David Prentice: Kirkby snub could help heal Everton FC divisions

Not because I was ever ardently against the move.

I've written in the past that I was uneasy about the switch, but could see no alternative.

But this morning I'm relieved because the issue divided Evertonians like no other, and a divided football club is clearly a weaker one.

Everton now have the opportunity to pull together. The bickering and infighting which has infected messageboards and letters pages must end.

Everton needs its fans to present a united front because the grand old football club is at a pivotal point in its fortunes.

Their present stadium is atmospheric, but outdated.

They do not have the funds to either rebuild it, or construct another.

And that lack of a new arena appears to be turning away anybody even remotely interested in investing in one of English football's most famous names.

Everton need help.

Perhaps their first port of call should be the City Council which campaigned so hard to keep them in the city.

The body which granted Liverpool FC planning permission to build on a Victorian Park without so much as proof of funding, yet knocked back planning permission for their neighbours to build houses on the site of their old training ground, owes Everton.

Unfortunately our civic leaders are often muddled in their thinking.

Yesterday we had the bizarre sight of Council representatives travelling to London with a World Cup bid which contained a proposed new stadium - a project already derided by their leader as: "A glorified cow shed built in a small town outside Liverpool."

Bet that impressed the bid assessors.

So perhaps it's best if Everton look elsewhere.

They're unlikely to get help from across the park, nor should they.

The shared stadium is a non-starter.

I've long believed it's the most sensible option for both clubs, but when has good sense ever held sway in football?

And at this moment in time Everton seek to benefit far more than their neighbours from sharing a stadium.

Which is why Liverpool won't consider it.

The naming rights alone for a new Anfield are worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

Whether Evertonians like it or not, Anfield is a name which resonates around Europe.

Would there be the same scramble from blue chip businesses if the stadium was not a new Anfield, but a new Goodfield or a new Anison Park?

I think not.

So Everton need to look again.

But if Everton need help, surely they can help themselves.

And they can do so by following the historical lead of their neighbours.

When Bill Shankly swaggered into Anfield 50 years ago next week, he declared: "Anfield was the biggest toilet in Liverpool. I had to bring water in from Oakfield Road. It cost £3,000. There was no water to flush the toilets."

Six years later a newspaper article appeared which had the legendary Liverpool manager choking on his morning tea and toast.

His copy of the Sunday Express carried the following quote: "We can never be as big as Everton. They have a bigger ground, twice as many seats and they're backed by John Moores."

Those words were spoken by a Liverpool chairman, and they were a red rag to a managerial bull.

TV Williams, of course, was wrong.

But it needed a man with enthusiasm, passion and most of all vision to prove him wrong.

I believe the current Everton manager possesses all of those qualities.

But David Moyes needs help from everyone connected with his football club - fans included - if he is to continue dragging the Blues up from their current precarious place.

The football landscape has changed dramatically since Goodison Park was a palace capable of hosting a World Cup semi-final and Anfield was "a toilet."

But it's not impossible for a football club to transform its fortunes.

Ask Wigan Athletic, a non-league club playing at ramshackle Springfield Park in 1978, or Hull City, bottom of the fourth division at a decrepit Boothferry Park barely a decade ago.

Everton have to help themselves if they are to escape their current alarming position.

And they have to do it together.