http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...e-Gillett-says-MD-Ian-Ayre-article810468.html Liverpool's top brass have admitted for the first time the club could have gone bust. This week marks the first anniversary of the takeover at Anfield by Fenway Sports group, that finally released the club from the grasp of Tom Hicks and George Gillett. And speaking about those momentous times, which saw an historic battle in the high court, MD Ian Ayre has revealed the extent of the danger to their very existence that Liverpool faced. Liverpool MD Ian Ayre interview: "Kenny Dalglish has brought everyone together" The club, he says, was "on the brink", and could so easily have gone under because of the massive mountain of debt the previous owners had piled on. "Certainly the bank had the power to call in the debt and at the time there wasn't anyone ready to take on that debt. So I guess the answer to that is yes, the club could have gone into administration," he confessed. "Based on where we were and based on the circumstances at the time that was a very real threat. It's not what anyone wanted. It wouldn't have been a better solution than where we ended up but it was a very real threat. "That was the case in the final hours. That was one of the other routes we could have gone down." It seems an incredible admission that a club the size of Liverpool, with a global reach matched only by the likes of Manchester United and Real Madrid, could have arrived at such a position. But estimates of the complicated debt structure Hicks and Gillett had placed on the club suggested that Liverpool owed anything up to £450million... with that figure rising on an almost daily basis. Eventually, the court case, driven by the club's principal creditor the RBS, snatched Liverpool back from the American duo just before disaster struck, but in his assessment of the turbulent past 12 months, Ayre makes no bones about the precarious position such a massive club found itself in. "There are lessons to be learnt for all football clubs, because we really were on the edge," Ayre revealed. "What you had was a domino effect of things. Debt was going up and the cost of servicing the debt was beyond what we felt was reasonable. "Obviously we had a very negative reaction from the fan base which was starting to hurt the commercial revenue. The debt servicing became even harder because the revenues became smaller. If you can't invest in the team, as we've seen the fall out is no European football etc. "I don't think I've ever really wanted to dare to dream where we would have got to but it didn't look good and that was reason why Martin, Christian and myself and the others involved felt we had to find the right solution. There was no preconceived idea of who that was, just the right solution to solve all those problems." While the depth of Liverpool's disaster has only just been truly revealed, Ayre is confident the worst is now behind the club, and the good days are about to return under careful new owners. "It was a disaster that we have recovered from. We are now where we should be and heading in a better direction and in a better shape and set up as a business to perform and deliver," he insisted. "If you really think where we were 12 months ago, it couldn't be more different. We've managed to get it back that quickly, when it could have had a lot more lasting damage - where we are today, I don't think we could even hoped to be this far ahead 12 months ago."
Mental times this time last year. Joined Twitter to keep up with the whole saga. Hard to believe how bad things were. Now we are more worried about who playing week in week out than who is 'servicing' the debt.
I was not on twitter at that stage. There was a great blog that was constantly updated on the Guardian's website. Of course we all became experts in analysing Martin Broughton from his soundbites, 'keep the faith' and became so familiar with the offices of 'Slaughter & May.' Those days were unique not only in the history of Liverpool football club but also for so many of the IK community.
"Obviously we had a very negative reaction from the fan base which was starting to hurt the commercial revenue. Great to see that those of us who kept the boycott going made such a difference for them to speak about it.
What a difference a year makes eh! I remember this week last year I can honestly say my head felt like it was about to explode, I was in Kerry for the week and was struggling to get Internet connection on my phone trying to keep on top of it all. From the day it went into high court we we're going to win, my only worry was Mill Financial who'd repossessed Gillets shares as he'd used them as guarantee on a loan would try finance Hicks, and they did try but the courts dismissed it. I hated boycotting Anfield but I couldn't give them my money, the only game I went to was Sunderland for the SOS protest, but it was a personal choice and in hindsight I respect people who chose to keep going. Martin Broughton is the most honourable man to be involved in our board in 20 years, he did what he said he would, he told us he'd tell us when there was something to be said, and he kept to his word, the shit he took from some of our fans was nothing short of disgraceful topped off by the "f*ck off Broughton" chants at Sunderland protest, and that tit who made the four horseman banner, and all this for what? Anyway we move on and we get stronger from it, but Tony Barrett hit the nail on the head on Sunday saying the civil war scars between our fans from H&G regime will take a while to heal, yet some "fans" continue to cause trouble by spreading lies about some of our players on twitter because there great supporters of a previous manager. 12 months eh!
