Liverpool are once again challenging for the Premier League title this season having been the only club to seriously threaten Manchester City’s domestic dominance in recent years.
Key to that has been the relationship between FSG and Jurgen Klopp, who the owners appointed as manager in October 2015. Under Klopp, the Reds have won a sixth European Cup, claimed a first championship in 30 years, been crowned world champions for the first time and also lifted the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Super Cup. The success has been achieved despite Liverpool being unable to match the financial clout of majority state-owned City and Newcastle United and perennial moneybags Manchester United and Chelsea.
And while FSG acknowledged the need for outside investment by selling a minority stake in Liverpool to US private equity firm Dynasty Equity in September – believed to be in the region of £82million to £164m – Parry feels he owners have been brave to stick to a long-term outlook.
“I think Liverpool have done brilliantly under FSG and Jurgen Klopp,” said Parry. “The Champions League win was terrific and I think the owners have achieved success with a sustainable model. They don’t want to lose money but they’re not in it to make money, they are in it to build long-term value. They are in it to win and I think they are really good owners. “The fans give FSG stick because they want to be competing with Manchester City and the clubs owned by sovereign states, but the owners have had the patience and the courage to say that if it is going to have to take longer, that is just the way it will have to be.
“The fact that they were not Hicks and Gillett gave them a lot of credit in the bank with the fans and they were a lot more patient with them. The fanbase were used to Liverpool winning titles so there was always an expectation, but it had become so long that a lot of newer Liverpool fans had never seen them win a title, so they didn’t have quite as much pressure.”
FSG had replaced Hicks and Gillett in October 2010 after the duo’s ownership ended in acrimony after months of infighting that took the club to the brink of administration.
Former Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry has praised the club’s owners Fenway Sports Group for sticking to their principles – and admits being amazed the Reds achieved any success under the “ridiculous” rule of Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
