Scouse
31-01-2008, 06:25 PM
A group of Liverpool football fans are hatching a plan to buy the club back from its American owners.
http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1406229.jpg
Fans want to buy the club
Share Liverpool FC aims to create a stakeholder base of 100,000 fans to raise enough cash to oust Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
It comes after weeks of worry about the financial future of Liverpool, sparked when the pair took out a £350m re-financing loan.
There have also been tensions between the owners and club manager Rafa Benitez, who last year criticised them over their financing of transfers.
Rogan Taylor, a Kop season ticket holder and a director of the Football Industry Group at the University of Liverpool, is leading the buy-out campaign.
He said: "It is time to answer the concerns that football fans have about the patterns of ownership developing at our major football clubs.
"Thousands of Liverpool fans have already demonstrated their dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs.
"Large amounts of debt is often laden onto newly-bought clubs and the fans know that in the end, it will be them 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?"
The model proposed by Share Liverpool FC will be a 'member-share' scheme, aimed at raising £500m to purchase the club from Hicks and Gillett and build a new stadium.
The group have pointed to FC Barcelona as an example of how the system works.
Barca currently has more than 150,000 cules - members who own the club.
Mr Taylor added: "What many don't realise is that there are other ways of financing and taking ownership of big clubs.
"In Germany and Spain, most top level football clubs are simply 'Not For Sale'. They are owned by many thousands of 'member fans'."
The plan will be unveiled tonight at the School of Management of the University of Liverpool.
i like that idea :)
http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1406229.jpg
Fans want to buy the club
Share Liverpool FC aims to create a stakeholder base of 100,000 fans to raise enough cash to oust Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
It comes after weeks of worry about the financial future of Liverpool, sparked when the pair took out a £350m re-financing loan.
There have also been tensions between the owners and club manager Rafa Benitez, who last year criticised them over their financing of transfers.
Rogan Taylor, a Kop season ticket holder and a director of the Football Industry Group at the University of Liverpool, is leading the buy-out campaign.
He said: "It is time to answer the concerns that football fans have about the patterns of ownership developing at our major football clubs.
"Thousands of Liverpool fans have already demonstrated their dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs.
"Large amounts of debt is often laden onto newly-bought clubs and the fans know that in the end, it will be them 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?"
The model proposed by Share Liverpool FC will be a 'member-share' scheme, aimed at raising £500m to purchase the club from Hicks and Gillett and build a new stadium.
The group have pointed to FC Barcelona as an example of how the system works.
Barca currently has more than 150,000 cules - members who own the club.
Mr Taylor added: "What many don't realise is that there are other ways of financing and taking ownership of big clubs.
"In Germany and Spain, most top level football clubs are simply 'Not For Sale'. They are owned by many thousands of 'member fans'."
The plan will be unveiled tonight at the School of Management of the University of Liverpool.
i like that idea :)