Spirit Of Shankly

Can I ask why you think that?

RTK & SOS The People's Front of Judea? The Judean People's Front? Questions have been raised lately asking why there are two separate fan groups at Liverpool FC. To make it clear to everyone - there are not. A meeting was held 2 weeks ago between those involved in the Reclaim The Kop (RTK) campaign and the Spirit Of Shankly (SOS) Management Committee, a committee which incidentally, includes people involved in RTK since it's inception. The meeting was held to explore ways in which the two groups could not only co-exist, but also work together to achieve our aims. In all theses respects the meeting went extremely well. It became evident that both groups can compliment each other and work together in addressing the key issues that affect all LFC supporters. RTK has always been about addressing the issue of the match-day atmosphere and experience; working on it, improving it, and hopefully returning it to the days when opposing teams feared a visit to Anfield even before they had set foot on the pitch itself. RTK are still working with the club on all issues related to the atmosphere at Anfield. There are lines of communication in place to discuss such issues, the latest result being the expansion of the vocal section at the back of The Kop. Before the formation of SOS, RTK were the only recognised and active Liverpool FC fan's group. This meant that RTK were often looked upon to provide leadership at times when fans deemed it necessary. Issues such as the Athens Ticket protests became RTK tasks. RTK arranged an open Q&A session with Rick Parry last year to discuss the fall-out from this debacle and ways in which similar occurrences could be avoided in future. This is obviously something that would now fall under the jurisdiction of The Union. Both groups can now work together to hopefully arrange a follow up session. Since the formation of SOS, there has been no need for RTK to step forward as it did in the past, hence the lack of public visibility RTK has had over the past few months. RTK does not represent all fans. It exists purely to improve the atmosphere on match-days. RTK recognise that there is now a new body that represents vocal and non-vocal fans on a much broader range of issues; a body speaking for us AS ONE. The Union have been active on these and other fronts, and will continue to be so, leaving RTK to continue its work on the Anfield atmosphere and experience. RTK will fall under the umbrella of The Union, reporting fan related issues into the wider body. RTK fully supports all of the SOS agendas, both short and long term, and will continue to wholeheartedly support the aims of SOS. The Union now has a Management Committee in place. The bank account is open and all the hard work in setting up The Union is finally coming to fruition. Online memberships will be available sooner rather than later. All the pieces are starting to fall into place. RTK are now going to form part of that structure for fan / atmosphere related issues, leaving the wider issues to the Management Committee and membership of The Union. There can be no division between Liverpool supporters at this time. This summer the threat of falling even further behind our main rivals, both financially and on the pitch, is starker than ever. Throughout the next fortnight we shall be in touch further; outlining our broader aims in general and taking the fight to the ownership in particular. We would also like to restate the importance of ALL of us speaking with ONE voice. We are all in this together. Strength in numbers. Spirit Of Shankly and RTK

Let no one say we don't listen...

