15th September 2026

Contempt: a feeling for someone or something regarded as unworthy of respect or approval : disdain.

Much of the content I have written in recent times has been deliberately analytical in style, attempting to disclose key areas of concern or interest in the finances of football both specifically at Everton but also more generally.
Today, I want to mix analysis with concern I have for the ownership and governance of our beloved football club, a topic I genuinely never believed I would have to return to.
Yet here we are, less than two years into the Friedkin’s ownership of Everton and we, the supporters, the executive team at Everton, the manager, the players and all those employed at the club find ourselves in trouble waters once more.
The waters are troubled because of the contemptuous behaviour of our current owners. Highly professional, successful owners and investors across several business strands who, for reasons largely unknown, have decided to treat all associated with Everton with a large degree of contempt.
They’re not the incompetent owners of the past, their business record elsewhere demonstrates that. But they are owners who have made conscious business decisions not to communicate or engage; to halt investment at a critical stage of squad rebuilding; have left the manager and CEO hung out to dry by withdrawing financial support whilst seeking greater liquidation of scarce playing resource, at the same time as allowing them to make public statements to the contrary.
It’s known that the Friedkins are sensitive to their global image, that they wish to protect their larger business interests elsewhere from reputational damage, yet almost everything they have done since the initial necessary and welcomed recapitalisation of the club has been a textbook case of poor PR, non-existent engagement and ultimately a totally unexplained decision to withdraw financial support and seek to dispose of Everton Football Club from their portfolio of interests.

• Absence is not a by-product of a private operating style. At AS Roma the same family is repeatedly photographed in Rome, signs open letters to supporters in its own name, and has injected close to a billion euros since 2020. The Friedkins demonstrably know how to be present. At Everton they have chosen not to be.
• The early promises have been superseded. Stabilisation has given way to an expectation that the club “stand on its own two feet”, culminating in a summer 2026 window in which Everton were a net seller, the manager voiced public disappointment, the Fan Advisory Board issued a formal rebuke, and supporters were described by the BBC as being in open revolt.
• Ownership has not spoken. Two written messages in twenty-one months, no press conference, no interview, no comment on a near-ten-per-cent season-ticket increase, and no contact with the manager. Communication has not merely been thin. It has been withheld.
• Funding has dried up, indeed worse, playing assets have been deliberately liquidated, investment plans halted and the business is undeniably up for sale.

Whatever the reason are for the above, and I accept the Friedkins are under no legal obligation to disclose their reasons, their policy of no engagement is discourteous, contemptuous and ultimately will, in my opinion be damaging to their global reputation.

The acquisition statements

Completion occurred on 19 December 2024. The club statement was published on evertonfc.com at 10:00 and carried the same day by the Premier League (“Everton confirm takeover by The Friedkin Group”, premierleague.com, 19 December 2024). Everton was acquired by Roundhouse Capital Holdings Limited, an entity within The Friedkin Group. The Premier League confirmed a 98.8 per cent stake, rising to 99.7 percent following recapitalisation.

Dan Friedkin’s open letter

Published as “Dan Friedkin Writes To Evertonians”, evertonfc.com, 19 December 2024:

Marc Watts’ statement

Marc Watts, President of The Friedkin Group and incoming Executive Chairman of Everton, issued the following on the same day:

And, a quote that now reads most sharply against the record:

The six stated priorities

The club statement of 19 December 2024 set out six commitments:

• Strengthening the men’s first-team squad through “thoughtful and strategic investment”.

• Cultivating home-grown superstars through the Academy.

• A distinct on-pitch and commercial strategy for the women’s team.

• “Respecting the Club’s traditions and keeping Everton at the heart of the community.”

• Maximising the new stadium through long-term commercial partnerships and events “that benefit the city of Liverpool”.
• Enhancing Everton’s reputation as a unique and historical name in world football.

