Football is dead, it has been for decades. However, this recent attempt to create a European Money League, I mean, ‘Super’ League has ultimately taken things too far. An attempt to completely disregard the entire history of our club has ultimately spelled the end for FSG at Liverpool, hopefully. I do not care what they have done for the club, I do not care what they have apologised for, all I care about is acknowledging all the warning signs that pointed towards these cowardice owners who have hidden behind the success of Klopp whilst secretly holding the same beliefs as all billionaire owners, a belief of greed.
Flying Kenny Dalglish to America to Sack Him –
A first warning sign of how little FSG have made an effort to understand the history and traditions of Liverpool, is their treatment of Kenny Dalglish. Dubbed ‘King’, Kenny Dalglish is arguably the greatest player and one of the greatest managers in the history of the club, yet despite winning a trophy and getting to another final in his first full-season in charge with an abysmal squad, he was sacked. Being sacked isn’t the issue though, Kenny was flown the whole way to Boston to hold talks with FSG, being left in the dark on the flight back to Liverpool, only to ultimately have had his time and effort wasted by being sacked not long after. This treatment of arguably the most iconic figure in the club’s history was the first straw in a line of many.
First Mass Walk-Out in Anfield’s History –
During the 15/16 season, as if the football wasn’t bad enough, once again FSG proved their timing to be impeccable with their decisions. Liverpool had announced that the usual ticket price, which was already at a ridiculous £59, had been raised to £77 for the following season. This sparked mass outrage amongst supporters and unlike many boycotts, this one had been followed-up on. In the 77th minute, as Liverpool led 2-1 against Sunderland, around 10,000 fans walked out of the stadium moments before Sunderland equalised. Chants of ‘Enough is enough, you greedy bastards, enough is enough’ rang around the stadium, with black flags being flown instead of the usual on The Kop.
FSG ultimately reversed their decision, backtracking as always, freezing ticket prices for the following season. However, this decision to keep the prices at a ridiculous £59 shouldn’t be praised, nor should it be ignored that had this protest not happened, the prices would have gladly kept rising.
Selling to Buy –
Now, there is nothing wrong with running a sustainable business model, however, in certain circumstances, FSG have taken that idea too far. Many times Klopp has hinted at the concept that decisions are out of his hands, even after everything he has not only done for the club, but for FSG by increasing the overall value of their asset. In 2011, the sale of Fernando Torres was the first, then in 2014 Luis Suarez, only to replace him with Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert was a sign of how little ambition FSG seemed to have to compete. More recently, the sale of Phillipe Coutinho, a player idolised by fans, was sold and ultimately this was covered up by the purchases of both Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker. However, had Coutinho not been sold, these players would never have been signed and would have had been allowed to join rival clubs.
FSG do not care about competing, they only ever signed players so long as an even more important player to the team was sold. As of Summer 2020, Liverpool’s net spend under Jurgen Klopp was £75million, for comparison, Manchester City’s was £300million. Without Klopp, this lack of significant investment in the team would have shown a long time ago, luckily for FSG, Klopp’s individual brilliance had allowed them to hide this fact.
Attempts to Trademark the Words ‘Liverbird’ and ‘Liverpool’ –
Once again showing how utterly deluded and out of touch with the club and city of Liverpool FSG were, in July of 2019 they had submitted an attempt to try and trademark the terms ‘Liverbird’ and ‘Liverpool’. I am sure I do not need to explain why this is as delusional as it is, but FSG tried it nonetheless.
Thankfully, the attempt was rejected by the Intellectual Property Office and FSG were left with egg on their face again. This should have been the third and final strike against not only the club this time, but the actual city of Liverpool and all its small and local independent retailers. However, as usual, Klopp managed to use his individual brilliance to buy FSG some time.
Furloughing Staff –
At a time where the world was experiencing unprecedented mental health problems due to having their lives torn apart by a pandemic, FSG thought it’d be a good idea to follow the pathetic model that the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal had formed, placing staff on Furlough. Despite spending millions on player wages, transfers, and being billionaires living a life of luxury themselves, FSG couldn’t resist the attempt to get a government cheque to try and safe a few pennys. This act once again highlighted how little the staff of Liverpool meant to FSG, and ultimately, how expendable they thought they were.
European Super League –
Here we are, the reason this whole thing is being written. John Henry may have made a swift attempt at apologising, but no longer can his empty apologies and backtracking attempts be forgiven. FSG attempted to openly disregard and throw away every single memory that any fan has had within this club for the last 100+ years. The iconic nights in the Champions League were to be forgotten, our first league win in over 30 years that only occurred last year, forgotten. Local fans were attempted to have been thrown under the bus in the hopes that the global market would bail FSG out.
I struggle for words when talking about this situation over the last few days, and ultimately, it isn’t just FSG that is corrupt, it is all of football, that includes the likes of BT Sport, Sky, UEFA and FIFA. However, FSG directly attacked the history of Liverpool FC and attempted to make all the memories I have had caring about this club utterly meaningless, so this hits more close to home.
John Henry has disregarded club legends like Kenny Dalglish, he has disregarded the wellbeing of fans, he has disregarded the well being of staff during a global pandemic, he has disregarded the history of the entire club through his inability to satisfy his greed whilst attempting to form this European Super League, and then the only people left who FSG hadn’t openly disregarded was Klopp, but of course, FSG couldn’t help themselves. They had left Klopp and the team hanging out to dry the night of a huge game, and despite everything Klopp has done for this club and in-turn FSG, their disgusting treatment to even allow him to be in the situation he was in on Monday, cannot be forgiven.
FSG need to go, and if they do not, they’ll realise they haven’t even begun to see the worse of what this fanbase will do to them. Just remember who is on your side here, isn’t billionaires in America who have zero interest in football and solely base all their time into maximising profits. It is the man who was left hung out to dry by these Americans, Klopp. It is the players who took a stand against the disgusting and disgraceful actions of these Americans, and ultimately, it is the fans, who no matter what, will always stick with this club through thick and thin, long after all these rats have left our club. You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Nathan Brennan 