Fans protest to RBS

[InertObject]

Well done to the guys who sent off the email yesterday 


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601077&sid=aiW9yxASI8Eg

By Tariq Panja

March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Liverpool supporters are e-mailing the Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc urging the U.K. government- controlled bank not to extend the 18-time English soccer champion’s credit facilities.

Fans are upset with club owners George Gillett Jr. and Tom Hicks because of the team’s on-field performance and levels of debt. Hundreds of messages addressed to RBS Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hester warn that the anger will turn to the bank if it allows the refinancing of a 237-million pound ($354.7 million) loan that matures in July.

“It is my understanding that if the refinancing deal is renegotiated beyond July 2010, then a campaign in protest against the Royal Bank of Scotland will take place which will include billboards with anti-RBS messages encouraging Liverpool fans to boycott RBS,” said the e-mails, which fans signed off individually. They were copied to journalists and bank officials.

Liverpool spokesman Jonathon Brill, who speaks for its owners, didn’t immediately respond to telephone calls seeking comment. RBS spokesman Piers Townsend confirmed that the bank has received messages from Liverpool supporters.

“We’ve had dialogue with a number of interested parties but can’t comment on individual correspondence,” Townsend said in an e-mail.

A poster campaign opposing the U.S. owners started in Liverpool last week. Hicks and Gillett bought the team in February 2007, and parent company Kop Football (Holdings) Ltd. posted a loss of 42.6 million pounds for the year ending July 31, 2008, according to the team’s latest financial statement published in June 2009.

Stadium Halted

Work on a new 70,000-seat stadium has been halted indefinitely, and team managing director Christian Purslow said last month that the club needs to raise 100 million pounds to persuade RBS and Wachovia Corp. to extend credit facilities.

The protest by Liverpool fans comes amid mounting concern over the ownership of England’s two most successful clubs.

Manchester United, which has also claimed 18 league titles, is the subject of a fan revolt that has led to a group of wealthy supporters to try to oust the U.S.-based Glazer family that gained control through a leveraged buyout in 2005.

RBS became the U.K.’s biggest government-controlled bank in 2008 when it received 45.5 billion pounds of taxpayers’ money in exchange for 84 percent of its stock following record losses.

“As a British tax payer and a lifelong Liverpool fan, I can assure you that I am not happy that my hard earned money is being used to pay for the purchase of Liverpool Football Club for George Gillett and Tom Hicks,” the e-mail added.

Liverpool has dropped to sixth place in England’s Premier League, 15 points behind leader Manchester United and out of the qualification places for next season’s Champions League. The team was eliminated from Europe’s top club competition, which it has won a U.K.-record five times, in the group stage this campaign.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tariq Panja in London at tpanja@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: March 10, 2010 21:20 EST

However I feel this won't do too much.

[Reprobate]

However I feel this won't do too much.

I think it's a pretty good tactic actually.

[SM]

Whatever it takes to get these 2 monkeys out of LFC I back it.

[InertObject]

Wasn't the same thing more or less done 2 years ago though?

[reddebs]

Wasn't the same thing more or less done 2 years ago though?

Some of us targetted RBS with emails last summer but not the press and we didn't threaten them with the billboards either. 

[JD]

Here's the email to send off from the other thread.
Dear Liverpool Supporter,

Please copy and paste the following email message, signing your name at the foot of the page and send to the names listed below at approximately 8pm on Wednesday the 10th of March or again on Thursday afternoon.

Send to:

Stephen.Hester@rbs.co.uk; John.HOURICAN@rbs.com; Roger.Lowry@rbs.co.uk; rebecca.oliphant@rbs.com; Public.Affairs@rbs.co.uk


thicks@hicksholdings.com; tohjr@hicksholdings.com; gngillett@bcmgt.com;
ian.ayre@liverpoolfc.tv; Philip.Nash@liverpoolfc.tv; warren.bradley@liverpool.gov.uk;
howardm@parliament.uk; KILFOYLEP@parliament.uk;
david.maddock@mgn.co.uk; dominick48@hotmail.com; Gary.Jacob@thetimes.co.uk;
helen.power@thetimes.co.uk; henry.winter@telegraph.co.uk; John.Richardson@Express.co.uk;
john.thompson@liverpool.com; lee.clayton@dailymail.co.uk; Oliver.Kay@thetimes.co.uk;
tpanja@bloomberg.net; paul.joyce@express.co.uk; rory.smith@telegraph.co.uk; tony.evans@thetimes.co.uk; birdc@parliament.uk;

--------------------------

Dear Mr Hester,

Having reviewed the company accounts in relation to Liverpool Football Club and Parent Company Kop Football Ltd, of which there is approximately £237M worth of debt; it is clear that the business model operated by the current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett is unsustainable.