Week by week it's becoming clearer that Hicks and Gillett are holding the club back and hurting its support. We've got a manager who (according to yesterday's Liverpool Echo) is unable to go for a terrific young prospect in Aaron Ramsey because he's got to concentrate on the first team on what is, relatively speaking, a shoestring. There can be no signing for the future. Liverpool FC is likely to be outspent this summer by more than Manchester Utd and Chelsea (the benchmark in at home and in Europe and the target to catch) but also by Manchester City, West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur. There's no Daniel Alves, there's Philip Degen. Degen may be a good player or he may not, but he does not have a strong shout to be the world's leading right back. He is available for free, however. Let’s remember why David Moores wanted to sell in the first place – to keep the playing side strong while a new stadium could be built for Liverpool FC. We can only presume he didn’t sell it to watch Liverpool supporters get fleeced in this eternal chase for elusive cash. This week we discovered that fancards are getting replaced. You know fancards, the things described in the club’s own charter as “the only card that you will need with Liverpool Football Club”. A one off payment of £3.50. They are getting replaced by a card which will have to be paid for on an annual basis. Liverpool FC being Liverpool FC, they haven’t released all the information yet but we rang today and got some answers. This isn’t set in stone but we were told it will be an annual charge of £29 for adults and £20 for children. Fan cards will run concurrently with this scheme, that will include a ticket exchange, for one season and then it’s the annual fee or nothing. The scheme will be confirmed before July 1st. Do we expect any greater efficiency or is it simply a matter of wringing every last penny out of supporters? Let’s phrase it this way, for an adult and two children to even be in with a chance to buy a ticket for a league game prior to the new stadium hopefully opening in 2012 (we understand anyone raising their eyebrows), it’s £207. £207. That’s before you’ve seen a ball kicked. Looking at that, and given that Hicks and Gillett need every penny, we suspect it’s the latter. Is George Gillett still looking for every last penny? Well, why is he still here? Gillett is happy enough to give the impression he wants to sell. Well, SOS has been told he can sell whenever he wants. The opportunity is there to get out of our club. Why hasn’t he? Remember, George Gillett also said it was “about the fans and the winning tradition”; he said he “wasn’t someone who goes and hides” and he said “our job is to be custodians of this franchise, not owners of this franchise.” Well the fans want him out and he can’t supply the funds required to carry on that winning tradition. He has actively looked to hide away from the glare of the fans – that stops today. The pressure on George Gillett starts now. George: Either start explaining why you aren’t selling or sell. This, these vagaries over the “custodianship” with one indicating he wants out but malingering, the other constantly looking to place the club into further debt, the shortage of a transfer budget, the desire to bleed fans dry to make up for the financial shortcomings, this is Liverpool FC today. This is your club in the summer of 2008. What are we all going to do about it? We’re repossessing the club. Sunday. You’ve seen the other statement. If you haven’t, it’s easy - Anfield, Sunday. It’s time we said enough is enough. It’s time we repossess before someone else gets the chance. It’s our club after all. We feel every part of it. The manager’s limited budget is our limited budget. The plans for the new ground are the plans for our new ground. And the massive debts are definitely debts we’ll be repaying if Hicks and Gillett have their way. Sunday. Anfield. Email or PM for a time and place. Spread the word and see you there. Spirit Of Shankly. PS Email address to follow.

Here is LFC's marketing blurb: "It's not a badge, it's a family crest. Nothing is impossible." Adidas Poster. "It's set to be a paradise for Liverpool fans - the biggest official club shop anywhere in Europe." Club Press Release about the new club shop opening tomorrow. http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N160022080522-0940.htm A paradise for Liverpool supporters. A veritable utopia for us all. Whatever the marketing blurb says we know that paradise isn't a place where Manchester United are league and European Champions and look like investing significantly this summer from a position of strength. We know paradise isn't inertia; two owners desperate to wring every last penny over their abortive eighteen months in charge of the football club. We know paradise isn't being lied to again and again. It isn't Rick Parry. It isn't David Moores. This isn't paradise but, well, nothing is impossible. Supporting this football club isn't buying into a franchise; it's committing yourself to shared values and aspirations. It's a necessity of modern football that this collective identity is taken and sold back to us. However that doesn't mean we should accept it when those shared values and aspirations aren't simply being ignored but are being ridden roughshod over by those who stand to gain from our support. We've asked you to withhold that support wherever possible and we ask you to do so again. We've asked you to spread this word around and we ask you to do so again. We've asked each and every one of you to consider every pound that goes into the football club as being a pound which goes towards us paying off a debt which is not ours, which has not been instituted for the benefit of the football club but for the two greedy individuals who hold our potential back, and work out whether or not that pound is worth spending. The fight has dragged on but that doesn't make it any less worth fighting and it doesn't make it any less urgent. Every day that passes damages our club and we're looking for new fronts to open, to re-emphasise there is no custodianship here, no integrity, no honesty, no dignity. Nothing that makes LFC fans proud. Next week we're hoping to start sending membership packs out, we're hoping to launch the online membership. Within our membership packs is a badge. The badge we send out isn't just a badge, isn't a family crest but it is a simple statement - that the wearer will not accept our shared values being destroyed, that the wearer will fight against this now, and will ensure that after this fight has been won the next custodians will be held to account. We know nothing is impossible; that's why we're here: an organisation created from the ground up, energised by Liverpool supporters who will not watch what they believe in be eroded by lies and ongoing incompetence. A democratic organisation which has and will continue to speak for the collective, speak for the shared values and aspirations and will speak out as the erosion takes place. We still need your energy and your support; we shall always need it if we are to fulfil what we said we would. We can only come together and hold the club to account for years to come if we do stand together as a massed force of Liverpool supporters. Paradise isn't a shop. It's being one red in a crowd, urging this football club towards success. Spirit Of Shankly.

