Events since Febuary 2007 should serve notice to us all to be wary of any new owners.  

We graciously acknowledge the steadfastness and diligence NESV have shown during this . . . → Read More: Statement on the change of ownership at LFC]]> Today’s news that Liverpool FC has been sold to NESV, headed by John W Henry, is warmly, but cautiously welcomed by millions of fans worldwide. 

Events since Febuary 2007 should serve notice to us all to be wary of any new owners.  

We graciously acknowledge the steadfastness and diligence NESV have shown during this time, their resolve in getting the job done has to be admired. Our appreciation also extends to the board of LFC, RBS and the many others who have helped lead us to where we are today. In particular, thanks to Spirit of Shankly and Kop Faithful for their hard work, passion and dedication to our collective cause. And lastly, to all our members, whose help, ideas and creativity helped really make their voice heard. 

We cordially extend a hand of friendship to Mr Henry and his team and await details of how our club is to be run in the future. There are many questions to address. NESV now have a unique opportunity to engage in an honest and open dialogue with the ordinary fans.  

It’s a monumental day for Liverpool Football Club. We have learned a valuable lesson. Never again will the fans take for granted the way the club is run, actions will now, more than ever, speak louder than words. 

Save LFC will continue with our aim of keeping Liverpool fans informed on the matters that affect them and their club. 

The emails are as follows.

————————– SAVELFC ————————–

D-Day is drawing near. We have to do all we can to stop Hicks clinging on to our club.

One way of doing that is stopping RBS from refinancing:  NO TO REFINANCE – FINANCE THE FANS.

We need to ask RBS to act in our . . . → Read More: NO TO REFINANCE – FINANCE THE FANS]]> IT’S YOUR CLUB – DON’T LET THEM KILL IT

D-Day is drawing near. We have to do all we can to stop Hicks clinging on to our club.

One way of doing that is stopping RBS from refinancing:  NO TO REFINANCE – FINANCE THE FANS.

We need to ask RBS to act in our best interests and help us, the fans, sort this mess.

What we are calling for is individually written, heart felt emails.

KEEP IT POLITE AND RESPECTFUL AND CIVIL.

You don’t need to write a novel.

You don’t need to write one to everyone on the list. Just one, short heart felt note, telling them why Hicks can’t be allowed to keep on killing your club.

Tell them why Hicks must not be refinanced and what the loss of LFC would mean to you personally.Here are the contacts. It only takes a couple of minutes, so get to it.

To: stephen.hester@rbs.co.uk; john.hourican@rbs.com; roger.lowry@rbs.co.uk; rebecca.oliphant@rbs.com; richard.holliday@rbs.com; tommy.mclean@rbs.co.uk; customer.service.alerts@rbs.co.uk; online.service@rbs.co.uk; invoicefinance@rbs.co.uk; investor.relations@rbsir.com; tom.mckillop@rbs.co.uk; fred.goodwin@rbs.co.uk; guy.whittaker@rbs.co.uk; millermclean@rbs.co.uk; richard.oconnor@rbs.co.uk; info@rbsspreadtrading.co.uk; ellen.alemany@rbs.com; elaine.hunter@rbs.co.uk; jon.laycock@barcap.com; kopfaithful@ymail.com 

IT’S YOUR CLUB – DON’T LET THEM KILL IT

The details The time: Sunday, 3rd October, 1.30pm (ahead of the Blackpool game) The place: Liverpool Supports Club, Lower Breck Road

—

“The Northampton loss was a massive shock.  Whats going on at the football club at the moment, it’s like an alcoholic, got to hit rock bottom.  I hope . . . → Read More: Phil Thompson on the ownership situation today]]> On Sky Sports this afternoon, Phil Thompson summed our worries up as follows. Well done Thommo – if only a few more were like you.

—

“The Northampton loss was a massive shock.  Whats going on at the football club at the moment, it’s like an alcoholic, got to hit rock bottom.  I hope that was rock bottom, we all know in October, with the refinancing, this is the whole package at Liverpool Football Club, what’s been going on with the ownership and everything, it has consumed the whole of the football club.

We have often spoke, does what goes on in the boardroom does that impact on the players and what have you, this is all consuming, this is everything, this is going down to the girls who cook down at the training ground, the people who are there washing the kit, whatever, it’s the whole package, everybody is so, so low.  Honestly, it’s absolutely dreadful.

