There are many famous names in Reds history, but Joe Januszewski is certainly not one of them.
Back in 2010, however, the Reds were in a mess off the pitch and on it. Roy Hodgson was in charge, Tom Hicks and George Gillett were the owners, the debts were mounting and another Champions League trophy being added to the cabinet as it was just nine years later was the last thing anyone at the club was thinking about.
Simply surviving was the only thing that mattered at that time.
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Januszewski, though, was a crucial cog in turning the club around, as he has been explaining to FourFourTwo.
The salesman saw a potential bargain in the Reds, given the state the club was in at the time, and quickly set about trying to convince John W Henry and Fenway Sports Group, then under the name New England Sports Ventures (NESV), to take over at Anfield.
Januszewski said: “This was the greatest sales job I had ever done – to convince my owners who weren’t really interested in soccer to buy Liverpool. Now, of course, they’re all very passionate, they love the club and they love the supporters, and they’ve done an incredible job.”
Since then, while there have been bumps in the road, the Reds have turned things around off the pitch, which has led to success on it under Jurgen Klopp. FSG, in that regard, have done an undoubtedly incredible job.
Without Januszewski’s phone call to America, and foresight to convince non-footballing people into investing in a soccer team, however, things could have been very different.