Reds in the red

By: Marwan Hashim

UNCOMFORTABLE VIEWING ... the Stanley Park stadium plan cost club £35m

LIVERPOOL have recorded a £50million loss for the last financial year.

The Reds saw their balance sheets hammered by the doomed Stanley Park project under previous owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, which cost the club £35m.

There were also pay-offs for boss Roy Hodgson, managing director Christian Purslow and other staff totalling £4.8m.

But current MD Ian Ayre insists it was essential for the club to clean up their accounts so they could move forward under the new Fenway Sports Group regime.

He said: “There was much talk and conjecture around the debt that the club was with under previous ownership.

“There has been over £200m of that debt paid down and that’s very important for the club moving forward.

“It creates a very stable platform for us to move forward from, it creates a situation where most of those things are now off the books and we move forward in a positive sense in a sustainable business and with the ability to grow on that basis.

“Finance director Philip Nash and the finance team and the FSG finance team have created a great foundation in terms of bank facilities that give us a long-term view in that area.

“There has been a clearing out of debt, a clearing out of money that’s been expended on stadium that just isn’t going to achieve much going forward.

“We’ve made a significant investment in the playing squad and will continue to do so.

“It’s a new start in many ways.”