11.01.2010
Tom Hicks junior quits Liverpool board after fan rant
Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks (right) and his son Tom Hicks junior are pictured together in 2008. Liverpool director Tom Hicks junior has resigned from his position on the club's board and their parent company following a foul-mouthed e-mail he reportedly sent to a supporter.
The American, the son of the Premier League club's co-owner Tom Hicks, found himself involved in controversy Sunday after a report in Britain's News of the World tabloid that he'd abused a fan when contacted about the state of Liverpool's finances.
Hicks junior, who allegedly called the fan an "idiot", allegedly sent a second, foul-mouthed e-mail saying: "Blow me (...). Go to Hell. I'm sick of you."
Although he has since apologised, Liverpool confirmed in a brief statement Monday that Hicks junior had resigned.
"Liverpool Football Club today announce that Thomas Hicks Jr has resigned as a Director of both the Club and its parent company Kop Holdings," the statement said.
Hicks junior was seen as a key member of a Liverpool board balanced between feuding American co-owners Hicks senior and George Gillett, whose son Foster is also a board member as is managing director Christian Purslow.
But such has been the reaction to Hicks junior's reported comments he has now left and Liverpool used the opportunity of his departure to announce a restructuring of the boards of both the club and Kop Holdings.
Casey Coffman, executive vice-president of Hicks Holdings, replaces Hicks junior while Liverpool's chief financial officer Philip Nash and the club's commercial director Ian Ayre are have also both been elected to both companies.
Purslow, Nash and Ayre are regarded as having played significant roles in helping improve the club's finances, including a new shirt sponsorship deal with Standard Chartered Bank worth some 80 million pounds.
Source: © 2010 AFP - Paul Ellis
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