One of those responses came from our football club. Every word in the statement packed a punch… punches aimed directly at the Football Associations decision, and indeed, decision making process. Similar to the FA’s decision, this official statement from Liverpool Football Club received a wide assortment of responses.

Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl asked if the response was written by Dan Gilbert, referring to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ owners response to the departure of Lebron James. It, admittedly, did have a touch of bitterness to it, some real venom. However, at the end of the day, I don’t believe Liverpool Football Club could have penned a better response to the sanction. In the past, contentious decisions have been debated ad nauseam on the internet. This statement shared the sentiments of several Liverpool FC fans, and communicated them in a reasonable, but direct way.

I personally (@whatwouldkevdo, member of @ChicagoLFC), still do not know enough about the case to fully understand what happened. As it stands, I don’t believe anyone, FA committee included, knows enough about the incident to pass judgments on the case, let alone hand down an 8 match ban.

If it comes to be that Luis Suarez indeed used a racial slur in a derogatory way, then I will have a difficult time getting behind him when he pulls on that famous red shirt. Indeed, with the FA’s “Kick Racism out of Football,” push, I would expect, and want, the suspension to be much longer than 8 paltry matches. But with the ‘evidence’ currently available(Evra’s half hearted statement in which he indicates that he does not believe Suarez is a racist), and the obvious lack of precedent, an 8 match seems over the top. It seems like the FA are making a statement.

As for what Evra supposedly said (‘Don’t touch me, South American’) it seems to me that it warrants a similar punishment. As the statement from LFC indicated, Evra admitted to using a term referencing a player’s background/origin in a derogatory way. In Suarez’s case, there is the great debate over the context of the word and it’s meaning in Suarez’s culture. In Evra’s case it’s a matter of a largely inoffensive term being used in a derogatory manner. That is all assuming that Evra said, ‘South American,’ and not ‘Sudaca,’ which is widely accepted as a disparaging way of referring to South Americans.

If Evra receives a similar punishment, then I will accept that this is the punishment that the FA has established for comments made with racial connotations. Due to the lack of precedent, we have nothing to indicate that this is overly unfair. What we do have is a similar case in the same incident, that, in my eyes, deserves the same punishment. If the FA charge Evra, then we must accept Suarez’s punishment. But I do not believe that they will. Similarly, if the FA throw the book at John Terry, I will have no complaints with the Suarez ban. As it stands, Terry will, at the very worst, receive a small fine from the police, and the FA have yet to bring any charge to him. So once again, it seems unlikely.

I eagerly await the FA’s release of further information, as it will either undercut or justify the largely negative reaction from Liverpool fans and officials. However, it seems the damage may already be done, with “newspapers” like the Daily Mirror publishing this libelous headline.

What do you all think?

Introduce the Supporter’s Club – little joke about being from the South… (editor – classic gag, had the audience in fits!)
KKC: It has been an incredibly busy Summer for Liverpool FC in the transfer market as the King and Damien Comolli worked on getting rid of the dead wood and bringing in the quality needed to get us back where we belong, the Champions League and challenging for the English Premier League Title and any cups we can get our hands on along the way.
Out: Raul Meireles (Chelsea, £12m)
David N’Gog (Bolton, £4m)
Paul Konchesky (Leicester, £1.5m)
Daniel Ayala (Norwich, £800,000)
Gerardo Bruna (Blackpool, £750,000)
Chris Mavinga (Rennes)
Nabil El Zhar (Levante)
Thomas Ince (Blackpool)
Emiliano Insúa (Sporting Lisbon)
Milan Jovanovic (Anderlecht)
Sotirios Kyrgiakos (Wolfsburg)
Christian Poulsen (Evian)
Sean Highdale (Vauxhall Motors)
Nikola Saric (Hajduk Split)
Phillip Degen (Contract Annulled by Mutual Consent) Total: 19.05 million pounds
Released: Jason Banton, Dean Bouzanis, Deale Chamberlain, Karl Clair, Alex Cooper, Steve Irwin.
In: Stewart Downing (Aston Villa, £20m)
Jordan Henderson (Sunderland, £16m)
Charlie Adam (Blackpool, £9m)
Sebastian Coates (Nacional, £7m)
José Enrique (Newcastle, £6m)
Lloyd Jones (Plymouth: £100,000)
Villyan Bijev (California Odyssey)
Doni (Roma)
Craig Bellamy (Man C) Total: 58.1 million pounds
Loans: Villyan Bijev (F Düsseldorf), Joe Cole (Lille), Stephen Darby (Rochdale), Peter Gulasci (Hull), Martin Hansen (Bradford C), Alberto Aquilani (AC Milan)

