http://tomkinstimes.com/2010/05/an-open-letter-to-david-moores/OPEN LETTER TO DAVID MOORES by Kev Hoswon
Dear David,
In your letter published in The Times this morning you attempt to explain the process that led to the sale of Liverpool FC to Messrs Hicks and Gillett. This was welcome if not overdue. I would, however like to take issue with some of the statements made in that letter.
You precis your comments on the search for a new custodian with the words â I donât really care whether the supporters like me or approve of me â but itâs important that they believe meâ but you then go on to suggest that pressure to sell from a âloud minorityâ of fans played on your mind and influenced your behaviour when scrutinising the Hicks / Gillett bid. For a man in your position to attempt to explain the lack of proper interrogation of new owners because of minority fan pressure for a quick sale is simply shameful. Not content with passing the buck for the decision onto the fans you also suggest that minority shareholders, including Granada and Steve Morgan, were similarly taken in by the Americans. The problem of course David is that those minority shareholders, like us fans, believed that you and Rick Parry had done all the due diligence, that you had checked these guys out. I mean you must have done surely, after all Rick Parry said:
âThis is great for Liverpool, our supporters and the shareholders â it is the beginning of a new era for the Club. The partnership created by George and Tom is very special. They are bringing to the table tremendous and relevant experience, a passion for sport, real resources and a strong commitment to the traditions of Liverpool. Their approach represents exactly the sort of genuine partnership that Liverpool has been seeking over recent times. We know that George and Tom want a long-term relationship with Liverpool and that they also understand the importance of investing in our success both on and off the field. They have made clear their intention to move as quickly as practicable on the financing and construction of our proposed new stadium at Stanley Park and also to support investment in the playing squad. This has been an important time for the Club. We now have the right partners for the future. I am absolutely certain we have now ended up in the right place, with owners who will help the Club succeed and prosper.â
Do you not think that glowing testimonial might have been one of the reasons that the fans were brought onside and the shareholders voted unanimously to accept David? We were taken in because David Moores and Rick Parry told us that after a long search they had found the right people for the club. We trusted you. We trusted that you had done all the right checks and asked all the right questions. We trusted you because you were in a position of trust. You let us all down.
Despite earlier promises that you would dig deep into every file and ask all the tough questions, when it came to Hicks you let it swing on the word of his co-investor and a bank report that said they were âgood for the moneyâ. It seems that far from asking the tough questions you never even asked the obvious ones. Questions like âHow do the supporters of his other sports franchises view him and his contribution to their club?â and âWhat is his record of burdening his other sporting acquisitions with the purchase debt?â
Unfortunately David, for someone who starts out by saying âIâm writing to you not out of any mission to clear my name â if I felt I had anything to apologise for I would have done so, without hesitation, a long, long time agoâ the rest of the letter reeks of a man attempting to justify his decision and to pass the blame onto anyone else possible. That is not acceptable. That is not what is needed at this juncture.
I think most Liverpool fans accept that these mistakes were âhonest mistakesâ. We are not alleging malice, or even greed. As you say âIt is a sign of strength, not weakness, to concede for the greater goodâ. So accept that those honest mistakes were yours and apologise for them. People can forgive an honest mistake as long as their is contrition and a desire to make it good. What is done is done, there is a far more important battle to be fought, a battle that should not be sidetracked by recriminations over past events.
You speak movingly in your letter about the principles that unite us a Liverpudlians. You now have the perfect opportunity to back up these fine words with support, public and financial for SoS and ShareLiverpool. Let your actions now speak for you. Anything less and we will be forced to conclude that your protestations to the current owners is nothing but bluster.
Throw your support behind the campaign to get the Americans out. Help to underwrite a fans buyout. If you want to rescue your family name, which despite your protestations to the contrary, it is obvious you do, then that is the only way that you will do it.
Kev Howson
To join Spirit of Shankly, click here.
* * *
This followâs Kevâs post on Red and White Kop (as Veinticinco de Mayo), analysing Mooresâ open letter.
