ECHO Comment: "Fears of Witch-hunt Against Liverpool FC"

degsy · February 7, 2016

catcherintherye said:
The local reds are now facing a final battle for the soul of their club. They seem to have out of owners attacking them, calling them out and shaming them for saying anything critical about the idea that people from all over the world should descend on a football stadium, drive prices up and mean local fans can't afford to get in.

The problem they have is they can't just sack of the out of town support. Without that they become another Sunderland, Manchester City (before success) West Ham etc. Their attendance would be a fraction of ours.

Sooner or later the penny is going to drop. The merseyside area will in essence be a Liverpool FC free zone and they will be the side marketed to the global customers. It's not a bad thing by any means objectively speaking. They may well be successful but for the local reds it will require them to shut up, accept the utter nonsense that goes on and be the unfortunate water carriers of the football club. The tacky bit that the yanks want to cover up and hide, not place centrally.

They can either be a big club but a known joke for local people. Or they can be a localised club with traditions (a bit like Everton) but in all likelihood fall well below where we currently are. In the end they can't have both.

You're not going to get day trippers from Asia/America really caring whether lads from Breck Road or Huyton can afford to watch the match. In the same way English tourists don't care if the local Orlando population can afford to go to Disneyworld when they go on holiday. Or care about the local traditions that might be getting desicrated in the process.

For a long time they've managed to delude themselves into a faux pas unity by keeping the warring factions apart. Success and then a common enemy has united them. That front is already shattering now. Put simply they have sold out to the highest bidder for many years (and mocked us for not doing so) and now the monster they've created is coming back to bite them. They have too many fans for seats. Who should get the seats? Local fans or those with the most money? They will struggle to argue it shouldn't be those with the most money as they've given that layer of the fancies too much influence.

I do have some sympathy. It's only tempered by the fact that they were too thick to realise what was going on and would happily boast about how little international appeal we had. We still have a club thats routed in the community.

Oh dear oh dear what a shame, so sad. I'm actually crying here,

with laughter.

although it will be a bit of a shame for the couple of decent ones I know.

when you sign a pact with the devil, there's always a catch.

Darth Vader · February 7, 2016

paultheblue said:
I dont get the protest either as most are paying less, if you are in the main stand and dont want to pay £77 are you not able to move your season ticket to a cheaper seat?
They have thousands with tickets passed on by family members who no longer go any more also a lot more who only go to 1 in 3 games on shared tickets, I am all in favour of protesting by supporters if you have a genuine grievance but this stinks to me of people who just are not happy because the team isnt any good anymore.

Know of at least 5 people who buy season tickets of others and have done for seasons

l4toffee · February 7, 2016

Darth Vader said:
Oh so we are going off a ground and takeover that doesn't exsist

Sound

well the current board are not soft on that score are they ? Considering we have at least 8000 severely obstructed views I'd say prices are already high as it is . Some park end tickets are in the higher £40's

Also I said about the take over as our new owners would be in it for the same reasons as liverpools .

Don't think we are that different to other prem clubs . Loads of day trippers watch Everton now compared to 10 years ago.

paultheblue · February 7, 2016

Darth Vader said:
Know of at least 5 people who buy season tickets of others and have done for seasons

I know mate,they dont actually want to go to 90% of the games but dont want to relinquish the tickets as they are treated like a family heirloom.

Darth Vader · February 7, 2016

Since 2010 they have spent 440m

440M FFS

Imagine spending that and having Henderson, Allen, Can and Lucas as your midfield

They piss and moan about the board not backing the manager (Crap obviously) and cried they where being left behind in regards to the stadium and the revenue it brings

Boo hoo

Darth Vader · February 7, 2016

l4toffee said:
well the current board are not soft on that score are they ? Considering we have at least 8000 severely obstructed views I'd say prices are already high as it is . Some park end tickets are in the higher £40's

Also I said about the take over as our new owners would be in it for the same reasons as liverpools .

Don't think we are that different to other prem clubs . Loads of day trippers watch Everton now compared to 10 years ago.