Firstly – thank you to everyone who entered – I hope you enjoyed checking the transfer rumours online all Summer like I did! We had a number of various guesses for this competition ranging from Eden Hazard (whom a lot of you suggested and we hopefully get next Summer), Sylvain Marveaux allegedly failing his Anfield medical and ending up at Newcastle threw a spanner in the works for others and a couple of you were dreaming when you guessed Keisuke Honda or, unfortunately for us, Juan Mata. After everyone’s totals were calculated we bizarrely had a 4 way tie! I didn’t really want it to come down to this as it is nigh on impossible to figure out a Net Spend when all the transfer fees are undisclosed so luckily we had a couple of caveats; one of those winners only wanted to play for fun and opted not to pay or get a share of the pot so congratulations Ben Brookes for your participation – he correctly guessed Adam to come in and Konchesky, Soto, Jovanovic, Poulsen and N’gog going the other way, out. (Round of applause) Kevin Achettu was one of the others with 6 correct answers but as he never paid me he forgoes the pot too! Sorry mate. So this just leaves 2 winners separated only by the narrowest of margins. I calculated the Net Spend to be 39.05 million (according to the Telegraph which was the only place I could find a complete list of values so I really apologize if I am off but there has to be some way to choose the winner seeing as the Globe does not have a license to host a fight to the death) which leaves the runner up with the correct guesses of IN – Jose Enrique & Charlie Adam, OUT – Poulsen, Konchesky, Jovanovic and Insua and a Net Spend of 61m – Al’an Blasio! You win $30! (Round of applause) (editor –kindly donated his winnings back to the JC Foundation! What a guy!)

You'll Never Walk Alone in Chicago

Exciting times!

Some updates regarding the supporters club:
• We sent in the supporter’s clubs ticket allocation request form today. We will let you know what the results were if you requested a ticket. Make sure you have sent us your international member number if you did request a ticket.
• The Globe have notified us (specifically, Ani and Melissa of our supporter’s club, who took the initiative and inquired about this) that if there is enough interest, they will open early for our 9am Friendly against Hull City on Saturday, July 23rd. Please let us know if you’re interested in coming so that we can let The Globe know how many people are interested. The amount of fans that are interested will dictate whether or not they open early that day, so let us know ASAP!
• Probably doesn’t deserve it’s own bullet point, but if there is enough interest in the Hull City Friendly watch party on the 23rd, we might make an event of it… maybe with some raffle prizes, etc.!
• We’re working on getting ladies supporter’s club t-shirts printed and ready to go! It might be some time before we actually get them, but just letting you know that it’s in the pipeline….
• Also, there are still quite a few ‘regular’ t-shirts still available. Sizes are limited, but next time you’re at The Globe (July 23rd, maybe?) ask about them. $20.
• A September fundraiser is still in the works.
• We’ve received our shipment of Carra signed mousepads… let us know if you want one!

Who to buy...