What a surreal time that was, I remember waking up to a text from the brother saying we have been sold. Then the legal war raged when all of us suddenly became legal experts. we were getting updates from twitter etc. Then it was over and i had a load of pints in vicar st, met huggie and rev and it was all good, then later that night i had a text from rev saying hicks has stopped the sale through a court in texas so the agony continued for 3 more days until finally we were rid of 2 cnuts that had come so close to ruining for a generation englands most successful club. On broughton i had huge reservations about him like so many of our fans, we didnt know who appointed him, was he to be another yes man for the yanks??? Then he wouldnt attend our game vs chelsea which i thought was shocking considering he was our chairman. Im happy to say i couldnt have been more wrong about the man
We all had reservations about Broughton and rightly so(if you didn't,you either knew info no one else did, are a liar or very naive). Yeah he said the right things at the start but so did H&G and Cecil. Once bitten twice shy and all that. None of us knew that it would have ended the way it did. And fair play to Broughton fighting for us, regardless of how much he was paid to do the job, we all owe him a debt of gratitude, the man helped save our club.
Crazy times,can never be allowed happen again.I was at the Blackpool game last Oct and grown men were close to tears after the final whistle during the protest against the 2 Cancers!!!!LFC will be soon back where it belongs,top of the fcukin pile!!!!!
Dont know how i kept my job last year, had the phone and computer in here with 5 windows open keeping up with the news Being part of the protests that finally brought these cnuts to their knees was a great achievement Hard to think its being 12 months, when the first 3 of the new regime wasnt exactlt plain sailing until that January day when the King waved down towards us in OT A moment ill never forget as i finally realised we had won
I'm sure someone more business savvy than me can correct me, but is defaulting on your loans, and having your creditor sell the club against the owners wishes, not a pretty accurate indicator of going 'bust'? Either way we got rid of the two cu*ts so happy endings for all.
Its something that you'll end up talking to your children and childrens children about. I know I certainly will. It was down to the crunch. I was taking Jen away on holidays to Athens. My only english news outlet was CNN and I was relying on friends at home to keep me informed of information. I never forget getting a text to say we could be bought. I switched on CNN at 8am Athens time to hear some Boston guy had bought us.... sounded to good to be true. The day before I had walked through Sigtanama square thinking Jesus when we ever gonna see a European Final again with the two dicks in charge... even if Liverpool survive. I dont think I did any work the day of the court case and the Yanks thread finally being closed. Jesus - hard to believe its a year ago and what difference new owners make.
Il never forget the torment , cant believe its been a year in work flickin around the net on news now sky you name it , ye swore id won the lotto at that deadline that we had to be sold , If i ever meet any of those scumbag snakes id be locked up ,
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-26/rbs-wins-dismissal-of-mill-financial-claim.html Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc won the dismissal of a breach-of-contract claim in a lawsuit brought by a lender over a $70 million personal loan to former Liverpool soccer club owner George Gillett. Mill Financial sued Gillett in November 2010 in New York state court over the loan, seeking $117 million in principal, fees and legal expenses. The Springfield, Virginia-based lender added Edinburgh-based RBS to the suit last year. Liverpool’s banks forced a sale of the club to Boston Red Sox owner John W. Henry’s New England Sports Ventures -- now known as Fenway Sports Group -- for 300 million pounds ($471 million) in October 2010 after Gillett and Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks failed to pay back debt. New York State Supreme Court Justice Eileen Bransten in an order dated yesterday granted a motion by RBS to dismiss the breach of contract claim, while denying a motion to throw out a second claim for breach of implied of covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Mill Financial seeks “purely consequential” damages in the suit based on the theory that it lost its ability to profit from related transactions, a legal remedy that was barred from a contract between Mill Financial, RBS and Wachovia Bank, Bransten wrote. ‘General Damages’ “Plaintiffs have not alleged that they sustained general damages as a result of RBS’ breach of the Tri-Party Agreement, nor have they provided any affidavit in support of this contention,” Bransten said. “Plaintiffs allege only consequential damages that stem from their preclusion from either refinancing the club’s debt to RBS or buying the club outright.” Bransten gave the plaintiffs 30 days to refile the claim to include damages that aren’t prohibited by the agreement.