Promises on hold as stability the key

After the storm, the calm.

In the grand empty silence of Anfield on Saturday morning, with the sun breaking through, John W. Henry walked the pitch and contemplated the significance of his purchase, looking out at the aged stands of a stadium suffused with a history of success.

"The first thing I wanted to do when we left last night, left the whole scene in London, was to go to Anfield and that was the first thing I did this morning. I came out here and walked the pitch alone," he said.

"I just couldn't wait to get here. I had only been here once before and it was too short. I love Fenway, I love Anfield, when the place is empty and the sun was coming out It's a magical, magical feeling to walk onto this pitch to think that we are the new owners."

Henry was accompanied by his friend Stan Grossfeld, a two-times Pulitzer prize-winning photographer who has taken some of the most evocative pictures of Fenway Park, to capture the subdued inception of a new era at Anfield. After the brash fraudulence of Hicks and Gillett, this was an encouragingly understated way to arrive at Liverpool.

There is something of the sporting romantic about Henry - there would have to be for a man who has felt the magnetic pull of the faded glory of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool Football Club. There is also the pragmatic toughness of a man who has made his money by developing a methodology on the futures and exchange markets that tried to remove human emotion from the equation.

Sitting down with journalists in the Legends Lounge of the main stand at Anfield on Saturday (the symbolism of the trophy room seemed to have been studiously avoided), Henry was cautious not to commit himself foolishly to any promises.

He made it clear he and his team were here to canvass opinion - from the fans, the community and the media - about what needs to change with Liverpool.

There was doubtless genuine humility in this - after all, New England Sports Ventures is operating outside its Massachusetts comfort zone - but also a sensible reading of the expectations here in Liverpool: they will not be fooled by any faux authenticity.

"I think it's somewhat the same in Boston," said Henry of the sporting culture of Liverpool. "It's generational in Boston. It's a passion.

"We've known in the last nine years that, every morning when we get up, what we do impacts on millions of people's lives.

"It's more than a sports team in Boston so that's why we think we're somewhat prepared for this experience. But I only say somewhat, because we don't know a lot about English football."

Tom Werner, a Hollywood producer and the chairman of NESV, said that they were both trying to absorb as much about the city and club as fast as they could.

"I've been playing football since I was a kid and I know the EPL," he said (he might want to shake that acronym).

"Before we took over I myself have been to some football games in the UK. We're both students of Liverpool's history. We were just at the museum here.

"We both hope that when we're old, we'll be remembered for having left the club in better shape than when we arrived."

Whether they are capable of achieving that goal will be of more concern to Liverpool fans than whether they can pass a spot test on the history of the club.

Henry and Werner went to Arsenal last month to watch a game and discuss the way the club was run with Arsene Wenger and chief executive Ivan Gazidis.

While they were keen to stress the differences between the two clubs, the North London club's recent history (the move from Highbury, the inflation of matchday revenue) is an impressive example of modernizing a football club.

"I don't know if they are a model," Henry said. "It is a completely different situation but I am a big fan of Mr Wenger's. He's a brilliant guy. We are big fans of their organisation."

Liverpool face specific challenges: they cannot tap into the vast corporate opportunities found in London or even Manchester, nor does Anfield have the capacity to bring in big matchday revenue by numbers alone.

When Ian Ayre was appointed as the club's commercial director three years ago he admitted that the state of the club's commercial operations were "much worse than I thought it would be" and since then he has presided in an 85 per cent grow in commercial revenues.

The momentum generated by this must be extended to capitalize on Liverpool's most significant asset: reputation. Liverpool's tradition of success has given them a global brand that has been sorely under-exploited.

For all the careful talk of Liverpool's traditions, it is in this area that NESV are truly sure-footed, having made the Red Sox into a baseball powerhouse second only to the New York Yankees.

"This isn't London or Manchester, but thankfully Liverpool is a global club so we will look to increase revenues globally," Henry said.

"They have done a fantastic job with the current revenues over the last couple of years, so we'll do everything we can to achieve loftier goals.

"I hope other clubs don't ignore the financial aspects of [Uefa's incoming] fair play rules. We know it's about revenue and about generating the revenue to compete.

"In Boston we've gone toe-to-toe with the New York Yankees which is the same as going toe-to-toe with Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea. It's a huge challenge but we're aware how much work it's going to take to do that."

While NESV are beginning to exploit Liverpool's global cachet, they will also cast fresh eyes at the old problem of the stadium.

They spent $250m redeveloping Fenway Park and are not ruling out doing the same with Anfield.

"It's an option but we are going to explore all options," Henry said. "It is a very complicated question. We have to talk to all the stakeholders. We are not going to be making a lot of stadium statements - we have got a lot of studying to do."

They did, though, appear to rule out a ground-share with Everton.

"It seems to be very controversial," Henry said. "From what I have heard it does not look very appealing to most people."

Henry was not making any commitments on short term ambitions, aside from reassuring Roy Hodgson that NESV were here to "support and encourage", at such an early stage but there will be a meeting on Sunday to discuss specific football issues, with player recruitment on the agenda.

They are giving away no figures but with £30m saved on annual interest payments, there will be. "If I could leave one message with you it is this: this is going to be a tough job," Henry said.

"To get this club to where it should be, where it needs to be, is going to be tough. It's going to be a lot of hard work. So it is not going to happen overnight. We are all committed to the long-term future.

"You want to compete at the highest level and the chance to compete at the highest level.

"The similarities between the Red Sox 2001 and Liverpool 2010 are - this sounds a negative word but I mean it positively - eerie. There are many similarities and we've talked at length about them.

"It's the chance to compete at the highest level in the world's most popular sport and you don't get that very often.

"To own the Red Sox was an incredible thing for us, one of the jewels of American baseball. And now...the history, the tradition, the global reach of Liverpool...if you have the chance how could you pass up an opportunity like this?"

NESV have a Fulham connection too...

Roy Hodgson has been aware of New England Sports Ventures' interest in English football for over a year, having met with representatives of the company while at Fulham.

Hodgson sat down to talk to the Fenway Sports Group's managing director Billy Hogan and president Sam Kennedy, as well as Joe Januszewski, the the director of corporate sales with the Boston Red Sox.

FSG is the sports marketing subsidiary of NESV.

"I met them when I was at Fulham," Hodgson said. "They came down there when I was manager so I have met the people. They sat down to talk with me. They were interested in a tie-up with Fulham.

"As far as I know Fulham were never for sale during my time there. Mohamed Al Fayed never wanted to sell Fulham. We were talking about a tie up between the clubs in terms of the sporting interests they have.

"Of course we were interested in how other sporting franchises work, especially in America, who are, let's face it, more advanced in that particular area."

On Oct 19 last year Fulham and FSG formed a corporate partnership to help the English club secure sponsorship deals in the United States.

They would be expected to help secure a new shirt sponsor when the current deal expires, should FxPro not take up their option to extend.

There is no problem with FSG continuing to work on behalf of Fulham after NESV's purchase of Liverpool as the Premier League's conflict of interest rules relate only to situations where companies materially own significant parts of a football club.

The group was also responsible for setting up a pre-season friendly between Celtic and Sporting Lisbon this season at Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox's ball park, which brought in 32,000 spectators.

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.