Last night was special - a great occasion and everything Liverpool support is about. A big thank you to the performers and bands, those who organised it, The Olympia and those of you who came. We'd appreciate a bit of discretion about the very special guest and we'd also like to take the opportunity to thank him. As a result of our ongoing dialogue, we've had it confirmed that Dubai are prepared to put a supporter's representative on the board and have approached SOS to work out exactly how such a thing should be done. We're taking this commitment at face value and expect them to follow up on it if they take control of the football club. We are not doing Dubai's PR for them, but feel obliged to say we've found the dialogue we've had with them to be rewarding and full of possibilities. There is the opportunity to change the way in which our football club is run and the way in which football clubs across the country are run. They may well disappoint us and their words do need to be followed up with actions but to this point those of us who have had discussions have been impressed. A supporter on the board is a significant responsibility; one which we want but one which will need long consultation, with Dubai, with other agencies but most of all with you, the supporters. What we expect of such a role, how we want it to be defined, how we select it, these are key questions which tap into the bigger question which it is time to start asking: What, in 2008, do we expect of Liverpool FC in terms of how it manages itself off the pitch to compete on it? In the next fortnight we're going to try to start this debate across the forums. We don't think SOS and its management committee has all the answers, but collectively we are capable of answering this question and given the opportunity from Dubai we're capable of having these answers impact upon the football club should it change hands. Lastly, we've won nothing yet. Hicks and Gillett are still here. We are working on more ways to make clear to the entire world how they've abdicated their responsibilities as custodians. When we have concrete plans we'll tell you how you can help. In the meantime we're listening to any suggestions you have. Let's redouble our efforts over the summer. This football club is the greatest in the land. It's supporters are the greatest in the land. We learnt that yet again last night. We shouldn't be lions led by duplicitious donkeys any longer. Let's change that. Thank you for your support. Spirit Of Shankly

First of all a thank you to all who made it out to the park last night armed with high visibility jackets, spades and in one instance a pickaxe. It was short notice but well worth it given the coverage we’ve been able to greet Mr Hicks with as he arrives in Liverpool. It’s brilliant to be able to demonstrate with a smile on our face and it’s similarly brilliant that this idea came originally from one of the forums. This is what we’re all capable of, an idea from an individual that’s made reality by us coming together which yet again publicly hammers home the point about the duplicitousness of both of our owners. Later on in the evening, representatives of SOS met with representatives of DIC, led by Amanda Staveley. We felt that as “a meeting of minds” it went very well. We had a long, thorough discussion about supporters being better represented within the football club. We came away feeling not only listened to but engaged with and we’re very hopeful we will continue that discussion at a later date. We were also told DIC hold the manager in very high regard. Mr Hicks should be at the game tonight. We fully expect the decision taken en masse at the first meeting to hold; no protesting during the game. Him coming seems like a provocation but we ought to rise above it and get on with the matter in hand. Today’s papers and last night’s meeting reinforce the fact we are having an impact - that you are having an impact - and we know we will all work as hard as we can to continue to do so. It also means we can enjoy the game without having to worry about us getting our point across. We’ve got it across yesterday, we’ll get it across tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next day. We’re not going anywhere. Spirit Of Shankly.

