The feud between Liverpool American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett “is making a laughing stock of an English institution,” writes Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune. It’s gotten to the point where the pair can’t even be in the same stadium, let alone meet in the same boardroom together. When Gillett tried to sell half his share to a Dubai firm, Hicks blocked the move. The Texan has also tried to oust both Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez and club CEO Rick Parry, both without the consent of Gillett.
The unsettling atmosphere created by the feud has threatened to undermine Liverpool’s season. Thankfully for the club’s poor supporters, Liverpool is still alive in the Champions League, otherwise the call for both Hicks and Gillett to leave would be louder and more forceful than they already are. Already, one Liverpool shareholder is calling for 100,000 fans to pay $10,000 each to repurchase the club from the American pair.
As Hughes says, a club is more than a business. Witness the way Liverpool’s supporters come together year after year to remember the incident at Hillsborough in 1989, one of the worst disasters in soccer history. Where were Liverpool’s owners during Tuesday’s memorial service, for instance? Meanwhile, it’s no certainty that either Hicks or Gillett will make the trip to the Champions League final in Moscow, should Liverpool get that far.