Topic: Supporters Strike to Oust Hicks & Gillett

[TheBombardier]

Supporters of Liverpool Football Club could oust Hicks & Gillett within weeks if they acted collectively, unanimously and with solid determination.

We know that Hicks & Gillett are only in it for the money. For what they can make out of the club today and in the future following any sale. Their stubborn refusal to sell the club by holding out for the highest possible (even if unrealistic) price threatens to plunge the club into another season of stagnation and decline.

With no investment on or off the pitch players like Gerrard, Torres, Reina, Mascherano and even Rafa would have every right to look to leave the club having been lured here with lies and false promises. The decline would be accelerated and even with new owners and a manager it would take years to get us back to even where we were under Rafa during the last 5 or 6 years.

As supporters we can act decisively to hurt the Yanks where it hurts, in their pockets. How?

(1) Don't renew season tickets.
(2) Stay away from the game.
(3) Demonstrate outside on matchdays.
(4) Don't buy any merchandise.
(5) Cancel Sky Sport subscription.
(6) Tell all your friends to do the same.

Imagine, the opening game of the season and an eery silence fills the stadium. No flags or banners, no chanting, no sales income from fast-food crap, no fans, empty seats except for a few away supporters. No atmosphere, no match day income, empty cash-registers, stunned pundits and commentators on television and radio, thousands of demonstrators outside. The events on the pitch totally eclipsed by events off the pitch. Liverpool fans showing the rest of the footballing world where real power lies.

Behind the scenes, thousands of LFC fans are cancelling their Sky Sport subscriptions. Hurting Murdoch's Sky empire, putting the dent in the money available to the Premier League and ultimately to the clubs and their owners and Hicks & Gillett. Panic in the boardrooms, profits down, panic in the banks who have lent money to Hicks & Gillett. How will they pay it back with no match day income? Fear of other fans following suite, especially down the M62 in the cash-cow that is Manchester United. Panic in the money markets. Hicks & Gillett under greater pressure to sell the club whilst it still has any value. Fans growing in confidence, getting more and more organised, sensing victory, similar action spreading to other clubs. Would the fans come back? Would they start to demand cheaper ticket prices in line with continental Europe? The whole Sky Sport/Premier League enterprise in danger of unravelling and disappearing up its own arsehole.

How long could they stand such a solid determined supporters strike? A week? Two weeks? A month? Worldwide television coverage. Hicks & Gillett's reputation in tatters. Sky putting pressure on the banks to call in the loans before the whole thing collapses.

How long could you last without going to watch the game? Would you do it if you knew it would oust the Yanks? What would you lose financially? Nothing. You could save your money for a deserved holiday. Live a couple of weeks like a pampered footballer instead of paying hard earned money so that they can live like lords at your expense. Save your money and treat yourself and your family to a few extra luxuries in the knowledge that you are hurting Hicks & Gillett (and Murdoch's empire for good measure). How long could you do this for? Longer than Hicks & Gillett could stand the loss?

Supporters of the World Unite!

[west_london_red]

What do you base this "out within weeks" on exactly?

And why should season tickets holders be asked to give up the tickets they have had in some cases for years and waited years to even get in some cases? Do you have a season ticket?

Canceling Sky will make no difference to the owners. Sky has a multi year deal with the PL, and the club gets its portion regardless of how many Liverpool fans cancel their subscriptions. What influence does Sky have over RBS exactly? They would probably lose a lot more views if we went in to administration.

"How long could they stand such a solid determined supporters strike? A week? Two weeks? A month? Worldwide television coverage. Hicks & Gillett's reputation in tatters. Sky putting pressure on the banks to call in the loans before the whole thing collapses"

The above is dilusional at best.

There reputation is already in tatters by the way. they really dont give a fuck though.

[Dave_the_Red]

12 Months ago I let my season ticket go. Hard at first but as the last season progressed and the knowledge of who had bought us became evident. It has been probably the most satisfying decision I’ve made. I wont make men with the morals of a skunks arse richer.

Also let my membership of the OLSC go. eseason ticket go, stopped buying shirts. just around a grand I’ve kept.

[G a r y]

I agree with the principle, but as if i'm giving up my season ticket pfffffft! I will never get rid, it took 13 years to get! I've sold it to someone for a season, but get rid all together? There will always be someone else willing to snap it up.

