Anfield Red

In 2002, Liverpool Football Club announced their plans to build a new stadium on Stanley Park; however 8 years later we are still nowhere nearer to having that new stadium, and the Official timeline provided by the club makes depressing reading.

Spirit of Shankly have confirmed Tom Hicks and George Gillette are present at Anfield this evening, and are asking for people to spread the word to join in the protests to get these lying scumbags out of our club.

George Gillett and Tom Hicks have been swimming upstream for some time now. Ever since The Royal Bank of Scotland issued an ultimatum on the American owners’ £237 million debt — the currently government-controlled bank made it clear the massive debt needed to be paid down by July if they wanted to refinance their current loans — things have been far from sunny at the club.

Given the state of the international economy at the moment, the thought of the Liverpool owners obtaining cash injection on their own have all but dried up. And with those disappearing dreams have come the harsh reality that George Gillett and Tom Hicks must now bring on another investor, should the two want to remain at the club in any capacity.

On Sunday, The Guardian reported a story linking a New York-based management firm called the Rhone Group with the American owners.

Co-owner George Gillett’s push to sell a stake in Liverpool is apparently on at the moment, after reports came out earlier today confirmed that any talks between F6, the Saudi Arabian investment company owned by Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdullah, and Gillett regarding a sale of the club are ‘on hold’.

“The discussions are now on hold. The idea of buying a stake in Liverpool was put on the table in September but since then nothing happened.”

Gillett, who reportedly flew to Saudi Arabia last week to meet with the Prince, appears to be in a rush to sell off his stake in the club. His visit seemed to confirm earlier reports that a sale was near.

However, it doesn’t look like the process will be quick and easy. Talks between the two sides seem to be progressing, but nothing has been finalised as of yet.

“Our negotiations to buy shares in Liverpool are ongoing, meetings are taking place and we might be in the final stages in the coming days,” Prince Faisal himself said last week.

George Gillett has come out recently denying that he said the new stadium work would start within 60 days of them completing the takeover LFC; but here is a video of the first press conference where he says “the first spade has to be in the ground within 60 days.”

This video was taken by the Liverpool Daily Post:

Here is George Gillett’s most recent comment about the stadium where he denies saying what is captured on video above: “Whether you see the value is a different issue. Where have we lied? Where’s the lie, for Christ’s sake? In those 60 days, what happened to the world? I didn’t say that. Hicks was the one who said. 60 days? Bulls**t. That was not me. It’s wrong. I have never talked about that.

“I think that what happened was that Hicks was convinced we were going to start to move dirt on the foundations within a 60-day period. In the period of time, the world credit market collapsed and he had big egg on his face, not living up to what we said. I don’t talk about absolute dates when we’re talking about credit markets”

Looks like more protests like this are needed:

Apparently George Gillett’s sale of his majority stake in the Montreal Canadians has made things all better between our ownership and RBS. Just about a fortnight ago, the media was having a go at us regarding the future of the £350m loan with company. Local MP, Peter Kilfoyle, even went so far as to try and push for a block on refinancing deal — a move that was supported by many Liverpool supporters.

Fast forward to today and you’ll see that things are completely different. The club is in the midst of the transfer window having already agreed to a £17m move for Glen Johnson. The whole RBS issue? Well they’re telling those same Liverpool supporters who were furious about a possible renewal on the refinancing package to relax! The ownership was able to meet their debt obligations “comfortably”!

Who in the world ever expected RBS to send this sort of letter to supporters? I surely didn’t see it coming. The letter in full after the jump.

The letter is as follows…

Thank you for your email expressing concern about RBS’ banking arrangements with Liverpool FC and its current owners. We are aware of the strength of feeling of a number of fans on this matter and have corresponded with many during the course of the past year or so.

Roger Lowry, Head of Group Public Affairs, Royal Bank of Scotland Group

The financial revelations regarding our club have been rearing their head of late in just about every paper across the world, causing many of us (myself included) to react in ways we normally wouldn’t dare. I’ve thrown stuff across the room; screamed at the telly every time Hicks or Gillett showed their mugs on Sky; as well as changing my occupation from ‘journalist’ to ’sailor’ after using every four letter word in the book to describe the current ownership.

But in the end none of it does any good. To truly make a change to the current goings-on, one must be smart, tactful and know just where to hit the ownership where it hurts. It looks like SOS has figured that part out!

The Liverpool Supporters’ Union decided to take matters into their own hands by going straight to the source of this whole mess, asking supporters to contact RBS and demand answers/changes to the current loan agreement with the financial giant.

Who knows what kind of impact it’ll have on RBS, but whatever the outcome, it’s good to see SOS stepping up to the plate and calling on Liverpool supporters to do their part.

The information below is a bit long, but if you feel called to write a letter to your MP or RBS, I’ve attached the templates below and the contact information. The club and SOS could really use your help in making this letter writing campaign a big success.

