David Moores Writes letter to the Times Newspaper about the takeover.
Tony Evans, Football Editor, and Tony Barrett

The man who sold Liverpool to George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks broke his silence last night to call for the club’s American owners to “stand aside” and not “punish the supporters any more”.

In an emotional and wide-ranging letter to The Times, David Moores writes that Gillett and Hicks “risk damaging a sporting institution of global renown and if they have a conscience or nobility they will stand aside and allow new owners to take over the club”.

The letter will turn up the pressure on the Americans, who bought the club from Moores three years ago in a deal worth £202 million. The new owners leveraged the club with debt, which now stands at £351 million. Moores walked away with £88 million.

Five years to the day that Moores woke up in Istanbul with the Champions League trophy beside him in bed, the former owner explains why he sold the club and how he looked for a “fantasy investor ... the infinitely wealthy Liverpool-loving individual or family with the wherewithal to transform our dreams into reality”. The reality turned out very different and Moores admits he was taken in by the Americans. “We had looked at George Gillett’s affairs in detail and he came up to scratch,” he writes. “To a great extent, we took Tom Hicks on trust, on George’s say-so.”

Moores rejects allegations, however, that anyone at the club was negligent in the due diligence process, saying Rothschild, the merchant bank representing the Americans, assured Anfield officials “both were good for the money”. The share offer, Moores contends, “was laid out in unambiguous terms ... the document pledged there would be no debt placed upon the club, and significant funds would be made available for investment in the squad and the new stadium”.

The letter also explains why Moores felt he had to sell the club and why the bids from Thaksin Shinawatra and Dubai International Capital to buy Liverpool failed. Moores, 65, sees no need to apologise but admits to making “honest mistakes” while acting in the “best interests of the club”. Nevertheless, he “hugely regrets selling the club” to the American pair.

Since he resigned from the board a year ago, Moores has not been back to Anfield. “It has been hard for me, sitting mute on the sidelines as the club I love suffers one blow after another,” he writes.

The scale of his contempt for the men who replaced him in Anfield’s corridors of power is clear. “I call upon them to stand back, accept their role in the club’s current demise, and stand aside with dignity,” he writes.

It is a sentiment that will resonate across Anfield Road but with no buyer in sight, one unlikely to be answered in the near future.

Email us with your thoughts newanfield@btinternet.com

Email us with your thoughts newanfield@btinternet.com


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