Stanley Park lease fear for Liverpool FC
Aug 30 2008 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post
Stanley Park
LIVERPOOL FC’s financial position was last night compared to a house of cards that could be blown over by a gust of wind, by a football expert and fan of the club.
Dr Rogan Taylor, who founded the fans’ group ShareLiverpoolFC and heads Liverpool University’s Football Research Unit, was leading outrage at the latest stadium delay.
“This club is more vulnerable now than it has been in my entire 47 years of watching the club. It is a house of cards and a puff of wind can blow it over,” he said.
“I am embarrassed by what is going on at my club, certainly since the Americans’ takeover.
“We have been saying this for a long time. These guys are a broken record, they are the soap opera of Anfield Road. This just goes on and on and is just an excuse for not starting the stadium.
“The money goes up every time. Three years ago it was £150m, now it is £350m-£400m. And now they are talking about ‘re-visiting’ the capacity issue.
“But that was the original reason for the delay 18 months ago, these guys are not in a position to make a long-term investment of the kind required for a stadium.
“This is about the owners breaking our trust over and over again. They do not have the confidence of anybody in the city, or the wherewithal.
“A new stadium is essential to the business structure of a modern, great club.
“Just compare the matchday ’take’ at Arsenal’s new Emirates Stadium or the money taken by Manchester United at Old Trafford. They pull in around three times what Liverpool manage for each match.
“If you add that up, 20 games a season, and those clubs are getting £50m more than us each season simply by playing in a bigger stadium.
“The problem is the debt our owners carry, there is not really a significant problem in raising money to build a stadium if they did not have a major debt on their backs.
“If they did not have that, raising this money is not a problem.”
The Spirit of Shankly fans group, dedicated to removing the Americans from the club, are also angry.
Spokesman Jay McKenna said: “It is our firm belief that the owners have neither the resources nor the intention to deliver this project, and are using the current economic climate as a subterfuge while they attempt to drive the potential sale value of the football club up.
“The owners have no money, no credibility and no dignity, and are not fit custodians of the club. We demand their immediate resignation and the sale of the club to fit and proper owners.”
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