EXCLUSIVE: Former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton speaks to the ECHO as owners Fenway Sports Group mark their 15th year in charge at Anfield
John W. Henry (C) and Christian Purslow (L) listen as Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton addresses the media, after a meeting with lawyers, in central London on October 15, 2010(Image: Carl Court/AFP via Getty Images)
Former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton admits the disastrous tenure of Tom Hicks and George Gillett as owners led to initial concerns over accepting an offer from fellow Americans Fenway Sports Group. It’s 15 years this week since FSG, then known as New England Sports Ventures, purchased Liverpool for £300m to bring an end to a difficult period in the club’s history under Hicks and Gillett, whose controversial stewardship led the club to the brink of administration.
Broughton was appointed chairman in April of 2010 to help facilitate a sale and met with John W Henry, now Liverpool’s principal owner, later that year with Tom Werner, who has since succeeded the London businessman in the role at Anfield.
In an exclusive interview with the ECHO, Broughton says he admired what FSG had achieved with the Boston Red Sox baseball team at the time and believed they could be a good fit at Liverpool.
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He did, however, concede there was some hesitation over the nationality of the prospective new owners due to the strength of feeling from the fanbase towards Texan Hicks and Wisconsin native Gillett.
“Yes, there was concern,” Broughton says “That was the one big negative: they were American!
“Because the placards from the fans at the time were: ‘Yanks Go Home’. It wasn’t just: ‘Tom and George Go Home’.
“So bringing in some more ‘yanks’ was something we thought about. Yes, there was some concern. But I felt that actually, despite being American, they were the right people.
“What I liked about them was their key values were in place. Tom and John are two very different characters. John is very introverted and studious and focused. Tom is much more gregarious, so they are not an obvious couple but they seem to get on very well.
“I was called in in April but it was probably August before I saw the New England people. I met them in Boston, at Fenway Park, and the similarities [to Liverpool] really struck me.
“These guys had been there and done it with a team whose name and standing was greater than their performance.
“They hadn’t won the World Series for nearly a century and they had the same sort of things where a new ground was being prepared next door to Fenway and their first thought was: ‘Why do away with the great tradition of the Green Monster (mascot) when we can refit the current place?’
“And that is what they did. So they did what they planned to do with the stadium, they invested in the team and won the World Series. So these guys may not know football (in 2010), but I did think they knew about reputation and standing and heritage and what all that means to the people and how it is at Anfield.
“And given Anfield is so important, the thinking was do they really want a new stadium? People were saying they had to move to keep up but they felt they didn’t.
“So I really liked that they had success elsewhere. Different sports, yes but my sense was when they took something on, they did it very professionally and really understood those parts of ownership. Not just the nuts and bolts of it but being custodians.”
FSG eventually took ownership of Liverpool on October 15, 2010 and asked Broughton to stay on as chairman. But having helped force through the sale of the club to end the association with Hicks and Gillett, the now 78-year-old felt it was the right time to step down from his position as Fenway ushered in a new Anfield era.
“They didn’t lean on me much for guidance,” he says. “They wanted me to stay on as chairman and they felt having an English person would be an advantage.
“I felt it was very tempting but the problem was, staying on was very different being an independent chairman who has rights and authority and responsibility.
“It was different from being a chairman who was a spokesperson. I don’t mean that to sound derogatory, but if a decision is made where you don’t agree with the owners, there are two options: do it anyway, believing it was not right; or you quit. Neither of those are effective options.
“So being in the chairman’s role is more as a spokesperson. As much I enjoyed the role, ultimately, that wasn’t for me. So I offered my services, so to speak, to help them settle in. Tom took the role rather reluctantly as he lived in LA but he has done the job well.”
Broughton, who was speaking exclusively to the ECHO for its new monthly Blood Red standalone print product, added: “I admire FSG’s timing and what they have done with it to build the value but I admire they have done everything they have said they would do.
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“They have invested in the ground, they have made the physical infrastructure in the ground change, which some people said wouldn’t be possible.
“They have invested in the team, finding the right managers and despite the fact they have spent a lot of money this summer, if you look at it in an overall context, they have been rational and sensible in their transfer dealings.
“They haven’t gone to just splash the cash for the sake of it. Their approach is: ‘Who is the right person for the team? Who do we need? Okay, let’s go and get him’.
“Yes, they have spent a lot this summer but that hasn’t been the feature of it at all. Generally speaking they have under-invested by comparison to other teams but invested wisely. That is the key thing.”