THIS MEANS MORE. WELL, TO THE LAWYERS PERHAPS
The fifth largest city in the UK with a population of almost 500,000 people, Liverpool’s history can be traced back to the year 1190, just the 702 before the formation of its eponymously titled local football club. On Thursday, in what was possibly the most eyebrow-raising football-related story The Fiver had heard until some Derby players motored past, it emerged that the club in question had its attempt to trademark the word “Liverpool” rejected by the government’s Intellectual Property Office due to the “geographical significance” of the city.
The Big Cup holders had attempted to trademark the city’s name in order to prevent counterfeiters from flooding foreign and domestic markets with cheap, unofficial, mass-produced replica shirts and other bits of branded tat. The logic, presumably being that it would be a shame to lose out on so much easy money when they could flood both markets with over-priced, official, mass-produced replica shirts and other bits of branded tat themselves.
We have been here before. Liverpool have already trademarked both the Liver Bird logo and the expression “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, and apparently have a similarly brazen attempt to do the same with “Allez Allez Allez” – a song their fans appropriated – in the pipeline. Nobody could accuse the good folk in their legal department of leading lives that are unfulfilled. Trademarking the name of “Liverpool” seems to have been an act of grasping corporate avarice too far, but club chief suit Peter Moore has taken it on the chin. Sort of.
“It should be stressed that our application was put forward in good faith and with the sole aim of protecting and furthering the best interests of the club and its supporters,” he parped. “We will continue to aggressively pursue those large-scale operations which seek to illegally exploit our intellectual property and would urge the relevant authorities to take decisive action against such criminal activity wherever it exists,” he added, possibly mulling over future options involving the water in the Mersey, Jimmy Corkhill from Brookside and the observation deck of Radio City Tower.
Having campaigned to prevent Fenway Sports Group, the owners of the club they support, from getting dibs on a word they rightfully claim “is not for FSG or anyone else to own”, Liverpool supporters’ group Spirit of Shankly described the IPO’s decision as a victory for common sense. “Without fan activism this issue may not have ended like this,” they cheered. “Without fan involvement there would be no challenge to the corporate greed within football. SOS remain vigilant to the stealth of the club in their relentless pursuit of money at any cost.” And who will watch these SOS watchmen? The Fiver hears Abba’s lawyers might already be on the case.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Part of the process of being a good record shop is listening to your customers and trying to get stuff in that’s going to appeal to them. And then, after a while, you can join in the conversations. It’s like when I started refereeing, I didn’t know the first thing, but four weeks in and you can join in with the chat” – Premier League ref Jon Moss on life in his Leeds record shop … Vinyl Whistle.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
Football Weekly Extra will be in this general vicinity.
FIVER LETTERS
“Given yesterday’s Quote of the Day defending Bernardo Silva and Pep’s previous comments in support of, at best, slightly iffy regimes and angry responses to the press following legitimate questions about potentially improper financial spending, perhaps Michael Gove is right after all to say Boris Johnson is the Guardiola of British politics?” – William Wardley.
“You have to give it to Mauricio Pochettino (yesterday’s Fiver). He has managed to compress all the bad stuff and a few good things from the Arsenal post-Invincibles 15 years into just five-and-half years of management: finishing second behind 90-plus points Chelsea; losing the Milk Cup final to Chelsea; a shiny new stadium; getting knocked out by a fourth-tier side in the Coca-Cola Cup on penalties; having delusional thoughts that Davinson Mustafi is not just an expensive defender but also a good one; and that super-talented playmakers like Cesc Eriksen would pick staying at a club whose trophy room can offer him nothing else but worsening his dust allergy over moving to a Spanish giant for significantly bigger wage. I just wonder, what’s next? Harry van Persie leading Manchester United to the title with No 20 on his shirt, with Danny Santos asking him for a half-time shirt swap?” – Admir Pajic.
Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. And you can always tweet The Fiver via @guardian_sport. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’the day is … William Wardley.
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
As referenced earlier, Derby County pair Mason Bennett and Tom Lawrence have been charged with drink-driving, while captain Richard Keogh is out for the season with a serious knee injury after an “alcohol-related” car crash on the A6. “As a club, we cannot, and do not, condone the actions of a small group of players on Tuesday evening,” sniffed a club statement. “The players involved will be subject to a rigorous internal investigation under the club’s code of conduct and disciplinary procedures.”
Manchester City are safely through to Women’s Big Cup last 16 after an 11-1 aggregate win over Lugano.
Bury’s hopes of Football League readmission look to be over after clubs agreed that only one team will be relegated from League Two this season.
Barcelona have really been hit where it hurts, fined a whopping €300 [THREE-HUNDRED EUROS – Fiver Vidiprinter Ed] for breaking the rules in their €120m signing of Antoine Griezmann from Atlético Madrid.
Tottenham deserve to be on the receiving end after their underwhelming start to the season, according to Mauricio Pochettino. “During my five years it has all been praise for Tottenham,” he cheered. “Now we deserve to be criticised and we accept that. The fans are right to criticise … Sometimes critics can make you realise you need to wake up.”
And Nicaragua captain Juan Barrera reckons something fishy is afoot, saying he didn’t vote in the Fifa Best awards, despite being credited with voting. “We confirm that we have the right votes,” insisted a Fifa suit.
STILL WANT MORE?
Rodrygo and the ‘ilusión’ of La Liga’s 21st-century boys. By Sid Lowe.
Franck Ribéry and a tale of the unexpected for Fiorentina. By Nicky Bandini.
Max Rushden on VAR and an alternate universe.
Marco Silva is losing his swashbuckler lustre as Everton’s shine fades, writes Paul Wilson.
This week’s Classic YouTube, right here.
Oh, and if it’s your thing … you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace. And INSTACHAT, TOO!
