Former Huddersfield Town chief executive at centre of Liverpool FC sale wrangle
FORMER Huddersfield Town chairman and chief executive Ian Ayre is at the centre of the biggest story in the football world today.
The ex-Terriers man is one of the team responsible for the sale of Liverpool FC to New England Sports Venture (NESV) after a boardroom battle with American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
Ayre spent three years in the Huddersfield hotseat leaving in 2000 to work in the sports TV business.
He joined the Reds in 2007 as commercial director and was charged with leading the club's sponsorship programme, developing merchandising and revenues and growing the Liverpool FC brand around the world.
But accoring to reports in our sister publication the Liverpool Echo, the Americans tried to get rid of Ayre and managing director Christian Purslow at a meeting yesterday.
The board, headed by Martin Broughton, had been due to meet yesterday at 3pm to discuss two bids for the club one from New England Sports Venture (NESV) and another from Asia.
But instead the Americans tried to replace Ayres and Purslow, who are both lifelong Liverpool fans, with their own new people.
Broughton intervened and convened a board meeting in which Hicks declined to take part, but at which Gillett had a lawyer present
Today the three-man English board is effectively running the club.
New England Sports Ventures currently owns a portfolio of companies including the Boston Red Sox, New England Sports Network, Fenway Sports Group and Rousch Fenway Racing.
