The FAB formally met with EFC last week for the third time since its inception last July.

The remit of these meetings is non-football/off-pitch matters and they take place four times per year; with a commitment that the EFC CEO attends two of them and EFC’s Independent Non-Executive Director attends all four.

The FAB were disappointed that no members from the EFC Board of Directors were able to attend the meeting, despite it being rearranged on two occasions.

A high-level summary of the EFC 2021/22 Report and Accounts was presented to the FAB by EFC Chief Commercial and Communications Officer, at the same time as they were released publicly. FAB members raised concerns about the Premier League’s decision to refer an allegation of a breach against their profitability and sustainability rules. The Club reaffirmed their disappointment in the referral and informed the FAB that they would not make any further comment at this time.

EFC Director of Football explained the difficulties of operating in a January transfer window to the FAB, while answering FAB questions; and the FAB recommended that this is something that should be delivered to the wider fanbase. Kevin Thelwell also explained how the 120-point plan related to the Football Mission that focusses on current performance and developing pathways.

There were further updates from EFC relating to the Club’s Vision and Strategy document, as well as two independent surveys (one from the Premier League’s Fan and one from the Fan Engagement Index).

The FAB also raised the lack of visibility and leadership of current EFC Board members, whether routinely, on matchdays or at scheduled structured dialogue meetings such as this one and with other stakeholder groups such as the Everton Football Shareholder’s Association (EFCSA). The FAB stressed that the relationship between the Board and the fanbase had broken down and urgent steps needed to be taken to address this.

The Committee Summary of the meeting can be found here.