Kop is Anfield’s heart and soul
Mar 31 2007
by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo
New owners George Gillett (left) and Tom Hicks at Anfield
IT took Liverpool’s new owners less than a Kop
verse of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ to recognise
the quality of the goods they’ve bought.
As Tom Hicks and George Gillett take their place
for the first time as co-chairmen in the
Directors’ Box today, they’re ready to hit the
ground running in the process of making Liverpool an even more astute purchase.
Hicks and his family prepared for this
afternoon’s clash with Arsenal in the luxurious
62 Castle Street Hotel, a prime location from
which to assess the renaissance of our city which
they intend to replicate in Anfield.
Since their first trip to Merseyside, Hicks and
Gillett have shown their determination to absorb
as much information about the club, the fans and the city as possible.
Last week’s fans survey, in which a cross section
of 40,000 Liverpool supporters were quizzed on
their hopes for the new stadium, was the tip of the iceberg.
Plans are afoot to hold a supporters’ forum to
hear the grassroots views on the way forward.
And last night, Hicks’ sons, Tommy and Alex,
armed with their impressive new cowboy boots with
the club badge stitched on, took in the sights
and sounds of Mathew Street’s pubs on a mission
to hear what supporters really felt about their family's involvement.
The early stages of their takeover appear to be a
combination of discovery, reassessment and,
ultimately, the speedy application of a strategy
which unashamedly aims to, for want of a better
phrase, knock Manchester United ‘off their perch’.
Another hectic 48 hours on Merseyside beckons,
with the much publicised meeting with Rafa
Benitez preceding key meetings with planners
which will ultimately decide the fate of the Stanley Park Stadium.
“We’re meeting after today’s game with planners.
We hope we can reach agreement so that we can
start work in the park by June,” explained Hicks.
“We are working very hard with a great team of
architects to come up with a new design which is
consistent with the approved plan. We hope there won’t be a significant delay.
“We recognise the Kop is the heart of the
stadium, and the new design will reflect this.
“The Kop will be larger than it would have been
in the old plans. We hope to build the stadium in
such a way that it will be possible to expand at
a later time, so far as the plans will allow.
It’s going to be more expensive than the previous
design, but our priority is to make this stadium the best in the world.
“We’ve one opportunity to ensure Liverpool
continues it’s tradition for being the best
football club in the world, not just for now, but for the next 50 years.”
If finalising the stadium plans is top of the
agenda, reassuring Rafa Benitez is by no means a secondary concern.
Recent speculation regarding Real Madrid was
valid but, thankfully, fended off thanks to a
series of e-mails and phone calls.
But the face-to-face meeting will be welcomed by everyone.
“We had a good meeting with Rafa the first time we came over,” said Hicks.
“I got the sense he wants to change many things
here. He has fresh ideas on a variety of
subjects. We’ll talk about the money he has for
transfers and I know he wants to talk about how
we develop young players and also about extending
the contracts of players such as Steven Gerrard.
“I was a little surprised to hear some of the
stories back in England recently because we
really wanted to meet Rafa at the Barcelona game,
but we thought it would be inappropriate because
we didn’t own the club at that stage. We decided
it would be better to wait until we had unconditional control.
“I think Rafa wondered why we didn’t see him
then, but it was just a bit of confusion.
“Much of what we discuss will remain private. I’m
always asked by reporters ‘what’s the budget for
the team this year’ and I always say it’s player
specific. If we sign a player of a certain value
it’s one thing, but it doesn’t mean if you’re not
successful with that deal you’re prepared to
spend the same amount for a bunch of crummy players.”
The new owners are also planning to significantly
expand Liverpool’s commercial activities (the
Liverpool FC cowboy boots could be a big seller),
and intend using the expertise of their American sports clubs to assist.
“We know there’s a lot of work we can do to
develop the global brand, but we’ve only
scratched the surface of what’s possible at this stage,” says Hicks.
“We’ve brought the president of the Dallas Stars
and Montreal Canadians over to meet Rick Parry
and there’ll be a lot of brainstorming sessions to see what can be done.
“When you look at Manchester United and Real
Madrid, you can see they’ve done a better job in
this area and there’s no particular reason why that should be the case.”
Prior to the takeover, Liverpool agreed a new £21m deal with Carlsberg.
While that remains intact, somewhat cryptically,
Hicks admitted there would be further discussions
regarding the true value of that shirt sponsorship.
He said, rather carefully: “The Carlsberg deal is
still in place, but we’ve had a meeting with them
and told them we want to work together to see how
we can make the partnership even more valuable for both of us, globally.”
As Liverpool enter an exciting new era, clearly
many questions regarding the stadium and
development of the team will remain unanswered
until visions for the future can be translated into reality.
But there’s no doubt the immediate plans of the
new owners, if realised, will put the club in a
strong position to reclaim its position at the top of English football.
“Our families are very excited about this and for
Alex it will be his first game at Anfield today.
The new board is now in place, and today we’ll be
at the chairman’s dining table as owners of the
club, with our good friend, David Moores, with
us. The Arsenal match will be a very special game for all of us.”
