Kop fury at owners’ ‘broken promises’

Jan 22 2008 by Richard Down, Liverpool Daily Post

THE Anfield Kop used last night’s league fixture against Aston Villa to vent fury at owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett whom they branded as “liars”.

Fans demanded the American owners sell up in the wake of revelations the club could be plunged into £350m of debt.

Hicks and Gillett want to remortgage Liverpool FC to restructure their finances.

But the vocal fanbase made clear their opposition to the move during the Premier League 2-2 draw with chants and banners.

They are furious the pair appear to be reneging on promises at the time they bought the club.

The sporting tycoons pledged to clear the club’s £44.9m of debt and to plough £215m in to a new Anfield.

But this week they announced a remortgage scheme that would cost the club £30m a month in interest payments alone.

This sparked rumours of large-scale post-match protests. Instead fans chose not to “wash dirty laundry in public”, but to sing their opposition from the terraces.

“Liverpool’s in the wrong hands” rang out through the first half. The terraces only fell silent after Villa scored their second goal.

Meanwhile, banners in the ground showed fans’ support for a bid for the club from Dubai International Capital (DIC).

One read: “Yanks out. Dubai in.”

Les Lawson, spokesman for LFC Official Supporters Club, summed up the mood.

He said: “I think tonight they realised they aren’t wanted in Liverpool.

“We want them out – let’s face it, we are their customers and without customers they are owners of nothing.”

John Mackin, of Reclaim The Kop, said: “It was just a call to arms and a public display of their anger toward the owners.

“We’re just waiting for them to get out and the chants in the stadium and banners were the beginning of that.”

Outside the ground, scores of fans told the Daily Post they wanted Hicks and Gillett to sell up and move on.

One fan, Berel Reid, of Liverpool, said: “We don’t wash our dirty laundry in public.

“But I’m very upset at the fact that they said when they first came in they wouldn’t remortgage the club.”

OPINION: PAGE 10;GERRARD CONCERNS & MATCH REPORT: PAGES 42-44

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