Prime delivery for Anfield Road…
Last week, it was confirmed that Liverpool’s owner Fenway Sports Group had agreed to sell a minority stake in the football club to 1892 Holdings, a consortium including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
While it was initially reported that 1892 Holdings had bought between 30 and 33 per cent of the club, it turns out that the syndicate has in fact purchased a 38 per cent stake. And it also has first refusal to become Liverpool’s majority shareholder within the next 12 months, should FSG decide to sell up (this is just an option, though, rather than any kind of formal commitment).
Clearly not content with using his estimated $267bn (£196bn) net worth to send Katy Perry into space, sponsor the Met Gala and finance his extravagant Venetian wedding to former TV host Lauren Sanchez, this new venture marks Bezos’ first foray into football.
He is joined in this endeavour by some other not-quite-as-loaded-but-still-doing-totally-fine money men. 1892 Holdings is headed up by Amit Bhatia, the former co-owner of Queens Park Rangers and the son-in-law of the billionaire Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, and also includes Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin (aka the one played by a laptop-smashing Andrew Garfield in The Social Network).
It is Bhatia who will become the club’s new vice chair, and Saverin’s wife Elaine will join the board; Bezos, in contrast, has been described by sources as a “silent partner” in the deal. But it’s inevitable that it is his name that has attracted the most attention – we’re talking about the third richest man in the world getting involved with one of football’s most iconic clubs.
It is certainly much bigger news than when there were rumours that rapper A$AP Rocky wanted to invest in Tranmere Rovers, the League Two club over the water on the Wirral (even if that brought with it the possibility of A$AP’s longtime partner Rihanna being spotted on the ferry across the Mersey).
It also comes weighted with controversy. Bezos is a divisive character, not least because Amazon’s working practices have been the subject of much scrutiny; he also, like so many tech bros, seems to have spent the past few years cosying up to President Trump. Not a natural figurehead, then, for a club that has always prided itself on its egalitarianism, shaped by Bill Shankly’s 15-year stint as manager.
It’s no wonder some fans are concerned, seeing the purchase as just yet more proof that the game they love is available to the highest bidder, regardless of whether or not said bidder actually cares about their club. Fan group Spirit of Shankly wrote to Liverpool last week to ask what the changes might mean for the club: “We have witnessed similar sales at other clubs resulting in notable changes in the running of that club and football operations, leading to decisions and behaviours that many would not want to see at Liverpool,” they said.
If Bezos does a “Ryan Reynolds at Wrexham” and appears in the Kop next season, then he might not exactly be greeted with delight (although you can imagine Everton fans having plenty of fun coming up with not-so-complimentary chants when the next derby rolls around). So what should Bezos – and Sanchez too, if she’s coming along for the ride – know before visiting the Pool of Life?
1. Big hair is a thing
Should he and Sanchez want to go incognito, I reckon they could probably give it a decent shot. Sanchez looks like a woman who would probably enjoy a good curly blow (rollers, though, are probably more of a necessity here than they are in Florida, thanks to the waterfront being The Windiest Place on Earth, in my non-scientific estimation).
2. So is Northern style
And if you squint a bit, Bezos could be one of the athleisure-wearing blokes with buzzcuts who queue up outside the Arne shop in Liverpool One on a weekend to buy yet another black quilted jacket – or navy, if they’re really pushing the boat out. Old Jeff would do well to avoid anything that could be construed as Everton blue, though – I’ve seen plenty of grown men get weird about wearing stuff in their rival team’s colours.
3. Hen parties are a business opportunity
If they want to see Amazon’s legacy in action, they should head to Concert Square, where countless stag and hen dos will be kitted out in landfill-destined tat that they’ve panic-bought on Prime delivery the night before.
4. Everyone has an Irish back-story
If, like so many Americans, Bezos is fixated upon embracing some long-dormant Irish heritage after taking one of those at-home DNA kits, he’d then be well situated to erm, enjoy some of the city’s many, many Irish bars.
5. All of life is in Formby
If they’re looking for something more all-American, though, to remind themselves of back home? They’re just around the corner from the eye (and ear) sore that is Bold Street’s Coyote Ugly–themed bar. But for a taste of a more authentic footballing lifestyle, though, they should head up the coast to Formby. Here, there’s a high chance they’ll bump into
1. Steven Gerrard
2. A red squirrel
3. Someone who really, really likes golf
Plus there’s also a Waitrose!
6. You won’t understand a thing that they are talking about
Park your jokes about the accent. This is more about what constitutes small talk. Whether the urban legend about purple bins being a mix of Liverpool red and Everton blue is actually true, how they feel about the old Mersey Ferry being requisitioned as a restaurant and cocktail bar run by Tinhead from Brookside and their thoughts on Merseyrail finally rolling out tap-and-go ticketing.
7. Everyone is very funny, but they are very serious about one thing
However fun and friendly the city might be, it’s pretty difficult to imagine Bezos being embraced by Scouse spirit, and vice versa. That’s because it’s a place with a long history of solidarity and standing up for workers’ rights. Oh, and it’s also a place where, if you did happen to commission a wooden effigy that looks suspiciously similar to your girlfriend to sit on the prow of your super yacht… you’d sign up to a lifetime of merciless p***-taking.
