Everton skipper Seamus Coleman has joined the many tributes to Toffee’s chairman Bill Kenwright after his passing.
Bill Kenwright passed away on Monday 23 October, aged 78, after a long battle with illness.
Everton’s longest serving chairman for more than a century, Chairman Bill led the Club through a period of unprecedented change in English football. Prior to his football career, he was an actor and theatre producer. He appeared in Coronation Street as recurring character Gordon Clegg and stepped onto the Cobbles in 1968, aged 22, remaining in the role until 1995. His entrepreneurial empire was vast – but it paled against an enduring devotion to Everton Football Club.
To Seamus Coleman, he was more than a chairman.
In a touching tribute, the Killybegs star said: “Bill Kenwright was more than a Chairman to me. He was a friend. The way he treated me and my family when I first came to the Club from Ireland was incredible.
“It meant the world to us and was a massive part of me settling in and having a career with Everton. And I know that I am far from being the only player to be able to say that.
“The Chairman never interfered and very rarely visited the dressing room, but we all knew that he was there if we needed him. And when he did speak to us as a group, we listened because he knew our Club as well as anyone.
“He was inspirational, he was so kind, he loved Everton, and his presence will be sorely missed.
“My thoughts, and those of my family, are with Jenny and the rest of his family at this very, very sad time.”
Sean Dyche and Seamus Coleman laid a wreath outside Goodison Park in tribute to Chairman Bill Kenwright. Photo Everton FC
Seamus Coleman mourns passing of inspirational Everton chairman and friend, Bill Kenwright was last modified: October 27th, 2023 by