Changes in Liverpool FC boardroom in chronological order
The news of the sale of Liverpool football club is the only hot topic in the world of football and every football website is leaded with information on the transfer.
Here is an attempt to explain the whole Liverpool take over saga in chronological order:
2004
March: Thai Prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra expressed his interest in buying a stake in the club.
May: Steve Morgan (a Liverpool shareholder) claimed in a press conference that he made two bids to take over the club but his bids were turned down by the Liverpool board.
June: Shinawatra, after being fed up with the legal jargon at the club ended his interest in Liverpool and turned his attentions to Manchester City.
August: Morgan made another bid to take over the club but was rejected again.
December: Morgan also ends his interest in the club and abandoned the proposed takeover.
Between 2005 and 2006 there was no talk of a change in ownership at the Merseyside club until in December 2006 a group from Dubai expressed interest in taking over the club.
2006
December: Liverpool website reveals an interest from Dubai International Capital.
2007
January: the LFC website again reveals an interest but this time it comes from America, as George Gillet makes an approach. Liverpool board meets to discuss the proposal by George Gillet and also rejects the proposal by DIC, putting an end to DICs pursuit
of the club.
February: Tom Hicks was revealed as a joint bidder with George Gillet and Liverpool Football Club agreed the terms and conditions on offer by the American owners to buy the club’s entire shared capital.
March: Gillet and Hicks announce that they have secured the acceptance condition of 75% shares required to take over unconditional control of the club. The American owners also promise to start the work on a new ground within two months.
November: There is a public fall out between the owners and the manager over transfer budgets. Hicks and Gillet asks Benitez to work on the current squad that he had at that time, as there were no funds to be made available.
2008
January: Jurgen Klinsmann appears as a potential candidate to replace Benitez as Liverpool manager. Hicks and Gillet confirm the approach.
April: the news appears that there is a rift between the owners of the club and it emerges that Hicks and Gillet are barely on speaking terms.
2009
March: Rick Parry drops a bombshell. After being criticized by the club owners he announces that he will be walking off his post at the end of the season.
June: Christian Purslow, a financial expert, was appointed as the managing director of the Liverpool football club and was asked to secure a fresh instalment of 100 million pounds to service the clubs outstanding debts which stood at 237 million.
2010
January: Hicks Junior resigned from the board of directors after a foul mouthed rant at a club fan. Commercial director Ian Ayre and Phillip Nash were appointed to the club’s board.
March: Rhone Group, a New York based equity firm make a 110 million pound bid for a 40% stake in the club but Gillet and Hicks fail to respond before the given deadline.
April: The Liverpool FC was put up for sale by the owners. Martin Broughton was brought in to oversee the sale. As a requirement by the Royal Board of Scotland a change occurs in the board of directors as Ayre, Broughton and Purslow now had the majority
vote to prevent the American owners from blocking the sale of the club.
May: Liverpool FC reports a financial tax loss of 54 million.
October 4: Liverpool FC announce that they have received two excellent bids. Hicks and Gillet try to oust Purslow from his post but fail. The American owners also claim that the bids undervalue the club.
October 5: Liverpool confirm the acceptance of the bid by New England Sports Venture. The sale would pay off all the clubs outstanding debt but an approval from the Premier League is pending.
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