Rumours are flying about how much the King will have to spend and which players we’re being linked with – for once the gossip might actually be true! So here is a little competition from Chicago LFC called “King Kenny’s Cash, 2011″; here’s how you play:

Guess 5 “Ins” and 5 “Outs” from the Liverpool Squad and estimate our Net Spend (for use in the case of a tie-breaker).

e.g. January Transfer Window aka the Torres “make like a poor man’s check and” Bounce:

Ins: Luis Suarez (£22.5m), Andy Carroll (£35m)
Outs: Fernando Torres (£50m), Ryan Babel (£6.5m)
Net Spend: Negative £1 Million*

Option 1: Entry Fee $10 Winner takes half the pot and we’ll have additional prizes for the Runners Up! The other half of the proceeds will be going to our friends at the Jamie Carragher (JC23) Foundation.
Option 2: Entry Fee $0 Prize to be announced closer to the September party date* (no cash prize for you). We want to hear all of your transfer hopes, dreams and aspirations to keep the gossip flowing and everyone involved!

To celebrate the start of a new season under the King and to announce the winner of our transfer window competition we’ll be having a “New Season Shindig 2011/12” in Mid-September at the Globe where we will also have a raffle with loads of Liverpool goodies up for grabs!
All raffle proceeds will also be going to the Jamie Carragher (JC23) Foundation.

Don’t Delay! Entries for Option 1 must be in by May 30th (The Transfer Window opens at the end of the season and runs until August 31st)

Send your educated guesses to us privately via email admin@chicagolfc.com, or publicly via Facebook or tweet them to us via the handle @ChicagoLFC or the hashtag #KingKennysCash

Check out the BBC’s Transfer Gossip or Sky’s transfer talk by club for insider information.

Submit your cash next Sunday (the Premier League’s Final Day) or contact us for payment options.

You’ll Never Walk Alone… in Chicago

* PPR (Party Participation Required).

Following the recent terrible events in Japan, we wanted to pass along an update and appeal from the Official Liverpool FC supporters Club. Please read the following letter from Keiko Hirano, Chair of the Supporters Club of Japan.

Open Letter to all Branches

We have managed to contact 82 out of 91 members of the supporters club by now. All the remaining 9 members live in suburbs of Tokyo, not the directly hit by the tsunami so we believe they are all safe. We have been working hard to find out what happened to them, though, the life in Japan has been pretty complicated even for those who were not hit by the tsunami and are safe more or less.

Like for instance in Sapporo, where I am, 400 miles north from the worst hit areas and no worries for the nuclear radiation, as well as the western part of Japan where are equally far away, there are shortages of some products like water and some particular food for a emergency use.
We were not hit by the tsunami, though we had a few not so serious earthquakes, so we started working as usual on 14th of March, which was immediately after the disaster, to keep our country’s economy going. We knew we had to work as usual to produce as much products as possible to supply for those where were unable to do so. We knew we were fortunate to work thinking of those who had been suffering. While working as usual, paying some sort of extra effort to live since the disaster, even those who live far away from the worst affected areas have been facing some sort of difficulties, which have prevented us of usual communications.

A Japanese television showed a special programme called “A Message From Europe ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’” the other day. It focused on the Liverpool FC’s anthem sending an encouraging message to our country, from the club and the fans who had come through darkness and knew people’s pain. “That was why Liverpool FC had sent the message to Japan earlier than any other clubs in Europe. Liverpool FC had no Japanese players but it didn’t matter for them to show solidarity ” the presenter of the programme said. It was a very warm message towards those who had been hit by the tsunami and the earthquakes, not everybody had a direct connection with Liverpool FC, though, every body could understand there were people from as far away sincerely thinking of us.

We, the Japanese Reds had already heard hundreds of messages from our fellow Liverpool supporters all over the world. We knew what “You’ll Never Walk Alone” meant to us in those particular situation. Everybody was suffering but thanks to those messages we knew we were not alone.
When you have support you can be stronger and overcome difficulties.

While working hard to find the remaining 9, of all the members of the Japan Branch those who are fortunate enough to donate have started the tsunami donation via JustGiving Japan (http://justgiving.jp/). There are still thousands of people missing, hundreds of thousands of people staying in the evacuation centres worrying about their families with insufficient food, water and fuels. We have to do what we can do to help those who have been hit by the disaster.

We are wondering if the members of the world wide Liverpool FC family show solidarity for those who have been suffering from the disaster. All the donation made via the site directly go to Civic Force (http://civic-force.org/english/index.html).