A Spade in the Ground in 60 days? 440 Days later….. After last week’s interview, after the roaring fire and the lovely mug, after the sweet words and all those promises that Uncle Tom would never make in bad faith, well, Spirit Of Shankly are convinced. Convinced enough by Tom Hicks to do him and his estranged partner a favour. When they got to Liverpool they told us they’d have a spade in the ground within sixty days. There must be some perfectly reasonable explanation as to why they haven’t. Just as there must be a perfectly reasonable explanation why Hicks told us he wasn’t negotiating with DIC when he was, a splendid explanation for the football club servicing hundreds of millions of debt when Gillett said they wouldn’t do a Glazer, a magnificent explanation for when Hicks said he hadn’t spoken to any other managers when he had spoken to Klinsmann, a stupefying explanation for them consistently insisting they hadn’t fallen out when they had and an explanation way beyond human comprehension of them consistently insisting they’d spent millions and millions last summer when it turns out Torres and Babel were bought on credit notes. There must now be some terrific explanation for a man who said: “You don't even have to win a championship every year to draw the fans. You just have to show you're really trying. This business has to do with fan affinity and brand devotion. It doesn't necessarily have to do with winning.” To now say he wants this club top of the pile. Or for a man who said: “When I was in the leverage buy-out business we bought Weetabix and we leveraged it up to make our return. You could say that anyone who was eating Weetabix was paying for our purchase of Weetabix. It was just business. It is the same for Liverpool.” To now say if he takes 100% of the club he’ll do so without debt being on the club. It’s time for the benefit of the doubt to be given. Yep, they’ve tried their best to do what’s right for Liverpool Football Club and if we could only get behind them then we’d soon find ourselves back top of the pile. Well we can do more than just silently support them. We’ll put the spade in the ground for them, tonight, in Stanley Park. 6pm, Spirit Of Shankly will be there, doing their bit to help the Hicks effort, digging for victory. Hicks and Gillett told us it’ll be 60 days. We’re telling you it’ll be at 6 o’clock. Who do you believe? Stanley Park. Tonight. 6pm. We’ll be the ones with the spades. Sarcasm Of (Sorry…) Spirit Of Shankly

There’s one thing to do. One thing you can do. That’s stand up. That’s fight back. The situation is this: Hicks needs to raise money and he’ll be going back to the banks. The deal him and his estranged cohort got months back was an edgy one, an expensive one. Given the world economic situation, given our relationship with them, given their own track record, they got an expensive short term deal and in the process exposed RBS/Nat West and Merril Lynch. The former were worried about discussions of disruption and boycotts. Let’s give them something to worry about. Let’s start disrupting RBS. Phone calls, letters, faxes, emails. We’ll get you the details. Trust us when we say they don’t want this and trust us when we say we can do this. We can hurt RBS. Hicks, the ignorant bully, may think he’s bloody-minded. We can show him, RBS and anyone else who may back him what bloody-mindedness really is. The meat of the ignorant bully’s statement is that Rick Parry is incompetent. Rick Parry is no more incompetent now than he was after Athens. That’s pretty incompetent, but Parry is also a vote on the board against Hicks. It’s more bullying to get his own way. And more lying. The debt won’t be on the club. Really, Tom? You’ve moved away from this: “When I was in the leverage buy-out business we bought Weetabix and we leveraged it up to make our return. You could say that anyone who was eating Weetabix was paying for our purchase of Weetabix. It was just business. It is the same for Liverpool.” Whether the debt is on the club or not, who will service it? Will you service it? Or do you want us to pay for you and Gillett to buy the club, us to pay for you to then buy Gillett’s half and us to then pay for the stadium. How much debt will you have us service, Tom? But it’s just business. And on the stadium – Hicks accuses Parry of having been slow to make it happen. Probably very true. But Hicks said he’d have a spade in the ground within sixty days, almost eighteen months ago. He still hasn’t raised the money to pay for this spade. More spin. More smug Texan fireside talk when the club is in crisis. More absenteeism. The bully wants his own way: “If George doesn't sell - because I am not going to sell - I guess we stay in this position that we are in.” And if he doesn’t get his own way he’ll gladly run this football club into the ground. He’ll gladly continue the inertia. He’ll gladly cut off his nose to spite his face. Except he won’t. This is a negotiating strategy. He knows his own position can become untenable very quickly, he knows his investment can depreciate in value, he knows he may have to bow to the inevitable DIC offer. No one is saying he isn’t also prepared to stick it out but we can influence that. We can hurt the banks that are already unnerved by him. We can make a difference, possibly the final difference. We can stand up and be counted. Now is the time to stand up and be counted. Hit the banks, hit the phone-ins, repudiate the lies, attack the bully. No money, no credibility, no honesty, no integrity, no dignity, no custodian. HICKS OUT NOW! Spirit Of Shankly

What better way for us to celebrate the end of the season (and our inaugural half season) by getting a load of reds under one roof after the last home game of the season and putting some music on for them? We’ll tell you a better way. Put a play on about the man who made the people happy. The Shankly Show One actor, 45 minutes each way- first half in black and white with half time oranges, the second half in colour- possibly set in the infamous boot room at Anfield. An in depth documentary about the Liverpool Legend- a fusion of culture and sport- commissioned by Liverpool 2008. It’s a must see for any Liverpool supporter. And that’s not all - The music: James Walsh (Starsailor) The Great Northwestern Hoboes The Quarter There’s going to be special guests and surprises that we can’t confirm right now but keep your eye on the forums for news as and when it arrives. The play starts at 7.30, doors are opening at 6pm, the music starts at 9 and we’re all staying out till 1am. The Olympia. West Derby Road Saturday May 3rd. 7.30pm start. Price £10 upstairs balconies £14 downstairs Tickets will be (from Wednesday) available from The Olympia, The HJC Shop and other outlets will be confirmed. It’s your club. It’s your union. It’s your night.

