LFC Accounts 2013/14

[Trumo]

Published today.

 

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/180970-lfc-announces-financial-results

 

LFC announces financial results

 

Liverpool Football Club today announced that solid financial progress continues to be made as it filed its annual accounts for the year to May 31, 2014.

•     Revenue increased by 19% to £255.6m
•     Media revenue increased by 46% to £100.9m
•     Commercial revenue increased by 5% to £103.8m
•     Profit before tax for was £0.9m compared to a 2013 loss of £49.8m
•     Moved up three places to 9th in Deloitte's Money League
•     Net debt increased by £12.2m to £57.3m but overall debt has decreased from £237m when FSG took over in 2010

 

For the first time in seven years, the club returned a small profit and revenue increased by 19 per cent to £255.6m - mainly as a result of the rise in media revenue from the Premier League TV deal.

 

Since Fenway Sports Group (FSG) completed its takeover of Liverpool FC in October 2010, revenue has steadily increased year on year and the club has transformed to a sustainable business.

 

Chief executive, Ian Ayre, said: "We continue to make good financial progress. Although these results are nearly 12 months old, they demonstrate that the transitional period we've been through over the past four years have stabilised the club and provided a platform for growth.

 

"Revenue has been consistently increasing from around £170 million in 2009 to over £250 million today and our commercial revenues continue to add strength to our overall results.

 

"During these past transitional years, it was important that we took a measured approach to bring back financial stability by ensuring the club is properly structured both on and off the pitch.

 

"We continue to add strength and depth to our playing squad while continuing to develop young talent. During the period we offered 13 professional contracts to Academy players, including Rossiter, Dunn, Lloyd Jones, Sinclair and Peterson."

 

LFC has now moved back up to ninth place in Deloitte's Football Money League having dropped to twelfth place the previous year.

 

Ayre added: "During the period, the club continued to report good progress commercially announcing seven new partnerships. Media revenue also continued to grow and we announced four new TV deals and seven renewals. In addition to TV, we continued to expand our fan engagement reach with the introduction of 19 new social media platforms in 52 countries which doubled our social media followers to over 30 million worldwide.

 

"Our match day revenue increased by £5million, mainly as a result of our successful pre-season tour in Asia and Australia, and we can now look to grow this area following the historic announcement of Anfield's Main Stand expansion.

 

"Since this reporting period we have again continued to make good commercial progress announcing several new partnerships including New Balance, Nivea Men, Pru Health Vitality and Instaforex which demonstrates the global appeal of the LFC brand.

 

"We have also opened 60 franchised shops across Indonesia and new LFC stores in Malaysia and Dublin. We also had a very successful pre-season tour in the US.

 

"With a hugely supportive ownership, we have brought financial stability back to this football club and we now have the right structure, platform and ambition to continue growing on and off the pitch."

 

 

Pretty much what I expected. I said last year that I expected both media and commercial revenues to be around the £100m mark with matchdays accounting for around £50m. Even though the club improved the contracts of a number of players, I also expected that the wages to turnover ratio to be reasonably well controlled. I think we might just fall shy of the £300m turnover figure for the next set of accounts (which will cover this season), but it's the ones after that which will show the huge increase from the next Premier League TV deal which starts in 2016.

[eeyore]

Why has debt gone up almost 50mil?

[Trumo]

From the Echo article:

 

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-accounts-show-club-back-8752942

 

Liverpool’s net debt increased by just over £12m to over £57m but Anfield’s board are unconcerned that figure, insisting it can go up and down each year depending on where transfer deals - and due payments regarding them - stand at any one time.

 

[Einch]

Send up the Nightcat signal.

[Kevin D]

Ove/under is 25 pages.

[Lee909]

Why has debt gone up almost 50mil?

First stage of the rebuild maybe?

 

Aren't FSG paying for it via a loan to the club?

[Jairzinho]

My money is on Xerxes to beat Ratcatcher on points.

[J-V]

Send up the Nightcat signal.

 

[ratcatcher]

Why has debt gone up almost 50mil?

 

Its increased to £57m, basically due to transfers during the accounting period.

 

The overall debt on the club has reduced although this isnt reported.

 

Overall it shows the club is moving in the right direction.

