In July 2003, Roman Abramovich became the owner of Chelsea and opened a new era in English club football - the era of foreign investment. Breaking the stereotypes of conservative British society started the American Malcolm Glaser, who received the Manchester United award. After waiting for the storm, others followed him. Not surprisingly, in recent years, the Premier League has become a very attractive investment target. Promoted brand, constantly expanding geography of the market and record growth rates of advertising and television contracts. In 2006, it was time to change the ownership of Portsmouth, Aston Villa, West Ham. In 2007, it came to Liverpool.
However, it came a long time before Liverpool. Three years ago, David Moors, holder of 51% of the shares, realized that rapidly changing conditions cast doubt on the club’s competitiveness. The first offers for sale came pretty quickly. Persistent was Steve Morgan, the owner of a large hotel business and an ardent fan of Liverpool. Exotics added interest from the Thai Prime Minister. However, Moors rejected these offers. Perhaps at that moment he also did not decide finally what to do - he really wanted to win, finally, the Premier League. During the 15-year reign of Mursa, Liverpool assembled the entire collection of any significant English and European cups, but the championship was not subdued to the Merseysiders. Desperate, the president made contact with representatives of the Investment Fund Dubai Investment Capital (DIC), behind which stood Sheikh Mohammed - one of the richest people in the world.
The negotiations lasted for 18 months and by the end of 2006 threatened to end with success. Liverpool’s executive director, Rick Perry, had already prepared the Reds for the upcoming deal, convincing those that the Arabs would bring a lot of money and would not encroach on the club’s great traditions. However, at the last moment everything went wrong. There are two reasons for this, any of which can be considered both cause and effect. First, at the end of December, an entertaining document hit the press that shed light on some of DIC's intentions. It, for example, said that the fund was going to make Liverpool a regularly profitable commercial project that could be freely sold in 7-8 years. The second circumstance was the appearance of the American multimillionaire George Gillette. Its price was inferior to the offer of the Arabs, and Moors was inclined to deal with DIC. However, the incident with the program document shook his confidence. The American brilliantly seized the opportunity. He ... found a companion, an even richer businessman, Tom Hicks. Together they were able to offer an amount in excess of the competitor's offer. At the end of January, DIC issued an ultimatum to Liverpool on the immediate completion of the transaction, not realizing that this ultimatum was more likely to itself - the initiative was irretrievably lost.
68-year-old George Gillette made a fortune (according to experts - about $ 860 million) in the production of meat products, the media and sports business. He started as an ordinary sales manager, and earned his first capital from publishing newspapers and broadcasting small television stations. Gillett gained wide fame and greatest income in a ski resort in Colorado, which by the mid-90s he had made one of the best in the world. In January 2000, an American acquired an 80% stake in the legendary hockey club Montreal Canadiens, causing sharp discontent among Canadian fans. However, the affairs of the team soon went uphill, and the tension subsided. It was thanks to the NHL that Gillette met his current companion and friend.
Tom Hicks is a Texan founder of a large investment company. The horizons of his business interests are unusually great. Over the years, it has covered, for example, the production of 7-UP soft drinks, pet food in Argentina, or electronic products in China. However, Hicks made a name for himself in politics and sports. Since the mid-90s, Tom has been an associate and sponsor of George W. Bush, then Governor of Texas and now President of the United States. At the same time, Hicks became the owner of the Dallas Stars hockey club and achieved serious success with it. A little later, he added to this the presidency of the Texas Rangers baseball. Here he made the biggest deal in the history of world sports, in the winter of 2000 he signed a contract with the best baseball player of that time Alex Rodriguez for a period of 10 years for $ 252 million. It did not bring happiness to the club - after three pale seasons Rodriguez left Texas with huge losses for Hicks. The British press instantly unearthed this story when it came to future high-profile transfers of Liverpool.
On February 6, Gillette and Hicks reached an agreement with the owners of Liverpool, and hockey rivals became football partners. The price of the issue is 470 million pounds, 174 of which were spent on the purchase of shares, 45 on the club’s debts, the rest on the construction of a new stadium and instant investments. Gillette and Hicks became equal co-owners of Liverpool, Rick Perry retained his post of executive director, and David Moors took the chair of the honorary president. At a presentation press conference, Gillette said: “We believe in the future of the club, the future of the league, new outstanding television contracts and are proud to be part of all this.” The Americans also told the audience about the important sport of football and briefly told about the great history of Liverpool. Former owners complemented the idyllic picture by making a special statement, the essence of which boils down to the proclamation of a new glorious club era.
Obviously, the purchase of Liverpool by the Americans did not cause such a violent negative reaction from the press and fans, as was the case with Glazer and Manchester United. Gillette and Hicks, not new to the world of sports, thought out their first steps well, focusing on maintaining continuity and traditions, as well as the early start of construction of a new spacious stadium (60,000 seats) in the Stanley Park area, which is definitely not will have to share with the hated Everton. Businessmen have already managed to thoroughly talk with Rafael Benitez about summer transfers, assure the public that they will not skimp on the right players, that they generally are here for a long time and are going to transfer the club to their children by inheritance. However, even their good intentions cause logical doubt. The magnate tandem resurrected in Liverpool the mournful memories of the coaching tandem of Evans Hive. The need for a new club arena is far from universally recognized - it is not easy to abandon the great Anfield. Finally, it is difficult to suspect Gilletta and Hicks in a deep knowledge of English football realities, and, accordingly, in a subtle understanding of the club's needs. Moreover, most of the time they will still spend on the other side of the ocean.
And yet, many fans were impressed by the statements of Gillette and Hicks. They realize that the arrival of wealthy foreign investors is necessary for the further development of Liverpool, believe in the club’s competitiveness in comparison with Chelsea and Manchester United. Another part of the large “red” fan army is wary of changes, preferring to believe only in deeds and wait for the first results. Well, of course, there are those who will always take with hostility any decision of the new leadership. They simply do not understand how their favorite club can be managed by foreigners, how football can be a business in general. Indeed, for fans it is a life in which not everything is evaluated in terms of “profit”, “victory” and “defeat”.