Henry knew 'little' about Reds

12 October 2011 20:20
iverpool owner John W Henry admits he knew "virtually nothing" about the club or English football before Fenway Sports Group took it over.[LNB] On Saturday it will be 12 months to the day that it was confirmed that the American company had assumed control of the Reds.[LNB]Since then Henry has overseen Kenny Dalglish's appointment as manager and a significant spending spree on new players such as Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll.[LNB]In an interview with The Guardian, FSG's chiefs have explained they were attracted to buying Liverpool after considering the financial potential of the club's global following.[LNB]Henry saw parallels between the Merseyside outfit's situation and that of Major League Baseball side Boston Red Sox when FSG took them over in 2002 - and the opportunity to perform a similar reviving act in a sport with greater international appeal.[LNB]But when asked what he knew about Liverpool and English football before being alerted to the club's financial difficulties last August, the 62-year-old said: "Very little. We knew virtually nothing about Liverpool Football Club nor EPL (the Premier League)."[LNB]Tom Werner of FSG, who is now Liverpool's chairman, also had limited knowledge of the Reds.[LNB]"I had been in sports so I was aware of the EPL and its strength globally," Werner said.[LNB]"But I didn't know the inner workings of it. I certainly knew about Manchester United."[LNB]Liverpool chairman Tom Werner, meanwhile, has explained that one of the prime attractions of FSG's purchase of the club was the potential amount of money that could be made from the popularity of the Merseyside outfit and English football across the world.[LNB]Following their revival of Major League Baseball franchise Boston Red Sox after taking them over in 2002, FSG saw an opportunity with Liverpool to do something similar, but in a sport with greater international appeal - and significant financial possibilities.[LNB]Baseball teams like the Red Sox share a proportion of income from tickets, merchandising and broadcasting to ensure more level competition between big and small outfits, and Werner said: "We realise we are part of a league, but we feel the burden on the top is higher than appropriate.[LNB]"We feel we deserve the fruits of our labour. That is the difference with the EPL (Premier League).[LNB]"If we can generate interest in Liverpool here and around the world, we will benefit from that."

Source: Team_Talk