[Horus]

Why was our debt £237million when they took over? Are we paying for this lot to own the club as well as the previous lot?

[ratcatcher]

Why was our debt £237million when they took over? Are we paying for this lot to own the club as well as the previous lot?

 

Because the club owed RBS and the like £200m+. FSG effectively underwrote the debt (someone had to pay RBS etc the money).

[Horus]

Because the club owed RBS and the like £200m+. FSG effectively underwrote the debt (someone had to pay RBS etc the money).

 

Isn't that what they bought the club to clear? The cunts walked away with fuck all, so in effect, we've still been lumbered with our purchase price? 

 

So what exactly did they pay to own the club? 

[Horus]

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/oct/15/liverpool-sale-nesv-takeover-john-henry

 

After an often bewildering flurry of legal arguments in London, Dallas and New York, followed by the signing of a contract at the City offices of Slaughter and May, the owners of the Boston Red Sox now appear to be free to pay off around £200m of debts owing to the Royal Bank of Scotland, giving them control of a club whose honours include five European Cups and 18 English league championships.

 

[ratcatcher]

Isn't that what they bought the club to clear? The cunts walked away with fuck all, so in effect, we've still been lumbered with our purchase price? 

 

So what exactly did they pay to own the club? 

 

Look at it like this. You own company A. Company B has a large debt, say £200m.

 

Company A buys Company B including wiping out Company B's debt. Company A now has a deficit in its accounts of £200m for the purchase. Company A can say to Company B at any time, we need you to repay the £220m. Or, Company A can just carry the 'deficit.'

 

In the club's case, the club isnt paying any commercial interest repayments.

 

FSG have just given the club a £125m - £150m interest free loan to redevelop the ground. The club 'owes' FSG that money which they reckon will be paid back in under 10 years I think it was.

 

FSG havent ladened the club with debt to buy it like the 2 cowboys did.

 

EDIT missed the nt out of havent!

[ratcatcher]

Isn't that what they bought the club to clear? The cunts walked away with fuck all, so in effect, we've still been lumbered with our purchase price? 

 

So what exactly did they pay to own the club? 

 

Sorry, didnt see all of this. Yes, those 2 got nowt but the club still owed the banks the money they'd put on it. Someone has to pay that.

[Red Banjo]

Given the fact the new TV deal will net clubs in the region of 120m a season, and the fact we've got rid of all of our high earners - we should be able to pay FSG back within a few years then.

 

A few more years of cost cutting. Oh goody.

[ratcatcher]

Liverpool have today revealed their latest set of financial figures and they appear to paint a very rosy picture at Anfield.

Revenues have increased by 19 per cent to £255million, as the club returned to profit for the first time under the current owners.

With a redeveloped Anfield on the way, this season's Champions League riches still to hit their current account and the threat of any Financial Fair Play penalties now gone, are the Reds in rude health?

We've combed through all the numbers, balance sheets and accounting talk so you don't have to and learned a thing or two about the current state of the union at Anfield.

MORE: Read an in-depth interview with Liverpool chief exec Ian Ayre

Back in black

First up, the headline news. For the first time in a decade, the club have made a profit, posting a surplus of £0.9million. Now that might not sound like a lot in the telephone numbers world of football finance, but it's a stalk turnaround from the £50million loss a year ago, and Ian Arye hopes that this is a sign of things to come.

 

Richard Heathcote

Happy campers: Brendan Rodgers has plenty to smile about More reasons to be cheerful

The glamours and exciting world of corporate accounting generally lags a year or so behind the real world and today's figures are no different. That means what isn't in the report is as almost as important as what is in there.

Chiefly among those are Luis Suarez's £75million transfer fee and the cash injection brought about by the Reds return to the Champions League this season. And remember, this set of accounts is from a season with no European football.

 

Liverpool revenue increases

19 %

Club revenue

46 %

Media revenue

5 %

Commercial revenue

No wonder Ian Ayre says he is confident the club will improve on these figures next year, and that's before the new megabucks Premier League television deal kicks in at the start of the 2016/17 season.

 

Action Images

More to come: The £75million for Suarez has not been included in these figures

 

Top of the pile

The Reds may have finished second to Manchester City in the Premier League last season, but there's one league which they now top - that of media revenues, with the club generating £100million here, more than any of their Premier League rivals.

