Portrait of our principal owner

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By Mark Robinson

John Henry recently gave a 10 minute interview to the American broadcaster Fox Sports about his motivations and ambitions concerning LFC. Leaving aside the nauseating reality that Fox Sports is owned by the same evil empire which owns the Sun newspaper; I highly recommend that fellow Liverpool fans take a look (if you haven’t already).

Readers my age (30) and above will probably have already realised that this is a strange new era of football we’re currently living through. I’ve been trawling my brain for memories of the owners and chairmen of my childhood to try and place it all in context. I remember David Moores (because he was in charge of my club), for some reason Ken Bates always comes to mind (I put that down to his self-promotion), I also recall Robert Chase at Norwich City (but only because I grew up in Norwich where everyone hated him), and of course Elton John (because he’s Elton John). On the whole chairmen were anonymous unless their own fans chose to put them on the back pages through protest.

20 years on and owners/chairmen are football personalities in there own right, no longer known only to their own fans but fully part of the PR circus following the Premier League. Thanks to Roman Abramovich (Chelsea), Malcolm Glazer (ManUtd), Sheikh Mansour (ManCity), Randy Lerner (Aston Villa), Daniel Levy (Spurs), Mike Ashley (Newcastle), Bill Kenwright (Everton) and Mohamed Al Fayed (Fulham) and of course our own FSG; I can name 9 of the 20 head honchos of the EPL off the top of my head. And be aware I am not some football nerd who studies other clubs; my interest in football begins and ends with the Reds. Yet without even Googling ‘premier league billionaires’ I have become aware of their existence and by extension their importance to outcomes on the pitch.

Like most things I don’t like, this state of affairs can be blamed on Rupert Murdoch, or more accurately Sky Sports. The hype they generate around the Premier League draws rich men looking for the prestige of fancy toys (what do you get for the man who has everything?); while the huge TV revenues it funnels into clubs has drawn the attention of the profit driven business establishment. In H&G, Liverpool were saddled with the latter, while some of the teams below us were receiving the benefits of the former.

Now we are told there is a third option, a group of rich (presumably) men who live for the thrill of sporting immortality. For Henry it seems like the draw of owning Liverpool is for FSG to recreate the circumstances of their tenure at the Boston Red Sox. By bringing a desperately sought after prize to a club and in doing so “break [the] curse” hanging over it Henry positions himself in the role of saviour. Had Liverpool won the league 2 seasons ago it seems unlikely that the appeal, or indeed price, of the club would have provided necessary temptation for an FSG bid. As thing currently stand, a man who promises the title fits quite nicely into a Liverpool fan’s expectations of a saviour.

From the interview, and in fact all the interviews he’s given so far, we’ve learnt that he’s a man who, at the very least, knows the right things to say. That may sound obvious in this era of chairmen addressing fans as if at a shareholder’s meeting. Debates about long-term stability, business models and the growing of revenue streams are no longer restricted to accountants in the boardroom but regularly take place amongst fans in pubs and internet forums. Fans demand to know these finer points of club administration. Liverpool fans especially who have been stung once by owners who assured us of their business credentials only to learn the financial realities behind a leveraged buy-out.

To Henry’s credit he has done well to layout the clubs future direction for the fans to scrutinise. The club will spend only what it generates which, unlike the business models of some other clubs, complies with the new UEFA restrictions from day one. Those of us hoping for short-term Sheikh style spending would be disappointed (presumably Torres would fall into this group). However those of us with more patience know that it won’t be long until a debt-free Liverpool with a legion of fans will out earn the clubs who have relied on billionaire sugar-daddies. An emphasis will be placed on the youth system under the obvious assumption that it costs less to produce a player than buy one. On that point it was good to see Henry’s observation that players brought through the youth system tend to have greater affection and loyalty to the club; suggesting that he sees players as more than mere assets but rather individuals with an important role in the local community.

Overall John Henry comes across as a very clever man. His body language is always presenting a reserved, relaxed and thoughtful character that seems to understand the psychology of the Liverpool fanbase. A psychology which incorporates decades of achievement and expectation with the distasteful experiences wrought by our previous owners. Our new owners can only say the right thing if they know what we expect from them and considering this interview it is clear that FSG are at least listening to the fans. Only time will tell whether they become the saviours that they position themselves to be but I, for one, will be giving them the benefit of the doubt. So when John Henry says “you just gave me Goosebumps” as a reply to a question about Liverpool winning the Premier League I will believe him and take it as a sign that there is more than a desire for profit in this man’s heart.