Boycot merchandise and food and drinks at the game, that's more realistic

[silver 5 star]

Do think asking people to give up hard won season tickets is a no go - as others have said there is always some bugger out there who will snap them up.

I am a season ticket holder and to be honest missed more games last season than for decades.

I won't buy a programme or food or drink in the stadium. I've not bought anything in any of the club shops for a couple of years.

I do think that a campaign that - for example - asked people to boycott all club merchandise until these two thieves fuck off needs to hit harder.

I also think we need a United green and gold type campaign. I've bought a Yanks Out scarf off one of the vendors outside the game but I think SOS should look at developing this idea further.

During televised games if possible we could all en masse leave our seats for ten minutes - do it 3 or four times a game and give the stewards and police a headache.

Likewise - on televised games picket the turnstiles and get in ten / fifteen minutes after kick off.

As regards getting shut of Sky, there will be more options soon anyway as they have been told to open up their sports packages more widely. BT vision are supposed to be undercutting them for the new season by offering the football for £20 a month.

Money is all these fuckers want or understand. Stop giving it to them as often as you can.

[xerxes1]

This argument is well rehearsed.The answer is that insufficent matchday Reds are prepared to boycott games , merchandise and refreshment to make any appreciable difference.

And even if such a campaign did "work" within weeks, what does "work" mean? G&H have already said they are selling.There are no buyers at a price they are prepared to sell at. And Administration would result in a fire sale where there is no guarantee that a new owner would be any better.

Great emotion, but emotion alone does not get the job done.

[hiphopdj]

I agree with some of the posts on here. The boycott of the merchandise is the easiest  to kick off with. There are plenty of places to eat and drink out side the game. Don't buy a match day programme. The problem with giving up tickets is they will always someone else who will buy them.

Personally i have made a decision not to go to any games until they go. I will not buy anything from the club shop for me or any of my four lads. I have also cancelled the sky subscription i had it was so bad last year it was like watching man utd channel. You can stream almost every game online anyway. 

[Cid]

a picket line every match day would put huge pressure on them to sell the club, and it would force them to look for a realistic price.

Sadly, our fans, even the sos ones, don't have the courage to do it.

[Diomedieocre]

a picket line every match day would put huge pressure on them to sell the club, and it would force them to look for a realistic price.

Sadly, our fans, even the sos ones, don't have the courage to do it.

Dont often agree with yourself Cid but i do here, Human chains around Anfield especially if it`s when those shits come to town...organize a squad of fruit(or whatever) throwers,scare these fuckers big style....make them want to get rid ASAP.

[cjc9020801Beverly Hills]

Good idea in principle, but if people give up their Season Tickets, surely the club will offer them to those on the waiting list?

Cancelling sky - depends whether people subscribe to it just for the prem league and other football, or, like in my family where we watch a range of sports.

[Franky]

Another suggestion is to boycott the banks involved in this fiasco and anounce the decision to the wall street and the city

[xerxes1]

Another suggestion is to boycott the banks involved in this fiasco and anounce the decision to the wall street and the city

Why? What good will that do? Many businesses depend on the money that RBS is generating from LFC interest to lend on.What do we want them to do? Foreclose and sell to the highest bider on any given day? How will that help?

[jp2]

The saddest part about all of this is that there is nothing - nothing at all - the supporters can do about the situation. We've already helped convince them to sell. It's possible that in some dream scenario some action would have them lower the asking price, but for whom? Does it make the club more attractive to potential buyers? Probably not. It might even expedite the sale to an owner of lower caliber.

Fact is, the owners want out and they want their profit. And I don't think there is anything in the world that would keep these bastards from choking it out of the club. We're totally bent over.

[Cid]

A picket line outside the kop, the most famous stand in the world empty for about 5 games in a row. Let people through if they must, but explain to them exactly why the line is there, and why they should join it.

It would generate a huge amount of publicity, from both inside and outside the club, and it wouldn't put off potential buyers....anyone could come in and be lauded as saviors if they simply run the club responsibly for a few years.

The fear is that a few dickheads might go too far, that we could be branded as hooligans, but the softly softly approach simply will work no longer, we need to stand up and be counted.

