Bill Kenwright joined Everton’s board in 1989 and became chairman in 2004
Everton chairman Bill Kenwright has passed away at the age of 78.
Diagnosed with cancer in 2015, Kenwright was recently admitted to intensive care, following complications during an operation to remove a tumor from his liver. Everton recently released a statement that he had been discharged and was expecting to make a “lengthy but complete recovery”. The club announced his passing on Tuesday.
“Everton Football Club is in mourning following the death of Chairman Bill Kenwright CBE, who passed away peacefully last night aged 78, surrounded by his family and loved ones,” a club statement said.
A boyhood Everton fan, Kenwright had an acting career in his youth in which he played Gordon Clegg in ITV soap Coronation Street. He later became a theatre producer, best associated with West End hits Blood Brothers and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, appearing on 2007 BBC One series Any Dream Will Do as a judge.
Kenwright was invited onto the Goodison Park board in 1989, becoming Everton’s majority shareholder in 1999 and succeeding Littlewoods director Philip Carter in the role of chairman five years after that.
In 2016, Kenwright sold the majority of his Toffees stake to Farhad Moshiri, who kept him as chairman.
The Liverpudlian last attended Goodison on January 3, amid fan protests over Moshiri and the board.
