Published: 21:53 BST, 30 August 2026 | Updated: 21:58 BST, 30 August 2026
When The Friedkin Group were handed the keys to Everton in December 2024, they could have walked into any pub by Goodison Park or the swanky new waterfront stadium and had a queue of thousands trying to buy them a pint.
Their arrival was a rescue act similar to supremo Dan Friedkin’s mission in the blockbuster Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk, where he was the stunt pilot flying a Spitfire to save Allied soldiers on the beaches. The American billionaires had given Everton a leg-up after years of financial worry.
Now, the Friedkins would probably get an earful of abuse. Frontman Dan need not worry about that, mind – nearly two years after buying the club, he has still not been seen anywhere near a match.
That, in itself, is indicative of an ownership group detached from reality, which was thrust into evidence this weekend amid fan mutiny.
There has been something of a civil war brewing for several weeks at Everton but it escalated intensely on Saturday morning when reports emerged that the club was planning to cash in on 19-year-old homegrown midfielder Harrison Armstrong.
Everton's owners have seriously damaged the trust fans have in them after flirting with the sale of Harrison Armstrong
The next day, the club agreed to sell Iliman Ndiaye, one of their best players alongside Kieran Dewsbury-Hall, Jarrad Branthwaite and Jordan Pickford.
It was not the fine details of the proposed Armstrong exit that mattered but the principle.
Armstrong is not going to suddenly take the club to the Champions League on his own this term, nor is he the second coming of academy graduate Wayne Rooney and, prima facie, the mooted £40million fee might be good business for a player with 24 first-team appearances and zero goals.
But he is the best talent produced in some time from a faltering academy which was set back several years by the previous owners plunging the club into a financial pickle meaning they had to sell their best youngsters and were not able to invest properly in the development teams.
Because of that, versatile and hard-working Armstrong represents a sunflower sprouting in an acre of concrete wasteland. He represents a role model to every other kid in the academy. A Scouse heartbeat of the team living out most fans’ dreams of playing for their boyhood club.
Supporters who made the arduous trip to a rainy Bournemouth rightly voted with their voices before, during and after the 1-1 draw by singing about rioting if the club sold Armstrong. Fan power eventually won with the club pulling the plug on the move.
Daily Mail Sport understands the board was unanimous having considered the offer put on the table from Forest. On Sunday morning, calls were made to the Midlands club to inform them that Armstrong would be staying put.
So that’s that, then, TFG would hope. It does not work like that, Mr Friedkin. Trust is a precious commodity which takes significant time to build up but just seconds to erode.