Dear Tony,
Thanks for getting in touch again. Iâm writing to you not out of any mission to clear my name â if I felt I had anything to apologise for I would have done so, without hesitation, a long, long time ago. Iâm sending this to you, in good faith, because my family, particularly the younger members, are continually being wounded by the combination of hearsay, mistruth and malicious gossip regarding my decision to sell the club, and the process that led the sale.
* Contradicts himself in that opening paragraph, starts by claiming he is not attempting to clear his name and then concludes, a mere sentence later, that he wants to address the âhearsay, mistruth and malicious gossipâ that is wounding his family. In otherwords this is an attempt at self-justification and above all an attempt to clear his name. Heâs really not that bright is he? Weâll come back to that and the issue of the apology later.
Iâm writing because itâs 5 years this week since the miracle of Istanbul â my greatest moment as a fan and as Chairman of Liverpool Football Club â but which now feels light years away from happening again. But above all Iâm writing to you because I care deeply about the club, the team and the fans. I hope against hope that Messrs Gillett and Hicks will see this letter, or some portion of it, and do the right thing. In holding on and holding out, they risk damaging a sporting institution of global renown and if they have any conscience or nobility they will stand aside and allow new owners to take over the club for its future benefit and that of its lifeblood â the clubâs fans.
One of the principles that unites us as Liverpudlians, gives us pride and informs our sense of identity is the philosophy of doing things The Liverpool Way. On the pitch this evolved from Shanklyâs fearless attacking football into a simple but wonderful game of pass and move, founded on hard work and a team spirit that relied upon everybody fighting for each other. Off the pitch things were not so different. We would put our faith in the manager and support him to the fullest extent we were able. Since the day I accepted the honour of becoming Chairman of Liverpool F.C to the day I stood aside, that has been my guiding principle; back the manager, invest in his vision and ensure that the heartbeat of the club â the methods and ethics that we hold so dear â are preserved and continue in The Liverpool Way.
* I think these are the most important paragraphs for us as things stand. What is done is done, there is a far more important battle to be fought, a battle that should not be sidetracked by recriminations over past events. If David Moores is now publicly onside then he needs to be involved. David Moores here has the perfect opportunity to put his money and his influence where his mouth is. Back up these fine words with support, public and financial for SoS and ShareLiverpool then David. Anything less and we will be forced to conclude that the above is nothing but bluster.
When I asked Rick Parry to join the club as Chief Executive, I knew that he too cherished these ideals. While we were both very eager for success and both dearly longed to help guide the club back towards the good times, we equally knew that there was a correct way, a Liverpool way of doing things. And one thing we would never countenance was any notion of borrowing against the club to create a phony wealth for some âjam todayâ spending splurge. I can say with certainty that our housekeeping was immaculate. I have always acted with the very best interests of the club at heart, and if Iâve made mistakes â which I know I have, and not solely with regard to Gillett and Hicks â then they have been honest mistakes.
* And the same goes for you Rick. Weâre not privy to the precise nature of your own NDA but I guess you must have signed one in return for that handsome payoff in the last accounts. Time to nail your colours to the mast. In fact I think it is reasonable to say that most Liverpool fans feel that final bonus is so tainted that the only way you can wash it is by ploughing it back into efforts to remove the Americans from the club.
[History lesson 1994-2003 skipped]
The search for suitable custodians began in earnest. I donât really care whether the supporters like me or approve of me â but itâs important that they believe me. I would never lie, never â and I have nothing to hide. We looked long and hard for the right person or institution, we followed up every lead. We WANTED that fantasy investor to come forward â the infinitely wealthy, Liverpool-loving individual or family with the wherewithal to transform our dreams into reality. And so sincere was our commitment to finding that person or company, that we invested huge sums and massive amounts of time investigating potential investors, only to conclude that they were not the right people for Liverpool. It would have been easier, I assure you, just to take the money, cross our fingers tight and hope things worked out â but we dug deep into every file and asked all the tough questions, knowing the answers might scupper any deal.