Yes, it’s about results and what has happened, because I am quite sure it would be the same at Manchester United with what’s going on there,  but they have had the results to go with it and so it’s not as bitter.

This is Liverpool, a pride, this is their inheritance this football club, for the kids it’s going to be left to them to be supporting the club its imperative that the Bank,  when this comes up on the 6th October its a supporter issue it is not just a football issue.  They cannot allow this football club, the owners to refinance this football club. 

There’s a demonstration going on after the game today.

This is a huge thing.”

Stelling “The owners didnt send that football team out”

“I agree, we went there with Benitez last year, look at the players and everything, he’s not picking the team,  he’s not bought the players but this is all consuming.

Jeff,  whatever you say about Rafa Benitez, the last 15 months, since last Summers transfer window, we’re in profit, we shouldn’t be in profit we should be spending money.

When you dont spend money, you get £50million in for Alonso and Mascherano and you bring in 2 players for £11million and £4million where are you going to end up finishing Jeff?  We still have good players but we are lowering and lowering the standards all the time because of the owners, and I know what you are saying but it’s quality in players which that brings about.

And this is a plea, for if anybody, sporting people who make decisions who watch this programme, they cannot allow this to happen in October, for the whole of football because it will kill Liverpool football Club if this goes on and it will kill football because if other people think that this can happen it is wrong and it is wrong because it is impacting on my football club.”

JS -  “Can Liverpool become the next Leeds United?”

“No they won’t be.  This has to be sorted out and it has to be sooner rather than later.  I am saying no but there is a nagging doubt in the mind because of what has been done to my football club throughout the tenure of the two owners.  It’s absolutely dreadful, absolutely dreadful, and it’s never going be, 98% of me is saying NO, it’s not going to be a Leeds United, there’s a structure there, but Leeds United fans were probably saying exactly the same things to themselves, so I am going it will not happen”

There was then a bit of a discussion about falling attendences and the reasons and Thommo said

“People are beginning to say if you are go and support the football club, purchasing tickets then you are supporting the owners so No, I wont do it, I am not going to go because the more I put money into the football club I could possibly keep them there, there is a bit of that going on but again it’s the whole thing and everybody people need to keep going.

This football cllub will keep going long after we have all gone, it will still be a very very proud football club.”

—

Thanks to Montysmum on RAWK for bringing this to our attention this evening: http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=263636.0

This is the thing that’s worked . . . → Read More: Get your letters sent to RBS – now is the time to get your views heard]]> The addresses you’ll need are listed below. Just stop, think about your feelings on what’s happening to the club, and put it down on paper. We need these people to realise they hold the future of the club in their hands. Their decisions will shape our future.

This is the thing that’s worked best out of everything we’ve done so far. The bankers care about how we see them.

Many people have sent old-fashioned letters through the post to Royal Bank of Scotland, and we’ve received clear feedback and concrete responses that prove they make a difference. When you send a letter, someone at the Royal Bank has to open the letter and read the contents. If there are material questions, the bank has to address them. If you send them an email on the other hand, a spam filter will whisk it away into a recycle bin somewhere, and despatch it to oblivion.

Now’s the time – get your letters sent and make it clear we expect the Royal Bank of Scotland to do the right thing by the club.

—The addresses you’ll need—
The address for Stephen Hester, head honcho at Royal Bank of Scotland.

Stephen Hester
PO Box 100
RBS Retail
2nd Floor House D
Gogarburn
Edinburgh

We’ve got two addresses for Ian Abraham, the head honcho at Barcap (who are running the sale process). So, until we know better, take your pick.

Ian Abraham
Risk, Liquidity, Private Equity MD
Barcap
5 The North Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London E14 4BB
United Kingdom

Ian Abraham
Risk, Liquidity, Private Equity MD
Barcap
Condor House
St Pauls Churchyard
London
EC4M 8AL
——

Get on it, tell your mates, post it on your friends’ Facebook pages, retweet it, print it off and post it through your Red neighbours’ doors. Now’s the time to make a difference – we know we can rely on you and we know you’ll add your weight to the cause.

The DVD contains Steve Zissou’s documentary of the owners’ time at the club. It’s something all of us should watch.

Here’s the DVD Preview with screen shots: http://www.ourclubourshirt.com/SaveLFCDVD.pdf

Here’s how to make your DVD.

Step 1 – Download the DVD image file You . . . → Read More: The SaveLFC DVD – download it for free now and pass it to your Red mates!]]> The SaveLFC DVD – download it for free now!