The board

Announced on 19 December 2024 and subsequently: Dan Friedkin (proposed Chairman); Marc Watts (Executive Chairman, responsible for day-to-day management); Ana Dunkel (Chief Financial Officer, The Friedkin Group); Colin Chong (interim Chief Executive, later Chief Real Estate and Regeneration Officer). Subsequent additions include Eric Williamson of Gulf States Toyota as a non-executive director and Christopher Sarofim, an investor through Roundhouse holding a significant interest above 9.9 per cent. Jason Kidd holds an advisory role to Roundhouse. Rishi Majithia acts as the ownership representative and is the manager’s route to the owner.

Dan Friedkin’s total public output on Everton

Twenty-one months after completion, Dan Friedkin’s personal public communication on Everton consists of two written messages:

• The completion-day open letter, 19 December 2024.
• A written tribute in the commemorative programme for the final men’s match at Goodison Park, 18 May 2025: “Dear Evertonians, today we celebrate a sacred moment in our club’s story: the final men’s match at Goodison Park… For 133 years, this ground has been more than a stadium.”

He has given no press conference and no interview on Everton. The public-facing figures are Chief Executive Angus Kinnear, whose appointment from Leeds United was announced on 10 May 2025, and Executive Chairman Marc Watts. As I noted in my first-year analysis (theesk.org, 19 December 2025), The Friedkin Group and Roundhouse Capital are “extremely private”, issuing formal statements only when necessary and relying on executive proxies for operational communication.
No credible dated report establishes that Dan Friedkin has attended an Everton match, at Goodison Park or at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, or visited the city of Liverpool, at any point since 19 December 2024.

The manager has never spoken to the owner

At his pre-match press conference on Friday 4 September 2026, ahead of Everton’s meeting with Manchester United on 6 September, David Moyes was asked whether he had met or spoken to Dan Friedkin in the twenty months since his reappointment in January 2025. His answer was a single word: “No.” The exchange was first reported by Dominic King in The Telegraph and carried by BBC Sport (Craig Nelson, 5 September 2026) and by Chron.com in Friedkin’s home market of Houston.

The stadium opening

The first competitive fixture at the Hill Dickinson Stadium was played on 24 August 2025, Everton beating Brighton 2-0. Who officially represented ownership on that day has not been verified: no named source places Dan Friedkin, any family member, or a specific Friedkin Group executive at the opening.

Structural fan engagement and the season-ticket rebuke

The Friedkin Group retained the Fan Advisory Board structure inherited from the crisis years, and the structures perform on paper. Everton were placed tenth nationally and highest of any Premier League club in the Fan Engagement Index 2024-25 compiled by Think Fan Engagement, scoring 165 points, 70 for dialogue, 60 for transparency and 35 for governance. Brighton were the next-best Premier League club at eleventh with 160.
That structural performance did not survive contact with a season ticket pricing decision. On 10 April 2026 the Fan Advisory Board issued a formal statement of “deep disappointment” at 2026/27 season-ticket prices, accusing the ownership of “prioritising short-term financial gain over the loyalty of the fanbase”. A Board survey conducted between 11 and 15 April 2026, attracting more than 1,700 responses and publicised through the Football Supporters’ Association, recorded increases of almost 10 per cent, close to three times the prevailing rate of inflation, with the family section re-zoned such that seats rose from £640 to £965. The Board described the estimated £1.5m short-term gain as misguided.
Ownership made no public comment on the increases. As Grand Old Team put it on 14 April 2026: “And from the club’s ownership? Nothing. That silence is a statement in itself.”

The AS Roma comparison

The Friedkin Group acquired AS Roma in August 2020 at an enterprise value of €591m, paying €199m in cash for the majority stake held by James Pallotta’s group. Dan Friedkin is President; his son Ryan is Vice-President. Pursuit Sports, the multi-club vehicle launched on 16 July 2025 and led by Ryan Friedkin with Dave Beeston as chief executive, now houses Roma, Everton and AS Cannes.