[Franky]

Why? What good will that do? Many businesses depend on the money that RBS is generating from LFC interest to lend on.What do we want them to do? Foreclose and sell to the highest bider on any given day? How will that help?

You obviously ignore the basics of how the banking system works. The collected interests are the shareholders' profits. It's your savings that trigger lending.

Yes it could result to the club's sale, isn't what we want?

What is your suggestion, moan and be critical about other's ideas?

[Red Cez]

The saddest part about all of this is that there is nothing - nothing at all - the supporters can do about the situation. We've already helped convince them to sell. It's possible that in some dream scenario some action would have them lower the asking price, but for whom? Does it make the club more attractive to potential buyers? Probably not. It might even expedite the sale to an owner of lower caliber.

Fact is, the owners want out and they want their profit. And I don't think there is anything in the world that would keep these bastards from choking it out of the club. We're totally bent over.

Thats the spirit.

[xerxes1]

You obviously ignore the basics of how the banking system works. The collected interests are the shareholders' profits. It's your savings that trigger lending.

Yes it could result to the club's sale, isn't what we want?What is your suggestion, moan and be critical about other's ideas?

The interest that Banks are paid on their loans are not Shareholders profits.

The club is for sale now, there are just no buyers at the price the owners want. If/when RBS call in their loan we are then at the mercy of who has the money to buy us at that point, whether any of them would be any better than the present owners would be a matter of luck.That is hardly something to wish for, is it?

My view is that we need to aim to secure a supporters share, by investment, of a new ownership.

Suggesting boycotting RBS is simply foolish and damages our credibility.

[Alan_X]

You obviously ignore the basics of how the banking system works. The collected interests are the shareholders' profits. It's your savings that trigger lending.

Yes it could result to the club's sale, isn't what we want?

What is your suggestion, moan and be critical about other's ideas?

I don't know what their turnover was but last year RBS made profits of £5bn. In the same context Liverpool's debt is £230m...

If you added together the balances of all the RBS accounts held by Liverpool supporters - what do you think it would come to?

There may be some PR value in a fan's boycott of RBS but the idea that it would put financial pressure on them is laughable.

[TheBombardier]

Ok. Maybe I was being a bit over-emotional asking fans to give up season tickets that they have waited years for and yes the club would simply offer them to other fans currently without them.

However, we do need to step up the campaign. Chelsea agent Broughton is reporting that it could take 3 years to sell the club given the lack of a buyer willing to pay Hicks & Gillett's inflated price and their reluctance to reduce the price. In 3 years we will be in such a state of collapse that even the Souness years will look like glory days in comparison.

The post certainly helped to spark the debate back into life though with some great (more realistic) ideas.

(1) Don't buy any programmes, merchandise, food or drinks from the stadium or the club shops.

(2) Boycott of selected games with picket lines outside and the human chain idea is great. This and the most famous stand in the world being empty would generate huge publicity and show the rest of the footballing world what fan power is all about.

(3) Cancelling Sky Sport subscription is down to individuals. You either hate Murdoch's Manc-loving empire or you are prepared to bury your head in the sand and pretend you are not giving your hard-earned money to this "sibling of the Sun". I agree that at times it is like watching MUTV anyway and they certainly use every means at their disposal to undermine and ridicule LFC. Why pay for it when you can stream it on line or go to the pub and watch it. Some pubs don't even pay Sky for the privilege or show it on foreign channels so you get even greater satisfaction knowing that even the pub aren't lining Murdoch's pockets.

Obviously there will always be those who believe that fighting for anything is doomed to failure and a waste of time. Thankfully our ancestors were not all of this view or we would all still be living under a medieval feudal absolute monarchy. We wouldn't be going to the match at all because we would all be working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day for a pittance.

The rich and powerful are only rich and powerful because we allow them to be. If the club is worth fighting for then we need to get organised.

[Redguard]

For the last three years I've not given one penny to the club. I'm one of the early members of SOS. I've cancelled all Sky packages. I don't give G&H one single penny.