Whilst I appreciate that any refinancing package deal is a confidential matter between the Royal Bank of Scotland and the current owners of Liverpool Football Club, it is also a very personal issue for many Liverpool supporters around the world. As a British Tax Payer and a Lifelong Liverpool fan, I can assure you that I am not happy that my hard earned money is being used to pay for the purchase of Liverpool Football Club for George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

There is an ever increasing sense of anger and resentment towards the the owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, which is likely to turn towards RBS if the refinancing deal is extended in the coming months.

It is my understanding that if the Refinancing deal is renegotiated beyond July 2010, then a campaign in protest against the Royal Bank of Scotland will take place which will include Billboards with anti-RBS messages encouraging Liverpool Fans to Boycott RBS in a similar manner to the Boycott of the Sun Newspaper (please see below).

Debt Lies Cowboys / Spirit Of Shankly / Liverpool Supporters' Union

Anfield Road » Don’t buy The Sun

If your objective is "the long-term success of Liverpool Football Club" then I urge you to formally refuse any longer term refinancing for Hicks and Gillett, thus leaving the current obligations needing to be immediately repaid.

We as supporters of Liverpool Football Club are effectively paying the loan repayments for Hicks and Gillett, and as taxpayers have a "controlling stake" in RBS. We should therefore have a say in where our money is being invested.

The ball is firmly in your court.

Kind Regards,

Liverpool Supporter

[reddebs]

Sent mine last night.  Think I might drop Mr Hicks an email today I've not hassled him for over a month.

[InertObject]

should we keep sending it JD?

[LFC-Red]

Threatening behaviour against the RBS is hardly the right way to go about things.

[racerx34]

You could always send Hicks a wishlist of players we want if he has any plan on getting the fans to like him.
Pointless but fun

[InertObject]

You could always send Hicks a wishlist of players we want if he has any plan on getting the fans to like him.
Pointless but fun

I really like that idea.

I've got 1500+ people on a page on facebook that I could get to help out

[reddebs]

I've emailed him but it's still a bit early in the USA I think to expect a reply just yet.

[racerx34]

I really like that idea.

I've got 1500+ people on a page on facebook that I could get to help out

Awesome. Best put David Villas full name in so he's clear we want the player not the club

[MsTorres]

haha- or we want them to go buy aston villa!!

Let us know when u get a reply and what it says debs...

[eurored]

OK

EXPAT VERSION

I live abroad (not Birkenhead!!) so the tax payer angle is not valid for me.

I've changed mine as an expatriate and kept it short.

Always put some names in the email title tag otherwise their anti spam filters will knock you out especially on the Hotmails Yahoos and AOLs.

I put the bit in about the illegal leveraged buy out.

Come on Tom. Come on George.   F...ing answer ME.

Bring it on.





Copy.



"A Supporter Since 1962.

Dear Mr Hester,

In relation to Liverpool Football Club and Parent Company Kop Football Ltd, there is approximately £237M worth of debt!
It is clear that the business model operated by the current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett is unsustainable.

Indeed the method of leveraged purchase undertaken for this asset, is illegal, in their own country of domicile.

Any refinancing package deal is a confidential and commercial matter between the Royal Bank of Scotland and the current owners of Liverpool Football Club.
It is also a very personal issue for many Liverpool supporters around the world.

There is an ever increasing sense of anger and resentment towards the the owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, which is very likely to be directed towards RBS if the refinancing deal is extended in the coming months.

It is my understanding that if the Refinancing deal is renegotiated beyond July 2010, then a campaign in protest against the Royal Bank of Scotland will take place.

If your objective is the long-term viability of Liverpool Football Club then I urge you to carefully examine the financial and commercial implications of refinancing which I am sure under your own due diligence you certainly will do."

[CRK]

Sent mine earlier too.