S.O.S – Williamson Square Tuesday Afternoon Right everyone, a few ideas have been talked about by fans and on the forums about having an afternoon before the game, all fans having a laugh, like we did the afternoon before Chelsea last year. So let’s do it again. Next Tuesday before Arsenal. Williamson Square. By the benches outside the Liverpool shop. 2pm. Flags, banners, hopefully some sunshine. We can even ‘talk’ to people going inside the club shop. See yer there if you’re up for it. Spirit Of Shankly

The Olympia. 12 noon. Saturday 15th March Spirit Of Shankly would like to invite all fans to our next meeting, to be held this Saturday, at 12pm in the Olympia on West Derby Road (near to The Grafton). Anyone wishing to attend is free to do so. If you have already sent off your membership form, come along. If you are thinking of joining, come along. If you have never heard of us, come along. This is an opportunity to find out what the Union is about, listen to other fans views and opinions and express your own. This is our 2nd public meeting as a Liverpool Supporters Union. Not bad considering we have only been around for 6 weeks. So come along and get behind the Union and help us to make things better for all of us – the supporters of Liverpool Football Club. We don’t think we’ve got all the answers. But by speaking to Liverpool supporters the world over, by sharing a voice, by demanding representation, by acting together we know that between us all we can improve every aspect of this football club from the top down. Make your voice be heard. Spirit Of Shankly

In the light of today's report in the Liverpool Echo where it was claimed Mr Hicks walked away from negotiations because he rejected DIC's proposal of a supporter's representative with full voting rights, we would like to clarify amongst the support on as wide a basis as possible where they stand on such an issue.[/font] It's become ever clearer Mr Hicks' first, second and third priority with Liverpool FC is to make as much money as possible. Wanting the club to be financially strong isn't, in itself, a bad thing. It only becomes a bad thing when, as emphasised by his statement last night, the interests of Kop Holdings are specified to be different to that of LFC and its supporters. As we argued last night, it is enough for Kop Holdings to reach a very significant return on its investment by getting the stadium built and keeping the club in fourth place. That isn't enough for LFC's supporters. Given the fact that Mr Hicks will struggle to raise further loans to refinance his existing debts or to expand upon the stadium we have an opportunity to exert financial pressure on him. We can emphasise, to him and to anyone who would loan him further money or anyone who would come on board alongside him to invest in Liverpool Football Club that we will not allow ourselves to be the cash-cow he wants us while he treats us with such disrespect. We can emphasise we are prepared to deny the club money to lower its viability as an investment. We can emphasise that we are more than a brand and that those who love Liverpool the world over love it as something way beyond a sports team and instead see it as something central to their lives and will go to any lengths to protect it as such. Carlsberg have done nothing wrong. They have a product in the marketplace very similar to a host of other products and part of how they try to boost their product's sales the world over is an association with the "brand" of Liverpool FC, the "brand" of The Kop, the "brand" of the 12th man. However, we need to get the message across to them and any future sponsors that we, the very brand they are paying good money to capitalise on, are not happy with the current leadership and that by being associated with Liverpool FC at this time they are associating themselves with a man who threatens everything they want to associate their brand with. On Merseyside, Carlsberg sell thousands of barrels of ale every week. They monitor their sales on a week by week basis. The Merseyside territory is in the top 5, in terms of sales volume. Therefore any boycott will get the message across quickly that we want Hicks out now. It is definable and most importantly any Carlsberg drinker has lots of alternatives at any given bar. Therefore, while we don't want to hurt Carlsberg, we should use this way of getting our message across to Carlsberg, to any other current or future sponsors, that we want Tom Hicks out and that financially backing him or the football club while he remains in charge is not a financially wise move.

