The Good Name Of Liverpool Football Club

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The Good Name Of Liverpool Football Club

Liverpool Football Club was once the envy of every other side across the land not because of the trophies we won or the players we had but because of the way we dealt with the boardroom issues. However over the best part of two years we are no longer the role models of how to keep things in-house but instead have become the laughing stock of England. Our American owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, have went back on every promise they made us all those months ago and now they’re looking for us to pay for their mistakes.

A day every fan of this club would like to forget is the day the Americans got their grubby hands on the ownership of our club. From day one they fed us lies and didn’t even appreciate the importance of the club to the fans. To the fans this club isn’t a “franchise” or a “money making scheme” it’s the heart and soul of their life. This club means so much to every single fan we don’t like to see it bashed about the way it has been but Hicks and Gillett can’t see that. This is their toy and they intend to make as much money out of the fans as possible.

The 6th of February 2007 is the date that they both signed on the dotted line to take co-ownership of the club. Although David Moores saw the season through and they didn’t take control until June 2007. They removed the debt the club had at the time, reportedly around £45 million. This was going to be the last debt the club ever saw. Hicks and Gillett had the money to take us to the next level. We were now able to compete with the likes of Chelsea and Man United in the transfer market and it was only a matter of time before we had a brand new stadium on Stanley Park.

The summer of 2007 looked promising with the American’s given Rafael Benitez enough money to bring in Fernando Torres. However they refused to finance the deal for Javier Mascherano because they couldn’t afford it. It was later found out that they couldn’t afford the Torres deal either and it was actually a loan from a bank, which paid for the deal to go through. This ultimately put the club back into debt, something, which we’d been promised, wouldn’t happen. Unfortunately this was only the start of things we’d been promised that wouldn’t deliver.

The construction on our new stadium was going to take place in sixty days but somewhere along the lines the American’s realised they couldn’t afford their initial design and had to rescale it. There was talk at the time about a brand name sponsoring the stadium to help pay for some of the work. This idea didn’t seem to take off, so it was back to the drawing board for Hicks, Gillett and the designers. We’re still waiting for work to start and a design to be settled on that they can afford. It seems that their ambition for the ground is coming down. It started off as a state of the art stadium surrounded by glass that could fit sixty thousand with the option of an extra fifteen thousand seats but that’s been reduced and now there’s no figures whatsoever of what the ground can fit. But supporting Liverpool has taught us to live in hope.

If the stadium and debt wasn’t enough the two decided to try and undermine our manager and us as fans. The two Americans along with Rick Parry (CEO) decided to go and have a nice cosy chat with Jürgen Klinsmann about the “vacant” job at Anfield. This was of course while Rafa Benitez occupied the said job. It looked only a matter of time before the former Tottenham striker became our new manager and Benitez’ future hung on the outcome of the Champions League game against Marseille. We only had four points from our opening four group games and needed to win the final two games in order to qualify for the knockout stages. But we needed to win this one game for Benitez to keep his job. A comfortable 4-0 saw Benitez keep his job but it didn’t keep our travelling fans from showing their disgust towards the American owners. It was now common knowledge around the world that Tom Hicks and George Gillett were not welcome at Anfield or anywhere else Liverpool Football Club was playing.

Continued chants towards the owners raged on throughout the season from our fans, telling the American’s to sell up and to sell quickly. We nearly had our wish when Dubai International Capital (DIC) offered to buy George Gillett’s 50% stake in the club and with Gillett accepting the offer it looked like we’d got rid of one of them. But of course things don’t happen smoothly with these two. Hicks was able to block the deal and therefore Gillett was unable to sell his shares. Hicks and Gillett had fallen out with one another at this point so why Hicks wanted to continue working with someone he couldn’t stand the sight of was baffling. He’d also asked Rick Parry to resign from his post as CEO of Liverpool Football Club.

It was this incident that really ignited the war of words on the back pages of the Sunday papers between Hicks, Gillett, Parry and Benitez. The good name of Liverpool Football Club was being dragged through the dirt and there was nothing we could do about it. Organisations like Spirit Of Shankly (SOS) and Share LiverpoolFC had been formed but nothing was shifting or stopping the papers being filled by our boardroom problems. Hicks publicly admitted to being unable to work with Parry and Gillett, Benitez was concentrating on “coaching and managing his players”, Gillett didn’t want to be there and Parry was saying what he thought the fans wanted to hear. The problem is we didn’t want to hear anything; we wanted it sorted out behind closed doors like it always has been. That’s the Liverpool way, not letting everybody know our problems.

The wars raged on between them all and there always seemed to be a new incident just before a Champions League tie. Maybe because Hicks was looking for a good excuse to sack Benitez but after the protest earlier in the season in favour of the manger I don’t think Hicks would have the bottle to sack Benitez.

The season ended and we hoped that would be the end of it but of course it wasn’t. It looked like the Americans had kissed and made up during the summer. But the problems between them and Benitez carried on, as they wouldn’t or rather couldn’t finance the deal of Gareth Barry (Benitez’ number one transfer target). One way they tried to get more money was upping the fan card price to an annual payment of £29 as well as upping match day tickets. This angered pretty much every fan and a lot of regular match goers are now refusing or can’t afford to keep going.

As Benitez had to try and find another alternative to Barry he and Rick Parry had “clear the air talks” which was reportedly a positive thing for both parties, although not many actually believe that.

Then to top it off the new stadium was put back another year because they couldn’t afford it. They’re now blaming the credit crunch for their inability to finance something they promised would take place in sixty days of their arrival.

With transfers going at an even slower rate than usual, ticket prices rising and the stadium being put back again is it any wonder why people are no longer envious of the good name of Liverpool Football Club? In all honesty it isn’t a good name anymore. They’ve ruined this club and the only bit of hope we have left to hold onto is the fact that they can’t go on forever. But how long can we afford to go on for? Every fan of Liverpool Football Club would go to the ends of the Earth for the club but the longer they keep getting sh*t on from a great height it lowers their morale but strengthens their determination to see the back of these two Americans.

We once were a great club both on and off the field but now with the troubles off the pitch we are no longer that. We must return to the club we were, the club that was the benchmark of perfection. We always kept things in-house and until those days return it’ll be the fans that constantly suffer for it.

Billy Green

 What would I not give to have chairmenand directors of the calibre of T.V.Williams, Sid Reakes,John Smith running this club again,Those people knew what was required to run a successful club and whats more they knew how to support a manager and his staff.Then again they were brought up with L.F.C. in their blood and realised what the club meant to its supporters.John Moores and Rick Parry should forever hang their heads in shame for getting our club in this financial mess and selling out to people who have no idea what tradition is.