Topic: No to the 39th game.

[liddellpool]

Can I be first to say that, Mr Werner. Home and away, Anfield and whatever the corresponding away ground is. 

Again, No.

[Barney_Rubble]

Let's play the Boston Red Sox

in Shanghai

at Cricket.

[Sevo]

If he's got any sense, he'd do well to listen to the supporters before shouting his mouth off. He can stick his 39th game right up his ar*e.

[It's Jimmy Corkhill]

Won't happen anyway

[Always_A_Red]

With cheerleaders

topless??   

[fredfrop]

Calm down, he hasn't suggested it, he's responded to a question, a question loaded to achieve a headline.

Besides a foreign away game doesn't have to be a disaster, it just needs planning really carefully.

[Tomo!]

Can I be first to say that, Mr Werner. Home and away, Anfield and whatever the corresponding away ground is. 

Again, No.

+ 1

[scared_person]

Calm down, he hasn't suggested it, he's responded to a question, a question loaded to achieve a headline.

Besides a foreign away game doesn't have to be a disaster, it just needs planning really carefully.

Agree that its probably journos at work here.

But it would be a disaster, and absolute confirmation if we needed any that the game no longer belongs to us.

LFC belongs to the people of Liverpool. Others are of course welcome to join but they  have to accept that Liverpool FC is just that, Liverpool's football club.

The day we move our league games to raise revenue in different markets is the day I call it quits.

[Mutton Geoff]

how about we play football at Fenway and they play baseball at Anfield.

[♠Dirty Harry♠]

[Ligind]

All clubs and chairman would love to do it but the reaction would hurt the domestic market.  I agree, I think its a loaded question but i dont find fault with Tom thinking why not if it can help liverpool expand its fan base and make some dosh.  I dont think its a good idea personally as Liverpool belongs to liverpool but its always worth a look at.

[scared_person]

Whats kneejerk here?

Our new chairman has said to the BBC that he's keen on playing competitive league matches abroad.

Do you think this idea has merit?

[redbyrdz]

A 39th game would be complete bollocks and just can't work for reasons of fairness.

A game abroad is complete bollocks, because football is about your town playing another town. You can't take  both to another place. let alone a different continent.


If people really want a game abroad, then lets move the FA Cup final back to Cardiff.

[Tomo!]

Same scar as the one on my knee, dont look like Steve Martin though

[TravisBickle]

When everyone tells him to do one, he won't be so keen.

[♠Dirty Harry♠]

Whats kneejerk here?

Our new chairman has said to the BBC that he's keen on playing competitive league matches abroad.

Do you think this idea has merit?

Has he said "We are definately going to be playing competitive games abroad outside of our current european schedule"? No, so fucking wind yer necks in, he was answering a question not fucking outlining a business strategy to have us play LA Galaxy for the Ronald McDonal McFlurry cup.

As a matter of curiousity why are you so strongly opposed to it?

[OsirisMVZ]

[scared_person]

Has he said "We are definately going to be playing competitive games abroad outside of our current european schedule"? No, so fucking wind yer necks in, he was answering a question not fucking outlining a business strategy to have us play LA Galaxy for the Ronald McDonal McFlurry cup.

As a matter of curiousity why are you so strongly opposed to it?

No its far from a done deal of course but if "NESV are listening" then its important that they get the message that this is not something we want.

I'm against it because as I said before LFC is a football club that belongs to the city of Liverpool. Its not a Franchise that can move wherever the revenues are.

Once we start down that route club identities will become diluted very quickly, and all of a sudden MK Dons scenarios become more acceptable.

LFC IS NOT A FRANCHISE.

[jambutty]

Imagine 40,000 Reds given the oppo to go to NYC or Boston to play Spurs, Chelsea or the Arse, who were bringing their 8,000 supporters.

[Robert_B]

39th game is one of the most ridiculous ideas i've ever heard.

Anyone floating it as a serious idea is a fool is an idiot in my eyes.

(yes, I know no fully thought out plans have ever been announced as to how it would work, but I really can't see any way it could even be half workable)

[OldCold]

Works in the NBA/NFL, think it would be a great idea to widen the fanbase and increase revenue into the club from overseas.

[scared_person]

Works in the NBA/NFL, think it would be a great idea to widen the fanbase and increase revenue into the club from overseas.

In the NBA/NFL its not uncommon for 'franchises' to move cities.

Football isn't the same as that bollocks, and I don't want it to be the same. The day a liverpool game isn't predominantly attended by scousers will be a very sad day.

