Who remembers October 2010?
Sky 3D was launched, with a promise that everyone would take to wearing specialist glasses to watch their TV. Austerity cuts were really taking hold among the UK population following the formation of a coalition government, and Europe were heading for a dramatic Colin Montgomerie-inspired Ryder Cup success at Celtic Manor.
Meanwhile, Liverpool Football Club were on the verge of bankruptcy, fighting a bitter court battle in a bid to oust their problematic owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks. Their troubles on the field under Roy Hodgson had seen them slump into the relegation zone, but the focus of their supporters’ ire was very much on the fact the club’s very existence was at risk.
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The club’s accounts that year had revealed losses of £54.9m, with interest payments costing £40.1m and a total of £472.5m owing to creditors. Liverpool Football Club – one of the greatest institutions in European sport – couldn’t refinance the loans its despised owners had used to buy the club.
A long, exhausting battle began to wrest control of the club away from the American pair, and in October of that year the high court allowed a sale to Fenway Sports Group (FSG) despite objections from Hicks and Gillett.
Since then the on-field fortunes of the club have been fairly unrecognisable from the three years of mayhem under the previous owners, with FSG, led by John W Henry and Tom Werner, presiding over a period which has seen Liverpool reach three Champions League finals – winning one, lift a first-ever Club World Cup, a Uefa Super Cup, an FA Cup, two League Cups, and, most memorably, a first Premier League title after a 30-year domestic championship drought.
And when placed into the context of what they have been up against, the achievements only take on a greater sparkle. Manchester City have been owned by a super state throughout that time, while they also had to battle against Chelsea’s oil money, the modern behemoth that was Manchester United and in Europe they were up against cash-rich giants such as Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.
The fact Liverpool have won what they’ve won, and have pushed the Man City juggernaut so close so often, defies belief in many ways. But yet FSG have never quite been able to match that level of credibility in the boardroom, and that’s also understandable.
They tried to sting everyday fans for £77 tickets when they were building the new main stand, then got supporters’ backs up when it was announced that they were going to use the government’s furlough scheme to avoid paying club staff during the first Covid-19 lockdown. By the time plans for the European Super League were announced in April 2021 with Liverpool one of the clubs signed up, the club’s owners were left making a third embarrassing climbdown.
While their ability to admit their mistakes is admirable, it would have been more favourable if they’d had the instinct to make the correct decision in the first place.
So the split reaction to the news that FSG are set to listen to offers regarding a sale of Liverpool is no surprise. Some were always going to dislike any owners who didn’t break the bank to chase down City. Others have an issue with the way they have made off-field errors without thinking about their fan base. Another large section are just happy with the product they’ve been able to serve up on the pitch for the better part of the last 12 years.
In Jurgen Klopp, they made a magnificent appointment as the club’s manager. The additions of the likes of Mohamed Salah, Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk to the first-team squad took them to new heights. But there was never any effort to outspend their closest rivals because they knew what their limitations were.
Regardless of what had come before, Liverpool FC has been run very well as a business since October 2010. Chuck in the Hicks and Gillett nonsense which preceded it, and FSG’s reign becomes heaven-sent. But Liverpool are never going to get to a position where they can challenge Man City every year unless there is a change of regime, and any new owners will also have to compete with Newcastle United in the seasons to come too. But can you only fight super-state clubs with super-state clubs?
Liverpool have been the comparative feel-good story in a murky era for English top-flight football, but it was never going to be a long-term proposition.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject to Change
