Banners bearing slogans calling for the removal of Liverpool’s American ownership were on view outside Anfield before their match against Newcastle as fans continued to show their dissatisfaction about the aborted Super League project on Saturday.
The protests on Anfield Road were muted compared to those by several hundred Arsenal fans outside Emirates Stadium on Friday ahead of their match against Everton. The sentiments were similar, however, with club owners the targets of criticism.
“£nough is £nough FSG Out” and “Henry, You have blood on your hands,” were the words on some of the banners, referencing Fenway Sports Group and principal owner John Henry.
There were around 150 Liverpool fans outside the stadium and they greeted the players and management with warm applause as the team bus arrived at Anfield.
That highlighted the separation supporters were making between the owners of England’s “Big Six” clubs who were behind the Super League, and the rest of the club.
“The part I have struggled with is seeing this club, a place I love and am now proud to call my home, trashed — and done so in a manner which suggests no redemption is possible. That I can’t take,” Klopp said in his notes in the matchday programme.
“It was right to take apart the concept and it was fair to criticise it, along with those who came up with it and also how it was presented. All legitimate in my view. The anger and disappointment was justified but there were times when the distinction between ‘club’ and this decision were too quickly blurred into one.”
