Ian Wright apologises for WhatsApp anger as Everton ‘throw fans under the bus’

Will Ford
Ian Wright speaks about Argentina

Ian Wright has apologised to Everton fans after he admitted he was “angry” with them having received a WhatsApp message on the morning of the alleged threats and assault of club board members.

Everton’s board were apparently urged to stay away from Goodison Park for their clash with Southampton and CEO Denise Barrett-Baxendale was reportedly placed in a headlock after the defeat to Brighton.

Responding to the reports, Wright claimed on Match of the Day that a new owner may be put off buying the club due to the alleged incidents over the last week or so.

But Merseyside police then released a statement which read: ‘No threats or incidents were reported to police prior to the game. At this stage, no offences have been reported.’

Wright then revealed on his own podcast that he had received a WhatsApp message from someon close to Bill Kenwright which portrayed the fans in a bad way.

But he has since realised that the source must not have been credible and apologised to the Everton fans for believing they had been something other than peaceful in their protests, when in fact they had been “thrown under the bus” by the board.

“The morning of it all happening, I got a WhatsApp message from someone high up at the club, who knows Bill Kenwright very well,” said the Match of the Day pundit.

“The correspondence he gave to me made me angry with Everton fans at that stage and I thought I am going to have to say something. I want them to be peaceful and I want to apologise because I should have said allegedly and now what I want to see is some proof.

“One thing for sure is that the relationship between the board and those fans is over because they really tried to throw those fans under the bus after the frustration that they’ve gone through. They tried to deflect it onto the fans because they’ve been so incompetent in their work.”

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