Tom Hicks has broken off talks with DIC because their leadership style would not be in the interests of: "Kop [Holdings], of the Club, or of the Club's loyal and passionate supporters." Let's look at this. Why does Mr Hicks put Kop Holdings first? Doesn't this reveal exactly where his priorities lie? How many times do the man's priorities have to be revealed to us? It's wonderful of him to emphasise what we already know. The interests of Kop Holdings and Liverpool Football Club are not one and the same. Kop Holdings needs Liverpool to come fourth every year and get a stadium built and then it makes a billion pound return without ever investing a penny. Liverpool Football Club demands greatness. Liverpool Football Club should be the jewel in the crown. Not another stepping stone for an obscenely rich man to make more money he doesn't need. Mr Hicks is remarkably presumptuous if he feels he knows what's best for Liverpool Football Club and its supporters. The very supporters who distrust him entirely. The very supporters who have made their feelings known again and again what's best for them. Mr Hicks should listen to Liverpool's supporters. They've repeatedly tried to tell him what's best for this club. On the whole it can be summed up as follows: What's best for this football club isn't being in exactly the same position as we were fourteen months ago but with £350m of debt. What's best for the football club and its supporters is that the man who has publicly stated he'll siphon Liverpool's money off to his other sports teams, hasn't pledged to buy the club one way and then do the opposite, has promised stadia yet has failed to raise the money and still hasn't started digging, has offered the manager's job to a total novice in club management terms – how exactly was that in the club's best interests Tom? - and then discussed such a foolish move in public, leaves and never, ever, ever comes back. What's best for Liverpool Football Club is that the man who has dragged this footballing institution through the mud, who has classlessly tarnished the family silver, who has shown such disdain and disrespect to the very supporters he now claims to act in the interest of accepts the healthy profit he has been offered and shuts the door behind him. How many times do we have to tell him he doesn't know what's best for LFC? He doesn't know what's best for the supporters? Well, let's keep telling him and let's tell him louder. Before the Reading game. 15th March. The Olympia. Noon. Let's tell him again there and then let's tell him outside the ground and then let's tell him inside the ground and keep telling him and the world that he doesn't know best. Only when he steps through the exit door will he have shown any intelligence, any class and any understanding of what Liverpool's supporters want. One way or another, on the 15th of March, let your voice be heard. Spirit Of Shankly.

We want to thank everyone who took part in protesting against the current ownership. We know and appreciate you are on the front line. It's easy for us to ask you to talk to those who are uninformed on our behalf; it's you who has to do it. It's a process. The message is getting out a day at a time and we will try our hardest to make sure that continues. The message that was sent last night got as far as Dallas. Hicks' "Echo" reported what we did at half time just as our Echo did. The world's a small place, something Mr Hicks with his talk of siphoning money doesn't understand. We understand it and while yesterday was about what went on in the ground, we ask every Red the world over who agrees with us to find their own way to get the message out to those close to them. Supporting Liverpool FC isn't a shirt you wear or an accent you have, it's part of the essence of who you are, wherever you may live. For that reason we're working hard on regional branches of the Union and hope to have good news about online payment, constitutions and membership cards soon. Those of you who have handed money and cheques over to us have shown real patience. We hope to present you with progress sooner rather than later. In addition the website as a functioning entity will be ready to go soon. We're pushing two fronts simultaneously – building the union structure and getting rid of the current owners. Events dictate the reality of this, the vast majority of Liverpool supporters want Hicks and Gillett out which dictates the reality of this. We have to do both at once and so, again, we thank you for your support and patience. Another message got sent out last night. This one got as far as Dubai. A member of the Working Committee was able to meet with a representative of DIC. He told them supporters would on the whole be pleased with a change of ownership and having had our fingers burnt once, they'd be welcomed, albeit cautiously. They took these comments on board. The meeting was constructive and talks will hopefully continue in the future. We ask all supporters, union members or not, not to go overboard about this. This doesn't guarantee in any way, shape or form that DIC are inevitably going to take over. Nor does it mean we endorse them. It simply was what it was, an introductory meeting between us and them. Pleasing in itself, but we will always keep to our stated aim of holding whoever owns the football club to account. We're also having another massive meeting, The Olympia, noon, 15th march. The day of the Reading game. We ask Mr Moores again to attend as part of his role as Honorary Life President. If it isn't possible, we ask him to send us a statement to read on the day. Regardless of all this, we must keep working. We need to set up what the structure the Union needs so it functions for years to come. We need to work harder to improve communications with you. And we all need to keep working towards forcing Hicks and Gillett out. So thanks again for your hard work last night and thanks in advance for your hard work in the future. If you want to get involved in any way please email spiritofshankly@googlemail.com Spirit Of Shankly