Physical presence

This is the sharpest contrast available:

• Ryan Friedkin photographed in the stands at the Stadio Olimpico for Roma v Bologna in the Europa League, March 2026.
• Ryan Friedkin travelled on the team bus for the Roma v Lazio derby on 17 May 2026, at Gian Piero Gasperini’s request.
• Corbin Friedkin, Dan’s younger son, in the stands for Roma v Fiorentina on 4 May 2026.
• Dan Friedkin photographed at Roma’s training ground on 10 May 2025 (Getty Images), greeting goalkeeper Mile Svilar.

Even in Rome, Dan Friedkin keeps a low profile; Il Romanista notes that where his movements are concerned the conditional tense is always advisable. But the ownership is demonstrably, repeatedly present in Rome.

Signed open letters, something Everton has never received

Following the dismissal of Daniele De Rossi, a statement signed “Dan and Ryan Friedkin” was published on asroma.com on 23 September 2024:

The same letter contained a passage of considerable relevance to Evertonians, reassuring Roma supporters about the pending English acquisition: the potential addition of Everton to the portfolio would not alter the group’s focus on Roma, and its commitment of time, resources and energy to Roma would not be diminished. Read in September 2026, that sentence has aged into something close to a statement of priorities.

Managerial turbulence and fan anger in Rome

In 2024 alone Roma dismissed José Mourinho in January, Daniele De Rossi on 18 September after four games, and Ivan Juric on 10 November, appointing Claudio Ranieri on 14 November. The club finished fifth in 2024-25, with Artem Dovbyk its leading league scorer on twelve. Supporters hung a “Friedkin Go Home” banner in November 2024 and, at the Olimpico, a banner asking who had seen Friedkin. Ranieri met Friedkin in London in November 2024, a meeting that itself has no Everton equivalent. Under Gasperini, appointed 6 June 2025, Roma finished third in 2025-26 and qualified for the Champions League for the first time under Friedkin ownership, with Donyell Malen top-scoring on fourteen.

Capital committed to Roma

The family’s cumulative investment in Roma has been reported at approximately €926.6m by RomaPress in 2023 and at up to approximately €1.048bn by mid-2025 in Italian financial outlets, of which €696.37m is earmarked for the Pietralata stadium project, selected in 2022 with a planned capacity of around 60,605 and a target of completion before Euro 2032. Monthly liquidity injections are routinely documented in CONSOB and Borsa Italiana filings, €25m in one September, €10m in April 2022, and so on.

The wider Friedkin portfolio

Gulf States Toyota, founded in 1969 by Thomas H. Friedkin, is the distribution monopoly that generates the group’s recession-resistant cash flow. The portfolio also includes Auberge Resorts and the Auberge Collection in hospitality, itself a Roma sponsor, Imperative Entertainment in film production, Air Auto, and AS Cannes in the French National 2.
Dan Friedkin is a genuinely private operator across every one of these interests. That is not in dispute and should be conceded. But at Roma that privacy coexists with visible family presence at matches, signed letters to supporters in the owners’ own names, and direct meetings with head coaches. At Everton it does not. The variable is not temperament. The variable is Everton.

Net transfer spend, window by window

The 2025 window represented genuine investment: the fifth-highest net spend in the division. By summer 2026 Everton were a net seller. PSRwatch estimates a squad cost ratio of approximately 89.4 per cent, above the Premier League’s 85 per cent green threshold. The manager was left with eighteen senior outfield players and one recognised striker.

“Phase two”

In September 2026 the Financial Times reported that The Friedkin Group had appointed advisers to sound out minority investors. Whatever else that signals, it is not the posture of an owner intending to fund the next phase from its own balance sheet.

Moyes and Kinnear: words against outcomes

David Moyes

Moyes returned on 11 January 2025. His public language across three windows tracks a steady descent from hope to resignation.

• Summer 2025: “I’ve never had to do so many [signings]”; said Everton needed nine or ten; “We’re a long way away just now. I would have hoped it would have been much further down the line than we are.” (The Athletic / FotMob, August 2025)
• January 2026: “I don’t think we’ll be doing loads of business in January… it’s more to do with trying to have a plan where the ownership want us to have a plan… I don’t think it will be coming up with a load of quick fixes.” (pre-Burnley press conference)
• Summer 2026, 4 September: “Disappointed we didn’t do more business, disappointed things didn’t go our way in the end.” On the failed Balogun move: “The player had a problem in his medical and that was simply it.”

