February 6 – Anfield of Dreams | On This Football Day

February 6 – Anfield of Dreams

ANYONE who watched Match of the Day 2 on Sunday would have seen the Liverpool’s two American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett in attendance at Anfield to watch the reds take on Chelsea. Pointedly the two men were sat as far apart as possible indicating relations between the two are about as cordial as those between Frank Lampard and Mike Riley.

It was all very different today in 2007 when they swept into town amid a sea of winning American smiles and announced they had bought the club from former chairman David Moores who said: “This is a great step forward for its shareholders and its fans.”

Gillett made all the right noises at their first press conference, promising a new stadium and money for players. “We believe in the future of the club, the future of the league, the new TV contracts are outstanding and we are proud to be a part of it,” he said.

“This is truly the largest sport in the world, the most important sport in the world, and this is the most important club in the most important sport in the world. What a privilege we have to be associated with it and we hope that with the good graces of Rick and his team that we will have on-the-pitch success and economic success.”

He also denied the pair had bought the club by loading debt on to it in the style the Glazers had purchased Manchester United. “We have purchased the club with no debt on the club,” he said, although he failed to point out the huge loans the duo had taken out to fund the deal which came to light some months later when they had to be renegotiated.

Unusually Hicks and Gillett are rivals in the NHL hockey league in the USA. Gillett owns the Montreal Canadians while Hicks owns rival team the Dallas Stars and it didn’t take long for the American dream to start to turn sour for the pair and Liverpool.

By November 2007 cracks had begun to appear in the partnership as the papers began to speculate they were at loggerheads over plans for the club. Various spokesmen and lackeys toed the party line and insisted they were as happy as larry but rumours persisted that they were bickering more than Statler and Waldorf.

As the months went on the problems began to mount up. The pair had a public spat with manager Rafa Benitez over his transfer policy and then it emerged they had approached Jurgen Klinsmann in November 2007 with a view to the German dive bomber taking over.

The proposed new stadium went through two redesigns in a bid to bring down costs, before the whole project was shelved altogether in light of the economy going more pear-shaped than a pear.

At one stage Gillett said his relationship with hicks had become “unworkable” and in September 2008 the fans staged a march against the owners. A statement from the Spirit of Shankly group who organised the protest said: “A march of passion, a march of anger, a march of Red solidarity that roars its message loud and proud: ‘enough is enough, go now’.”

They still haven’t gone, but the interest from Dubai International Capital investment group is said to persist and it is fair to say the American dream has turned sour for Hicks and Gillett and one or even both of them may be walking alone before long.

The snow that seems to have made the rest of Britain grind to a halt will not stop us so stop by this way again tomorrow if you’re snowed in.

Also on this day, one of the worst tragedies in the history of football.