He May Never Walk Alone, but Can New Liverpool Chairman Save the Day?

For those Liverpool fans that watched new Chairman Martin Broughton's slick inauguration speech last Friday with renewed optimism concerning their beloved club, it may be pertinent to question the new boy's claims.

As an adopted scouser myself, I feel the optimistic side of me pulling my heart strings to Mr Broughton's tune. My pessimistic rationale, however, worked overtime to scrutinise his attempts at adding vigour to this ailing club during his live broadcast for BBC Sport. (Which can be seen below)

His biggest claim for fan support was his insistence that current Liverpool owners Hicks and Gillett will at last sell up, to the euphoria of the vast majority of Reds fans, and that Mr Broughton will only seek to sell to the "right new owners".

This earnest statement seemed only to raise more questions than it answered. The "right new owners" for who? Broughton now heads a 5-man board at Anfield that includes Hicks and Gillett, but when the decision of selling is to be made, I doubt the "independent" chairman's influence.

Broughton insists that he will "make it very clear what the buyer needs to do from the point of view of the supporters", but what obligation do the American duo owe to the fans that have been so hostile?

Imagine a £400m offer arrives on Broughton's desk from a deep-pocketed life-long Liverpool fan who insists a new stadium will be up before the next solar eclipse and that Fernando Torres will have a new strike partner before David N'Gog has to return to his real day job. Meanwhile, Hicks' and Gillett's valuation of £600m+ is met by a consortium that will borrow against the established name of LFC and will issue promises to raise the cash for the stadium. Which one would be accepted, really?

Why should Hicks and Gillett take a £200m pay cut to enhance the lives of the fans that have effectively forced them out? I very much doubt Broughton's influence on the men when dollar signs can be seen on the horizon.

And lets not forget that Broughton comes to us as Chairman of a British Airways organisation that is notoriously unpopular with its workforce. Hope, however, lies with the fact that Broughton, as British American Tobacco Chairman, alienated himself from the tobacco industry by striking an internal blow , declaring: "I want never to see my own children smoke". Costing companies millions and disregarding his own name to potentially save lives, not bad.

Is he prepared to take this mutinous stance at Liverpool, and if so would Hicks and Gillett allow him to spoil their pay day?

Why American Soccer is Entering the Major Leagues

As the self-proclaimed inventors of football, us Brits tend to laugh at and deride our American cousins when it comes to 'soccer', but the creation and maintenance of their flagship franchise Major League Soccer should be a source of inspiration to us amongst our own financial peril.

USA was granted the 1994 FIFA World Cup under the agreement that they would establish a long-term professional league. A move that was no-doubt fueled by FIFA's willingness to open the soccer market up to the richest country on the planet, with previous attempts of fading superstars, like George Best who played for the San Jose Earthquakes in 1980, joining their amateur ranks at the end of their careers being largely fruitless.

MLS was the result and many see its success being owed to very strict controls on transfers and salaries since its inception in 1996. Focus was placed on home-grown talent, so much so that by the end of the first season of MLS, which was won by D.C. United, soccer had more registered native players than any other professional sport.

The 2010 season of the MLS began a month ago, and attendances are for the first time averaging above other American favourites NBA (basketball) and NHL (ice hockey), leaving soccer the 3rd most attended sport in the USA behind NFL (American football) and MLB (baseball). Basketball and hockey fans would eagerly point out the size limitations their stadiums impose on numbers but there is more to this shift than just physical boundaries and the David Beckham effect.

This shift can be best illustrated by the highest averaging team in the MLS, at 36,153 average last month, the Seattle Sounders. Following the relocation of their basketball team the Sonics to Oklahoma, a struggling Seahawks NFL side and their baseball team the Mariners becoming the first ever NFL team in history to have a $100m payroll and lose 100 games, it seems that Seattle's sporting fans are eager to back a winner, after they won last years US Open Cup.

USA's national soccer team has reached every World Cup Finals since 1990, even reaching the last 8 in Japan/Korea in 2002. And with their Confederations Cup Runners-up place last year adding to their strong bid to stage the 2018 World Cup finals; perhaps we will see the rest of the nation following Seattle's lead and the USA could become the footballing powerhouse that we have always hoped/feared.

