Hi there, yet another lifelong Liverpool fan here and Red Sox fan thanks to some of my family that reside in the States.
Firstly I would like to thank you for your warm welcome though I quite understand how some of you might be a bit worried about your owners buying a football club in England. because of this I would like to use my first post to go through some of your worries and try to answer them.
Now, Liverpool Football Club is, as so many Reds have already said a massive global fenomenon with a vast and illustrious history both on and off the pitch. It's safe to say that we have had our ups and downs but one thing has always stuck out more than anything else. Through thick and thin we stick together and even when the chips are down we never give up. The "Shankley" mentality is in us all. people admire us for it, others (most notebly Man Utd and Everton fans) hate us for it but the bottom line is that we've never really cared what anyone says about us because we are one massive family that many have tried to destroy but it only makes us stronger.
I know from reading and watching baseball that the Red Sox have the same mentality as us and this union can only make both supporters and the bond now between us stronger.
I have noticed from reading various threads on a few forums that the main concern is about money and will NESV divert any Red Sox cash to help their new "baby". Well the short answer is no, they don't have to. Why? Well here are a few reasons.
1) Due to the takeover by NESV we are now in profit, and a lot of it. Not including sponsorship this is reported to be about 40m pounds a year. Then you have our main club sponsors Standard Chartered so add another 20million pounds a year. These are the major moneymakers so expect our annual turnover at present to be around 70m pounds.
2) The new ground. I hear the fears loud and clear but again no need.
We will be having a new stadium despite Henry being coy about it which was to be expected. It is part of the deal, to revamp Anfield (not really an option) or to build a new stadium. Because NESV will be running LFC as a UK based company they will be entitled for grants to build it due to the regeneration project of the Anfield area (which all depends on the stadium being built) as well as putting in their own cash. When H&G opened Kop Cayman they lost out on any grants as they were an international company (well done Hicks, another greed induced own goal there!) or financial help from European companies eager to get involved. In other words sponsorship. There will be companies queuing at the door to work with NESV and John W Henry due to their track records in business and sponsorship dealings so far plus it's Liverpool Football Club, one of the biggest names in world sport. Then after the stadium is built you will have an extra 20,000 people paying around 800pounds each per year for every home Premier League match so this doesn't even include away or cup matches, buying merchandise, food, drink, match programmes etc. This is not including a possible massive fee (estimated to be worth ?240m, ironically enough!) for the naming rights of the new stadium. Also remember that we already own the land for the new ground.
Liverpool City Council will block any move to upgrade Anfield Road, they have already said sas much last week.
3) We haven't tapped into the Far Eastern market at all yet, something both NESV and Standard Chartered will be doing together. We are losing out on an estimated 30m pounds a year because of this, something that H&G seemed to refuse to do even though clubs such as Man Utd and Chelsea have benefitted hugely from it.
4) Liverpool Football Club will be able to sustain itself without the need to bleed any company of assets. Because of this and the fact that NESV have an impecable financial record any loans will bear the minimum APR unlike with our previous owners who were high risk. Nor will any debts be placed against the club or any other NESV company. This is in the contract of the sale.
5) Keith Eldelman. This is the man who overlooked the building of Arsenal FC's new ground. He did it on time and well within budget before staying on for two years. In that time they made record profits before he was asked to step aside. A costly move as they have not seen the same level of profits since. Rumours are that he will either be our new chairman or employed to overlook our new stadium. He was also present at all of the meetings between the Liverpool board and NESV.
The one thing I have read time and time again is "but that's what Hicks and Gillett could have done but they didn't". True, but they didn't have very successful sporting franchises either, in fact they have nearly destroyed three sporting institutions by pure greed and a lust for power. The truth is if NESV and John W Henry are good to their word then they will acheive the above.
Anyway more importantly for today the local derby. For you Red Sox fans that don't know Everton FC's ground is less than a mile from our ground and in fact Anfield used to belong to Everton FC until 1892, the year we were formed. So..... C'MON LIVERPOOL, STUFF THE BLUENOSES!!!!
YNWA
