No new stadium. A huge debt. Despite their promises, Hicks and Gillett have 'done a Glaz... Page 1 of 5

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1 INDEX NO /2010 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/10/ :51 PM NYSCEF DOC. NO RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/10/2017 No new stadium. A huge debt. Despite their promises, Hicks and Gillett have 'done a Glaz... Page 1 of 5 Skip to main content sign in subscribe search jobs more from the guardian: jobs change edition: switch to the UK edition switch to the AU edition US edition switch to the UK edition switch to the Australia edition The Guardian Winner of the Pulitzer prize >soccer live scores tables competitions results fixtures clubs us world opinion sports selected tech arts lifestyle fashion business money travel environment browse all sections close No new stadium. A huge debt. Despite their promises, Hicks and Gillett have 'done a Glazers' Tom Hicks and George Gillett claimed they were different to Manchester United's owners, but they have betrayed their promises to Liverpool's fans [XI George Gillett and Tom Hicks Liverpool owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks haven't lived up to their promises. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA David Conn Friday 5 June EDT RBS-MILL DX /11/2015

INDEX NO. 652055/2010 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/10/2017 11:51 PM NYSCEF DOC. NO. 1230 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/10/2017 No new stadium. A huge debt.

2 INDEX NO /2010 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/10/ :51 PM NYSCEF DOC. NO RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/10/2017 No new stadium. A huge debt. Despite their promises, Hicks and Gillett have 'done a Glaz... Page 2 of 5 When contemplating the hideou financial figures released yesterday by Liverpool Football Club and the owners' holding company, Kop Football, memories drift instinctively back to the promises Tom Hicks and George Gillett made when they swept into the club triumphantly two years ago. Then, it was all smiles, scarves, and warm words. The pair gushed about Liverpool's marvellous heritage; the Kop, which, clearly, they had been carefully briefed to namecheck, and out there on the Anfield pitch they did pretty well to restrain themselves from calling the great English football club a franchise. Nothing was straightforwardly said about the blatant fact that the pair were financing their 185m takeover with borrowed money, or that the club itself would then be made to pay off those loans. The pair did, however, tell fans they were not going to "do a Glazers". Yet as these accounts now confirm, that is exactly what they did. The Glazer family bought Manchester United in 2005 in the teeth of bitter opposition from fans who understood that their club would be laden with the debts the new owners had borrowed to take it over. At Liverpool, the fans, desperate for success and change, largely accepted the patter and the assurances that the pair were different from the Americans who bought United, and Hicks and Gillett were welcomed into the boss seats at Anfield. It is vital to remember why Liverpool was for sale in the first place. It was done solely so that the club could build a new stadium of a size to compete with Manchester United, who have 76,000 paying fans at Old Trafford, Arsenal, who make packets at the 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium, and Chelsea, who have Roman Abramovich's wallet. Liverpool's chairman, David Moores, and chief executive, Rick Parry, believed they could not borrow the necessary money to build a new stadium without a rich backer standing behind the club. Moores personally made 90m from selling to Hicks and Gillett the majority shareholding he bought for very much less, back in the days when the Kop was a terrace and young people from the local area could afford to stand on it. Around Anfield, an economically blighted neighbourhood marked by rows of boarded up streets, regeneration plans are based around the proposed new stadium. Yet there is no sight nor sound of the money to build it, and that is the deepest betrayal of the tenure of these two owners. The accounts, in some ways, confirmed what we already knew. Hicks and Gillett did "do a Glazers"; they have taken out a 350rn loan to cover their initial takeover, fund player signings and running costs, and by January this year had spent 313m of it. The club itself, which enjoyed a bumper year in , had to provide 36.5m to pay the interest on that. With so much money already borrowed, nobody believes another 400m will be available from banks to fund the new Anfield. Despite what appears a stark warning from the auditors, KPMG, of "material uncertainty" casting "significant doubt" on Liverpool's ability to stay in business, the prospects are not in reality that dire. Hicks is confident the Royal Bank of Scotland will simply extend the 350m loan when it falls for renewal next month, and in the current climate a customer able to pay 36.5m in interest a year looks good business for any bank. Insiders point out that the club did invest in players during the year to July 2008 covered by the accounts, notably buying Albert Riera, Andrea Dossena and 20m Robbie Keane, and Liverpool finished second in the Premier League last season which will make them significantly more money. Hicks and Gillett provided 58m funding to the club in , and they are committed to providing Rafael Benitez with 20m to spend this summer, whether from the club's increased income, further borrowing, or more of their own funds. So Liverpool are not facing imminent collapse, but they are in 3 l 3m debt, still at Anfield, and nowhere near where they are supposed to be, two years after Hicks and Gillett walked on to the Anfield pitch, with red scarves round their necks, and painted a rosy red picture of the benefactors they would be. The Guardian back to top us world opinion sports selected RBS-MILL DX /2015

3 INDEX NO /2010 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/10/ :51 PM NYSCEF DOC. NO RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/10/2017 No new stadium. A huge debt. Despite their promises, Hicks and Gillett have 'done a Glaz... Page 3 of 5 tech arts lifestyle fashion business money travel environment all sections close us world UK europe amencas asia middle east africa australia opinion sports selected MLS NFL MLB NBA NHL live scores tables competitions results fixtures clubs tech arts movies tv & radio music games books art & design stage classical lifestyle food health & fitness love & sex family women RBS-MILL DX

4 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/10/ :51 PM INDEX NO /2010 NYSCEF DOC. NO RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/10/2017 No new stadium. A huge debt. Despite their promises, Hicks and Gillett have 'done a Glaz... Page 4 of 5 & garden fashion business markets companies money travel USA europe UK environment development science media crosswords video Soccer >Liverpool jobs subscribe all topics all contributor about us contact us complaints & corrections terms & conditions privacy policy cookie policy securedrop 2015 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. RBS-MILL /11/2015 DX

5 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/10/ :51 PM INDEX NO /2010 NYSCEF DOC. NO RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/10/2017 No new stadium. A huge debt. Despite their promises, Hicks and Gillett have 'done a Glaz... Page 5 of 5 RBS-MILL /11/2015 DX

6 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 10/10/ :51 PM INDEX NO /2010 NYSCEF DOC. NO RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/10/2017 RBS-MILL DX

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