Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Beatles started ‘British Invasion’ by leaving Liverpool to head for United States. Forty years later George Gillett Jr. and Tom Hicks are joining an “American invasion” of English football, and taking it right back to Liverpool. But unlike the previous instances of vociferous opposition to foreign acquisition of English club, this time around so far it has been a surprisingly open-hearted welcome for the American takeover of the Premiership side Liverpool FC.
“I would say it’s a great news for us, we knew that our club was on market for over three years. This take over should help us stand better, I hope there should be sufficient flow of finances to take care of Rafa’s (Rafel Benitez, Liverpool coach ) woes,” said Phil Neal, an all time Liverpool great and former England international — in town to conduct a ten-day training camp for school students at Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram. “We have been facing financial crunch for a while now. In the last three years there have been only talks of new stadium but not a brick has been laid. We hope that the construction work will start soon and we will move on,” Neal added.
Coming from Neal, who is the only player to have appeared in the first five of Livepool’s European Cup finals, clearly reflects the heat that Reds have been feeling in the premiership where with the likes of Abrahimovich owned Chelsea, Glazer backed Man United, among others — pocket depth have become reflective of performances.
Liverpool has a history of success, but not much recently. The Reds won the Champions League title two years ago, but they needed a special exemption to even get into the following season’s tournament, because it finished fifth in the Premier League.
That’s a far cry from the glory days when Liverpool won 11 titles from 1973-90. The team won its first four European Cups from 1977-84.
“I hope now Rafa will be able to afford some better players who can help us win back the premiership” quipped Billy Bygroves, community coordinator of the Liverpool FC, also here for the coaching workshop.
Gillett and Hicks’ reception remains to be seen but fans are behind the board. “We trust the Liverpool board, so whatever decision they have taken it’s for the good we stand by them… and I am talking as a fan of Liverpool FC,” said Allen McCall, a Level 2 coach with the Liverpool Academy.
