Liverpool not going bust?

Will Hicks and Gillett still be smiling next year? (Image courtesy of icnetwork.co.uk)

The debts of Liverpool FC may be rising, but according to this article by BBC Sport News, the club’s managing director Christian Purslow is confident that the club will not go bust and that there are still parties interested in purchasing the beleaguered club.

This is a very significant piece of news because Liverpool is one of the world’s most-supported clubs with over 200 official supporters clubs worldwide – even in places as far away as Azerbaijan, Mauritius and Tokyo. So a story on the future of such an established football club definitely has impact – simply because many fans worldwide would want to know about this.

It also satisfies the newsworthy criteria of prominence because Liverpool has won the English domestic league 18 times. This story is timely too, because not only is the club currently in heavy debt, but they aren’t doing well on the pitch either – and are now lying 16^th in the league table. Last season, they finished seventh.

The interviews with Purslow and Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks are highly relevant to the story because they are Liverpool’s top management. Their quotes are therefore applicable to the news angle. However, it might be interesting to have had some conflict in the story by speaking to Liverpool fans as they may provide some opposing point of view – this is one newsworthy criteria the story lacks.

The usage of the pull-out quote by Purslow about “any incurrence of indebtedness by Liverpool Football Club needs full board approval” is relevant and helps reinforce the news angle too.

But the main image of Liverpool fans at a game does not match the accompanying picture caption that the fans “want to see the back of the club's current owners” because the caption signifies tension, but the picture looks too calm.

Overall, this is a very important story.