Listen to the apathetic ones who are just self centred and think only of themselves - I'm disgusted that even now, there are some on here who only think of themselves and don't give a toss of what is happening to our club. 20 years ago the fans knew how to stand together and gave true support. How times have changed. The more intelligent out there realise that the bond, that 'holy union' between club and fans was shattered three years ago. We owe it to ourselves to reclaim this club. We can't afford to waste another minute to await a possible owner. No decent owner will touch this club, notwithstanding the ludicrous selling price that has been mention, but atm it's G&H who are calling the shots. If we force the banks into action then imo that sidelines G&H and prepares the ground for real owners to step forward to negotiate, instead of the greedy intransigence that is throttling the last breath out of LFC.

Think hard and take a serious look at yourselves if you continue to do sfa and throw your hard earned cash at G&H.

At least I can sleep sound at night - my conscience is clear.

[jp2]

For the last three years I've not given one penny to the club. I'm one of the early members of SOS. I've cancelled all Sky packages. I don't give G&H one single penny.

Listen to the apathetic ones who are just self centred and think only of themselves - I'm disgusted that even now, there are some on here who only think of themselves and don't give a toss of what is happening to our club. 20 years ago the fans knew how to stand together and gave true support. How times have changed. The more intelligent out there realise that the bond, that 'holy union' between club and fans was shattered three years ago. We owe it to ourselves to reclaim this club. We can't afford to waste another minute to await a possible owner. No decent owner will touch this club, notwithstanding the ludicrous selling price that has been mention, but atm it's G&H who are calling the shots. If we force the banks into action then imo that sidelines G&H and prepares the ground for real owners to step forward to negotiate, instead of the greedy intransigence that is throttling the last breath out of LFC.

Think hard and take a serious look at yourselves if you continue to do sfa and throw your hard earned cash at G&H.

At least I can sleep sound at night - my conscience is clear.

It's these "real owners" I'm worried about. Hindsight is 20/20, but no way in the world will the club be sold to people with a background even remotely as shady as the H-G combo without the fans massing a protest. Anyone who did a thimble of research on the pair would have been immediately concerned and I HOPE the fans wouldn't get hoodwinked twice.

Whoever it's sold to in the next months/years (hopefully the fans will get a glimpse) will be placed under serious scrutiny. That's when I think the fans can have their greatest impact. Right now individual boycotts are fine (I've done the same and am an SOS member) but I think the fan impact will only really be felt once a buyer has been singled out.

I'm definitely clinically depressed about the situation, mainly because of how hamstrung everyone is during this break-up period. Any football news saddens me. But I am hopeful we'll get a chance to be heard. I say satyagraha with possible hunger strikes. 

[mccred]

Every little helps though, surely.  I stopped buying anything official from the club 2 years ago, no programs,no food or drink in the ground and definitely no new shirts but I still hand over my money for my ticket. Thinking long and hard at the mo whether I can carry on doing that next season and have a clear conscience. Giving up a season ticket which you have no hope of ever getting back is one hell of a sacrifice. If I had one, I don't think I would be able to give it up.
Going the game on the weekend has been the highlight of my week for the last 25 years and its going to be a hard one to give up, especially if it just means someone else gets me ticket.  But I would happily still buy that ticket and not use it, if I knew thousands were going to boycott a game. Cause a half empty ground would send a really strong message of peoples feelings, even if the leeches still got our ticket revenue.
Think it would be worth it just for the media PR.
Imagine if 20000 people cancel their sky sports next week and when asked why, they told them its because of Hicks and Gillette raping our club. It would all help to add to the pressure being put on those two c*nts to get real and value our club at a sensible price.
Not seen the comments from our Chelsea loving chairman stating that a sale could take 3 years due the stupid asking price? But if this is true, I  fucking despair.
Still praying they both die painfully soon.

[col64]

Surely it`s not just H& G we want out now ?
We have a red hot Chelsea fan running our club at their player awards discussing our fuckin players , he has inside info on our finances and will know what exactly it would take to sell our prized assets , get this fucker our out aswell , this is like leaving Fred fuckin west incharge of a childrens fuckin home !!!!

[Bobsackamano]

I'd love a boycott and would imagine Liverpool would be in administration within weeks which in my opinion is a required step to get the club free of debt. However i'm not a season ticket holder anymore so can't really say they should give them up.

But there are things that could be done

Step 1 -  must be the boycott of all food and merchandise, encourage everyone to buy their food and drink in the Anfield area and put money into the local community businesses. And let's not forget one of the worst side effects of the H&G ownership has been the delay to the regeneration plans that would have come with a new stadium.

