More details of the group of Liverpool supporters looking to launch a takeover of the club using a continental-style ownership scheme have been revealed, with further details to be announced this evening at a 5pm meeting.
Reds fans are up in arms at a string of poor decisions and broken promises by the current owners which have certainly set the club back rather than move it forward, and look set to get worse season by season before there is any chance of them getting better. A £350m loan used in the main to pay for their own purchase of the club is one of the main issues for fans at the moment, the club having to find £30m every year now just to pay the interest off. And the owners, Tom Hicks and the long-lost George Gillett, plan to borrow at least another £250m.
Now a group calling itself the Share Liverpool FC Group has come with an idea where they envisage 100,000 supporters from the world over all clubbing together and buying the club out of the Hicks-Gillett mess.
Their idea is along the lines of clubs in Europe, like Barcelona, where the supporters own the club and get to vote on certain issues, especially the hierarchy at the club. They say that they hope to raise £500m and use that to both buy out the owners and build the new stadium.
The names of those at the head of the scheme were revealed last night: Rogan Taylor – a lecturer in football business at Liverpool University, Phil French – a former director of communications at the Premier League and Kevin Jacquiss – a lawyer with experience in launching similar types of company ownerships.
Taylor spoke to the BBC last night: “The time is right to offer a different solution to the rising concerns that football fans have about the patterns of ownership developing at our major football clubs,” he said. “Thousands of Liverpool fans have already demonstrated their dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. Large amounts of debt often devolves onto clubs newly purchased, but the fans know that in the end, it will be they themselves who will have to pay it off through increased ticket prices and other schemes. In such a case, why not simply buy the club yourselves?”
Taylor claims it’s a successful model for clubs: “The Champions League has been won on six occasions in the last 15 years by clubs owned and run in such a way.”
Early responses to the idea from supporters have been unsurprisingly very positive. Unfortunately the indicated price – not stated by the organisers but suggested by the mention of 100,000 supporters raising £500m – might be out of reach for most fans. But with a fan base of multi-millions the world over there should, in theory, be enough fans to see the scheme at least succeed in raising the money. That’s not the only hurdle of course; the owners have to be willing to sell rather than stubbornly stay on and pillage the club.
A website has been set up – www.shareliverpoolfc.com – but it currently says that it won’t feature further details until 5pm this evening.
its not a matter of getting the 500m or not. it’s a matter of whether the USA wants to sell…1bn is their price, can we buy at that price?
If there are only 100,000 buyers, thats 5k a share.
Most fans can’t afford it.
If I went to my bird and told her I was gonna pay 5k for a share she would hit the roof.
This is a lovely idea but I don’t think its workable unless there are at least a million buyers. £500 isn’t too bad.
Of course there are some fans who can afford it but it will be a long process.
Dear king kong,
Look past the money issue, it is great way to convey the message to the world that we will be serious troubles if yanks stay put. Instead of letting the Hicks’ PR machine rolls on, this move will make enough publicity to further expose the Yanks’ lies
I’ll sell everything except my house to be part of this.Then I’ll lose my house in the divorce,I swear. Hope my wife doesn’t read this.
This just highlights the plight and desperation we are now reduced to.Can the Yanks ignore the feelings of the fans as this bid to buy out the club is getting massive media coverage.Surely now their days are numbered.
I have been a huge fan of Benitez, and it isn’t easy to say this but now I think he has got to go.We are shite we play like shite.Lets not bury are heads in the sand whilst the ownership of our club is up in the air, we need a change we are treading water or even going backwards.He has had money maybe not on a par with Man U and Chavski but he has still had a decent amount.This week he stated that the big clubs are jealous of our champs league record and this to me highlights where his priorities lay.Winning the champs league advertises to all the big european clubs how good a manager he is in a cup competition that they all crave but it is what we the fans of Liverpool want? I want the title above anything else and we are a million miles away from winning it.We need change.
I’m afraid I have to agree with 1FredTheRed. 30 years supporting Liverpool and for the first time I am embarrassed. Isn’t it about time this site stopped having a go at the off the pitch antics and start pointing out the rot that is called football on the pitch. Benitez has ruined the team. Who wo the Champions League…Benitez or Paco?
Dosen’t matter who the owners are, football like that will kill any team…SO angry at the minute
I am in for this scheme. No precedent in English football but hey we koppites always have led the way. Could fans who cannot afford a full share not group together to fund say £500 for a tenth. It is no different to the old share price but with much higher authorised capital
Yes can agree on that, get more fans involved at a more affordable price more fan involvement for a small price that could go global WORLD DOMINATION AWAITS
Y N W A
M.orchard
I don’t think we need to worry about having enough people to spend the £5000. What if companies bought them all up? We could limit it to one per house hold? They could add some benefits to spending the £5000, like half price away tickets or some guarantees on a season ticket for the new stadium.
Great idea, if it was a more affordable amount for me.
Don’t think my fiance would buy it at that cost as we have just had a baby!!
