Source: Telegraph
Tom Hicks Jr resigns from Liverpool board over obscene email to fan
The club released a statement this morning confirming Hicks Jr's departure after calls yesterday from Liverpool's supporters' union, Spirit of Shankly, for the 39 year-old son of Anfield co-owner Tom Hicks to 'recognise his shortcomings' and 'do what any honourable person would do and resign'. [LNB]'Liverpool Football Club today announces that Thomas Hicks Jr has resigned as a Director of both the Club and its parent company Kop Holdings,' read the statement. [LNB] Related ArticlesOne down, three to go, say Liverpool fansTom Hicks Jnr under pressure to resignTom Hicks Jnr sends Liverpool fan abusive emailLiverpool Transfer TalkTransfer TalkSport on television'Three new Directors have been elected to the Boards of both companies. These are Philip Nash, LFC Chief Financial Officer, Ian Ayre, LFC Commercial Director and Casey Coffman, Executive Vice President of Hicks Holdings.' [LNB]Hicks Jr had been contacted by the fan, Stephen Horner, on Saturday with a link to a local newspaper piece concerning the challenge faced by the club's manager, Rafael Benitez, to manage Anfield's £240 million debt at the same time as keeping the team competitive on the field. [LNB]As first reported yesterday by Telegraph Sport, he replied by calling Horner an 'idiot' before sending a second, expletive-strewn message, ending with: 'Go to hell. I'm sick of you.' [LNB]Sources close to the Hicks family revealed Hicks Jr, who, along with other board members, regularly receives vitriolic correspondence from fans unhappy at the ownership of Hicks senior and George Gillett, had sent the message in error and described him as being 'mortified' by the affair. [LNB]Hicks Jr today offered "sincere apologies" to the wider Liverpool support. "I have great respect for Liverpool Football Club, especially the club's supporters," he said in a statement.[LNB]Hicks Jr had sent an email apology to Horner yesterday, admitting his 'inappropriate language' had been a 'kneejerk reaction.' [LNB]His recalcitrance was met with short shrift by Spirit of Shankly, a group dedicated to the removal of Hicks and Gillett from Anfield. [LNB]Paul Rice, the group's chairman, described his position as 'untenable' after 'behaviour unbecoming a director of Liverpool football club.' [LNB]While Hicks Jr had no direct impact on the day-to-day running of the club, his role on a finely-balanced board heavily factionalised between Hicks and Gillett - was key. His replacements, though, do not represent a power shift to Gillett's camp. Coffmann and Ayre, in particular, are known to be close allies of Hicks. [LNB]