SOS and other groups should be handing leaflets to everyone coming to the game asking for no merchandise or food or drink to be purchased at the ground. This is not much to ask of people.

Step 2 - boycott of the first league cup and europa cup games. This will have a major impact both in the media and the bank boardrooms. It will be a demonstration that unless the club is sold to fit and proper owners soon they could be in danger of losing a major percentage of the money that they have loaned to the scum.

Step 3 - Targeting companies that advertise in the ground or match programme etc. Don't do anything drastic but maybe SOS could send letters to tell them that sponsering Liverpool will be helping keep H&G in charge of Liverpool and that many fans will boycott companies that sponsor the club. That this is not something that will do their brands any good and they should spend there advertising budgets elsewhere until the owners have gone.

The pressure needs to be cranked up big time come the start of the new season.

[redprodigal]

Supporters of Liverpool Football Club could oust Hicks & Gillett within weeks if they acted collectively, unanimously and with solid determination.

As supporters we can act decisively to hurt the Yanks where it hurts, in their pockets. How?

(1) Don't renew season tickets.
(2) Stay away from the game.

It's been said a thousand times, if you don't renew or don't go to the games, there are thousands out there who will. End of debate.

[boots]

Its the empty ground that says it all. Buy the tickets, keep your season ticket just dont go into the ground.

[the jesus]

It's been said a thousand times, if you don't renew or don't go to the games, there are thousands out there who will. End of debate.

The season ticket waiting could  help send this club into terminal decline, which is ironic because at that point there will no longer be one.

[redprodigal]

Its the empty ground that says it all. Buy the tickets, keep your season ticket just dont go into the ground.

Did you go to the matches last season? If you did you must have noticed the apathy of our fans. Most of them won't even look at an SOS leaflet never mind stay away after paying for their ticket. This is a pipe dream that will never happen. It's time we got real.

[Lord Roger Hunt]

Hicks says that he wants his family's privacy back, that's why he wants to sell.

Then I say that he's exposed his Achillies Heel and we should now pile on the pressure.  We should make life difficult for him in his own back yard e.g. the USA and, via the internet, that's possible.

The following email address is the sole point of contact for the whole Hicks organisation,  including his real estate, private equity and sports group.

info@hicksholdings.com,

What if it started to receive 1000's of emails a day, politely requesting that he leaves our club?  I guess it would become 'glued up'? What could he do? Change his email address? Pretty tricky that? Particularly if they receive a coordinated attack from all forums, say, on the 2nd, 3rd and 5th July? (they'll be closed on the 4th).

But what if that's a dummy address? Then there's his corporate affairs people:     roy-winnick@kekst.com;    mark-semer@kekst.com. And all the businesses he's invested in. Boy, there'd be some pretty pee'd off senior executives at companies who lost their email facility for a few days, all because of Tom's greed.

I suggest a very short email, along the lines of:

Dear Friend,

Could you please ask Tom Hicks to sell Liverpool Football Club as soon as possible? Tell him that we understand that he'd like to make a profit but seeking a three times return on investment in this current climate is a bit excessive. 

He won't listen to the millions of Liverpool fans (some of whom may contact you also) but we're sure that he'll listen to his friends and business acquaintances.  Frankly, we are desperate because the club we love is dying in front of our eyes, simply because Tom is, well, some might say, being a little greedy but I couldn't possibly comment.

Please help.

Thank you for your time.

Regards


A Liverpool fan

 
Pity we don't know which golf club he belongs to....? 

[Redguard]

Did you go to the matches last season? If you did you must have noticed the apathy of our fans. Most of them won't even look at an SOS leaflet never mind stay away after paying for their ticket. This is a pipe dream that will never happen. It's time we got real.

Erm ...... yes.

Guilty plea?

[r1ch]

What if it started to receive 1000's of emails a day, politely requesting that he leaves our club?  I guess it would become 'glued up'? What could he do? Change his email address? Pretty tricky that? Particularly if they receive a coordinated attack from all forums, say, on the 2nd, 3rd and 5th July? (they'll be closed on the 4th).

But what if that's a dummy address? Then there's his corporate affairs people:     roy-winnick@kekst.com;    mark-semer@kekst.com. And all the businesses he's invested in. Boy, there'd be some pretty pee'd off senior executives at companies who lost their email facility for a few days, all because of Tom's greed.