A Quick Guide to England's Financially Stricken Clubs

As the 2009/10 term draws to a close, we can look back on a season that has been riddled with financial difficulties at all levels of English football. Here is a quick guide to how financial struggles have left the most pertinent clubs and how it all might have been so different:

Premiership

Portsmouth

Probably the most recognisable current case of club mismanagement that saw Pompey have a bittersweet season. Deducted 9 points for entering administration and facing relegation from England's top division as a consequence, the Avram Grant led side miraculously reached a second FA Cup final in 3 years. They now await a decision on whether they are to be granted a European Football License from governing body FIFA (which seems improbable) which would allow them to see Europa League football at Fratton Park whilst mounting a charge for promotion from the Championship next season.

Championship

Crystal Palace

The Londoners sit 2 points above the drop in the Championship having had 10 points deducted for their financial faults. Before entering administration the then Neil Warnock managed team were challenging for a playoff spot. Since, their experienced manager defected to cash-rich London rivals Queen's Park Rangers, with Paul Hart now taking the reins.

League One

Southampton

Like their fellow Southern rivals Portsmouth, the former Premiership

stalwarts have had increasingly worsening finances since their relegation from the top-flight in 2006, after 27 years in England's premier competition. They now lie in 8th place in England's third tier having had 10 points deducted for entering administration before this season began. Without the point penalty they would be at 6th in the league, pushing for automatic promotion with a playoff place guaranteed.

League Two

The only professional English division not to have a club enter administration this season, but has still seen one of the most controversial financial stories of the year. Notts County sit top of the league with 2 games to play thanks to their early season policy of attracting otherwise unfeasible targets with imagined riches and ungrounded promises (Just ask Sol Campbell). They will most probably pay the price perhaps by entering administration next season whilst in League One, having robbed a worthy club the chance of promotion this term. Without County's financial aberration you could move everyone around them one place up and offer Rotherham a duly earned promotion after their own financial turmoil that saw them deducted 17 points last year.

Blue Square Premier

Chester City

Thee Cheshire club have paid the ultimate price for their financial problems, having been expelled from the league for failing to attend fixtures and ultimately liquidating as a result. Chester now look to create a new football team for the city under the guidance of a group of dedicated supporters; City Fans United. Chester's affect on the league is that all results involving them have now been expunged, despite some protestation from aggrieved clubs who beat Chester, and one less club will be relegated.

Blue Square North/South

Farsley Celtic

 

Like Chester, the Yorkshire club are now defunct as a result of financial inadequacies with all their results in the league expunged. Farsley, who once boasted Micah Richards as a youth player on the books, dissolved in March this year owing £750,000 in unpaid taxes. Like the BSP one less club will be relegated from BSN as a result of Farsley's expulsion. The Southern section, however, remains conspicuous in its relative financial security with no clubs facing point deductions.

The American Dream, or Scouse Nightmare?

They arrived in 2007 with tales of a gleaming new stadium, increased funds for the purchase of players to take Liverpool to that elusive Premier League title, and assurances that they would not 'do a Glazer'.

Liverpool's American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett promised Reds fans the world, and now - three years on - we can all see the emptiness in their fatuous pledges.

So, is the latest news that a new group of American businessmen looking to invest in Liverpool a relief, or more agony?

The New York based Rhône Group have 'offered' £110m for a 40% stake in the Merseyside club, deftly highlighting the financial peril that Liverpool are currently in.

As football lovers, we can generally not profess to have the greatest grasp on the intricacies of global economics, with our average vocabulary on the subject consisting mainly of; 'credit crunch' or 'administration'. But the terms of this offer would baffle even the most weathered financial guru.

The main point is that none of this proposed £110m would go into Hicks' or Gillett's pocket, but instead, would serve to reduce Liverpool's £237m debts owed to The Royal Bank of Scotland and American bank Wachovia.

This debt has accumulated only because Hicks and Gillett borrowed money to take over, and burdened Liverpool FC with the responsibility of repaying it. Sounds very Glazer-ish to me.

Rhône's bid, the only firm investment offer Liverpool have received recently, would reduce the American duo to a 30% stake each, with Hicks and Gillett effectively receiving nothing for relinquishing a controlling stake in the club.

This offer has predictably been termed as "not lucrative enough" by Hicks, but these intimations are unlikely to stick if Rhône's offer remains the only tangible bid. This is because they are pinned by a deadline imposed by RBS, who insist that Liverpool's £110m debt to them be reduced by July.

