investment in liverpool??

rondeco

Apparently Rick Parry was at the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots game on monday night as a guest of the owner of New England Patriots, Robert Kraft. There were rumours of Kraft investing in the pool before and now it has come to light that the AGM scheduled for Dec 1st has been postponed. Could this be to facilitate a very surprising announcement?
Opinions?

el rabitos

my opinion - dont invest your hopes in parry and moores making any spectacular or even any major deal happen for liverpool. they're both useless and in terms of the premierships top for chairmen/exec's getting the best they can for a club, liverpool are definitely 4th out of the "top 4"

spockety

Actually Liverpool are in pretty good hands.

Out of the top 4, they're probably the most stable/safe club.

Jivin Turkey

el rabitos wrote:

my opinion - dont invest your hopes in parry and moores making any spectacular or even any major deal happen for liverpool. they're both useless and in terms of the premierships top for chairmen/exec's getting the best they can for a club, liverpool are definitely 4th out of the "top 4"

Yeah they really messed up that sponsorship deal you were talking about

Hydromonkey

Couple of pics from the New England Patriots game:




Apparently Keith Clayton (LFC Finance Director) is the guy sitting to Parry's left.
I wouldn't jump to any conclusions though

el rabitos

Yeah they really messed up that sponsorship deal you were talking about

lets just agree to disagree on this one man, we'll never see eye to eye on it

Out of the top 4, they're probably the most stable/safe club.

not always something worth bragging about imo

yom 1

BBC wrote:

Liverpool are holding discussions with American billionaire Robert Kraft as they search a major cash injection, according to reports.
Chief executive Rick Parry is believed to have met the owner of New England Patriots gridiron team on Monday.

The talks centred on either chairman David Moores diluting his major shareholding, or over naming rights for Liverpool's proposed new ground.

No formal proposal has been made, but talks are expected to continue.

Liverpool have been searching for investment for 18 months, and Parry is hoping to strike a deal to build on last season's Champions League win.

They are still hoping to build a new stadium in Stanley Park, only a stone's thrown from Anfield, but costs are believed to have risen significantly from an initial estimate of £70m.

Talks with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shiniwatra failed to take off, while building magnate and lifelong Liverpool fan Steve Morgan finally withdrew his interest after numerous attempts to invest in the club.

The Kraft Group specialises in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment and venture investment. The Group bought New England Patriots for £98m in 1994 and also owns Major League Soccer team new England Revolution.

And deal would not mirror Malcolm Glazer's takeover of Manchester United, with Moores not looking to relinquish his entire 51% shareholding.

Parry was expected back on Merseyside on Wednesday to report back on his discussions.

well looks like bbc picked up on it aswell

p.pete

It's in several papers - would be nice to see some movement on this, by the sounds of it we'll need Moores to be willing to release control. I want to see the new stadium going ahead and also much needed investment in the team etc.

yom 1

couldn't agree more

But how does everyone feel about the talk of selling the naming rights to the new stadium. With Chelsea and Arsenal both making a fortune from doing it would you be happy to see this or would you prefer the new stadium to be called Anfield. Personally if the right offer was made well then i'd probably sell the naming rights. We cant afford to be too sentimental when moving to the new stadium and we also cant afford to miss out on such a big investment.

p.pete

Well the stadium is still going to be in Anfield, Liverpool's a very sentimental club and sometimes to our detriment. To be honest I don't think the new stadium should be called Anfield, simply because it's not going to be Anfield. Anfield has a lot of history, the new stadium will need to create its own - it can't be transplanted half a mile North simply by carrying the name over.

Benedict XVI

p.pete wrote:

- it can't be transplanted half a mile North simply by carrying the name over.

It will only be transplanted across the road at the 'Away end', the end opposite the Kop into the park.

Anyway it can called something like 'The Joe Bloggs Arena at Anfield'

yom 1

Rick Parry wrote:

"It certainly wasn't a secret visit, having attended two games with a combined attendance of over 100,000 people," said the Liverpool Chief Executive.

"I've actually known the Kraft family since meeting them in Boston back in 2001 and have had a longstanding invitation to visit the Gillette stadium, which is one of the very few privately funded stadia in the USA.

"They were keen for me to see at close hand how the matchday operation ran and I watched both the New England Revolution v Chicago Fire MLS game on Sunday and the New England Patriots v Indianapolis Colts NFL fixture a day later.

"It also gave us the opportunity to discuss at length the way in which they had funded the construction of the ground."

Well he doesn't mention anything about investment but would he really at this stage if negotiations are only starting?

galwaydude

the kraft rumours have been doing the rounds since last year. Wouldnt mind some of robert krafts money to go liverpools way.

p.pete

Article with plenty of info on stadium funding and club investment etc. for anyone interested...

whiskeyman

Listened to a great article about Kraft last night on BBC5.
This guy is like the opposite of Glazier.
He really loves his football... and owns MLS side New England Revoltion (coached by ex-Liverpool player Steve Nicol... worth noting).
He has spent (and lost millions) on MLS, but everyone knows it because for his love of the game.
Glazier was approached to get into MLS... even $6m would have got him in, but he refused totally.

As a shrewd businessman and soccer fan, Kraft could well be the perfect match for the Pool.

Lex Luthor

whiskeyman wrote:

Listened to a great article about Kraft last night on BBC5.
This guy is like the opposite of Glazier.
He really loves his football... and owns MLS side New England Revoltion (coached by ex-Liverpool player Steve Nicol... worth noting).
He has spent (and lost millions) on MLS, but everyone knows it because for his love of the game.
Glazier was approached to get into MLS... even $6m would have got him in, but he refused totally.

As a shrewd businessman and soccer fan, Kraft could well be the perfect match for the Pool.

and I suppose we should get back GH to blow another £100m

galwaydude

Another reason why he was in the states

from the liverpool website

LIVERPOOL Football Club are set to take America by storm by establishing a coast-to-coast network of high-profile soccer schools.

The European champions are about to make a big commitment to the USA with the launch of no less than 30 academies - spread across the country and aimed at attracting the very best young talent on the other side of the Atlantic.

The Reds will close a week, in which they have been linked with one potential new American investor, by confirming the new soccer schools programme at Melwood tomorrow.

But the ECHO can reveal that the new initiative, which it's hoped will establish Liverpool as the biggest soccer club in the USA, will be officially launched on December 1 -

when chief executive Rick Parry will travel to Memphis, the US technical base for the programme, to promote the project.

Parry will be joined by Liverpool MP Peter Kilfoyle and 20 schoolchildren from the Anfield and Breckfield areas - who will be treated to the holiday of a lifetime as part of the launch.

Kilfoyle said: "I am delighted that the good name of the city is being spread far and wide. This will be a great experience for the kids, and what better way for Liverpool Football Club to launch a soccer scheme than to take some of its own with them.

"I'm sure the children will have the time of their lives, and I'm sure they will be great ambassadors for the city."

The children, who will also come face to face with their Liverpool heroes tomorrow, will also be one of the first to try out the facilities at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex, home of Liverpool's Tennessee Academy.

Unlike so many other European clubs who have attempted to break the US market through summer tours and heavy merchandising, Liverpool's ground-breaking programme is based around a long-term commitment to grass roots coaching as well as career training and IT programmes - a lot like the club's home facility in Kirkby.

seabee

Kraft admits liverpool interest!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/4420306.stm