The DVD contains Steve Zissou’s documentary of the owners’ time at the club. It’s something all of us should watch.

Here’s the DVD Preview with screen shots:
http://www.ourclubourshirt.com/SaveLFCDVD.pdf

Here’s how to make your DVD.

Step 1 – Download the DVD image file
You have 2 options here. Download 3 x split RAR files from Megaupload, or use the torrent.

To download from Megaupload, click the following links one by one and follow the instructions on screen.

Part 1 – http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WGJGGY70
Part 2 – http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RRA23247
Part 3 – http://www.megaupload.com/?d=41PG79OW

When you’ve downloaded all three files, make sure they’re in the same folder.

You’ll need WinRAR or a similar zip file extractor installed on your machine to do the next part. To get WinRAR, go here: www.rarlab.com.

Next you need to extract the DVD image from the RAR files. To do this, double click part 1, choose the same folder to extract the files to, and extract the files.

To get the DVD image using a torrent, you’ll need a Torrent client installed. There are loads available online.

Get the torrent file here:
http://www.ourclubourshirt.com/SAVELFC.ISO.torrent

The torrent is a DVD disk image ISO and is ready for burn to DVD – no need to extract any files.

Step 2 – Burn the DVD
Again, you’ll need DVD burning software installed on your machine. It should already be there, but if not, there are loads available online. For example…

ImgBurn – Free software http://fileforum.betanews.com/download/ImgBurn/1128426215/1

When your DVD’s burned, get more done and pass them on to your Red mates. It’s important that people remember we’re not out of the woods yet with the two parasites, and why it’s always a good idea to have a healthy distrust of whoever owns the club.

A massive thanks to Kieron McGuigan and Steve Zissou for making this happen.

“Now you won’t find it hard to understand Though it’s so hard to explain The who and what and how and why and wherefore You kept me sane” Heart as big as Liverpool – Pete Wylie

The contract that stated you signed your heart and loyalty away for life and in return . . . → Read More: You signed the contract when you became a Liverpool fan]]> By Hinesy

“Now you won’t find it hard to understand
Though it’s so hard to explain
The who and what and how and why and wherefore
You kept me sane”
Heart as big as Liverpool – Pete Wylie

The contract that stated you signed your heart and loyalty away for life and in return you’d get the highest of highs and lowest of lows and in between enough camaradie, wit and atmosphere to keep you going when all else around you failed.

That’s what our team does for us. Real Liverpool fans have the club in their blood. And it breathes and courses through our veins and affects us like few emotions do.

Lovers may come and go, different jobs and houses you go through in your life. But one constant, your club. That contract comes with no P45.

But what if the very thing that you signed up for failed. What then? What if that single constant in life, what if your club was taken over by idiots and nasty ignorant ones at that.

We’re pretty good at getting angry and most of us are pretty good at spouting off in the pub about how to solve the world’s problems. But really, what did you do in the war daddy? What did you do when it came to the crunch and that club was (over)run by clueless spineless ignorant money shysters whose idea of clever management was to undermine a successful team and manager, leech the money out of the club and place it into debt. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Tom n George were actually hired by Everton football club to f*ck our club over. Cos they’re doing a good job.

There’s a lot of sentimental talk about how we’re the best fans in the world, about how Liverpool fans are gracious and understanding and patient. Well some of the time that’s right and some of the time that’s bollocks. And for some of us, that’s how we see our footballing heritage and for some of the (newer sadly) fans, they’re as short sighted as the mole who’s dropped his specs into the hole.

But there is one thing that unites all Liverpool fans, across the whole spectrum from Block 305 to the Upper Annie and that’s a sense of injustice. The press and world beyond the borders of the county think we react too easily, we shout and make a fuss when any slight grievance is heaped upon us.

Well its about time we shouted and stamped and marched and complained and wrote and rang up and leafleted and whatever else we think necessary, because the owners of the club at the moment have come in and simply shat on your doorstep and sat in your living room expecting you to pay whilst they drink your whisky and eat your tea. And some of us are putting up with it and tacitly saying, “Like another glass Mr Hicks, like to have my tv set Mr Gillette?”

Where would Liverpool be if we didn’t fight? Do you think we’ve learnt nothing from Hillsborough about making our voices heard for justice?

Clearly this is a different area, but the principle still remains – of standing up for your club and your people and not letting anyone waltz in and say what they like, and lie about your reputation and your club and who you are and then just do what they like – it still remains.

