Liverpool Fc @ Anfield - Reds Supporters Gatherings

[Alkano]

Liverpool's board accepts Boston Red Sox owners' bid
Posted: 06 October 2010 1604 hrs


LONDON: The board of directors at Liverpool has accepted an offer by New England Sports Ventures, owners of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, to buy the English football club, a statement said Wednesday.

Chairman Martin Broughton hit out at Liverpool's current American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, for trying to block the sale and said he hoped the deal would allow the team to focus on building the team.

"I am delighted that we have been able to successfully conclude the sale process which has been thorough and extensive," Broughton said in the statement on the club's website.

"The board decided to accept NESV's proposal on the basis that it best met the criteria we set out originally for a suitable new owner. NESV's philosophy is all about winning and they have fully demonstrated that at the Red Sox."

Broughton said the board had met the US group in Boston, London and Liverpool in recent weeks and he was "immensely impressed with what they have achieved and with their vision for Liverpool Football Club."

He added: "By removing the burden of acquisition debt, this offer allows us to focus on investment in the team.

"I am only disappointed that the owners have tried everything to prevent the deal from happening and that we need to go through legal proceedings in order to complete the sale."

The offers came a day after Hicks and Gillett attempted to remove two senior figures from the club's board of directors.

Hicks and Gillett were under pressure to sell the club with an October 15 deadline for the repayment of their 282-million-pounds (448-million-dollars) loans from the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia.

New England Sports Ventures is a group headed by John William Henry II and Tom Werner.

Liverpool were put up for sale by the unpopular Hicks and Gillett in April, who initially sought an asking price of around 800 million pounds, a figure that they subsequently dropped to 600 million.

The American pair have become increasingly unpopular on Merseyside with supporters blaming the duo for Liverpool's fall from grace.

The disappointment of last season's seventh-place finish has intensified this term with Rafa Benitez's replacement Roy Hodgson unable to lift the team.

The Reds exited the League Cup at home to League Two Northampton on penalties before going down 2-1 to newly-promoted Blackpool at Anfield on Sunday. - AFP/fa

[bochapsing]

something abt our new owner:~

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/59146

they're defintely no sugar daddy in the class of Sheikh Mansour (Man City) is worth £20bn, Roman Abramovich is worth £7bn..

below is a 2006 report:~

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articl...stonians/page6

21. John W. Henry
56, Brookline and Boca Raton, FL; principal owner, New England Sports Ventures; founder and chair, John W. Henry & Company
$840 million
After leading the group that bought the Red Sox in 2002 for $700 million — more than twice the highest previous price for a sports team — Henry has become our most famous snowbird. Sure, his $3.1 billion investment firm's funds reportedly lost $400 million in December alone, capping off its worst year ever. But Henry can spend the off-season in comfort on his $6.5 million Florida estate. During baseball season he docks his $34 million, 164-foot yacht, the Iroquois, at Rowes Wharf. And when he asks his guests to remove their shoes to protect the teak deck, he gives them red socks to wear.

[rahl]

Originally Posted by bochapsing

they're defintely no sugar daddy in the class of Sheikh Mansour (Man City) is worth £20bn, Roman Abramovich is worth £7bn..

below is a 2006 report:~

During baseball season he docks his $34 million, 164-foot yacht, the Iroquois, at Rowes Wharf. And when he asks his guests to remove their shoes to protect the teak deck, he gives them red socks to wear.[/I]

Anything more updated?

Can he pls sell his yacht and let us buy a world class striker??

I don't think the sale is confirmed yet. Will the league approve a sale that is still disputed by the owner? I think the bank will have to come into this too.

[niteowl]

Latest from the web,

By Kim Hjelmgaard, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Britain's struggling Liverpool Football Club said Wednesday its board has agreed terms to sell the team to New England Sports Ventures, owners of the Boston Red Sox baseball team.

The value of the deal was not immediately disclosed, but the purchase, which could see the new owners repay all of Liverpool’s long-term debt, is thought to be worth around 250 million pounds ($400 million), according to reports.

“By removing the burden of acquisition debt, this offer allows us to focus on investment in the team,” said Martin Broughton, Liverpool FC chairman, in a statement on the team’s official website.

Liverpool FC’s current owners, U.S. businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillet Jr., reportedly oppose to sale on the grounds that the offer undervalues the U.K. team. They are said to be considering legal action to scupper the deal.

