Everton board resignations: ‘Particularly interesting’ Grant Ingles update emerges as Denise Barrett-Baxendale and Graeme Sharp exit
It is “particularly interesting” that Grant Ingles has resigned from the Everton board because he has been “effectively running the show” recently, according to Paul Brown.
The chief finance and strategy officer, along with CEO Denise Barrett-Baxendale and non-executive director Graeme Sharp all dramatically resigned on Monday (12 June), with an update on chairman Bill Kenwright’s future to come within 48 hours according to a statement from the club.
But according to Brown it has been Ingles who has more or less been left in charge behind the scenes at Everton in recent weeks, in the “absence” of the others.
Reacting to the news on Twitter the former Daily Star journalist wrote: “Particularly interesting that Ingles has gone because I’m told he was effectively running the show over the last few weeks in the absence of others…”
Overhaul
It felt like it was in the offing as the conclusion to the season closed in and the change that many fans have been calling for over months is finally here.
Without clarity over who is next onto the board and what the next move is going to be with Kenwright it is clearly only the start of the process, but it is a major change behind the scenes that seemed unavoidable.
Where the chairman and the CEO have supposedly been according to what Brown has been told is anyone’s guess, and while the official position is likely to have been that all were working hard in recent weeks, the fact that three have gone so suddenly suggests not everything was entirely tranquil.
And it is hard to imagine they would have been, given ongoing fan protests trying to get the board out amid two successive relegation battles, and with financial concerns rumbling on off the pitch.
The arrival of the MSP Sports Capital investment is likely to have been a catalyst for this change but until anything is made official on that front the situation is not entirely clear.
With the board no longer attending games at Goodison Park it felt like their position had become untenable, particularly given the apparent chaos at the club, and Brown’s suggestion that Ingles was left holding the fort only adds to that.
The way Everton have been going it has certainly given the impression of a makeshift operation behind the scenes at times, and it appears that may have been the case.
If so, it is not a situation that could go on, and it is important to get the new regime set quickly to start tackling the vital summer work.