I am still staggered by the fact that two businessmen from America (and yes I welcomed them as much as anyone – after Thaksin, I thought they were great) could ‘buy’ our club with money borrowed from er… the club’s value, place it in massive debt, then set about lying about building a new ground and going behind the manager’s back to continually undermine him before falling out with each other and then trying to sell the club for more than its worth!

Think about it – a property developer has been on at you about buying your Mum’s house – she’s worried, but times are tough, so you ask them round for a chat.

You: “So what are your plans for the house then? It’s pretty precious to us and we want to make sure you take care of it.”

The prospective buyer: “We’re gonna paint it and do it up beautifully, and then we’re going to move your Mum into a beautiful brand new house. Or, well, on second thoughs, I’m thinking we’ll buy it for shit loads less than it’s worth, call your Mum to ritually humiliate her at least twice a day, then put her out to work to pay off my mortgage.”

You: “It might be an idea for you to leave now.”

.

We may not all be the gracious, understanding, best fans in the world. (When we lose, I’m a right shower of bastards all on my own.) But we do know one thing. Liverpool fans know that our club has a soul. A real heart. That’s the Liverpool Football Club that existed before me and I hope will outlive me for a long long time.

Now this club has given me some of the best moments of my days, be it 3-1 v Borussia or Neil Mellor’s last minute goal v Arsenal; be it 5-0 v Forest or Luis’ goal v Juventus, be it Gerrard’s 3rd goal v West Ham or Owen’s 2nd v Arsenal in the FA Cup, Davey Fairclough supersub v St Etienne or Gary Mac 44yrds out, whatever, the list is probably endless. And I imagine it’s the same for you.

So surely its time we paid it back to the club. Not the owners, not the players, not the manager, but the club. That soul needs you right now.

Roy Hodgson in my humble opinion is a good shout as manager. But even if Jose Twat Mourhino had been appointed, he’d still have got my support. As do any of the players. That’s what we do best, we’re Liverpool fans, not small club fans who boo a player leaving cos he’s off. We’re bigger than that. We applaud the other goalie, we don’t boo returning players, we can see through the clouds of the SKY generation’s fear of not having a big name manager or short-term big stars at the ground, we know the real Liverpool way is to support and back and encourage.

And that sense of being a Liverpool fan is something to be proud of, and also to be earned and cherished and maintained. And if the very soul, that magical thread that binds us to Liverpool FC for all our lives, that indefinable intangible wonderful thing that is our club, if that one constant that makes your hairs stand up on the back of your neck when you hear us in full song, when we come up the hill, when Steve H is on the wing, if that thing that gave us that contract of emotional wonder needs our help to rid it of the cancer that currently pulls it down then its your fucking duty at the very least to help.

Do you want to be able to say to your grandchildren: I’m taking us to see the mighty Reds, the team that without question links the past and future with a sense of pride? Then lets make sure there’s still a club to take them to.

“Heart as big as LIVERPOOL
And I am not alone”
Heart as big as Liverpool – Pete Wylie

Alan and the . . . → Read More: “There’s That Save Liverpool FC Banner” – an interview with our very own Alan Cooper]]> Alan Cooper took it upon himself to organise a banner campaign for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. All very straightforward, you might think – until you realise it started with two weeks to go before the finals, and without any money or contacts in place to make it happen.

Alan and the other guys involved managed to get nationwide coverage and more for the SaveLFC campaign. Firstly, a FIFA official decided to destroy one of the banners with a stanley knife – a story that got prominent coverage from the BBC, as well as other outlets: Fury at Liverpool FC Flag attack.

Then, later in the tournament, Jonathan Pearce announced live on BBC1 during the Portugal v Spain game: “There’s that Save Liverpool FC banner we’ve seen a few times at the tournament”. The goal of raising awareness accomplished, we interviewed Alan to get an insight into how he made this happen.

SaveLFC: How did this all start then?

Alan Cooper: The idea came from the ‘Save Liverpool’ campaign. Some of the guys had the idea of getting banners with anti-Hicks and Gillett message to the World Cup. At the time they were busy with the other parts of the campaign and couldn’t stretch to this, so when I read about the idea I thought it was a great opportunity and one that we couldn’t miss. I decided that I’d have a go at organising it.