Be yourselves tonight. Every last one of you, wherever you sit, be yourselves. Don’t feel as though you have to stare at the Kop; they aren’t there for your entertainment, they aren’t there to be your voice, they are there to be their own voice. It can be hard singing on your own in a quiet part of the ground – singing at half time is almost unprecedented (though it’s precedent is pretty special), we all know that. But please sing anyway. Let yourself be heard. We’ve only got one more thing to add. There’s two targets. There’s Tom Hicks and there’s George Gillett. But it’s clear George wants out. He wants his pound of flesh but he wants out. Mr Hicks is slightly different. Make it clear, clearer, make it crystal he isn’t wanted. We don’t want part ownership Hicks/DIC. That fixes nothing. Regardless, it’s half time tonight. From when that whistle goes make yourselves proud. Maybe we can’t affect things, possibly we can but to not try, to not take an opportunity to be heard at this critical juncture of LFC’s recent history, well we’re not about that as supporters. This is our club. Our custodians have let the side down. We never will. Spirit Of Shankly.

15 minutes of solid protest from the minute the half time whistle goes. Wherever you are in the ground, make your voice heard. Every single one of you has to share the responsibility to join in. Don't wait for others to take the lead, don't feel self conscious. Get involved, get rowdy. Let's stand together. Those of you who feel that it's hard to get the message out, those of you who feel it's hard to educate people, well have another go now, be emphatic: They said they wouldn't do a Glazer and buy the club with its own money. They have. We'll be paying off 30m a year for them to own our club. They said there would be a spade in the ground within 60 days of taking over. Still no start date for the stadium. And they still haven't secured the money to buy it. They said they'd back our traditions and way of doing things. They offered the manager's job to Jurgen Klinsmann and then discussed it publicly They haven't spent a penny of their own money – all the signings are on the never never. When does the never never end? For this investment of theirs to work they need us to finish fourth year in, year out and get the stadium built. Success for Kop Holdings and success for LFC are not the same thing. If you feel people need educating, people in your work, your school, your boozer, your house, print that out and give it to them. Talk to them. Tell them why you are so angry, tell them why we need change. No one is saying DIC will be perfect but it'll be fresh start, a chance to move this football club which we all love forward. Hicks and Gillett dragged this club through the mud and have wasted a year of our time. It ends now. They should go now. Tonight. Half time. Tell Hicks and Gillett exactly that.

Hicks says No. We say GO! Liverpool chairmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett have been given the ideal opportunity. The opportunity to walk away, to do the right thing. They wanted a profit; they've been offered a profit. They can say Yes for their own benefit and for our benefit. But will they? Al-Ansari talks about Tom Hicks' valuation of the club being 'in dreamland'; Mr Hicks is further in dreamland if he thinks he will ever be accepted at LFC. He's a rich man, a business man, but surely, being as rich as he is, he wants to be able to enjoy his investments. If he tries to grin and bear it then it emphasises what we already know - he's only in it for one reason: the money and the money alone. George Gillett's silence speaks volumes. He's no longer interested or charming us. He wants to get out with the maximum possible profit. Well it's time to either get out of hiding or get out of our club, Mr Gillett. Will they do the right thing, and leave? They aren't wanted, they surely know that. To stay - and turn down an offer for the club that can hopefully take us out of this sorry mess we find ourselves in - is what we all want. Cash is what they want and they have been offered millions for wasting a year of our time. If they say No it goes against the wishes of virtually every supporter. So they wouldn't be listening to fans. This would be their clearest indication that they don't care about the fans. They want to cash in on us, they want to sell the "Kop" brand but when it comes right down to it, the much acclaimed 12th Man has his opinions tossed aside so they can greedily wring every last penny out of the club. Regardless you've been, we've all been, given an opportunity - if they reject the offer, take the opportunity at the West Ham game to make it known we will not take this lying down. If they say nothing take the opportunity to hammer home your wishes as Liverpool supporters. They've given us the chance to make our point, DIC have given them the chance to leave with a modicum of grace and a hefty profit. Take the chance - let the world know what you want. Spirit Of Shankly.