Liverpool FC Forum

by **hawkmoon269** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 5:28 pm

A detailed report in the Mail on Sunday today states that Liverpool's debts are increasing, costs for the new stadium are spiralling out of control and there's still no sign of any investment.

The report says: 'Why are Liverpool having to cut their cloth accordingly when the Champions League triumph brought in almost £22million in prize money alone? That windfall means the accounts that the plc will unveil next month will make superficially good reading. Instead of last year's loss of just over £18million, there should be a decent profit. But a closer look at the balance sheet will reveal a disturbing increase in debt'.

The report closely follows comments made by potential investor Steve Morgan at the club's 2004 AGM. At the time Morgan said: "I would never break the confidentiality agreement but we know there is a lot more (to the figures announced) and people would be appalled if they knew the situation.

"There are massively escalating costs of the stadium, the figures are nothing like what has been reported. The board should come clean and then people will know why I had to revise my offer."

LFC Chief Executive Rick Parry was in Dubai last week trying to attract investment but again, it hasn't been forthcoming as yet, much to the amazement of the club's financial advisors Hawkpoint.

If this is correct, then we deparately need Parry to be successful in attracting investment, if we are be have the funds to buy the quality players we need to compete

by **The_Rock** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 5:40 pm

I have seen a few other sites posting this in their web-sites........**cough** koptalk**cough**, but there maybe some truth it in. This club was extremely generous during houllier's time. Even during evans & souness era, we were always among the top spenders every season.

Guess we are paying the price now.... and just when we have the best manager in some 20 years :no

by **RUSHIE#9** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 5:46 pm

I think the club really need to come clean and admit that the prospect of building on stanley park is fading by the minutes, the silence from the club is almost deafening and i have been of the opinion for a while now that the project has gone tits up and the club are keeping quiet 'cos they are being stubborn in admitting defeat on it.

This report could also be the catalyst for yet more calls for david Moores to relinquish control of the club; in recent weeks with all of the so called troubles on the pitch it has been my opinion that the board have yet again started to rest on their laurels after the champs lge win. It seems to happen all too often as smoebody else said on here that instead of building on the back of a major triumph the momentum from that achievement just hasn't ben grasped to take the club onto the next level and i think that the time may have come to allow someone else to put their money in the pot and have their say.
None of us know whether Steve Morgan will be any good for the club but wouldn't it be worth letting him at least invest some of his money into the club and give him a seat on the board 'cos at the moment the board setup just seems to be too much like a gentlemans private club and not a football club.

by ***XABIALONSO*** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 5:46 pm

we aint that badlt in debt are we

by **The_Rock** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 5:52 pm

RUSHIE#9 wrote:None of us know whether Steve Morgan will be any good for the club but wouldn't it be worth letting him at least invest some of his money into the club and give him a seat on the board 'cos at the moment the board setup just seems to be too much like a gentlemans private club and not a football club.

No way should steve morgan ever take charge of this club.... he is in the "pro stadium sharing" group :angry:

As for investing some money.....well as long as he doesn't become the major share-holder..... :eyebrow

by **dum1** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 6:12 pm

Myself and a few others have been bringing this to the attention of the herd for the last year and a half but to no affect. And we took a lot of flack for telling what was going on and it continues

The club is not in danger of going bust but can not be considered top drawer anymore and we certainly can not afford a new stadium.

We need an investor but while Parry et al are around they are not going to share the cake with anyone, how many more times are they going to reject investment?

Meanwhile the slide continues

by **Lando_Griffin** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 6:21 pm

dum1 wrote:Myself and a few others have been bringing this to the attention of the herd for the last year and a half but to no affect. And we took a lot of flack for telling what was going on and it continues

The club is not in danger of going bust but can not be considered top drawer anymore and we certainly can not afford a new stadium.

We need an investor but while Parry et al are around they are not going to share the cake with anyone, how many more times are they going to reject investment?

Meanwhile the slide continues

So what names have you being appearing under?

by **Leonmc0708** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 6:23 pm

hawkmoon269 wrote:A detailed report in the Mail on Sunday today states that Liverpool's debts are increasing, costs for the new stadium are spiralling out of control and there's still no sign of any investment.

The report says: 'Why are Liverpool having to cut their cloth accordingly when the Champions League triumph brought in almost £22million in prize money alone? That windfall means the accounts that the plc will unveil next month will make superficially good reading. Instead of last year's loss of just over £18million, there should be a decent profit. But a closer look at the balance sheet will reveal a disturbing increase in debt'.

The report closely follows comments made by potential investor Steve Morgan at the club's 2004 AGM. At the time Morgan said: "I would never break the confidentiality agreement but we know there is a lot more (to the figures announced) and people would be appalled if they knew the situation.

"There are massively escalating costs of the stadium, the figures are nothing like what has been reported. The board should come clean and then people will know why I had to revise my offer."

LFC Chief Executive Rick Parry was in Dubai last week trying to attract investment but again, it hasn't been forthcoming as yet, much to the amazement of the club's financial advisors Hawkpoint.

If this is correct, then we deparately need Parry to be successful in attracting investment, if we are be have the funds to buy the quality players we need to compete

Let me finish your first sentence with the truth behind the stories origin:

A detailed report in the Mail on Sunday today states that Liverpool's debts are increasing, costs for the new stadium are spiralling out of control and there's still no sign of any investment, because the team won yesterday, we can not bleat on about the problems at Anfield, and the board room/finances is the only straw that we can clutch at.

I might also add that we are not actually a PLC.

I would also point out that to drag up an almost two year old statement from a media whore (Morgan) who was willing to do anything he could to get his hands on the club, is lazy, pointless and tedious. Also the article says that this report follows on closely from the statement, if thats the case then the report is two years old and itself is old news.