In addition to the Boston Red Sox, New England Sports Ventures owns companies including New England Sports Network, Fenway Sports Group and Roush Fenway Group.

The sale is subject to approval by the Premier League — the U.K.’s main professional soccer league — and to the resolution of a dispute concerning board membership.

Liverpool FC endured a dismal start to the 2010 season, their worst in 57 years; the team are currently in third-from-last pace.

The team have been English champions 18 times in their history.

Kim Hjelmgaard is a MarketWatch editor based in London.

[niteowl]

Liverpool FC Chairman Martin Broughton has spoken about why he believes that New England Sports Ventures are the perfect fit for LFC and why he's confident the sale decision could be completed by close of business next week.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/lates...n-takeover-q-a

[joew2005]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...ngland&cc=4716

Broughton expects Liverpool deal in a week

Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton expects New England Sports Ventures (NESV) 2 complete their £300 million takeover of the club "in about a week", despite opposition fr current owners Tom Hicks & George Gillett.

Broughton will hand over the club 2 Boston Red Sox owner John W Henry subject 2 Premier League approval of the sale & the resolution of a legal challenge fr Hicks & Gillett.

The pending deal will clear the major part of Liverpool's £282 million debt 2 the RBS & provide transfer funds 4 manager Roy Hodgson 2 add new players.

Speaking in a TV interview about the sale, Broughton said: "It's likely 2 take abt a week. I would hope we will get the judgement by the end of next week."

Hicks & Gillett r opposed 2 the sale on the terms agreed 2 NESV, claiming it undervalues the club. They also sought 2 remove chief executive Christian Purslow & commercial director Ian Ayre fr their posts in a failed boardroom coup on Tuesday night, aft rejecting 2 offers 4 their stake in the club.

The American duo r already incredibly unpopular among Reds fans who hv staged numerous protests against their ownership & Broughton told Sky Sports: "This was frankly their last chance 2 leave Liverpool with their heads high & they hv chosen 2 go this route.

"It is a difficult issue. Part of me taking on the role - & I was appointed by Tom & George - was tat they gave a written undertaking tat only I could change the board, they wrote tat in2 the articles of the 2 companies Kop Football & Kop Holdings.

"They also gave a written undertaking 2 RBS tat they would not frustrate any reasonable sale & tis is frankly a flagrant abuse of those 2 written undertakings."

Broughton believes the prospective new owners could pursue plans 4 a new stadium or may choose instead 2 upgrade Anfield, having chosen 2 follow a similar path with the Red Sox's historic home Fenway Park rather than move 2 a new site.

"I think they 1 2 be judged by wat they do rather than wat they say. If you look at the Boston Red Sox as a massive example of taking a major, historic team which had seen better days & restored them 2 glory, it is a parallel which demonstrates action.

"Their mentality is all about winning. They hv invested a lot of money in players there and they are committed to making the necessary investment in Liverpool.

"At Fenway they chose not to build a new stadium. They will want to make sure that they do the right thing, (but) we will have a stadium which holds sixty-odd thousand. Whether that is the new stadium as designed or not, that is not a commitment, but will we have stadium development? Yes."

Broughton admitted the sale process had been a long one, saying: "We have contacted hundreds of different people and at the end of that process we had two valid bids, both from excellent prospective vendors, on the table competing each other which I think demonstrates exactly what the market price is.

"The price is £300 million, £200 million in writing down all of the acquisition debt, taking on some of the additional working capital debts and other liabilities."

Hicks and Gillett pledged to "resist any attempt to sell the club without due process or agreement".

[Regaine]

I think that the bloody yanks really need to go. They are not doing any good for Liverpool FC. Let's wait for the new developments to settle down soon. I hope the manager and the players will just focus on the game at hand.

[blurking666]

At least NESV have a better record at managing sports teams as compared to G&H. But then again, with this out of the way (hopefully by next week), uncle roy and the team don't have the boardroom issues hanging over their heads.

NESV say uncle roy have time to prove himself (why o why this didn't happen before the season start and we have a chance to get pellegrino instead?)

Hmm.. if it goes tits up for uncle roy, guus hiddink for the pool?

[Offspring]

Interesting post for you to read. Some hard core fan have already done their research.


