Thats a nice vision Danny, and it does make you wonder what will come about on the docks.
Maybe Andy Burnham will have an "up North" admin centre there, that would raise the profile a bit!

How does the football compare Danny? Has th3 Bundesliga got the same issues as the PL? Do the fans have better relations with the clubs? Or owners for that matter!

Nice story Danny, and I also think that Everton, will eventually have something similar to The Schalke Mile, on the approach to Bramley Moore.

Right now though the silence is deafening, I’m hoping it wasn’t just Moyes’s agent, pushing his name forward for the Scotland job, and we can finally turn over a new leaf, and start looking to try and be the Everton Football Club, we both remember from our childhood days🤞

Indeed Tony. Singing a favorite of yours "we shall not be moved.

Christine, the supporters are fanatical & the atmosphere generated electric. The match going supporter is well looked after. Cheap tickets priced at about 20€ right down to free public transport on display of a match ticket. A small gesture, but every little helps.

The ownership postion makes for interesting reading. Part suppoter, & partGerman regulations insisist on a 51 - 49% stakhold unlike the rather unhealthy autocratic framework leads to near 80% ownership by one majorstakeholder fuelled by greed.

The German model means that throretically no one individual can ride gunshot over proceedings.

A healthy model that gives the suporters a genuine voice with th clubs best intrests at heart.

Very interesting Danny, highlighting the extent to which corporate greed has been allowed to eat into every aspect of our lives, post-Thatcher. I wish Everton were able to follow aspects of the German model. In Goodison it might have been possible, but at the new ground, no chance. That move was all about the money, it's all that matters. Sorry to be such a miserable git.

Thanks for that Danny. I love German football and think that English football can learn a lot from Germany in how the clubs are set up and run. A work colleague of mine was a massive Eintracht Braunschweig fan. We were based in Russia in a small place called Efremov where the only things to do in an evening were to go to the local bar or watch The Sopranos on DVD. No matter what the conversation was in the bar he always managed to mention that Braunschweig had the same kit as Brazil & were the first club in the world to have advertising on their shirts. Sometimes he would sneak in that Paul Breitner had played for them as well.

I picked up a few Schalke fans from Gelsenkirchen, the other day Danny, and I spoke to them like I had loads of knowledge about their club because of what I’ve taken in over the years, when I’ve listened to you talk or write about your favourite German football club!

I knew that they have had a very successful youth academy, I knew they had fell on difficult times, I asked them about my mates son, who played for them not so long ago, and then I gave them a lecture about how despairing it is to see the logical Germans, getting taken in and used to using digital currency!

I spoke about their National team, how I thought that just like he had done for our neighbours, (they were going to our neighbours ground - they’re always going to our neighbour’s ground) how I thought Klopp, would give them back an identity they had/have been losing for years.

What’s the biggest problem with your National team now I asked? They gave me the exact answer that I had in my mind, (mentality) and I think this is something that our own club, have been lacking for years.

We have lost our mentality, or is it just that our mentality has become weak and much less expectant? Either way until our mentality changes, then expect more of the same mediocrity that we have been accepting for what seems like forever.

Thanks for that Danny; a typically 'from the heart' article.
I would not have relished facing you on the Park.
A formidable force no doubt.
You& others of your ilk are what makes our club special.
On another tack I think the signing situation is pleasing although our obsession with defensive priorities sits a little uneasily with me.
Last season with Branthwaite present we were rock solid.
Frankly, sad to say if he breaks down with a recurrence we have think seriously about his future in the game.
Rather for me our strike force is the crying need.
Barry will not make it & attitude is a real problem. Sell with damage limitation.
Beto will always be adequate (just) but for me a foil, in the shape of Aidan Graham needs to be there alongside a proven player.
Sort of an Adran Heath role.
If the midfield with the new lad can pose more of a goal threat then we start to look good.
Lastly; hold on to Ndiaye at all costs & if financially viable get Grealish back.
Tim can go for a decent fee & take a chance on Alcaraz.

Whilst likely much younger than you Danny, I also developed a strong bond with Schalke. In the early 2010s, players like Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Sane as you mentioned, and Naldo were all at the top of their game.

I vividly remember watching an ITV UCL fixture between Schalke and Real Madrid, probably one of the first games I ever watched. Schalke won 4-3 in the game but were knocked out on aggregate. I too liked how similar their kit was to ours and the fact that they exceeded expectations in Europe throughout that period.

Even players like Goretzka and Draxler were class at Schalke, and its a shame that they never reinvested the money they earned from sales effectively. Funnily enough, Breel Embolo, who earlier this morning was sent off (second yellow) for diving v Argentina, was one of the many causes of their financial crisis. They spent over £20m on him and he never made it happen.

I'm glad they are back in the Bundesliga though, and they carry a pair of Bosnian players with them this time. Dzeko and Katic made me root for Bosnia at this WC. I'll always root for Schalke though, hope they survive next season!

Danny, you wore your love for both clubs on your sleeve, a wonderful love that has become your epitaph today. Whenever I hear of Schalke I will think of you, remember the loves of your life and how much poorer we are by your passing.
Quite immortal, a lovely article from a good man. God bless you Danny, I for one will miss your epistles on the jounies you weekly took to follow the blues. This really hurts today.
If this was your last article then how fitting it was that it spoke of your love of two great clubs, your loves.
I miss you already Danny. RIP.