Unless an Arab multi-millionaire swoops to save the day, the likelihood is that Liverpool will have a new group of American NFL fans to contend with in the director's seats, and with the irregularities of this ambiguous deal - how can it fill the fans of England's most decorated club with confidence?

And running the risk of sounding a little xenophobic; it seems that one example of acerbic Scouse humour, immortalised by the traditional Kop flag, is unfortunately ringing true:

Liverpool FC - Built by Shanks - Broke by Yanks.

Here's a quick video showing a passionate group of Liverpool fans protesting against their American owners outside Anfield prior to the Premier League fixture against Hull last September:

Love thy Neighbour, You Don't Know What You Got Til It's Gone.

As a lad born and raised in Wrexham, North Wales, I should be rejoicing and laughing at the financial turmoil over the border at Chester City, that has seen their 125 year history obliterated by a High Court winding-up order. But I can't help but feel compassion for them.

Local football rivalries are what make the game we love so special. What would Liverpool's fixture list be without the annual trip over Stanley Park to Goodison? Local bordering village clashes at amateur level are always heated and the most enjoyable to be a part of.

The reason the local derby is so exciting is because they are played and observed with equal passion, but ultimately played with sincere respect for each other, despite certain chants you may hear on the terraces.

Every club wants to beat the local enemy, to ensure bragging rights until the next meeting. And every fan withholds their undying hatred of the old adversary, but when asked alone, without fear of castration - I believe that every single right-minded fan would hate to see their local derby vanish forever.

It's a little like the Bond villain who thinks he wants to kill 007, but when it comes down to it, he wants to preserve Bond's life, so he can enjoy the pleasure of defeating him for as long as possible.

So, as Chester City fans stand amongst the debris of their broken club, they must realise that they do not stand there alone.

Here at Wrexham, we know the perils of financial instability all too well, after our own 10-point penalty that saw us relegated from League 1 in 2005. We can empathise, if somewhat reluctantly, with our English foes and can wish them a speedy recovery.

And by whatever name they chose to play under once they reform - all Red Dragon's supporters can relish the possibility of seeing the Racecourse scoreboard flash Wrexham 3-0 Chester Tigers Saracens United FC PLC.

You can vote your choice for Chester City's new name here. (Don't be too harsh Wrexham fans) Or choose in my poll in the sidebar.

Should Loyal Fans Suffer for Board Level Incompetence?

So, we have now officially witnessed the first Premier League level point penalty, with Portsmouth's dire financial state surely costing them their top-flight status. But is this fair to the Pompey faithful?

Watching their team lose 4-1 to Liverpool on Monday, the Portsmouth fans could still be seen rallying behind their team, full of passion and tattoos, many shirtless, all blameless. Whilst the men that leveraged unfair deals, and borrowed finances they never intended to return, sit impervious another world away.

Having witnessed Pompey's most colourful fan John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood (pictured above), who legally changed his middle name by Deed Poll, it could be easy to state that a ten point penalty for teams going into administration serves only to punish the dedicated fans that care. The powers that be would only be concerned that Championship level TV rights do not compare with Sky's vast Premiership deal.

But it is now clear that Portsmouth's 2008 FA Cup win was based on buying and paying players with money that they did not have. By any definition, in any sport, that is cheating.

Unfortunately, we are seeing this trend continue throughout the lower levels of football too. It looks as though Notts County will achieve promotion from League 2 this year on the back of absurd salaries and vast debt. Stockport were similarly guilty when they won promotion to League 1 two years ago.

By achieving success in this way, clubs are depriving a smaller, more earnest club the chance. It is a new, intricate form of cheating, but cheating nonetheless. The worrying trend of owners attempting to "live the dream" without the concrete funds to support it, is killing the spirit of more fans than just their own.

What about the Cardiff fan-base who, now facing their own financial turmoil, could have tasted FA Cup glory themselves against an honest Portsmouth side? Or Bury, Chesterfield or Rotherham fans who would be in the race for an automatic promotion spot if not for the conceited overspending of Notts County?

So, although I have huge respect for fans who stick by their clubs despite their board's ineptitude, I have much more sympathy for the innocent clubs being deprived a merited shot at success. To give these grasping owners some perspective, maybe a 10-point deduction doesn't come close to what is merited. Perhaps a yacht burning sanction would suffice?

Watch John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood and other Pompey fans' reactions here (courtesy of ITN Sport):