And in other financial leagues - that's what the fans dream of, right? - the Anfield club also find themselves back in the top ten of the Deloitte money league, sneaking in at number nine, up from 12 last year. The Deloitte rankings are generally seen as a good way of assessing a club's financial health off the pitch, so Ayre will undoubtedly be happy with that.

 

 

 

 

Global reach

These accounts are quick to big up the club's efforts to reach an international audience, with the club's tour to Asia and Australia - where 100,000 watched the Reds at Melbourne Cricket Ground - included in this set of figures.

Gallery: Liverpool play Melbourne Victory at the MCC

 

VIEW GALLERY But is it working?

Despite this focus on international development, the club are not yet reaping the financial rewards from it.

The accounts show that Liverpool's domestic revenues are worth £240.8million, compared to a mere £14.8million coming in from the rest of the world.

Debts

While today's figures are painting a rosy picture of Liverpool's accounts, it's worth putting them in context against their on-the-pitch rivals, particularly when it comes to debt.

The Reds' debt increased by £12.2.million to £57.3million, but this is looking much healthier than the £237million debt when FSG took over in 2010.

Elsewhere, Arsenal last week announced that they had generated a profit of £11.1million, despite spending £94million on new players and the debt-free club have a whopping cash reserve of £138.8million, which shows just how important the stadium issue is.

 

Liverpool pre-tax profits

+£0.9m

2014

- £49.8m

2013

While Arsene Wenger's prudence is somewhat of an outlier in modern football, Liverpool's figures stack up better against Manchester United's latest set of figures, which last month revealed a debt of £380.5million and a falling revenue.

Another curious piece of the puzzle is that debt interest payments somehow increased in this period, despite these large chunks of the the debt being wiped out.

Park life

Now that the club have begun the redevelopment work at Anfield, the costs for the aborted move to a new stadium in Stanley Park have been revealed, with the club squandering £1.4million on that project.

Liverpool TV isn't working

The club's in-house television channel Liverpoolfc.TV appears to be hemorrhaging cash, with £15.9million being spent on it, although it does have assets of £20million.

Red Army

Staffing levels have gone up at Liverpool, with 138 players, managers and coaches employed by the club, which was up 11 from the year before. They also have a whopping 378 admin, commercial and other staff on their books, up four the 12-month period before.

 

John Lang/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

In good voice: Today's accounts make good reading for Reds fans Taxing

Ever wondered how much tax football clubs pay? Well, Liverpool shelled out a total of £507,000 to HMRC during in the 12 months up to 31st May, 2014.

Wages up

These figures show a big hike in wages, with an extra £13million being paid out - which is likely due to bonuses being paid for the club's second place finish in the Premier League last season.

Gallery: The Reds see off Manchester City

 

VIEW GALLERY Think your overdraft's bad?

Liverpool were charged £3.2million in interest on theirs, up £248,000 from last year.

The Anfield fleet

Another quirk from the club's accounts shows that the club has £191,000's worth of cars and motor vehicles, although they sold £34,000's worth last year.

[Newport]

FSG were willing to pay that debt because they got the club at a good price considering the massive earning potential if you could actually get someone who knows how to earn money in the business market. Even if they sold off the club right now they'd be looking at massive net gains.

 

Thanks to the useless twats who have run this club for the last two decades we are still quite low on the revenue list of big clubs even though there is a massive international market. Had this club and its success over the years been taken properly care of it would have been just as profitable as the Mancs. While they steamed ahead during the 90's Moores and his friends just sat there doing practically nothing to make a profit from the rise of the Premier League which probably would have saved the club from ever getting in the hands of those fucking loser cowboys.

[Pureblood]

There's something that keeps me coming back to these football finance threads, you think the latest one can't possibly be beaten for thrills and then zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZzzzzzz

[ratcatcher]

Liverpool Chief Executive Ian Ayre says returning the Reds to profit today represents a huge swing in Liverpool’s financial fortunes.

One big reason for the upturn may have been the extra money brought in by the current TV deal for broadcasting Premier League football, reports the Liverpool Echo.

Today’s results reflect the first year payments for that deal - which will be replaced by an even bigger and more lucrative TV package from 2016/17 - one worth over £5 billion to top clubs in England.