I can not beleive it sometimes when people post things on here that are from a newspaper and panic, and demand action based upon the content.

Read the story, think about it, and read it again before worrying.

by **dum1** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 6:24 pm

Lando

The story is more important than who I am, don't you think!

by **mighty mo** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 6:42 pm

why don,t we axe the stadium plans and just concentrate on the player finances,it is obviously making the debt grow and stopping us strenthening the side

by **Leonmc0708** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 6:44 pm

mighty mo wrote:why don,t we axe the stadium plans and just concentrate on the player finances,it is obviously making the debt grow and stopping us strenthening the side

Obviously.

by **Leonmc0708** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 6:49 pm

hawkmoon269 wrote:A detailed report in the Mail on Sunday today states that Liverpool's debts are increasing, costs for the new stadium are spiralling out of control and there's still no sign of any investment.

The report says: 'Why are Liverpool having to cut their cloth accordingly when the Champions League triumph brought in almost £22million in prize money alone? That windfall means the accounts that the plc will unveil next month will make superficially good reading. Instead of last year's loss of just over £18million, there should be a decent profit. But a closer look at the balance sheet will reveal a disturbing increase in debt'.

The report closely follows comments made by potential investor Steve Morgan at the club's 2004 AGM. At the time Morgan said: "I would never break the confidentiality agreement but we know there is a lot more (to the figures announced) and people would be appalled if they knew the situation.

"There are massively escalating costs of the stadium, the figures are nothing like what has been reported. The board should come clean and then people will know why I had to revise my offer."

LFC Chief Executive Rick Parry was in Dubai last week trying to attract investment but again, it hasn't been forthcoming as yet, much to the amazement of the club's financial advisors Hawkpoint.

If this is correct, then we deparately need Parry to be successful in attracting investment, if we are be have the funds to buy the quality players we need to compete

Where is the source of this story ? I could not find it.

by **JBG** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 6:52 pm

I'm not unduly worried.

Last season we would have surely made a bumper turnover given the Champions League win. Hell, even the run to Cardiff would have brought in a few quid (albeit a very small amount).

There would have been a small amount of prize money from the Super Cup, and some prize money from participating in the Club Championship in a few weeks.

On top of the CL and Super cup wins and the participartion in the Club Championship, the club would have earned bonuses from sponsors that they would not have got had we not had the cup successes.

There will be an additional benefit from increase in merchandising, shirt sales and what not.

We didn't spend a fortune in the summer and some of the dead wood was cleared out.

The whole "the new stadium costs is spiralling out of control" thing gets wheeled out the whole time. Aside from feasibility studies, preparing the planning application, initial drawings etc from architects no money has been spent on the new stadium. It is a problem - a future problem - but the club won't start on that until the remaining issues are ironed out and Parry secures investment.

While the club is hardly rolling in the money I'm confident it is on a sound footing and it can still budget for about £20million a season (on average) for transfers, which is better than most clubs in Europe.

This is not a paranoid thing to say but for the past 15 years or so a large element of the media love to see us struggle after our decades of dominance and they will make mountains out of molehills to stick the knife in any chance they can. The same happens to Man UTD.

I don't think the club is maximising its money making potential but in the past couple of years its at last seeing some fiscal sense. We could go out and blow £25million on a player in January if we really wanted by borrowing it, but thats not going to happen.

If Benitez keeps us performing excellently in Europe our finances will continue to grow, and a knock on effect on transfer policy will eventually be seen.

by **dum1** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 7:02 pm

I think that while we are not in danger of going under we have to watch our spending, as do other clubs.

the problem now is that Chelsea have bought there way to the top which was previously the priority of mancs and so now there is a gap between them and the other clubs.

If the gap persists then the chances are that only money will close it and therefore a benefactor is needed.

Chelsea's benefactor has not put money in as an investment but at a wim almost like a hoby whereas the investors for LIverpool have generally seen it as an investment in which case Moores has to share power.

Morgan is an out and out fan and so he had the clubs best interest at heart (I believe) but appears too outspoken for Moores and his mates. Moores, Parry etc have been in charge while the slide has happened and continues and I have no faith in them getting an investor on board because generally the new investor wants Moores etc out of the way cos they (the new investors) believe they can run it better.

On the basis that Moores has got us where we have its time for a change and some new blood, while we all accept a change of manager its more difficult for us to judge the performance of the directors because we don't get to find too much out about what is going on.

We tend to wait for the financial news and unless its dramatic like big losses we tend to concentrate on the performance on the field but now this performance is even more reliant upon the finances of the club.

We also tend to treat the directors with god like status when we should be questioning their decisions more closely, and that is why they tend to keep the details of the proposals secret even when they have rejected the offers.

I believe the fans own the club and the directors are temporary custodians of the finances, they need to respect the fans more by including them in the decisions.

by **RUSHIE#9** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 8:28 pm

The whole "the new stadium costs is spiralling out of control" thing gets wheeled out the whole time. Aside from feasibility studies, preparing the planning application, initial drawings etc from architects no money has been spent on the new stadium. It is a problem - a future problem - but the club won't start on that until the remaining issues are ironed out and Parry secures investment.

This future problem is growing by a staggering £750k a month which based over the term of 10 month season comes to roughly £7.5m which any football club these days can't really afford. I think that the time has come for the club to ditch what to me is turning out to be a bit of a white elephant. With the current supposed drop in attendances at footy matches it may prove a costly mistake to build a massive new stadium in the current footballing climate and if the club are starting to have concerns about their debt, taking on such a commitment is possibly not the thing to do.

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