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9 Comments

  1. I agree with what you’ve had to say. It would take the most jaded of individuals to not only listen to what John Henry has to say, but also how he says it, to come away feeling anything other than, “This guy gets it.” Unlike his two self-absorbed, myopic, repulsive predecessors, John Henry conveys a sense of quiet self-confidence, and I’m left with the impression that he is genuine in his stated feelings about and goals for Liverpool FC. The combination of his (FSG’s) ownership and the appointment and current success of Kenny Dalglish has me feeling more positive about the direction of the club than I could have possibly imagined.

  2. Cracking article well written and i must say i do trust FSG in everything they say because its not promises its common sense and i also get the feeling that with these in charge the off field earnings are only going to increase these are clever business men and will run the club properly

  3. Nice one,Mark.I’m 36 and can only remember all the owners/chairmen that you can.The Bahati or “Batty” Brothers that Ran Wolves(into the ground)in the 80’s is the only other example i can think of.I only know this because my Dad is a wolves fan.I was never an advocate for hicks/Gill.Had severe doubts about getting involved with uncool Americans in the first place;had fears of another Wolves situation and it almost happened.I trust FSG,though,so far.I think they’ve conducted themselves with class and nous.And so far,they’ve listened to us and given us Mr.Dalglish who IS Liverpool.I would write more on this but I’m tired..MAHALO

  4. As a lifetime Red Sox fan, and a more recent (5 years now) Liverpool convert, I can assure you that John Henry means business. He is known for getting good results from reasonable expectations, smart, responsible investment even when the players are expensive and getting rid of bad seeds (such as Manny Ramirez) even when they have performed admirably for the club. The only other person I would want as an owner would be the owner of the New England Patriots (US football) and Revolution (MLS soccer), Bob Kraft.

  5. Venkys (Indian poultry supplier) own Blackburn. I know this from their ridiculous bids for just about every player who ever scored a goal during the transfer window.

    FSG have impressed me so far, they kept Hodgson around longer than many others wanted, but I respected that as a sign that they wanted stability at the club. Bringing Dalglish back was the best decision they could have made and their operation in the transfer window was impressive. They’ve been criticized for the spending on Andy Carroll but I don’t think the 35mil was for him, it was for the attacking combo of him and Suarez which promises to be priceless. Great vision.

  6. John Henry is a man of his word and very passionate about what he invest his money in. He is a baseball fan (Red Sox), he is a racing fan (Roush Fenway Racing and iRacing.com) and I’m pretty sure he is a fan of football/soccer.

    As a member of iRacing.com, I have been nothing short of impressed by his commitment to building a best of breed business, and putting his money and time where his mouth is. John isn’t in it for the quick buck, rather he likes to build things and see them succeed! You are VERY lucky to have a new owner that is as passionate as he is and cares about legacy that he’ll leave behind.

  7. Let me echo Daniel’s comment above. Your impressions are right on. As a New England resident (i.e living in the region in the far northeast of the US), I can attest to John Henry’s devotion to fielding a competitive team. The Red Sox have showed that it’s not just players that create a competitive team, but coaching, management, executives, and core values. I count myself as a brand-new LFC fan on the basis of my 30-year Red Sox afinity. I was a half-hearted Fulham follower (with so many AMericans on the side) until the Red Sox ownership acquired the Liverpool side. For those unfamiliar with the Red Sox’ place in baseball, they are an historic franchise, playing in a stadium that goes back to 1918. They have a multi-year streak of consecutive home sell-outs, and the fans of Red Sox Nation are amazingly zealous. The attendance is truly amaizing when you consider that the baseball season goes from April through October, with 81 games at home every season. Fasciniating parallels between where the Reds are and where the Red Sox were when John Henry’s ownership team assumed control. Right down to the Liverpool youth system, which has rough equivalence to baseball’s “farm system.”

    Here’s looking forward to some terrific times at Anfield!

  8. I completely agree that it seems that LFC finally have the right owners in FSG.

    One thing though, “The club will spend only what it generates which, unlike the business models of some other clubs, complies with the new UEFA restrictions from day one.”
    -This is an incorrect statement. Being cash positive and being profit-loss positive are different things. The 50 mil from Torres will not carry over to other years but the amount spent on Carroll and Suarez will (player amortization). They did not cancel out. The rules are much more complicated than just having more money at the end of the year than the beginning.

    But I think that they will be both cash positive and profit-loss positive. FSG know what they are doing. We finally have the right owners for matters on and off the pitch.

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