Interesting article
Hypocrisy RulesIt smacked of sheer hypocrisy from Liverpool fans at Anfield as they were hammered 3-0 by Manchester City, those fans in red suffering a collective amnesia that ignores the foundations their success is built on.
This moral superiority relies on the myth that Liverpool’s status as a global powerhouse was achieved purely through organic growth and romanticism.
In reality, Liverpool FC’s emergence as a titan of the game is deeply rooted in the exact thing their fans were condemning on Sunday; an immense, transformative injection of private capital from wealthy benefactors.
The blueprint was arguably first drawn in the late 19th century by John Houlding, who founded Liverpool after a bitter dispute with Everton over the rent this unscrupulous Victorian businessman was charging for the blues to play at Anfield.
Left with an empty stadium when Everton voted with their feet and moved across Stanley Park, Houlding used his financial muscle to recruit a bunch of highly paid Scottish mercenaries, winning the Football League just a decade later.
In the late 1950s, with Liverpool languishing in the second tier, the Moores family, using the riches of their massive Littlewoods football pools empire, took a definitive stake in the club.
They provided unparalleled financial backing to Liverpool Football Club.
That cash took them from a struggling club going nowhere, to one that that would very quickly be promoted AND winning top tier titles.
That money, over and above what they brought in from normal revenues, allowed them to buy countless players they otherwise could never have been able to afford.
There is no doubt that this money was key for Liverpool when it came to their huge success, a legacy that continues to this day and is directly linked to those unparalleled fortunes that were put into the Anfield club, to create the foundations of the hugely powerful position they occupy today.
In just the last 16 months, as well as numerous other expensive players, Liverpool fans have seen more than half a billion committed on just five players (Isak £125m, Barcola £123m, Jacquet £60m, Wirtz £116.5m, Ekitike £79m).
So when Liverpool fans pointed the finger on Sunday, it beggars belief.
Interestingly, a poll ran by The Mag ahead of this Anfield match showed an overwhelming desire amongst the Newcastle United fans voting to see Manchester City win at Anfield despite their cheating antics, which I think tells you all you need to know.