Here’s some information courtesy of the site:

* The club now owe banks over £300m

* Interest alone to service that debt costs £40m a year

* The club made £10m operating profit last year which is not enough to cover the interest payments meaning a plunge £30m further into debt every season before penny is spent

* Every player bought puts the club further into the red and increases those interest payments

* To build a new ground without alternative investment means another £400m loan which will double those interest payments

* The majority of the debt has been run up simply by the American owners takeover of the club. making a mockery of their promise to be “different” from the Glazers – who also borrowed other peoples’ money to buy Manchester United.

Hicks and Gillett’s current loan agreement with the Royal Bank of Scotland is up for renewal in July and SOS are asking Liverpool supporters to contact RBS to urge them not to grant an extension, forcing the owners to commence an exit strategy and sell the club.

SOS request

We are asking all fans to write to RBS making clear our opposition to the refinancing and demanding information from RBS as to their current and future intentions relating to their support of the current owners.

Your letter needs to be posted to:

Richard Holliday
Royal Bank of Scotland
135 Bishopsgate
London
EC2M 3UR

Or an email sent to him at: richard.holliday@rbs.com

We are asking for you to do both – we expect the volume of email traffic will be such that RBS will take immediate action to block and filter so please post a letter and be imaginative but polite with the subject heading of any email – “LFC” or “Liverpool” are quite likely to be filtered out pretty quickly.

We are also asking all members and fans to write to their own Members of Parliament drawing their attention to the fact that as tax payers we are effective majority shareholders within RBS and as such demand that our voices are heard and that our wishes are heeded and acted upon. Not only are we as supporters of LFC paying the loan repayments for Hicks and Gillett, but as taxpayers who have a controlling stake in RBS, we are paying for the loans that have placed the Club’s existence in jeopardy. Encourage them to raise the issue in Parliament. It’s our money and we don’t want it going to them.

We have drafted letters for use below (or by all means compose your own using moderate and restrained language) to go to the Account Manager at RBS dealing with the re-finance and to your local MP (if you’re not sure of who is your MP then search at http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/)

We have a small window of opportunity now as the refinancing date approaches so please send your letter as soon as possible – please pass on details of this site and page to anyone you know who supports our aims urging them to write as well.

Template for the RBS Letter

Dear Sir,

Re: Liverpool Football Club/Kop Football Ltd

The Spirit of Shankly is the Liverpool FC Supporters’ Union set up to represent the interests of the true owners of Liverpool Football Club, namely the supporters. We are registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act and are regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

I have seen the company accounts published in the last couple of days in relation to our football club and its associated companies and it is clear that the business model operated by the current “owners” is unsustainable and quite frankly an embarrassment to you as funders of what is rapidly becoming a laughing stock in sporting and financial circles and more importantly to us as the proper custodians of a proud institution. Well, enough is enough.

I am writing to you to seek information as to Royal Bank of Scotland’s intentions relating to the refinancing of loans due from the Club and its associated companies which are due for review in July this year.

I appreciate that there are issues relating to confidentiality but I take the view that as one of the true owners of Liverpool Football Club I am entitled to know the Bank’s current intentions and views relating to any refinancing.

It is clear in the current economic climate that the Bank may have no appetite to extend funding on any basis or upon significantly different and onerous terms, and accordingly the supporters need to know where RBS stand on this issue which is quickly coming to a head.

The Spirit of Shankly has taken professional advice and is aware that there are various options open to you as follows:

1. Refinancing upon the same, similar or different terms (with the attendant arrangement fees, costs etc);

2. A formal refusal to refinance on any terms leaving the current obligations needing to be immediately repaid with the threat of formal insolvency proceedings;

3. A formal but private refusal to refinance on any terms and the more likely “informal administration” seeking an exit strategy for RBS reducing expenditure and investment and seeing a medium term repayment of interest and capital;

4. Repayment of the current funding due to a third party funder being secured to replace RBS.
In any event I am entitled to know what your current and short term intentions are and what negotiations and representations are being made regarding the July deadline.

I feel that RBS, should not under any circumstances, re-negotiate a re-financing package with George Gillett or Tom Hicks that would see them remain in control at Liverpool Football Club. As the true owners of Liverpool Football Club the supporters demand that our wishes and our desires should be considered by you and that desire is to see Tom Hicks and George Gillett removed from Liverpool Football Club.

Please note that I expect to receive a substantive response rather than a bland refusal to discuss the issue with me. If I do not receive a satisfactory response then I know the Union is already planning direct action against RBS to support our request for the information we deserve.

Yours sincerely

Template for the letter to your MP

Re: Liverpool Football Club/Kop Football Ltd

I am a constituent of yours and would like to seek your support in lobbying the government to use its controlling stake in the RBS group to refuse to re-finance the loans given by RBS to Liverpool Football Club and its associated companies and to assist in taking steps to return the Club to its rightful owners, the fans.

