With Joel Crosskill

WEEK IN and week out, faithful fans are like a 12th man to any football team. Often credited as the difference makers in close games, good crowd support is the lifeblood of the pro game.

However, the fans have become restless, no longer are they content to shout their advice from the stands: today the fans of Liverpool take a stand. Today, rather than opening their mouths, they open their wallets, in an attempt to out-money two of the world's richest men in Tom Hicks and George Gillett. When American investors Hicks and Gillett took over at Liverpool last year, they figured they had gotten the best a man can get; inheriting a squad with some of the games most recognisable names, a very high global profile and fanatical support.

Ironically though, it's the diehard fanaticism of Liverpool supporters that may give the pair their closest shave yet.

Razor Sharp

Today, Liverpool supporters prepare to launch a brazen plan borne out of the frustration that the traditions and values that have always distinguished Liverpool FC are being methodically erased. The 'Share Liverpool FC' group will present a plan to organise a takeover bid by 100,000 fans around the globe. Fans who feel that the identity of the club they had supported was being confiscated, repackaged, rebranded and then resold.

The group hopes to raise £500 million from the 100,000 fans each paying £5,000 for one share in the club, in a Barcelona type structured share scheme, to buy the club and purchase a new stadium. The brains behind the proposed buyout is Rogan Taylor a football business lecturer at Liverpool University. He told the BBC that, "The time is right to offer a different solution to the rising concerns that football fans have about the patterns of (club) ownership."

Though shared ownership is by no means a panacea for football's ills, it can offer consistency according to Duncan Drasdo, spokesman for Manchester United supporter's trust, which incidentally is trying to do a similar buyout of American owner Malcolm Glazer. Drasdo says "Shared ownership ensures that all the profits of the team are reinvested into the team".

ReInvestment

Reinvestment has been an issue that has triggered renewed hostility from the fans. The Americans £350 million refinancing plan will burden the team with £30 million of debt and has led fans to fear that they will end up paying the price - pointing to Manchester United's 50 per cent increase in season ticket prices.

However, there is a possible flaw in 'Share Liverpool's' plans, as the £500 million target is not much higher than the £470 million that Hicks and Gillett paid originally - making it unlikely they could be bought out.

But what this by-the-fans-for-the-fans scheme represents is not merely an attempt to rescue Liverpool, but a rebellion against the whole idea that football is a business and must be run along business lines. It could signal a drastic shift in football's ownership structure, as fans finally put their money where their mouths are.

Full time!

Contact Joel at: jcrosskill@sportsmax.tv