But Ayre stresses the stewardship and support of owners Fenway Sports Group is also major factor in putting the club back on a sound financial and operational footing.

FSG have owned Liverpool for four and a half years now. In that time they have repaired the serious, behind the scenes fractures that were ripping Liverpool apart between 2007 and 2010 and restored a focused sense of team work and harmony in the pursuit of excellence.

 

 

They’ve returned the Reds to profit and now finally got work on redeveloping Anfield underway after years of inertia and broken promises under previous regimes.

Said Ayre: “It is pleasing to see the club back in the black for the first time in seven years. It is the result of a lot of hard work by a lot of people at the football club.”

“It isn’t about taking away the things that are most important, which is investment in the team. We have continued to do that throughout and we’ve continued to improve.

“These results are a little but old and dated now in that sense but they reflect a year when we didn’t have any European football yet still increased our revenues by almost 20 per cent. And we continue to grow in the key areas - our media revenues, our commercial revenues and our matchday revenues.

“So as long as we can continue to have a sustainable attitude to the club and operate the business in a sustainable way - and as long as the football is moving forward - then we are in a very good position.”

 

Liverpool pre-tax profits

+£0.9m

2014

- £49.8m

2013

2. The Reds in profit...

Ayre added: "The profit of just under a million pounds from a loss last time of almost £50m is a huge swing for us. The key component really is media revenue increase.

“These set of accounts fall in the first year of the last TV deal for the Premier League so there is a significant uplift in television revenue.

“Again there is growth in our commercial area, in sponsorship and other areas of the commercial business.

“And then our matchday revenues, where we have been driving good profit - particularly from hospitality areas. And we also re-tiered the stadium in the last few years, so that’s helped us somewhat.

"So it is across the board really. These results are the result of every department in the business driving either cost or revenue for a fantastic outcome."

3. Liverpool's TV appeal - and being back in Deloitte's top 10

Liverpool may have come an agonising second to Manchester City last season, almost winning the Premier League for the first time and landing a first league title since 1990.

But they did top one domestic league last season - that for generating and receiving TV cash.

Said Ayre: “Last year we had the highest award in that we appeared on television more than anyone else.

“We know we came second ultimately - but we were at the top of the tree for media revenues at just under £100m. Being back in the Deloitte top ten is another positive indicator.

“We always want to be the best we can be and at the top of everything we try to compete in.“I think the money league has become this sort of de facto indicator that people take on the health or performance of football clubs, perhaps off the pitch as much as on it.

“And we are pleased to be back in it, of course. But often that league is skewed a little bit by the tools that you have in your armoury. We obviously have a smaller stadium than a lot of our competitors, though we are on the way to fixing that.

“The most important thing for us is to be the best we can be with what we have got and we very much feel we are on that track.

“We are growing everywhere we are improving the capacity at our stadium; we are improving our football and we are improving our revenues and managing our costs. So that’s the best place we can be and we are pleased with that.”

4. Ayre on progress being made under FSG

Ayre has paid tribute to John Henry and Tom Werner plus other executives at Fenway Sports group for the expertise and commitment they are providing at Anfield.

Said Ayre: “They are very measured. All of the things they show interest in and contribute to are all things they are very experienced in.

“We like to think at Liverpool that we are unique and special and different - and we are. But they transformed Fenway Park in exactly the same way as we are transforming Anfield

“So they know what is important; things like maintaining the historic nature of Anfield and not making the new facility too modern but making it feel like it has always been part of it. They are the types of insight and experience that they have.

"It’s been about transforming the team and the way we manage our finances - all things they did at the Red Sox.

 

“So it’s great to have people that genuinely have experience of what they are trying to achieve.

“It’s not just a whim that they are trying to transform this football club - they genuinely have experience in sports and in lots of the parts that fit this all together.

“And it’s been a tough road for them, starting with over £200m of debt and working it down to the manageable levels we are at today. And taking some of the pain that is letting players go or selling players and starting again. And bringing in a new manager.

“Those things all take commitment and time and they have given all of that. And support - financial support and management support. We get it.

“Having been here myself for seven years now I think the club is in the best health it’s been in since I’ve been here. And that’s down to the owners.”