I have written to RBS in the following terms which explain the views of fans and what we see as RBS’s obligation to us:

The Spirit of Shankly is the Liverpool FC Supporters’ Union set up to represent the interests of the true owners of Liverpool Football Club, namely the supporters. We are registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act and are regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

I have seen the company accounts published in the last couple of days in relation to our football club and its associated companies and it is clear that the business model operated by the current “owners” is unsustainable and quite frankly an embarrassment to you as funders of what is rapidly becoming a laughing stock in sporting and financial circles and more importantly to us as the proper custodians of a proud institution. Well, enough is enough.

I am writing to you to seek information as to Royal Bank of Scotland’s intentions relating to the refinancing of loans due from the Club and its associated companies which are due for review in July this year.

I appreciate that there are issues relating to confidentiality but I take the view that as one of the true owners of Liverpool Football Club we are entitled to know the Bank’s current intentions and views relating to any refinancing.

It is clear in the current economic climate that the Bank may have no appetite to extend funding on any basis or upon significantly different and onerous terms, and accordingly the supporters need to know where RBS stand on this issue which is quickly coming to a head.

The Union has taken professional advice and is aware that there are various options open to you as follows:

1. Refinancing upon the same, similar or different terms (with the attendant arrangement fees, costs etc);

2. A formal refusal to refinance on any terms leaving the current obligations needing to be immediately repaid with the threat of formal insolvency proceedings;

3. A formal but private refusal to refinance on any terms and the more likely “informal administration” seeking an exit strategy for RBS reducing expenditure and investment and seeing a medium term repayment of interest and capital;

4. Repayment of the current funding due to a third party funder being secured to replace RBS.
In any event we are entitled to know your current and short term intentions are and what negotiations and representations are being made regarding the July deadline.

I feel that RBS, should not under any circumstances, re-negotiate a re-financing package with George Gillett or Tom Hicks that would see them remain in control at Liverpool Football Club. As the true owners of Liverpool Football Club the supporters demand that our wishes and our desires should be considered by you and that desire is to see Tom Hicks and George Gillett removed from Liverpool Football Club.

Please note that I expect to receive a substantive response rather than a bland refusal to discuss the issue with me. If I do not receive a satisfactory response then I know the Union is already planning direct action against RBS to support our request for the information we deserve.

The government is in a unique position to instruct RBS not to refinance these loans and to start a process that will see Liverpool Football Club passed to supporters’ ownership.

Yours sincerely

Update: Great article in the Guardian today regarding Liverpool’s financial status.

Remember this beautiful structure in the photo? I’m sure you do as it was once Liverpool’s proposed stadium that Messrs. Hick and Gillett promised us a couple years ago. It was a beautiful new stadium that was supposed to put us right at the top of Europe with the most advanced home around.

On paper the new stadium sounded like a wonderful thing. But like most things promised by G&H, the new stadium will remain just that: a beautiful idea that will remain on paper for years to come.

We all know where the club stands at the moment. Knee deep in debt and looking for a way out, Liverpool managed to do something this season that they weren’t able to do last year, and that was turn a profit. It was reported by Companies House that Liverpool will come away with a pre-tax profit of £10.2m for the year to July 31, 2008. Looking at the £21.7m loss we took the year before, a profit in any degree seems like a moral victory of sorts.

But that’s where the good new ends.

Companies House also announced that Liverpool’s debt went from £44m to £86m in a single year. Let that figure sink in for a second. In the span of 365 days, Hicks and Gillett managed to DOUBLE our debt. Now that’s a sobering figure.

Whilst we can blame the economy and other factors on the massive debt, the fact of the matter is that the club is in territory the likes of which we’ve never seen. Both owners have been rolling over their debt on a yearly basis, heaping more and more debt on the club in spectacular fashion. But when will it all end?

The economic problems don’t appear to be going away anytime soon. And considering how much debt we have now, who’s to say we don’t double our current figure again? That may be a bit harsh, but the thought of us topping £100m isn’t far fetched.

So where does the club go from here? I don’t think I know for sure, but if a story via the Echo is to be believed, then we get a good idea of where funds are going:

Interestingly, the report also reveals that owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett injected £58m into the club.

Hicks and Gillett are due to refinance again next month but sources indicate they are likely to be given a six-month extension to their current loan arrangement.

What that essentially means is that Hicks and Gillett are paying just enough to keep the refinancing agreement kosher while they throw bits and scraps to Benitez by way of a transfer kitty.

Considering our current debts and the economy, just how much should we realistically expect from H&G in the form of transfer funds this summer? £10m? £15m? Less than £10m? Who knows for sure. All I know is that our owners are squeezing the financial life out of our club one day at a time.

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The rest of the article can then be added here,

George Gillett will be at Anfield on saturday as Liverpool face Man Utd in the Premier league.

Co-owner of Liverpool Football Club George Gillett will be present in the director’s box to watch the Premier league match , despite being far from Welcome by supporters.

Hopefully the crowd will make their feelings known towards Gillett, who co-owns the club with fellow liar Tom Hicks. I for one will be there on Saturday making my voice heard!

Altogether now :