Mar 31 2007
by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo
New owners George Gillett (left) and Tom Hicks at Anfield
IT took Liverpool’s new owners less than a Kop
verse of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ to recognise
the quality of the goods they’ve bought.
As Tom Hicks and George Gillett take their place
for the first time as co-chairmen in the
Directors’ Box today, they’re ready to hit the
ground running in the process of making Liverpool an even more astute purchase.
Hicks and his family prepared for this
afternoon’s clash with Arsenal in the luxurious
62 Castle Street Hotel, a prime location from
which to assess the renaissance of our city which
they intend to replicate in Anfield.
Since their first trip to Merseyside, Hicks and
Gillett have shown their determination to absorb
as much information about the club, the fans and the city as possible.
Last week’s fans survey, in which a cross section
of 40,000 Liverpool supporters were quizzed on
their hopes for the new stadium, was the tip of the iceberg.
Plans are afoot to hold a supporters’ forum to
hear the grassroots views on the way forward.
And last night, Hicks’ sons, Tommy and Alex,
armed with their impressive new cowboy boots with
the club badge stitched on, took in the sights
and sounds of Mathew Street’s pubs on a mission
to hear what supporters really felt about their family's involvement.
The early stages of their takeover appear to be a
combination of discovery, reassessment and,
ultimately, the speedy application of a strategy
which unashamedly aims to, for want of a better
phrase, knock Manchester United ‘off their perch’.
Another hectic 48 hours on Merseyside beckons,
with the much publicised meeting with Rafa
Benitez preceding key meetings with planners
which will ultimately decide the fate of the Stanley Park Stadium.
“We’re meeting after today’s game with planners.
We hope we can reach agreement so that we can
start work in the park by June,” explained Hicks.
“We are working very hard with a great team of
architects to come up with a new design which is
consistent with the approved plan. We hope there won’t be a significant delay.
“We recognise the Kop is the heart of the
stadium, and the new design will reflect this.
“The Kop will be larger than it would have been
in the old plans. We hope to build the stadium in
such a way that it will be possible to expand at
a later time, so far as the plans will allow.
It’s going to be more expensive than the previous
design, but our priority is to make this stadium the best in the world.
“We’ve one opportunity to ensure Liverpool
continues it’s tradition for being the best
football club in the world, not just for now, but for the next 50 years.”
If finalising the stadium plans is top of the
agenda, reassuring Rafa Benitez is by no means a secondary concern.
Recent speculation regarding Real Madrid was
valid but, thankfully, fended off thanks to a
series of e-mails and phone calls.
But the face-to-face meeting will be welcomed by everyone.
“We had a good meeting with Rafa the first time we came over,” said Hicks.
“I got the sense he wants to change many things
here. He has fresh ideas on a variety of
subjects. We’ll talk about the money he has for
transfers and I know he wants to talk about how
we develop young players and also about extending
the contracts of players such as Steven Gerrard.
“I was a little surprised to hear some of the
stories back in England recently because we
really wanted to meet Rafa at the Barcelona game,
but we thought it would be inappropriate because
we didn’t own the club at that stage. We decided
it would be better to wait until we had unconditional control.
“I think Rafa wondered why we didn’t see him
then, but it was just a bit of confusion.
“Much of what we discuss will remain private. I’m
always asked by reporters ‘what’s the budget for
the team this year’ and I always say it’s player
specific. If we sign a player of a certain value
it’s one thing, but it doesn’t mean if you’re not
successful with that deal you’re prepared to
spend the same amount for a bunch of crummy players.”
The new owners are also planning to significantly
expand Liverpool’s commercial activities (the
Liverpool FC cowboy boots could be a big seller),
and intend using the expertise of their American sports clubs to assist.
“We know there’s a lot of work we can do to
develop the global brand, but we’ve only
scratched the surface of what’s possible at this stage,” says Hicks.
“We’ve brought the president of the Dallas Stars
and Montreal Canadians over to meet Rick Parry
and there’ll be a lot of brainstorming sessions to see what can be done.
“When you look at Manchester United and Real
Madrid, you can see they’ve done a better job in
this area and there’s no particular reason why that should be the case.”
Prior to the takeover, Liverpool agreed a new £21m deal with Carlsberg.
While that remains intact, somewhat cryptically,
Hicks admitted there would be further discussions
regarding the true value of that shirt sponsorship.
He said, rather carefully: “The Carlsberg deal is
still in place, but we’ve had a meeting with them
and told them we want to work together to see how
we can make the partnership even more valuable for both of us, globally.”
As Liverpool enter an exciting new era, clearly
many questions regarding the stadium and
development of the team will remain unanswered
until visions for the future can be translated into reality.
But there’s no doubt the immediate plans of the
new owners, if realised, will put the club in a
strong position to reclaim its position at the top of English football.
“Our families are very excited about this and for
Alex it will be his first game at Anfield today.
The new board is now in place, and today we’ll be
at the chairman’s dining table as owners of the
club, with our good friend, David Moores, with
us. The Arsenal match will be a very special game for all of us.”
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