URL：http://justgiving.jp/c/5922
account name：You’ll never walk alone! LFC supporters
- the site have only Japanese pages but they have a instruction in English at :

http://justgiving.jp/pdf/justgiving-man.pdf?110318

Thank you for your support. You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Kind regards,
Keiko

]]> http://chicagolfc.com/blog/a-message-from-reds-in-japan/feed/ 0 http://chicagolfc.com/blog/due-to-unforseen-circumstances-the-2011-north-american-lfc-fan-convention-has-been-cancelled/ http://chicagolfc.com/blog/due-to-unforseen-circumstances-the-2011-north-american-lfc-fan-convention-has-been-cancelled/#comments Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:40:35 +0000 admin http://chicagolfc.com/?p=811 Apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. We hope to be able to help organize this event in the future.

]]> http://chicagolfc.com/blog/due-to-unforseen-circumstances-the-2011-north-american-lfc-fan-convention-has-been-cancelled/feed/ 0 http://chicagolfc.com/blog/the-truth-about-torres%e2%80%a6-an-alternate-history%e2%80%a6/ http://chicagolfc.com/blog/the-truth-about-torres%e2%80%a6-an-alternate-history%e2%80%a6/#comments Fri, 04 Feb 2011 21:57:56 +0000 brynola http://chicagolfc.com/?p=787 The drive home from Blackburn was a quiet one on the team bus the night of January the 5th 2011. A goal from Olsson and a Benjani brace consigned Liverpool to their 9th loss of the season leaving them closer to the relegation zone than the top half of the table.

A forlorn figure...

Despite finishing a disappointing 7th in 2010, Liverpool’s form going into the new season was a long way from the team that were 4 points off winning the league in the ‘08 /’09 season. That year we were clearly the best team on our day with just 2 losses, scoring over 100 goals (the most of any team) and finishing with a plus 50 goal difference.

Torres was sat at the back of the bus in disbelief, Stevie was on his left reading My Liverpool Years: Then and Now and Babel was sat on his right listening to hip hop while simultaneously tweeting in Dutch.

What had happened to the club he joined in the summer of ’07 as their record signing? The answer was simple; debt, lies and cowboys had turned a Champions League power house, title contender and consistent top 4 team into relegation candidates in the time it takes Gary Neville to run the length of the pitch (didn’t he retire 5 years ago?!?!). Promises of transfer funds and a new stadium failed to come to fruition and the club Fernando wanted to see out his career at was on a downward spiral. Sure, the new owners knew what they were doing, but they didn’t have the resources of a Russian oil tycoon or a Sheik. They didn’t have the cash to re-build with the necessary speed to ensure Liverpool weren’t doomed to finish mid table, season after season, like the Tottenham of the late 90’s. The legacy of Gillette and Hicks was all too apparent in the inept manager brought in to “steady the ship” who decided to set his team up to play like Fulham which resulted in similar results… the ship was sinking (no disrespect to Fulham intended – I was at Craven Cottage v West Brom this year and you were magnificent).

Rub those cheeks Roy... that'll help!

Then suddenly, Torres had a “Eureka” moment!

…I’ll get Abramovich to buy me! he thought. Then we’ll have the funds to buy the quality these great fans deserve!
He leaned over to Stevie and whispered in his ear:

“How much I am worth?”…

“Ya whah” Stevie replied.

“You know, how much could Liverpool get for me in the transfer window?”…

“I dunno la, what’s in your contract?”…

Ding! On went the second light above his head for the night.

“I’m worth 50 million pounds!” he exclaimed.

Stevie was bemused and Ryan’s ears perked up, “meh smh” he tweeted.

“I’m going to hand in a transfer request in this transfer window” Torres told Stevie.

“Why knobhead?”

“So Liverpool have the funds to strenghten the squad.”

“Who’ll buy you? You’re always injured.”

