A group of Liverpool supporters is to unveil an
ambitious plan to buy the troubled Anfield club from its US
owners.
A group calling themselves Share Liverpool FC aim to create a
stakeholder base of 100,000 fans to raise enough cash to oust Tom
Hicks and George Gillett.
It comes after weeks of worry about the financial future of
Liverpool, sparked when the pair took out a £350 million
re-financing loan.
There have also been tensions between the owners and club manager
Rafa Benitez.
Rogan Taylor, a Kop season ticket holder and a director of the
Football Industry Group at the University of Liverpool, is leading
the buy-out campaign.
He said: "It is time to answer the concerns that football fans have
about the patterns of ownership developing at our major football
clubs.
"Thousands of Liverpool fans have already demonstrated their
dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs.
"Large amounts of debt is often laden onto newly-bought clubs and
the fans know that in the end, it will be them who will have to pay
it off through increased ticket prices and other schemes.
"In such a case, why not simply buy the club yourselves?"
Purchase
The model proposed by Share Liverpool FC will be a 'member-share'
scheme, aimed at raising £500 million to purchase the club from
Hicks and Gillett and build a new stadium.
The group have pointed to Barcelona as an example of how the system
works. Barca currently has more than 150,000 culis - members who
own the club.
Mr Taylor added: "What many don't realise is that there are other
ways of financing and taking ownership of big clubs.
"In Germany and Spain, most top-level football clubs are simply
'Not For Sale'. They are owned by many thousands of 'member
fans'.
"The Champions League has been won on six occasions in the last 15
years by clubs owned and run in such a way."
The plan will be unveiled at the School of Management of the
University of Liverpool.
Liverpool FC have so far refused to comment.