I would guess the amount of day trippers compared to other clubs is very very low

Tramps_mate · February 7, 2016

Darth Vader said:
Hahahahaha nope

Not a chance you could over charge at Goodison

I'm sure they'll try...

l4toffee · February 7, 2016

Darth Vader said:
I would guess the amount of day trippers compared to other clubs is very very low

Compared to United, Liverpool Arsenal and Chelsea . No doubt about it . But don't kid yourself if you think there aren't plenty at goodison these days .

Go and spend 5 minutes in that fan zone in the park end before the next game . You will see what I mean .

Whistlin' Dixie · February 7, 2016

Darth Vader said:
I would guess the amount of day trippers compared to other clubs is very very low

I'd have to agree. It's nowhere near the 50's & 60's level when there'd be boatloads over from Ireland...Mind you, attendances were bigger in them days, but proportionately & comparitively speaking I'd still guess it's low.

Darth Vader · February 7, 2016

l4toffee said:
Compared to United, Liverpool Arsenal and Chelsea . No doubt about it . But don't kid yourself if you think there aren't plenty at goodison these days .

Go and spend 5 minutes in that fan zone in the park end before the next game . You will see what I mean .

Park ends for wools mate

l4toffee · February 7, 2016

Darth Vader said:
Park ends for wools mate

Good job I'm in upper street end then

hullefc · February 7, 2016

Eggs said:
.....it's the many thousands who have season tickets to sell on a game by game basis to tourists at huge profit they should be targeting. Imagine if season ticket holders had to attend 75% of home matches, you'd soon see demand fall.

Visit any hotel in town on a Saturday or Sunday morning, when they are at home, and you will see numerous 'touts' handing out season passes to those that can pay. An Anfield season pass is a cash cow.

fabricsince1985 · February 7, 2016

ste d' indica said:
Why I walked: Liverpool fan explains protest during Sunderland draw

An estimated 10,000 Liverpool fans left Anfield in the 77th minute of Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Sunderland in protest at the club’s new £77 match ticket for next season. Liverpool fan Rob Gutmann was among them

I’ve never seen a crowd finish a football team like that. The match was won, Liverpool 2 Sunderland 0. Then the 77th-minute protest began. About half the Kop walked, and a significant portion of the rest voted with their feet too. The dissenting mass totally sucked the life out of their team, Sunderland seized the moment, and the win was stolen. The point, emphatically made.

No witnesses could have failed to draw the inference. Crowds matter. People matter. Without fans it’s just 22 fools in a field. Even Jürgen Klopp has referenced this in the past.

Before the game there was plenty of talk but no real sense of what might actually unfold in the ground. The week was tense: plans were hatched, black flags prepared.

The point we were making was this: we’re worth more. An £8.5 billion TV windfall deserved to be shared and the launch of a new 8,500-capacity main stand at Anfield represented a major opportunity to do that. The planets were aligning: this was the moment when our club could have made us proud. We could have been first to the punch.

I’ve been giving Liverpool my money as a season-ticket holder for 30 years. They’ve got me. Like all of us, a slave to football’s rhythm. We’d just like to feel they weren’t laughing at us.

Today felt like a flag had been planted, and maybe things will never be the same again. I expected sadness but there was mainly stoic pride. The Kop, defiantly mute for an hour, roused itself with trademark angry majesty on 75 minutes and cheered the faithful home. Never so literally.

77 and out. So many of us gone – hopefully not for ever. But enough is enough.

In some ways, protests, welcome home.
What is it with them, eh? I mean really.

This hyperbole about the crowd would be all well and good if (like any clubs fans) they didn't have a mass exodus with 5-10mins to go when their team are getting beat.

And as it's LFC you don't need to remember to far back for a good example. Do the Kloppites forget that a great number got up and left when Scott Dann scored to put Palace ahead? If they would have stayed the mythical 12th man would have restored order and got Liverpool the equaliser! Instead it was left to Klopp to point out that he felt 'alone' as the game petered out with Palace taking the 3 points.