Friday, April 25, 2014

Ayre: Owners Deserve Credit

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre has paid tribute to the club's owners Fenway Sports Group, admitting the Anfield outfit were "seconds from financial disaster".

Ayre concedes Liverpool were on the brink of going into administration in 2010 before Fenway Sports Group secured a deal to take over from the Premier League club from former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jnr.

And he believes their current owners deserve all the praise for saving the club and putting it back on the road for success as they look to secure the Premier League title this season.

"People sometimes forget how bad it was," Ayre said. "I speak to people now and they have really short memories.

"When you think about that day when [the High Court ruled John W Henry and Tom Werner could take over and] we tipped it over the edge and finally pulled it back, we have come such a long way.

"It's easy to say it's about time we are back in the Champions League. But if you think about where we were financially, just because you are Liverpool it does not mean you have a right to get back up there.

"There are plenty of teams who could have slipped and slipped, despite new owners.

"It's an unbelievable achievement to get back where we are. As one of the few people who was here with the last ownership and through this one, the club is in a fantastically sustainable position now."

Talking about the club's financial problems four years ago, Ayre admitted the club was in dark place before Fenway Sports Group took over.

"It is no secret, it's like that TV programme - Seconds From Disaster. We were sort of in that vein.

"It was horrific to see the football club in that state.

"I do not think there was a Liverpool fan anywhere who was not worried we would not get to this position we are in now."

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