 

5. Reds owners ‘blown away’ by stadium progress

Progress on building a giant new Main stand at Anfield is ‘staggering’ says Ian Ayre. And Liverpool’s owners have been impressed and delighted by the pace of that progress

He told the ECHO: “We are making fantastic progression.

“It feels like early days but the pace it is moving at is staggering really, especially when you realise it will be only just over a year or so and we’ll be moving the furniture in, so to speak.

“So it is a very rapid process we have to go through and things will move very quickly. The owners were here recently and we are very pleased with progress.

“It is testament to them that we have achieved a lot of what we have achieved because of their investment, not least on the stadium.

 

 

 

“It is down to their patience and support in finding the right outcome that was right for the football club.

“But I think they were blown away by the scale of the work; how quickly the demolition had gone on - and the concrete poured and foundations laid.

“And I think I’m right in saying that by the time we come back for next season - the start of the season - the frame of the building will have started to appear or will appear out of the ground. So when people come back for next season you’ll really be able to see this thing and then of course we’ll have 12 months or so to get it finished.

“It is very exciting because as we said we want to be the best we can be and continuing to improve Anfield while, it is still being uniquely Anfield, is a big part of who we are.”

 

 6. Commercial performance - and worldwide ‘Beatlemania’ style appeal

Liverpool’s commercial revenues are up by five per cent in today’s accounts, standing almost £104m for the year.

One element of the increase relates to the training kit deal done with Indonesian Airline Garuda.

Said the Reds chief executive: “We have managed to build a fantastic team commercially headed by Billy Hogan, our Chief Commercial Officer and more recently expanded by opening an office in London.

“We did that to continue to feed, grow and develop our commercial opportunity. We have really stepped out internationally with some of our activity and social media activity.

“We have almost 50 different countries now that we have language versioned social media platforms active in, growing in their tens of millions the number of people interacting on a very regular basis.

“That opens up the market and starts to become attractive to more and more partners."

Asia and Australia - Anfield’s home from home...

Ayre added: “As a football club like Liverpool, we are very fortunate to have fans all over the world, as we have seen.

“These results reflect a period when we went on tour to Australia and Asia. And as people and fans will remember, the sort of scenes we saw there were reminiscent of the Beatles being on tour there.

“Almost 100,000 people in Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was a real sight and something that tells you not only the size of the football club but the size of the opportunity. And it is because of that demand we have for all sorts of things that we are able to continue to grow revenue.

“But I think we are are still scratching the surface of a very big opportunity. We are going back to Australia and to other places in Asia this summer we hope.

 

“It was the first time we’d been to Australia in the club’s history and to get the welcome we got not only from our Australian fans, but fans from all over that part of the world, was wonderful.

In pictures: Liverpool visit Melbourne

 

VIEW GALLERY

“It felt like the Asia Pacific region mobilised itself for that week and we probably expect exactly the same this year when we go to Brisbane and Adelaide.

“The tours are fantastic for everyone. They are fantastic for fans and for those people who unfortunately can’t be at Anfield every week get to touch and see the first team. But also for players.

“Every tour I have been on since I got to the club, there is always a few new players who weren’t there the last time who are just blown away by the size of the support and how far it goes for this football club.

 

“And I know speaking to Brendan recently, he was very excited about getting back out there. So we are very much looking forward to that. I do think there is a special appeal about Liverpool in that part of the world, very much so and for a number of reasons.

“The appeal, particularly in Asia, comes I think because we were the first really successful club that was seen out there. So when we had our sustained period of success in the 1970s and 80s, that was when television was really starting to show games and Liverpool was probably the first team that the older generation of people in that part of the world saw.

“It’s not any different to here - people hand it on to their kids who hand it on to their kids. But I also think in terms of the values of the club."

 

Getty

Pre-season: Jordon Ibe in action against Melbourne

 

Ayre on Liverpool’s ‘family values’

“You know, we have always said that we are the world’s greatest football family and Asian cultures are very much based on family. I’ve lived and worked out there and I think you see that.

“When we went to Jakarta a few years ago they had all the same flags that we had on the Kop. They knew all the songs. You could just see that they very much felt that they were part of the family. And that’s what really resonates across those markets.

“I was talking to somebody the other day actually about the tour and they were saying the thing that had the biggest impact on them the last time we went to Asia was the age of the fans.

