Liverpool have confirmed there are no plans to play a Premier League game abroad after the club's chairman said he was "determined to play in New York City."
The Merseysiders are American owned and the cultural differences between England and those across the Atlantic have previously led to a clash. Liverpool's FSG bosses quickly U-turned amid backlash to the proposed Super League several years ago and now one of their leading lights has landed himself in hot water.
Tom Werner, in an interview with the Financial Times, confessed he'd love to see Liverpool take a Premier League contest over to America - and opened up on an even more ambitious plan to see multiple games played simultaneously across the globe.
He said: "I'm determined one day to have a Premier League game be played in New York City." Werner then went on to say: "I even have the sort of crazy idea. That there would be a day where we play one game in Tokyo, one game a few hours later in Los Angeles, one game a few hours later in Rio, one game a few hours later in Riyadh and make it sort of a day where football, where the Premier League, is celebrated." Liverpool fans brought immediate opposition to the idea that their team, who have a sensational record at their Anfield base in front of their passionate fans, would head overseas for a fixture.
The Reds have since come out, via the Liverpool Supporters Board, and maintained that the idea put forward was a personal ambition for Werner and there was no appetite for the club to follow it through. Any such decisions, would be made with fan consultation.
They said: "On behalf of the Supporters Board, our chair has spoken directly to the Club. They have told us that Tom Werner’s comment was a personal idea, not LFC’s, which would only be put forward for consideration if it was right for everyone, including and most importantly, supporters.
"It is not something the Club is considering. Even then, they have reassured us it would be subject to consultation with our Supporters’ Board, in line with our Supporters’ Board agreement. The Supporters Board will obviously keep a careful watch on this issue."
The club's leading supporter groups, Spirit of Shankly, quickly made it known that the fanbase didn't want to be travelling across shores for a game. They wrote on social media: "Anyone determined to play competitive LFC Premier League matches abroad should remember that we as fans are determined they don't."
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