As i commented in my last message, my concerns lie with BENITEZ team selection and his constant rotation of the side.
The way things are panning out i can see us finishing outside the top four and without a trophy again, and that’s after our best start to the season in years, is that a successful season, no it’s not and it’s time now to put in place plans for a replacement at the end of the season.
I am totally fed up of Benitez excesses as it is all down to him and his team selection. Look no further than last nights performance, what the hell was Kewell doing on that pitch again, even Alan Hansen commented on MOTD last night.
So even though i agree with the comments and concerns about H&G, i think we have far greater concerns about the teams personnel and performances. When he was appointed he came here we a reputation as a great tactician, show me, waiting to change the team on 60 or 75 mins is certainly not that!
Bye Bye Benitez for me!!
Yes, I agree with the criticisms of Benitez. He treats his players like dirt, he called Everton a small club, he rabbits on about creating chances and the worst of all he just does not understand Liverpool the city. He’s totally arrogant. We reds can take it out of the toffees but no one else can.
As for the Yanks. Well, they’re just in it for the money and the sooner we get rid of the whole shooting match of them the better.
We do need to own our club and then get a first class chief executive and a manager with football in his blood.
The supporter ownership is the way.
That way we’ll never walk alone.
David Patterson
dont know how many of yuo hate Mourinho, but i for one think he is the most suitable man to walk in, tell a good 11 players to find new clubs and get our team back in business, who would you want to see shipped out? For me, after the embarrassing month weve just had, i would ditch Itandje,Aurelio,Hyypia(not so much him being poor, but honour his service with a free transfer)skrtl, one game is too many for me!,Kewell,Leto,Alonso,Lucas,Voronin,Kuyt,and then as many of these foreign nobodies we currently have playing in our reserves. for gods sake,we are the most decorated club in BRITISH history and we are currently on the verge of having no Brits left.
i would like to see David Bentley,Michael Johnson,Stewart Downing,Wayne Bridge and Dean Ashton being chased aswell as a technically gifted passer like Deco,VanDerVaart or Aimar to create something decent. it has been truly embarrassing for me as a Liverpool fan in work the last few weeks, the performances all stink of Paco being more instrumental behind the scenes between the players and Rafa,now no one is there for players to speak to,as we all know Rafa is a cold man towards his employees. i have always stuck up for Rafa but i agree with coments made on here, its time for Rafa to go, this season is parallel with Gerards last season, the feeling that its is just time to move on,bring in Jose, as muchas a cock the man can be, he is a winner no doubt about it
Robb & David, couldn’t agree with you more!!
Good point about Benitez and the comment about the blue noses, i would like to ask him now, today, what he thinks of them now,today, as we are 3 places below them & three points adrift with only one game in hand, that’s not bad going considering we were 5 games back we were 4 places above & 7 points in the bag.
What do you think of Jose and Paco??
Agree totally about Hyypia, he has been a servant to the club, how much do you think we will lose on deals for the rest of the shite ie tandje,Aurelio,Kewell,Leto,Alonso,Lucas,Voronin,Kuyt etc etc etc. Do you really think Jose would buy British players like David Bentley,Michael Johnson,Stewart Downing,Wayne Bridge and Dean Ashton?
hello i would be willing to pay £5000 as this idea sounds great and is what liverpool fc need do you have any ideas of how i should go about this and who i would contact thankyou
Blaming Rafa for his rotation policy isn’t going to ease all the pain endured by fans (not to mention weekly humiliation by other fans). He has been critisized for it since 2005 by everyone (i dont know who else concurs with him). Nothing changes!!! He will stick to his R/policy indefinitely. To cut the rot, LFC needs to do the obvious which may not guarantee Liverpool a place up there with MU, CFC & Arsenal. Lately, the signing of players have been one of the worse. Wouldnt u be surprised that these players play better elsewhere (pre & post Liverpool era)? LFC, by all means sack Rafa, employ best agent to sign up potentially great players, cut loss and sell sub-par players (Voronin, Kewell, Kuyt, Crouch, Aurelio, Finnan, Riise, Babel, many more, buy strong & young players, buy more african players (not the likes of Sissoko please). Maybe, just maybe Stevie G needs to go!
All those people who have it in for Benitez – I sympathise, and I’m frustrated too, but I really don’t think we can expect things to improve much on the pitch while there’s so much going on off it. Just look at how we feel about what’s happening at the club – how do you think Rafa and the players must feel? So please be patient with them, at least until the off-field issues have been resolved or settle down. I don’t think stirring up discontent with the manager will help at all.
GREAT IDEA TO BUY THE CLUB FROM THE US GUYS.JUST THINK WE PAY £6.500 TO £8.500 FOR A NEW CAR THET IN YEARS TO COME WORTH £0.00.
LETS ALL TRY TO DO THIS,EVEN IF WE LEND OFF THE BANK OUR £5000 AT LEAST ITS FOR OUR OWN CLUB AND WE ARE PROAD OF LFC.RED TILL WERE DIED.THANKS