http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/feb/07/liverpool-fans-protest-sunderland-premier-league
Liverpool owners discuss ticket prices again as fans plan further protests
- FSG hold talks with senior Liverpool management over new pricing structure
- Fans’ group pledge ‘this is the start’ as next two league games are targeted
The Anfield exodus has prompted a response from Boston. Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool’s under-fire owners, held talks over their controversial ticket structure with the club’s senior management on Sunday, raising the possibility of a review into the price increases that ignited protests during the draw with Sunderland 24 hours earlier.
No decision has been taken to revise ticket prices for 2016-17 but discussions will continue this week between FSG, the chief executive, Ian Ayre, and other senior Anfield officials in response to the mass walk-out. Liverpool’s owners are said to be surprised by the extent of the protest and disappointed by accusations of avarice. FSG believed the range of ticket prices, plus initiatives to attract more local and younger fans into Anfield, had met the issues raised during negotiations with a ticket working group over the past 13 months. Saturday proved them wrong.
It was an arresting moment when the chant of “You greedy bastards, enough is enough” intensified as the 77th minute approached and, once the time on the scoreboard corresponded with the price of some tickets in the new Main Stand next season, an estimated 10,000 fans stood up and walked out.
Attention and cameras naturally focused on the Kop but the exodus was everywhere. Regulars in the Main Stand, their season tickets rising from £869 to £1,029 should they wish to sit in the same place next season and not relocate up into the gods, queued for the exits.
There was no Jürgen Klopp looking on in disbelief this time. He was in Aintree Hospital having his appendix removed, although was allowed home on Sunday when his coaching staff took training at Melwood. The Liverpool manager may be back at work on Monday, health permitting, with the task of restoring unity added to a to-do list that must include defensive resilience, a reliable goalkeeper, movement and creativity. All were absent against Sunderland.
Liverpool’s owners can help their manager in his stated desire to create a unified force between players and supporters by revising their ticket prices. It is nonsense to suggest the protest cost Liverpool two points against Sam Allardyce’s relegation-threatened team – that responsibility lay with Simon Mignolet’s failure to prevent Adam Johnson’s free-kick squeezing inside his near post and the five players who failed to challenge in the buildup to Jermain Defoe’s 89th-minute equaliser. But with further protests planned for the next two home league games against Manchester City and Chelsea, Klopp’s ideals are at odds with supporters’ anger towards the owners in Boston. The Bundesliga this is not.
“For us, it is unequivocal: this is the start,” said Jay McKenna, the chair of Spirit of Shankly, the supporters’ union that helped to organise Saturday’s protest. “We don’t have a firm idea of what we will do yet as this has all happened very quickly, so we will take the next two days to take stock and talk to the supporters about what we do next. But we will be taking action because we need to. Yesterday wasn’t about letting off steam, and saying we are a bit angry but we will carry on. We really need Liverpool Football Club, the owners, and the executives to think to themselves: ‘Is this the right approach?’” That appears to have happened on Sunday.
On the pitch, Liverpool and Sunderland served up a desperately poor first half – the home side with the ball and the visitors in terms of their intent – before Roberto Firmino punished defensive lapses to head home James Milner’s cross and set up Adam Lallana for a straightforward second that should have sealed victory. Instead, Sunderland sensed opportunity from the moment Johnson’s free-kick beat Mignolet. Defoe’s predatory quality provided it.
“I think we need six wins from 13 games,” said Allardyce. “They’ve done it before, haven’t they? They’re good at miraculous recoveries here, let’s hope we are again. Jermain could be our saviour if the lads at the other end don’t let goals in like they did against Liverpool. It’s a great comeback, a great point and a spirit I hope will stay with us until the end of the season.”
Man of the match Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