[redbyrdz]

Works in the NBA/NFL, think it would be a great idea to widen the fanbase and increase revenue into the club from overseas.

With all respect, the NBA/NFL can fuck off. This isn't America.

[Dr Cornwallis]

Same scar as the one on my knee, dont look like Steve Martin though

What op did you have done? 
Snap, I have the same scar, and snap the fucking thing went as well.  Same injury as fat Ronaldo.

[Tomo!]

What op did you have done? 
Snap, I have the same scar, and snap the fucking thing went as well.  Same injury as fat Ronaldo.

Same here, stepped back into a moving cars wheel arch took my leg round it.
Unlike fat Ronaldo i had the pleasure of the finest butcher the NHS could provide to nail it back together.

[Nessy76]

39th game would distort the competition, no doubt about it.

Playing a cup-tie abroad though, that makes a lot of sense.

Take the League Cup, let's face it, that is a competition in serious need of a shot in the arm and PL teams enter at a later stage than everyone else anyway.
So how about this - a PL only qualifying round, each team in the Premiership drawn out the hat paired up with one another at a neutral venue, also randomly drawn.
The ten winning sides then go into the draw against 22 league clubs and away you go with the competition proper.

You could even set up one or two of these matches a week early in the season.

Maybe even include "guest teams" from other countries in the draw (The Old Firm would be up for it, I'm sure...)

No-one loses any home games, the format of the league is retained, the PL clubs pocket an extra big tasty wodge of cash. (I'll settle for 10%, as this is my idea.)

[LadsPen]

NONONONONONONO NOT THE LIVERPOOL WAY.

^Thought I'd preempt people.

So far, the arguments I've seen are:
-- Liverpool FC is for Liverpool fans. So no more wembley? After all, its not a home game for either of the teams. No more overseas friendlies then? Same things, same intention. Global sport these days lads, and I dunno about you, but I like the idea of people being fanatical about LFC all over the globe.

-- We're not the NFL/NBA. Alright, means we can't ever do anything that they have done before. Like the idea of TV replays? No chance, we're not the NBA!!! Sell our own TV rights? But that's what they do in the NFL!!!!

-- It would never work. How do you know? Has it been theorised sufficiently for you to make that call? Or have you done it all yourself?

-- It's wrong. I'm not going to explain why its wrong but it is and everyone ever knows it. Alright lad, you know best, I'll pipe down.

I've never seen so much uproar over a basic proposal.

[montysmum]

I think the only wa this could be done at the moment is as part of the pre season surely, because havent all the Chairmen/Chief Exec's discussed this and voted against it?

Didn't Scudamore or some such suit suggest it and it was ruled out - it would be almost impossible to fit in unless the whole of the domestic and international timetable were altered anyway, with top teams having to fit in all the various cups and competitions.

[Bob Loblaw]

Works in the NBA/NFL, think it would be a great idea to widen the fanbase and increase revenue into the club from overseas.

In a league based system?

[scared_person]

Its the principle thats wrong, not the implementation. Football clubs belong to their respective cities and towns. A football club is not a product that can be whored around wherever there is money to be made.

Without the city of Liverpool there is no LFC as we know it. It would just be brand and it couldn't mean any more to you than you favorite brand of cola. Any dilution of LFC being of the city of Liverpool is pushing us right off the top of a very slippery and very steep slope

[Robert_B]

NONONONONONONO NOT THE LIVERPOOL WAY.

^Thought I'd preempt people.

So far, the arguments I've seen are:
-- Liverpool FC is for Liverpool fans. So no more wembley? After all, its not a home game for either of the teams. No more overseas friendlies then? Same things, same intention. Global sport these days lads, and I dunno about you, but I like the idea of people being fanatical about LFC all over the globe.

-- We're not the NFL/NBA. Alright, means we can't ever do anything that they have done before. Like the idea of TV replays? No chance, we're not the NBA!!! Sell our own TV rights? But that's what they do in the NFL!!!!

-- It would never work. How do you know? Has it been theorised sufficiently for you to make that call? Or have you done it all yourself?

-- It's wrong. I'm not going to explain why its wrong but it is and everyone ever knows it. Alright lad, you know best, I'll pipe down.

I've never seen so much uproar over a basic proposal.

It's not against 'The Liverpool Way' specifically, it's against football full stop.

It completely corrupts the league, simple as that.

[redbyrdz]

I've never seen so much uproar over a basic proposal.

Alright, if you want the whole deal, read this and the older stuff about the campaign 'NO TO GAM£ 39" by the FSF.

[jambutty]

Fuck me, we do like to be rabid about issues.

