by RED BEERGOGGLES » Fri Dec 03, 2010 12:58 pm
Liverpool Echo Dec 3/2010
Martin Broughton says Liverpool FC and Everton FC should share stadium
Dec 3 2010 By Bill Gleeson
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FORMER Liverpool FC chairman Martin Broughton has called on Merseyside’s big two clubs to consider sharing a new football stadium.
Speaking to an audience of 580 business leaders last night, he called on fans to put aside emotional considerations in favour of the economic advantages of a groundshare between Everton and Liverpool football clubs.
Mr Broughton said he “fully supported” New England Sports Ventures (NESV) – now the Fenway Sports Group – in their preferred option to redevelop Anfield.
But he went on: “If that’s not possible, then in my personal opinion, ground sharing should be seriously considered.
“Fans are understandably emotional about this issue, but this has to be addressed. It’s not the case of being red or blue. You can be red one week, and blue the next.”
Mr Broughton said fans had to understand that football clubs face a choice between a stadium of their own, or having money left over to invest in players.
He added: “It’s up to people like Kenny Dalglish to communicate the business sense of all this. It would mean open minds on all sides.”
Referring to England’s failed 2018 World Cup bid, Mr Broughton was critical of what he called “the supposed investigative journalism” of Panorama, a programme which he said “had seen better days,” and he congratulated Russia on being chosen to stage the tournament.
His comments about the Panorama programme only received a muted response from the audience.
Broughton, who is also chairman of British Airways, was speaking at the 160th annual dinner of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce.
He has only just this week stood down as chairman of Liverpool FC, after seven of the most turbulent months in the club’s history.
Mr Broughton, together with Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre, helped steer the sale of the club by its previous American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, to NESV owner John W Henry in a £300m deal.
The deeply unpopular co-owners lost control of the club in October after a trans-Atlantic legal battle that saw courtroom drama in both London and Dallas, Texas.
Mr Broughton, who is being succeeded by NESV’s Tom Werner, has described his seven-month reign as “one of the most memorable experiences of my working life” and he added “I've grown to love the club”.
Whilst we will be eternally grateful for the predominant role he played in ousting those deplorable owners ...I must add please dont ruin your credibility by making such inane statements .....any fan who wouldnt mind sharing with the bitterz hasnt got a f ucking clue