Be a piss take if this doesn't end up in the papers big time. Without sounding too paranoid, the Mancs only have to fart and it's back page time.

[bartman49]

Anything that gets across how the LFC fans feel about these people has to be a positive thing.

[AussieRed]

Done, hope it's not too late to send.

[InertObject]

If you're sending, the journalists are supposedly getting pissed off.. so just send to RBS

[CRK]

If you're sending, the journalists are supposedly getting pissed off.. so just send to RBS

As long as it's in the papers people will stop CCing them in.

[bad boy bubby]

For the record: R.B.S. Group controls; Royal Bank of Scotland, National Westminster Bank and (my bank) Ulster Bank.

Below is a copy of my e-mail to Mr. Hester.


Dear Mr Hester,

Re: Liverpool Football Club and Parent Company Kop Football Ltd.

I am a lifelong fan of Liverpool F.C. I am also an account holder with Ulster Bank:- Acc Nos. -------------- & --------------; with a total monetary value of £**,***.**.

As a Liverpool fan I share in the ever increasing sense of anger and resentment towards the the owners of Kop Football Ltd., Tom Hicks and George Gillett. This resentment is very likely to be re-directed towards R.B.S. if your company extends it's  financing deal with them in the coming months.

It is my understanding that, if the Refinancing deal is renegotiated beyond July 2010, a campaign in protest against the Royal Bank of Scotland will take place.

Be left under no illusions that I, like many, intend to participate directly in any such campaign. Be assured also that my first action will be to close and move my accounts from your bank.

Yours sincerely


---- ------

[InertObject]

I believe Wachovia are also involved though??

https://www.wachovia.com/

[RedWilly]

I know mines late, but I sent it today. If this doesn't get in the papers, after it was emailed to all those journo's then it proves the bias the media in this country have!!

[reddebs]

Well the Guardian have covered this story not sure if any others have.

Liverpool fans target RBS in email campaign to starve owners

• RBS chief executive receives hundreds of messages
• Threat of boycott if the club's loans are extended

Liverpool fans are hoping to starve the club's American owners George Gillett, left, and Tom Hicks of credit.

Liverpool supporters have begun a coordinated email campaign to the Royal Bank of Scotland warning of a product boycott if the taxpayer-owned bank provides a long-term extension to the club's £237m loans.

The bank confirmed there had been correspondence from fans but declined to expand on its nature. The business wire service Bloomberg reported that the bank's chief executive, Stephen Hester, has received hundreds of messages, each with a different individual's signature.

"It is my understanding that, if the refinancing deal is renegotiated beyond July 2010, then a campaign in protest against the Royal Bank of Scotland will take place which will include billboards with anti-RBS messages encouraging Liverpool fans to boycott RBS," the emails say. "As a British tax payer and a lifelong Liverpool fan, I can assure you that I am not happy that my hard-earned money is being used to pay for the purchase of Liverpool Football Club for George Gillett and Tom Hicks."

Although RBS did not express any opinion about the messages, the banking sector has always had concerns about the effect on retail operations of a fan backlash if institutions' corporate lending arms make life difficult for clubs. That did not appear to be the case, however, as fans were quiescent when Barclays made a stand over the stricken former Southampton owner, Southampton Leisure Holdings, closing off the club's overdraft and effectively pushing it into administration.

Paradoxically this time the pressure from Liverpool fans is for banks specifically to cause financial problems for the club. The campaign is an attempt to starve the club's American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, of credit and, if the bank refuses to roll over the club's borrowings, it could precipitate a financial crisis at Anfield.

Few lenders are willing to offer new facilities in the current climate and Hicks and Gillett have so far shown no great enthusiasm for injecting their own equity.

Hicks last year suffered the indignity of defaulting on the $525m (£345m) debt in his Hicks Sports Group holding company, leading to the sale of the Texas Rangers franchise and much of its surrounding real estate to an investment group including the club's president, the former pitcher Nolan Ryan, in January.

Despite that successful transaction – reportedly worth £310m – Hicks's personal wealth is estimated to have slipped in the past 12 months. Forbes calculated in its most recent rich list that Hicks had lost his billionaire status over the course of the year, now being worth $950m. Liverpool are currently exploring the market's appetite for a £100m third-party investment.