* All good and all as it should be. Unfortunately all totally undermined by subsequent events. Did you just finally get tired of asking the tough questions? It seems that in the case of Hicks at least you didnât even bother asking the easy ones. Questions like âHow do the supporters of his other sports franchises (vomit) view him and his contribution to their club?â
To give just one example, we responded to overtures from Thailand â the figures discussed were so enormous we were obliged to take a closer look. We had just persuaded Rafa to join the club as manager and were eager to back him in the transfer market. No matter how dizzying their wealth though, we would never simply rush into a relationship with an unsuitable partner, and so it transpired with Thailand. After looking closely at the deal we withdraw from the proposition, and did so for all the honourable reasons youâd expect from our club. So it was ironic that Manchester City was subsequently sold to the same entity, without so much as a murmur of disapproval from their fan base. When it suits them, football fans can turn a blind eye to the things theyâd rather not have to acknowledge. We did acknowledge it though â we confronted the reality that the Thai offer was unethical, made our decision to withdraw and carried on the search. Rickâs remark about selling the family silver has been used repeatedly against ourselves and the board â but it was said in all seriousness, with all sincerity. Several years down the line, I do sometimes wonder if we took the process too seriously. Do the majority of fans just want owners, whoever they are, whoâll buy all the best players, come what may? Speaking for myself, I could never square that outlook and that legacy with our own unique football club.
Around that time, by the way, I experienced my first real backlash from the fans. It started with a few letters in The Echo and quickly grew into a campaign aimed at forcing me to sell. Thereâs an irony there somewhere that, in holding on and giving prospective new owners the third degree I was somehow seen as deliberately holding the club back! It was loud minority giving me stick, but this growing ill-feeling was certainly a factor I took into account. Our search for funding took us to the U.S where we spent time with the hugely impressive Robert Kraft.
* Nasty and unwarranted little jibe at the fans there. And once again he is contradicting himself. In the previous paragraph he says that he doesânot care if the fans like me or approve of meâ. So why this sudden pre-occupation with what the fans were saying? I sense a slopey shouldered abrogation of duty coming on. You admit that the fans were a âloud minorityâ so why let them influence your decision you F***ing idiot? For a man in your position to attempt to explain the lack of proper interrogation of new owners because of minority fan pressure for a quick sale is simply shameful.
[Gillett / Canadiens stuff snipped]
[interesting info on why the DIC deal collapsed also snipped]
We moved ahead with Gillett and Hicks with all due speed (even now I can not accept that we were hasty) â and here is an element of the process I accept we could have handled better. We had looked into George Gillettâs affairs in detail, and he came up to scratch. To a great extent, we took Tom Hicks on trust, on Georgeâs say-so. There was still the very real business of obtaining approval of the shareholders, however. I was the 51% majority stakeholder, but I was obliged to -and I wanted to â obtain a mandate from Liverpoolâs shareholders great and small. Gillett and Hicks produced a very substantial offer document containing all the key assurances re debt, the stadium, investment in the squad and respect for Liverpool F.Câs unique culture, traditions and legacy. It was impressive stuff â and it did the trick. For the motion to be carried we needed around 90% in favour. Over 1700 shareholders voted and the result was 100% in favour of accepting Gillett and Hicksâs offer.
* Having already passed the blame onto a âloud minorityâ of fans Moores now seems to want to share the blame with the minority shareholders in the club. The problem of course David is that those minority shareholders, like us fans, believed that you and Rick Parry had done all the due diligence, that you had checked these guys out. I mean you must have done surely, after all Rick said:
âThis is great for Liverpool, our supporters and the shareholders â it is the beginning of a new era for the Club. The partnership created by George and Tom is very special. They are bringing to the table tremendous and relevant experience, a passion for sport, real resources and a strong commitment to the traditions of Liverpool. Their approach represents exactly the sort of genuine partnership that Liverpool has been seeking over recent times. We know that George and Tom want a long-term relationship with Liverpool and that they also understand the importance of investing in our success both on and off the field. They have made clear their intention to move as quickly as practicable on the financing and construction of our proposed new stadium at Stanley Park and also to support investment in the playing squad. This has been an important time for the Club. We now have the right partners for the future. I am absolutely certain we have now ended up in the right place, with
owners who will help the Club succeed and prosper.â
* You not think that glowing testimonial might have been one of the reasons that the shareholders voted unanimously to accept David? And this is where we come back to the apology. The mistakes may have been âhonest mistakesâ. Fair enough we are not alleging malice, or even greed. However if I pranged Rickâs nice new Ferrari, it would be an honest mistake, yet I would still apologise. And so should you.
