Frank Myrland
Despite continued success on the pitch, there are more than a few rumblings of discontent from supporters of Liverpool about the club’s American owners. The Reds are one of several clubs in the Premier League to have shown displeasure about their American investors, though Liverpool fans have been most active in trying to hurl their owners back across the pond.
The duo of Tom Hicks and George Gillett purchased the Liverpool Football Club early in 2007 for $440M. The two were experienced businessmen and already owned several professional sports teams in North America, and so Liverpool supporters remained wary but optimistic at the switch. At $1.4 billion, Tom Hicks was ranked the 355th richest American in 2008 by Forbes Magazine. Gillett is close behind, with assets amounting to $1.3 billion. The pair own baseball teams, hockey teams and racing teams, but besides a failed bid by George Gillett to bring a club from Montreal into the MLS, this was their first foray into professional soccer.
Hicks and Gillett became the third American owners of Premier League clubs after Malcolm Glazer purchased Manchester United and Randy Lerner bought Aston Villa. This growing group has introduced some uneasiness into the football population, as these strands of America begin seeping into the fiercely English top flight.
The American investors took control of Liverpool with the promise of a new stadium and the buying power to bring superstar footballers to the club. With visions of championships dancing through their heads, Liverpool’s management was all too eager to accept this deal.
Two and a half years later, things aren’t going quite so well. The pair have had their struggles with the world financial crisis; Tom Hicks defaulted on $525M worth of loans early in the year. Scrounging to pay the bills is the least of their troubles however, as Liverpool fans are nearly unanimous in declaring their ire and requesting the removal of Hicks and Gillett.
Accusing the owners of breaking promises, siphoning Liverpool money to their other professional sports teams and running the club for the purpose of profit rather than for the wellbeing of the team, fans of the Anfield side have responded with protests during matches, boycotts and even death threats against Hicks and Gillett. The Americans may find it difficult to make a solid retort against these claims, especially as the planned completion date for the new stadium on Stanley Park continues to be pushed back further and further.
On 22nd January, 2008, the majority of Liverpool supporters at a match between the Reds and Aston Villa organised a protest against Hicks and Gillett, calling for the owners to sell the club to Dubai International Capital, investors who had nearly purchased the team previously. DIC did place an offer for the club but the deal was turned down by Hicks and Gillett. One year later, the Kharafi Group, owned by the 46th richest man in the world, Nesser Al Kharafi, also inquired about purchasing the team. This second bid fell through as well, as the Americans’ selling price was more than the investors thought the team to be worth.
Defender Jamie Carragher has been very vocal against his team’s owners, accusing them in his autobiography of running the team purely as a money making venture. Hicks has responded against such accusations by saying that the money hasn’t been available for following through with their promises, especially in regards to the building of a new stadium. And this is a quite plausable response given the unprecedented nature of the global financial crisis.
Organised blocks of supporters are beginning to form to confront the issue of the Americans’ continued ownership. One of the foremost groups is the Sons of Shankly, named after much adored Liverpool manager Bill Shankly. The group attempts to organise protests and boycotts against all Liverpool merchandise to keep money out of the owners’ pockets. A group called Share Liverpool FC was also organised in an attempt to raise money amongst the team’s supporters to purchase the club themselves, though they have had difficulty acquiring the necessary money.
A loan worth £350M that the pair took on when they bought the team is due in July. Many Liverpool fans believed that this would be the tipping point for Hicks and Gillett. Unfortunately for supporters opposed to the owners recent reports appear to indicate that the refinancing of the loan is imminent. This should really come as no surprise however, as it has quickly become evident that Liverpool Football Club is the most attractive and lucrative asset in the duo’s portfolio. This remains the case despite the club posting a £42.6M loss in the financial year ending July 2008.
It might be some time before Liverpool fans get their way and send the Americans back to the United States, but with increasing difficulty in paying off the loan leveraged against the club, the rising cost of a new stadium which is critical to future revenue streams, and the severe backlash against them, it seems likely that Hicks and Gillett will eventully agree to sell all or part of their ownership of the team.
Either that or offload Fernando Torres in order to pay the utility bill.
Full Confederations Cup Coverage:
- – Confederations Cup – Every Team Previewed
- – Lessons to Learn from Confederations Cup?
- – Confederations Cup – Stadium Guide
*ORIGINAL* Atletico Madrid 00/01