Love this idea.

It would work best not as an attack at a specific time of the day, but have the emails sent during a period of hours - spread out over the day.

A few hundred or few thousand emails could hit a spam filter on the corporate firewall, or be easily block deleted. If they're spread out, it'll be so much more hassle and annoying. Just think of a blackberry going off evey 5 minutes for the whole day, or a receptionist who spends the whole day reading and deleting emails, or better still, gives up and ignores an important one that gets lost somewhere in the masses.

This should become part of our daily routine guys - we should set this up and send emails every day until the fucker gets the messages. If he blocks your email address, find a new person close to Hicks to email.

[Peter T]

Hicks says that he wants his family's privacy back, that's why he wants to sell.

Then I say that he's exposed his Achillies Heel and we should now pile on the pressure.  We should make life difficult for him in his own back yard e.g. the USA and, via the internet, that's possible.

The following email address is the sole point of contact for the whole Hicks organisation,  including his real estate, private equity and sports group.

info@hicksholdings.com,

What if it started to receive 1000's of emails a day, politely requesting that he leaves our club?  I guess it would become 'glued up'? What could he do? Change his email address? Pretty tricky that? Particularly if they receive a coordinated attack from all forums, say, on the 2nd, 3rd and 5th July? (they'll be closed on the 4th).

But what if that's a dummy address? Then there's his corporate affairs people:     roy-winnick@kekst.com;    mark-semer@kekst.com. And all the businesses he's invested in. Boy, there'd be some pretty pee'd off senior executives at companies who lost their email facility for a few days, all because of Tom's greed.

I suggest a very short email, along the lines of:

Dear Friend,

Could you please ask Tom Hicks to sell Liverpool Football Club as soon as possible? Tell him that we understand that he'd like to make a profit but seeking a three times return on investment in this current climate is a bit excessive. 

He won't listen to the millions of Liverpool fans (some of whom may contact you also) but we're sure that he'll listen to his friends and business acquaintances.  Frankly, we are desperate because the club we love is dying in front of our eyes, simply because Tom is, well, some might say, being a little greedy but I couldn't possibly comment.

Please help.

Thank you for your time.

Regards


A Liverpool fan

 
Pity we don't know which golf club he belongs to....? 

Love the idea but it has to be co-ordinated to be effective. I'm also a member of SOS and am looking forward to hearing some plans for some action.

Sending loads of emails to Hicks, Gillett and RBS executives can cause them some difficulties if it is organised, but for individuals to try something like this alone will not result in anything. They will just be ignored. Together, the power of the internet can help us at least strike a blow, and if the press took it up as well, the publicity would grow. Hicks doesn't want his privacy invaded but I'm sure that there are thousands of Liverpool supporting Internet Warriors who can do just that. As we used to chant in Shanks' days - Attack Attack Attack

[Theman1976]

You can use a thing called a "email bomb" and it does work - google "email bomb" plus Youtube is your friend as they have tutorials too

[walshys_mullet]

You dont need to give up your season tickets you just need to boycott a few games.

Yes the ticket is already paid for BUT whilst you are not in the ground you wont be buying food, drinks, programmes or doing any betting. Also the empty seats will send a message.

I think some of you want your cake and to eat it too. These two are hardball businessmen, you may need to make a few sacrifices in order to get the club back. If you try and compromise then we deserve everything we get. Money matters, thats all that counts to these people.

[walshys_mullet]

It's been said a thousand times, if you don't renew or don't go to the games, there are thousands out there who will. End of debate.

cop out. pure and simple. people not willing to take responsability. Ive heard it all.

The team will suffer on the pitch. Why should we give up our hard earned ticket? Why should the club suffer no support.

Well wake up beacuse the team is already suffering, the fans inside the ground are and the club is creaking.

[Veinticinco de Mayo]

The arguments are indeed well rehearsed and seem to be trotted out again on a weekly basis on the site.  Any action of this nature would need to at least have the backing of SoS and at present SoS have consistently voted against match boycotts and would certainly not support a call to members not to renew season tickets.

At present such actions are unachievable and discussing them distracts our attention dangerously from the actions that we can take which are achievable.