This forum is a good political model.

[JWAlonso]

It's not against 'The Liverpool Way' specifically, it's against football full stop.

It completely corrupts the league, simple as that.

This. Then it might change to it then so more games played abroad. Domino effect. Next thing, the Premier League will be played all around the world. Just going over the top, but that could happen.

[redway101]

It just wouldn't work. There isn't relegation in the NFL, so we're going to decide the future status of Premiership teams on a roll of a dice? You're battling for survival and you end up playing the 5th placed team in the league, a club you're competing against ends up with a much easier mid-table draw? I can just see the legal representatives sharpening their pencils.

As I recall the original proposals excluded the top 5 from the process didn't it? Convenient, we wouldn't want the mancs or Chelsea's season to be screwed up by this.

If you really wanted to do something like this (and I don't) then the FA Cup would be a far more ideal vehicle for this sort of thing, particularly as it appears to be dead on it's feet at the moment.

I don't know why the current owners in the Premiership are wasting their time with this, frankly all the owners of us, Man U etc really want are the rights to distribute match coverage directly. That will be the next big issue.

[caze]

Its the principle thats wrong, not the implementation. Football clubs belong to their respective cities and towns. A football club is not a product that can be whored around wherever there is money to be made.

Without the city of Liverpool there is no LFC as we know it. It would just be brand and it couldn't mean any more to you than you favorite brand of cola. Any dilution of LFC being of the city of Liverpool is pushing us right off the top of a very slippery and very steep slope

He's not talking about taking away a home game though, we already play cup games in neutral venues, this is hardly a big stretch from that. Not a bad idea. Would need a different sponsor to Carling though, wonder when their deal is up?

edit: to answer my own question, 2012.

[Mr Jones]

Was talking to lads about this at the time of the take-over. The new owners have not come in because of some long standing love affair with LFC, their buisness men who will want to expand the LFC name around the world.

[Nessy76]

Its the principle thats wrong, not the implementation. Football clubs belong to their respective cities and towns. A football club is not a product that can be whored around wherever there is money to be made.

Without the city of Liverpool there is no LFC as we know it. It would just be brand and it couldn't mean any more to you than you favorite brand of cola. Any dilution of LFC being of the city of Liverpool is pushing us right off the top of a very slippery and very steep slope

So playing Milan in Istanbul is out then...

[۩ Imperator ۩]

A game abroad is complete bollocks, because football is about your town playing another town. You can't take  both to another place. let alone a different continent.

Having been one of the 85,000 at Wembley last week to see a football team from one town (Denver) play a football team from another town (San Francisco), I have to say there is a huge merit to it. A 39th game though is patently unfair. Would have to be a regular season game where one team is willing to give up a home game. Alternatively, how about something like an FA Cup QF?

[scared_person]

-- Liverpool FC is for Liverpool fans. So no more wembley? After all, its not a home game for either of the teams. No more overseas friendlies then? Same things, same intention. Global sport these days lads, and I dunno about you, but I like the idea of people being fanatical about LFC all over the globe.

This is a facetious point. We've always had finals at neutral venues for practicality (needs a big capacity) and because they're a damn good day out. Totally different to moving competitive football abroad for profit.

-- We're not the NFL/NBA. Alright, means we can't ever do anything that they have done before. Like the idea of TV replays? No chance, we're not the NBA!!! Sell our own TV rights? But that's what they do in the NFL!!!!

Another facetious point. Moving competitive football abroad changes the very nature of the relationship between supporter and club, and between city and club. If this is OK then its a first step on the road to moving clubs to place where attendences will be bigger

-- It would never work. How do you know? Has it been theorised sufficiently for you to make that call? Or have you done it all yourself?

It would work superbly well from the money point of view, no doubt. But it is the ultimate acceptance of football as a pragmatic business rather than what it started as, a community pastime.

-- It's wrong. I'm not going to explain why its wrong but it is and everyone ever knows it. Alright lad, you know best, I'll pipe down.

I've never seen so much uproar over a basic proposal.

Tell me, would you happy if Liverpool vs Everton was moved to say Thailand? No more than a thousand scousers from either side can afford to make the trip, there would be no atmosphere to speak of. I ain't saying that would happen straight away but once the concept has been proven it is much easier to set off down that road.

My main point is that Liverpool FC and the city of Liverpool are inextricably linked. Any attempt to dilute that should be fought as strongly as possible. I know that this is only vague talk from the new man, but it scares the shit out of me that he is willing to talk about it ON HIS FIRST DAY. It terrifies me that people are ambivalent to the idea.

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