I’d been following the campaign and wanted to get involved, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I really didn’t know if people would get on board and think it was a worthwhile idea. I felt compelled to do something because of the current state of the club and what Hicks and Gillett have been doing to it over the past 3 years.

SaveLFC: So how did you get started? You had a lot of things to figure out before you could plan anything I guess…

Alan Cooper: To be honest I didn’t have much time to figure anything out because when I decided to have a go at organising this there were just under 2 weeks until the first game kicked off.

We had four main things to get sorted. We needed donations (and a Paypal account) to produce the banners. Second, we needed to find a company to print the banners. Third, we had to get the message on the banners sorted, and last but not least we needed people who were willing to take the banners to the games.

I started a discussion thread on a forum explaining the idea and requesting donations and I was stunned at the response – people really got behind the idea and wanted to help. They came up with loads of ideas for the banner (some good and some not so good) and the artists among us produced some great pictures of them.

The other major breakthrough came when a lad called Ahmed from Johannesburg posted on the thread saying he was going to the World Cup and was willing to do all he could to get this to work.

The final thing was to get the banners printed. Ahmed pointed me at a printers in Johannesburg who could do the banner for us and they did us a very reasonable price for what turned out to be four banners.

SaveLFC: so there were quite a lot of people involved in this thing?

Alan Cooper: I was very surprised at how many got involved. It was clear that a lot of people from very different backgrounds and countries felt very strongly about the ownership issue and wanted to do all they could to make a difference. They suggested ideas, produced pictures, contributed money, offered to take banners to the games, and got their mates involved – it really was everyone pulling together to help the club.

We ended up with about 15 people at the World Cup who wanted to get involved and take the banners to the games. That included Liverpool fans from the UK going over to South Africa, and Liverpool fans from South Africa who got in touch via the South African Supporters club website. We even had a guy from Canada who was going to South Africa who got in touch.

SaveLFC: So how did you decide what to put on them?

Alan Cooper: We had 4 or 5 different slogans that people had come up with. We knew a global audience wouldn’t necessarily be aware of the Liverpool situation or the name of the owners so we needed something that would be easily identifiable. That’s why we decided on the Liverbird – it’s a symbol recognised across the footballing world.

We also put the Twitter web address of the Save Liverpool campaign onto the banners. This was so as people who saw the banners would know where to go to find out more information about the work going on.

Getting people to agree was actually helped by the tight deadline as we all knew we didn’t have time to mess about with petty arguments. We just needed to get on with things and that’s the way it was.

SaveLFC: Do you feel the Liverpool fans are uniting?

Yes I do believe we are uniting. I think wherever you go in life you will see this happening – when things get tough people forget the petty little arguments that consume so much of our energy and they concentrate on the things that really matter to them. Liverpool Football Club matters to us, it’s history matters to us and the city matters to us, there is something special about the place which is why people are prepared to unite and get behind the campaign to save the club.

Above all else the unity in this project shows the strength of feeling there is against the current owners. We know deep down that they are destroying the club and we feel like they are stealing our heritage, part of who we are.

SaveLFC: How did you feel when the pictures started coming back from South Africa?

It was more a sense of relief than any other feeling. Relief that all the hard work the people have put in is getting rewarded. Relief that millions more across the world have heard the message the Liverpool Football Club needs to be saved.

One of the problem’s that we have encountered is that even some Liverpool fans do not understand fully the desperate state the club and it’s finances are in. According to the last accounts we’re £350m in debt and paying £40-£50m per year on interest payments alone. But even when confronted with these figures people don’t realise how significant they are. The fact that our Chairman had to go before the Premier League earlier this year to assure them that we were in a fit financial state to fulfill our games next season is a testimony to how far Gillett and Hicks have dragged this club to it’s knees.

SaveLFC: Do you think the banner campaign’s been a success?

Yes it’s been a great success. We set out to raise awareness and educate people about the situation at the football club and I think we’ve achieved that.

People that hadn’t heard of the SaveLFC campaign have now been made aware of it through internet forums, BBC reports and commentators and other media sources.

Ultimately a lot of people that have been influenced by this campaign we may never hear from and that’s fine because it’s all about getting the word out there and influencing people’s thinking on the club.

It’s also been a success from the point of view of seeing how many committed fans there are across the world who aren’t just armchair fans – there are fans everywhere who are willing to put themselves out to make a difference to the future of Liverpool FC and everyone of them should be proud of whatever part they have played no matter how small that part – proper teamwork in action.