Everton de Viña del Mar President, Pedro Cedillo, has praised the continued strong bond between the Chilean club and the Blues after visiting Merseyside for Sunday’s 1-0 victory over West Ham United at Goodison Park.
Passionate Evertonian Cedillo joined representatives from de Viña del Mar to have a tour of the Club’s Finch Farm training base and new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, before going to the Grand Old Lady to see Frank Lampard’s team secure three points courtesy of Neal Maupay’s 53rd-minute winner.
After full-time, Cedillo discussed how Everton de Viña del Mar - which was founded in 1909 by Anglo-Chilean footballers and named after Everton Football Club – have been able to make the most of their proud relationship with the Blues.
“It’s been an amazing experience,” he told evertontv. “We are happy to support Everton all the way from Chile. It’s the second time we’ve been here and the second time we’ve won 1-0. It was an amazing atmosphere. I think Goodison is the best in the Premier League and we’re so fortunate to be part of this family.
“Everton are our roots. We are Everton de Viña del Mar and for us it’s an amazing opportunity to be here. We are so grateful to Richard Kenyon [Chief Commercial & Communications Officer], Farhad [Moshiri], the Chairman and Denise [Barrett-Baxendale] for the opportunity to be here, to share their knowledge and we can use this experience to take back home with us.
“For us, it’s important to keep this close relationship and to make it stronger. We are looking forward to having Everton back in Chile again soon.
“We went to Finch Farm and the new stadium site, too. They are amazing, top-class. Once again, we are so fortunate to be able to learn from Everton. The Premier League is the best in the world and this is a unique opportunity to be learning side by side from the best, too.”
In October 2020, Everton strengthened its international ties to Latin America by signing a new partnership with Everton de Viña del Mar and its owners Grupo Pachuca.
Grupo Pachuca is one of the leading football organisations in Central and South America and the relationship has seen the development of several new cross-continent initiatives including knowledge sharing – particularly in youth development and coaching, talent identification, marketing and retail and fanbase development.
As part of the strategic relationship, Everton de Vina del Mar joined Everton’s International Affiliate Programme for coaching and youth development, while a formal relationship for player development and talent ID was agreed.