Angus Kinnear

• December 2025, one-year anniversary: praised recruitment structures “marrying world-class analytics with industry-leading talent identification and player trading capability”, and committed to “avoid short-term fixes that will weaken our hand for phase two of our rebuild next summer”.
• Summer 2026: told BBC Radio Merseyside the squad was “in a good place”; “The challenge is we want to get the absolute best player we can in their position.” He relayed the owners’ view that missing out on Europe the previous season constituted “failure”, a characterisation Moyes admitted came as a “surprise”. He also said he was “hoping for the maximum spend of what we are allowed to spend”.

The gap between the words and the deeds

The squad described as being “in a good place” left Moyes with one recognised striker in Thierno Barry. Deadline day produced an attempted sale of the academy graduate and exceptional prospect, Harrison Armstrong to Nottingham Forest for £35m, blocked only after supporter backlash; a collapsed £40m move for Balogun; and the departures of Beto and Ndiaye. The consequences were a supporters’ petition for Kinnear’s removal, critical statements from supporters’ groups, and what Phil McNulty of the BBC described as fans in open revolt.
A fortnight after Angus Kinnear had, in good faith, assured hand-picked fan media that the club was finally on a firm financial footing, the ownership shattered that illusion.

Community, city and stadium

Goodison Park and Everton in the Community

Goodison Park has been retained as the home of Everton Women in the Women’s Super League from 2025-26, making Everton the first club to operate two Premier League-standard stadiums. Angus Kinnear has framed this as a heritage and community commitment, and on its own terms it is one.
Everton in the Community is one of the leading Premier League community programmes and Hill Dickinson’s partnership with the club includes work with the charity. The charity’s precise funding position under the new ownership is not adequately sourced in the public record and cannot not be asserted.

City and political engagement

The engagement that has occurred has been conducted by executives and by the public sector, not by the owner.

• Marc Watts told the Financial Times it would be “such a shame” and a “missed opportunity” not to use the stadium as a catalyst to lift up the northern docks and the wider development of the Liverpool area.
• Colin Chong has argued that Everton is at least five or six years ahead of the curve relative to Manchester United’s Old Trafford regeneration proposals.
• Mayor Steve Rotheram described the stadium as a hugely important landmark for regeneration and announced a Mayoral Development Corporation for the North Docks, 17,500 homes and five million square feet of commercial space over fifteen years, calling it a once-in-a-generation chance. A £56m Homes England grant is referenced in the funding package.

Transport remains the glaring gap. Only some £3m of the £710m City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement for 2022-27 was allocated to the Bramley-Moore and Sandhills area. I have repeatedly flagged the complete absence of a strategic infrastructure plan, particularly relating to transport.

The counter-case, and the answer to it

The answer; none of it required absence.

Stabilisation and silence are not the same thing, and nothing in the financial rescue compelled the second.
The Roma model is the proof: the same owners, the same capital discipline, the same instinctive privacy, and yet signed letters in their own names, family members in the stands, a head coach flown to London for a meeting.
They know how to do it. They do it elsewhere.
Choosing not to attend a single match, not to visit the city whose “community, economy, and people” were named in the founding promise, not to speak once to the manager, and not to offer a word of explanation for a near-ten-per-cent price rise is not enforced by any business logic, any regulatory constraint or any operating model.
It is a choice, repeated across twenty-one months and three transfer windows.

Table of key quotations

On 31 January 2025, I wrote:

The Friedkins inherited a legacy of incompetence and contempt and, having promised actions rather than words, have delivered financial competence while reproducing precisely the same absentee contempt: never visiting, never speaking to the manager, never explaining to our loyal fan base. It is a contempt made sharper, not softer, by the visible and communicative presence the same family maintains in Rome.