Liverpool council apologise to Everton after ‘menacing’ payment letter
Everton have received an apology from the Liverpool council after they had been sent an incorrect letter asking for payment, according to the Liverpool Echo.
There were additional costs to the construction of the Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium as part of Liverpool’s bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the Toffees were ordered to pay some of the fees as a result.
Everton agreed to pay £502,000 of the costs incurred in the failed bid but the Echo have found a letter sent by chief executive Denis Barrett-Baxendale to the council.
“As I am sure you will understand, I am both surprised and disappointed that the club has received the enclosed letters from LCC, which in their tone are undeniably menacing,” the letter reads.
“As far as the club is concerned ( and as was recorded in my letter of 26 November ) an agreement has been reached between the club and LCC in full and final settlement of the invoices referred to in each of these letters, subject to your cabinet’s approval and the terms of an appropriately worded settlement.”
Tony Reeves of the council then replied with a letter of his own, apologising for the mistake which read: “Sincere apologies for the recent payment reminder letter that Everton football club have incorrectly been sent by the council.
“We are investigating why it was sent out but suspect it may have been automatically generated by our systems.”
Fractious
As a football club that deals with all kinds of people on a day-to-day basis, the last thing Everton need to be doing is severing relationships with anybody of significance and that includes the Liverpool council.
Bramley-Moore Dock is still a long way from having a state-of-the-art Stadium completed within it so conversations on this topic between ourselves and the council are far from over yet.
The more fractious our relationship becomes with the council and other authorities, the more difficult and probably costly this build will become and that is something we can’t really afford right now.
Money is already tight for Frank Lampard to improve the squad he has at Goodison Park so the last thing he needs is for the club to have to fork out even more in legal fees.
Luckily, this issue appears to have been addressed internally now which should mean no more sudden surprises of cash demands end up on our doorstep anytime soon.