Back in 2016, Liverpool as a club experienced our first real outrage at JW Henry and FSG, when it was announced that some Anfield tickets would cost £77 and season tickets would rise to £1,000+.
Here is what JW Henry came out and said following the Sunderland game that season in which fans left Anfield early in protest.
“On behalf of everyone at Fenway Sports Group and Liverpool Football Club we would like to apologise for the distress caused by our ticket pricing plan for the 2016-17 season. The three of us have been particularly troubled by the perception that we don’t care about our supporters, that we are greedy, and that we are attempting to extract personal profits at the club’s expense. Quite the opposite is true,” a statement signed by Henry and Mike Gordon read, cited in the Guardian.
“We believe we have demonstrated a willingness to listen carefully, reconsider our position, and act decisively. The unique and sacred relationship between Liverpool Football Club and its supporters has always been foremost in our minds. It represents the heartbeat of this extraordinary football club.”
The important part here is that five years ago, Henry promised to ‘listen carefully’.
But no listening has ever been done. Nobody close to the club – to what the club actually means – was ever consulted about the attempted trademarking of the city’s name.
Nobody was asked about Project Big Picture, the furloughing of staff during lockdown and not even Jurgen Klopp was consulted about the embarrassing Super League fiasco.
No listening, has ever been done. Henry’s apologies are brilliant. He nails them every time – but perhaps he should employ that same script writer to help garner fan opinion in the first place.