George Gillett claims Liverpool FC fans have sent him death threats

Mar 28 2008

Liverpool Football Club’s joint owner George Gillett said he and his wife have received death threats from angry fans.

The American said supporters made the telephoned threats in the middle of the night because of the club’s ongoing turmoil.

Gillett, 69, confirmed that his partnership with Tom Hicks - who also owns 50% of the historic club - had completely broken down and had been untenable for some time.

He spoke for the first time about the controversy surrounding Anfield on a Canadian radio station.

He said Hicks, 62, threatened to block a proposed sale of his shareholding to Dubai International Capital - a move widely supported by Reds fans.

Referring to Hicks’s disclosure that manager Rafael Benitez’s job was offered to ex-Germany boss Jurgen Klinsmann last year, Gillett said: “We get as many as 2,000 emails a week.

“I would say 95% of them have been directed at some of the comments made by my partner and 5% aimed at both of us, ’Go home Americans’.”

He added: “The fans don’t want him to have even one share of my stake in the club, based on what they are sending to me.

“As a result of that we have received many phone calls in the middle of the night threatening our lives - death threats.”

Gillett, owner of the Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team and Nascar racing team, bought Britain’s Liverpool football club with Hicks in February 2007.