenwright and why he must let them go. [LNB]Kenwright knows his days as proprietor of his boyhood club are numbered. He can scarcely describe what it would mean to him to see Phil Neville hoist the FA Cup aloft tomorrow – "it would be beyond my wildest dreams" – making him almost unique among his peers. [LNB] Related ArticlesCup memories fire LampardTop 10: Cup final songsFA Cup final 2009 - FA Cup Preview: PreviewMoyes is manager of the yearGosling's deal pledgeFulham 0 Everton 2Yet, by his own admission, it also singles him out as an anachronism. He says it has "never, ever crossed my mind" that a childhood supporter in the boardroom could help the club cross the Premier League's great divide. [LNB]He has seen countless deals disappear into dust as he tries to secure a vital financial injection for Everton, regardless of his own desire to stay. [LNB]It is the success of recent years that has convinced him. "Each year, the transfer window is bigger, harder," he admits, "but the higher you get, the more you want." [LNB]He believes David Moyes, given the funds, could take the club into the Champions League. The greatest gift he can give Everton is to sell the team so close to his heart for silverware. [LNB]He only has himself to blame. It was Kenwright who appointed Moyes, though he is keen to downplay his role in the Scot's success in establishing Everton as the fifth member of the Big Four. He neither deserves nor desires praise for sticking with his manager, he insists, because he "would have had to be beyond crazy" not to do so. [LNB]"He had me at hello," Kenwright said. "He was always going to be the man to take us forward. I knew from the first moment at 12.40am as he sat down in my house. [Kenwright's partner] Jenny asked him if he wanted some eggs on toast, he said 'aye' and then said: 'You're not going to go down.' I knew then." [LNB]Kenwright, of course, has a flair for drama, a penchant for hyperbole. Still, when he speaks of Moyes, the awe and the admiration are unquestionably genuine. [LNB]"David has taken Everton by the scruff of the neck and given Evertonians reason to believe again," he said. [LNB]"What he has done is a miracle. He has transformed the club. Someone said to me the other day that he needs a trophy. As far as I'm concerned, he gets a trophy every time he stands by the pitch. [LNB]"I remember when we had certain players, like Bobby Collins or Steve McMahon, and wondering how the team would cope if they were injured. Now the only person I worry about getting injured is David. [LNB]"As long as I can see him when I sit down, I know everything is going to be OK. He's my man, he's there, and everything's a bit better in the world." [LNB]So far, so West End love story. Nothing will be further from the minds of the 30,000 Evertonians who walk up Wembley Way tomorrow for their first final appearance in 14 years, but there is an element of the star-crossed about Kenwright and Moyes. [LNB]Sooner, rather than later, they must part. [LNB] 

Source: Telegraph