***

See if this story sounds familiar: His group purchased the Boston Red Sox in 2002. Up to that point, the Red Sox had a strong regional following; but were mismanaged on and off the field and never came close to their full potential. His group cleared out the management team and installed young and bright people to improve the product on and off the field.

Eight years later, they have won two league titles (After going 86 years without winning one) and have not had a home attendance below capacity in over 7 years (631 games - which is a league record and 2nd longest in North American sports).

The Red Sox have spent very well, but the Henry group has used a similar philosophy to his financial career - exploring inefficiencies in the market. Simply dumping large sums of capital in the roster will not happen. Rather than simply dumping money into large salaried veterans, they invested in scouting and development. Their system isn't perfect; but it allows them to avoid over committing to any particular group of players.

The Dubai people may spend silly money as a public relations loss leader (or Abramovich for amusement); but Henry's group will look to improve the product without dumping absurd amounts of money. I expect they will hire someone to run the club's operations with an attitude to team building similar to Wenger's or SAF's.

Two last things:

1) The new owners will not be "hands on". They will hire football people who share their philosophies and have them run the team. Like Berkshire Hathaway's ownership of Coca Cola, they have too many investments to micro-manage LFC.

2) While this is an investment for them, that doesn't mean the LFC supporter will suffer. The game day experience at the Red Sox stadium has improved 10 fold. The stadium is a century old. Rather than tearing it down and building a debt heavy modern park, they analysed what they have and systematically improved the park over the 7 years. I cannot emphasize enough how enjoyable attending a game is today compared to when they took over in 2002. I expect that they will view Anfield as a special place that shouldn't be hastily destroyed.

[Cummon]

Enjoy the video below in which Martin Broughton told BBC that the actual deadline for the RBS loan is on 15th Oct and the two current owners stand to lose 140M pounds out of the sale !

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...ol/9066856.stm

[terror03]

Hopefully this deal will wipe away all the uncertainties that all Liverpool supporters are facing now.
And really hope that it will not be another bad dream again.

[pirambi]

Liverpool : A Club in crisis
Liverpool in disarray
These headlines make me
Last year, all the fools here talking about the title when i predicted a relegation struggle and it happend now. And the fools here still think with the new owners they are gonna play CL next year.
yes they will play not ChampionsLEague but Championship
The relegation strugglers dont need a thread on the main forum.this thread should be moved to a sub forum

[rahl]

Originally Posted by Offspring

Eight years later, they have won two league titles (After going 86 years without winning one) and have not had a home attendance below capacity in over 7 years (631 games - which is a league record and 2nd longest in North American sports).

The Red Sox have spent very well, but the Henry group has used a similar philosophy to his financial career - exploring inefficiencies in the market. Rather than simply dumping money into large salaried veterans, they invested in scouting and development.

2) I expect that they will view Anfield as a special place that shouldn't be hastily destroyed.

Bro, I hope this is not a false dawn too but the euphoria when Moores stepped down for the Yanks suggests we should be careful about Henry too.

A couple of points:

- The Red Sox also have the highest ticket prices in the league - Liverpool is a working class and declining city and many people won't be able to shell out top dollars for pricey tickets.

- Anfield cannot be redeveloped like the Boston stadium Fenway Park and will cost much more to build - that's why they are talking about a groundshare with Evershite. Fine for most of us here I think (think San Siro) but the Scousers won't like the idea.

- In his previous club (the Marlins) before Red Sox, Henry threatened to relocate the club as it was not doing well financially.

- The wage and transfer policy does make sense - sounds like Arsenal's way too. But it may mean the end for Carra and Stevie sooner rather than later unless they are willing to settle for wage cuts and shorter contracts.

[sean_j]

Originally Posted by sex crusader

Yes...niether do i say anything about RH!I don't even say bad about anyone in the club so far. So what's your point?

(say bad about anyone in the club so far)
don t worry u will get there soon

[bochapsing]

some interesting articles on the net:~

http://www.teamtalk.com/liverpool/64...king-with-Reds

he was a well respected and very highly regarded coach in europe, but his tactics and method doesn't seem to suit a club like us and players we have...

http://live4liverpool.com/2010/10/vi...demeanour-gone

reading RH's recently interview, he does look like he's losing his cool and even early sign cracking under pressure...

http://live4liverpool.com/2010/10/vi...will-come-back

watever people said abt tis guy... "he had red running through his veins while he was in charge on Merseyside, and he clearly worked around the clock, living and breathing Liverpool FC."