“Everyone assumed it would be an ageing fan base because of the reasons I described but actually it was a lot of kids. It is not just a latent, historic appeal - the hotel was besieged with youngsters!

“So it is being passed on and handed down. And long may that continue because we love going out there - and we love the support that we get.”

 

Fans: Reds supporters outside Anfield 7. Ayre on Anfield’s debts

“We are really not concerned about the debt figure,” said Ian Ayre.

“That’s really a timing movement based on when we buy and sell players.

“It has an effect relative to a certain end of year set of accounts. So if you are buying early in a transfer window, as an example, then these payments become due usually over two or three years.

“And if you are buying early they might fall in one year rather than another. So some years it will be up and some years it will be down. It’s certainly not anything of concern and the fact the we moved debt from round about £240m down to a manageable level of close to £60m is a huge transition.

“So we believe in this era of Financial Fair Pay, of scrutiny and spending what you earn, that we have brought the club back to the best possible position it could have.”

 

Liverpool revenue increases

19 %

Club revenue

46 %

Media revenue

5 %

Commercial revenue

8. Controlling cost - and performance related pay nowadays for Reds’ stars

Liverpool are at the forefront of introducing performance related pay for players, says an Ayre.

And it is being largely welcomed by players and even their agents.

In negotiating or re-negotiating deals, Liverpool are using the latest statistical and analytical tools to show players how and where they can improve - or where they may have dropped in standard - to incentivise them.

If young players develop or reach levels they are capable of - or established stars maintain or improve further - they will reap the financial benefits for their efforts.

Said Ayre: “In any business you can make lots of money but if you let it go out of the door in other ways, then you are in trouble.

 

Reuters

Star: Raheem Sterling has been offered a new deal

“I think a big part of what we have done over several years is try to realign all sorts of costs.

“The obvious biggest outgoing is players’ wages and transfer fees. That’s taken a pretty dramatic change in terms of how we look at it, analyse it and pay for it - and how we structure contracts.

“So elements of performance in contracts is key; getting value is key - value in and value out. That takes time, because a it’s a new structure and new way of going about things.

“If you are re-negotiating a player’s contract, you can only do that at the time it is due to happen. That has taken some years but we feel we have made great progress and we’ll continue that.

“Like any incentive it has to be achievable. There is no point setting goals that are just unrealistic.

 

Liverpool 2014/15 summer spending

£117m

Paid

£83m

Received

£34m

Net

“We pay good pay for our players; we pay fair pay. But we also like to give them the appetite to earn more which we know footballers like to do. As we all do.

“So we spend a lot of time and our Performance and Analysis team spend a lot of time analysing and structuring, so that when we put a deal to a player that has performance related bonuses or elements, we are not only just showing them what they can earn, we are showing them the realism of that.

“It’s realistic because we have all the statistics. And they can see that they are actually very capable of it - and in some cases they have been doing it.

“It’s perhaps that we’d just like to see more of it . And they can then feel energised to go out and achieve that.

“That’s a far cry from deals where it is sort of nailed on and then it doesn’t matter whether they perform or do not perform.

“So we are just trying to find a balance. I think other teams are doing that as well - or at least trying to do that. And it’s certainly working for us - we have a happy bunch of players.”

 

Andrew Powell

Winner: Coutinho is mobbed after scoring against City 9. Ayre on Liverpool’s team ethic - and getting better financial figures again next year

Ayre said: “We’ve always said we are one team. Brendan says that and I say that. And we genuinely mean it. And when everybody contributes to success, that’s what we mean.

“When we say it’s about success on and off the pitch, it really is about everybody doing their piece. And these results start to show that that is working.

“We’d always expect to improve and I think I’d be confident in saying that we’ll improve our position in this current year.

“But it is about each individual part and as we saw last year when we didn’t have European revenue, which these results today reflect, those years are much tougher.

“We have to build our business on the basis that that may or may not be there in any particular season. And when it is there, it is a bonus, if you like.

 

VIEW GALLERY ‘FSG have never taken a penny’

“What is important to say is that when we get that additional revenue, be it from Champions League, Europa League or from finishing in different positions, the one thing about this ownership group is that they have never taken a single penny out of the football club.

