Henry: we’re here to win
New owner John W Henry said he was “proud and humbled” by the responsibility of taking on the club, and stressed a priority would be to develop a winning team.
But although they have dropped their £1bn (€1.14bn) Texas lawsuit against Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) the shadow of former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett still hangs over the club despite their defeat in a legal battle to stop the takeover.
A statement from Hicks and Gillett’s lawyers suggests they may bring the fight to England – where they lost a High Court battle to retain control of the club this week.
“Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett have withdrawn without prejudice their Texas lawsuit in order to fully comply with the order of the English court,” said a statement from Fish & Richardson attorney Tom Melsheimer.
“We believe the order is overboard and unfair, yet Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett respect the legal process.
“We believe that once the English court finally has a chance to hear all the facts, a very different picture will be painted.”
Hicks’ New York-based spokesman Mark Semer refused to elaborate on whether the battle would be fought in the English courts.
“We cannot comment on legal strategy,” he said.
But for most Liverpool fans, the confirmation that the hugely unpopular three-and-a-half-year reign of Hicks and Gillett appears to be over is cause to pop the champagne corks.
NESV, also owners of Boston Red Sox, said the club’s debt servicing costs – Hicks and Gillett had owed £280m (€320.7m) to (RBS) – would drop from £30m (€34.3m) a year to between £2m €2.3m) and £3m (€3.4m).
Henry, the principal owner of NESV, said: “On behalf of the entire NESV partnership, I want to express how incredibly proud and humbled we are to be confirmed as the new owners of Liverpool FC.
“We regard our role as that of stewards for the club with a primary focus on returning the club to greatness on and off the field for the long-term.
“We are committed first and foremost to winning. We have a history of winning, and today we want LFC supporters to know that this approach is what we intend to bring to this great club.”
Henry will not attend tomorrow’s Merseyside derby away to Everton, and said: “I think it’s better for our first experience with the supporters to be at home.”
That leaves the October 24 match against Blackburn as his likely first appearance at a Premier League match, by which time he will have begun getting to grips with his new responsibilities.
He did confirm that the takeover was not leveraged on debt but said it was too early to talk about plans for a new stadium.
Henry added: “It’s too early to say what we’re going to do but we’re here to win, we have a tradition of winning – we (the Boston Red Sox) are the second-highest spending club in Major League Baseball and we’re here to win, we will do whatever is necessary. We’re not going to have a lot to say, our actions will hopefully speak for us.”
Liverpool’s independent chairman Martin Broughton said NESV had been chosen by the board as the best new owners.
Reflecting on a dramatic week in and out of court, Broughton added: “As every Liverpool fan knows, the most nerve-wracking way to win a match is on a penalty shoot-out.
“But in the end, as long as you get the right result, it’s worth the wait. We got the right result.
“It’s been pretty stressful but I think we’ve been confident all the way through that we would get there. We’ve always known we were doing the right things, that we would get justice, and I think exactly what we got in the end was justice.
“This is a good deal which comprehensively resolves the pressing issue of the club’s debt and should give staff, players and fans great confidence regarding the future of Liverpool FC.”
Broughton also confirmed he would stay on in “a transitional role” for the early stages of Henry’s stewardship of the club.
Spirit of Shankly, the fans’ group who have been among the biggest critics of Hicks and Gillett, welcomed Henry’s reign with cautious optimism.
James McKenna, a spokesman for the group, said: “Hopefully this is the start of a bright future. We certainly welcome the new owners but they’ve got to come in and prove they can do the job.
“Liverpool FC have needed stability ever since Hicks and Gillett came in with their broken promises and lies. We need a period of stability and to get back to our old ways. Liverpool FC doesn’t need a Sheikh Mansour or a Roman Abramovich to compete in the transfer market, we generate enough money that has, for the last three years, been used to pay debt.”
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