So many times I have had people ask me, and write to me, and quiz the people who are close to me:
âWouldnât a simple Google search have told you all you needed to know about Tom Hicks?â
I could be flippant and tell you I donât know what Google is (I have never used a computer in my life).
* Thatâs not flippant, thatâs F***ing scary and explains much of the above.
I could point out that internet searches are as likely to mislead as to inform. But the truth is that we went way beyond Google in our check-ups. We retained Price Waterhouse Coopers to advise us on the fabric of the deal, and they received assurances from Rothschilds, one of the most respected and respectable names in global finance, who vouched for both Tom Hicks and George Gillett. Indeed, Rothschilds â who were representing Gillett and Hicks â telephoned a non-executive director of LFC, Keith Clayton, to assure him that both were good for the money. Could we have done more? Probably â though under those circumstances, in that time-frame, probably not. We did our due diligence on Messrs Gillett and Hicks and if weâre guilty of anything it is that, after four years searching, we may have been too keen, too ready to hear the good news that George and Tom had passed their tests.
The Google question, along with any suggestion that the shareholders and I preferred the Gillett/Hicks bid because it promised to net us more money, is a source of anger to me. Internet culture is inexact and gossip-driven⌠to suggest anyone at our football club would run a financial health-check via a search engine is just silly. Donât forget that everyone was delighted with their takeover at the time. Significant shareholders like Granada and Steve Morgan were insistent the board of LFC should accept the G&H offer, and left me in no doubt about my legal duty to accept the offer. George and Tom were carried shoulder high through the city centre on the afternoon of the Barcelona game in March 2007 â it wasnât just me who was taken in. And as for the extra money I netted from the G&H deal â you really donât know me if you think that was a factor. Ultimately, the deal we signed up to was laid it in unambiguous terms in the share offer document. That is a matter of fact. But at the end of the day you can carry out any number of checks with infinite degrees of scrutiny and certainty, but I doubt thereâs any procedure available that will legislate for a guy youâve come to trust looking you in the eye, telling you one thing and doing the exact opposite.
* I refer you again to my answer above. People were taken in. We were taken in because David Moores and Rick Parry told us that after a long search they had found the right people for the club. We trusted you. We trusted that you had done all the right checks and asked all the right questions. We trusted you because you were in a position of trust. You let us all down.
As Iâve already said, I feel no duty to justify myself and in writing to you now there is much Iâve withheld out of decency, more than duty. Thereâs also the very real possibility that, in speaking out, I might derail the process that many believe I can positively effect. But it has been hard for me, sitting mute on the sidelines as the club I love suffers one blow after another. Since resigning from the board I have not set foot inside Anfield â and it hurts. I hugely regret selling the club to George Gillett and Tom Hicks. I believe that, at best, they have bitten off much more than they can chew. Giving them that benefit of the doubt â that they started off with grand ideals that they were never realistically going to achieve â I call upon them now to stand back, accept their limitations as joint owners of Liverpool Football Club, acknowledge their role in the clubâs current demise, and stand aside, with dignity, to allow someone else to take up the challenge.
Donât punish the clubâs supporters any more â God knows theyâve taken enough. Take an offer, be realistic over the price, make it possible. Let the club go. It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to concede for the greater good.
Yours faithfully,
David Moores
* As you say, âIt is a sign of strength, not weakness, to concede for the greater goodâ. So. That apology? Apologise, people can forgive an honest mistake as long as their is contrition and a desire to make it good. Let your actions now speak for you. Throw your support behind the campaign to get the Americans out. Help to underwrite a fans buyout. If you want to rescue your family name, which depsite your protestations to the contrary, it is obvious you do, then that is the only way that you will do it.