“So it all goes back into the team or the club. We have been very fortunate to enjoy those additional revenue streams this year - but it goes straight back into the pot.

“It is all going in the same place. Brendan, myself, the owners - everyone wants to achieve as much as they can achieve and it will be reinvested.

“When we talk about a financial prudency and managing the football club in the best way we can with what we have got, then that does mean investing in younger players some of the time that will cost less money to buy but give us better long term value.

“We can’t compete with some people who seem to have deeper pockets. But if you go about it the right way - and get the right result - then we can still be successful.

 

Action Images

Watching on: Owner John W Henry

 

“You know the nicest thing about the process was that if you talk to football people - and by that I mean coaching staff, scouts and others who are in and around the team at Melwood - then one of the things that somebody observed to me was that at some football clubs, when the results don’t start to go your way, you can start to see the cracks appearing among players and staff.

“Right throughout this season we were regularly being told that that wasn’t the case at Liverpool. And I think the comments from players in the media told that story as well.

“People were trying to knock them - but they were all together. If they tried to knock an individual player or they tried to knock them as a team or tried to knock the manager, they were just all there together.

 

“If you have been in and around the club for the past few years then you’ll know everything we have talked about is one club - and getting back to the values that this football club was built upon.

“Having people in this football club whether it is players, staff, owners, management, that believe in that, is vital. And I genuinely can say that there aren’t any egos here any more - that’s so important.

“When you are a team you need to feel you have a part in it, just like everyone else does. It is always very telling when players score and celebrate and they are all in it together - because they really are all in it together.

 

Getty

Delight: Rickie Lambert celebrates against Aston Villa

 

Brendan Rodgers ‘more than just a football manager’

“We are a big football club and you are always going to get people who are going to try and knock you down - that’s the nature of the beast.

“But we are big enough to take that and get on with it and pick ourselves up. That’s what I feel and Brendan feels we have done this season.

“We got knocked down and knocked around a little at the start of the season but here we are back fighting and still in two competitions.

 

Action Images

The boss: Rodgers celebrates earlier this season

“It is absolutely Brendan’s way but Brendan absolutely participates in what we do as a management team.

“He’s not just a football manager - he’s a member of the senior management team at the club.

"And again if you don’t let the staff feel they are part of it - and I mean the staff in the offices and the staff doing security, the staff doing the cleaning - everybody has to feel part of it .

“Brendan plays a part in helping us do that across the club, as we do the other way round. So it is just important to treat everybody the same. And we do. And it works.”

[Cardie]

Isn't that what they bought the club to clear? The cunts walked away with fuck all, so in effect, we've still been lumbered with our purchase price?

 

So what exactly did they pay to own the club?

Arghhhh I want to be angry at FSG but I but I don't understand enough about it to have a go.....

 

 

[ZonkoVille77]

Where's the dunkin donuts money, John?

[Section_31]

Clueless as Ayre is about most things, it has to be said he seems pretty adept at the money making shit. Parry couldn't sell condoms in Amsterdam.

[Horus]

Arghhhh I want to be angry at FSG but I but I don't understand enough about it to have a go.....

 

 

Which is why I asked the questions. Questions, by the way, that have yet to be answered explaining what they paid for the club. If you could answer that, then that would  be great. I remember pretty well, that they were supposed to be "buying" the club, and we've now paid off their purchase price for them. Tell me how that's different in any way from the Tom Hicks model.

 

 

Sorry, didnt see all of this. Yes, those 2 got nowt but the club still owed the banks the money they'd put on it. Someone has to pay that.

 

 

 

The club owed the banks money, agreed. But shouldn't the purchase price have wiped the debt away? So all they had to do to take ownership of the club, is say "don't worry, if it gets desperate we'll guarantee the money back to you, Mr RBS, otherwise we'll just leave the debt where it is and pay it off via the club" They may not have loaded up the club the way the other cunts did, but in effect, it's the same model of purchasing the club, they just looked out with TV deals, and have worked hard (to be fair) to increase other commercial revenues.

[Cardie]

Which is why I asked the questions. Questions, by the way, that have yet to be answered explaining what they paid for the club.

It was the accusatory tone you started off with, as if you were sure they were guilty of something because of pre-established bias but you just wanted that opinion to be validated, that I was laughing at