Liverpool FC fans set to take Premier League to task over Gillett and Hicks

Liverpool supporters battling George Gillett and Tom Hicks' ownership of the club will meet with senior Premier League officials in the next 48 hours.
 Representatives of Spirit of Shankly, the Liverpool Supporters' Union, will travel to London today to meet with chief executive Richard Scudamore and a number of key personnel at Gloucester Place to discuss their 'fit and proper' person test for new owners of clubs.

Members bombarded League chiefs with emails in March, demanding answers into how the test failed to expose the irregularities in the Americans' dealings prior to their Anfield takeover, particularly Hicks' controversial spell as co-owner of Brazilian side Corinthians.

James McKenna, spokesperson for Spirit of Shankly, said: “The Premier League have a duty to run the game properly, to regulate it and make sure it is protected.

"However, they don’t seem to take this duty seriously, allowing the debts at Liverpool to pile up, with owners who are far from fit and proper.

"Sadly, we aren’t the only club this is happening to, it is happening to many others, and the fans are the ones left to fight for their clubs.”

It emerged that new Reds chairman Martin Broughton has refused to meet with the group to discuss the progress of the club being sold, claiming he would 'continue communicating with all fans collectively'.

Accounts published last week revealed that the club's debts have risen to £351million following loans taken out against it by Gillett and Hicks, and McKenna called for accountability from the Premier League to avoid a repeat of the problems at Liverpool, Manchester United and Portsmouth.

He added: “We would like to the Premier League to better protect clubs and put in place regulation that stops what has happened with Hicks and Gillett from happening all over again.

 "It isn’t right or proper that a club should pay for it’s owners to actually own them, and it isn’t proper for the future and the finances of a club to be put in jeopardy for the sake of business and making a profit.

"Those in charge need to act, and they need to act now, before its all too late.”

As Broughton prepares to meet manager Rafael Benitez for further showdown talks in London tonight, Hicks has suffered a crucial blow in his bid to sell his controlling stake in the Texas Rangers after Major League Baseball stepped up its efforts to reclaim the club.

Hicks had agreed a deal with Pittsburg attorney Chuck Greenberg and the club's former pitcher Nolan Ryan but current lenders of the franchise are reportedly planning to file papers to involuntarily place the club into bankruptcy.
Richrd Buxton @'Liverpool Click'

"Fookin' banks on fookin' sherts!"

I still have a Crown Paint, a Candy and countless Carlsbergs but...think I will give this one a miss!