Kevin Thelwell reveals four core pillars behind Everton footballing strategy - 'considerable work being done'

Kevin Thelwell has explained that Everton's footballing strategy revolves around 'four core pillars' to help the club build for the long-term future.

Thelwell has served as the Toffees' director of football for the past two years after succeeding Marcel Brands - and there have been plenty of challenges.

Everton have battled Premier League relegation in the previous two campaigns, only surviving on the final day of the 2022-23 season. There have also been financial hurdles to negotiate, with the Blues being hit by a 10-point deduction this term for a breach of profit and sustainability rules in 2021-22.

One of Thelwell's chief tasks is to bring stability to Everton. The persistent changing of managers since Farhad Moshiri purchased the Blues in February 2016 has been a significant contribution to the club's fall from regularly qualifying for Europe to being at the foot of the table.

Thelwell attended an Everton Fans' Advisory Board meeting on 7 February where he spoke to those who were present and gave an insight into the work that he's currently conducting.

The minutes of the meeting said: "KT explained that a considerable amount of work continues to be done on the club’s footballing strategy and how they have been distilled into clear themes. Built around four core pillars focused on setting an identity (‘Who we are’), developing a clear way of playing across all teams (‘How we play’), benchmarking all football departments against best practice (‘How we support’) and continually enhancing the knowledge and expertise within Finch Farm (‘Staff development’)."

Thelwell also confirmed that the strategy includes Everton Women.