“Chelsea will. Ancelotti was tapping me up through Guillem Balague in South Africa. They really like me cos I always score against them”

“You’re nuts la, too much Sangria… you hate Chelsea, they have no real fans, they give out plastic flags, they’re called the pensioners because their players are all 30 plus and John Terry will try to *expletive* your wife.”

“My wife wouldn’t touch that filthy chav, she has too much class”.

“What about our fans? They adore you, you’ve got the best song in football for *expletives* sake!”

Torres shed and tear and said in a quieter tone “this is for those fans… they deserve better than this, I can give them more by selling my soul than I can give them by staying…”

With that Stevie thought no more of it a went back to his book after uttering “my God mate, you Spanish truly are loco”

“Don’t worry” Torres said to himself, “every time I score a goal at the Bridge I’ll close my eyes and imagine the Kop is staring down at me, singing the Torres bounce at the top of their lungs…”

Fernando doesn't look too happy with the move here...

It wasn’t until Hodgson was sacked and King Kenny was brought in that Torres and the team started performing again. He knew then that the money received from his sale would be put to good use. On Friday the 28th of January, after initial interest from Chelsea, Torres submitted a written transfer request putting into effect a whirlwind of events that left Liverpool with 2 top strikers (you know who), half of Charlie Adam (Damn you Holloway!) and Chelsea with a die hard Red*…

Or not… love him or loath him, believe what you want.  I’ll leave you with his latest comments on the treachery:

“I only have good things to say about Liverpool people,” said Torres. “They made me feel really good there for three-and-a-half fantastic seasons. I understand they will be angry and will not understand my decision. Maybe in a few days or weeks I will explain all the reasons. When I was an Atletico Madrid fan growing up, I couldn’t understand it when a big player left. But with time I could understand they did the best for themselves, their families and their careers. I’m not asking them to understand me but I’m sure over time they will see what I did there.”

When asked if he would celebrate a goal against his former club, Torres said: “First I have to play, and then I have to score but I have big respect for Liverpool fans so I don’t think I will.”

At the end of the day, like King Kenny said; no one player is bigger than Liverpool FC.

Who wants a player that doesn’t want to play for the greatest club and supporters in the World? Not me.

Kenny Dalglish, John Henry and Tom Werner have shown that the team comes first and I for one can’t wait to see Suarez and Carroll up front together banging in goals for fun…

Long Live Liverpool and Long Live the King!

YNWA

*Maybe. Watch out for him making this same gesture if he scores against the scum… then we’ll know for sure…

"We won it 5 times"

]]> http://chicagolfc.com/blog/the-truth-about-torres%e2%80%a6-an-alternate-history%e2%80%a6/feed/ 3 http://chicagolfc.com/newsletter/new-website-and-second-half-ticket-application-process/ http://chicagolfc.com/newsletter/new-website-and-second-half-ticket-application-process/#comments Mon, 22 Nov 2010 20:23:12 +0000 admin http://chicagolfc.com/?p=764 Hey everyone!

We’re proud to finally unveil the new ChicagoLFC.com! Thanks to Chicago LFC member and Print/Web Designer Brian Thiel (@designedbybrian) for all the hard work he put into getting this website up and running!

Also, LFC have finally gotten in touch regarding the ticket application process for the second half of the season. So let us know as soon as you can, if you would be interested in any tickets!

The supporter’s club would love to organize a group trip to watch a match, so please let us know if there is any game in particular that you think would be good for a mass Chicago LFC trip to Anfield! Feel free to discuss things over with John, Kevin, Bryn and Dan at The Globe too and we can try to settle on a date!

That’s all for now… explore the website a bit and see how you like it… and let us know about the ticket applications!

See you at The Globe for Spurs on Sunday!

Love,

ChicagoLFC

]]> http://chicagolfc.com/newsletter/new-website-and-second-half-ticket-application-process/feed/ 0 http://chicagolfc.com/blog/free-of-hg-celebration/ http://chicagolfc.com/blog/free-of-hg-celebration/#comments Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:54:22 +0000 admin http://chicagolfc.com/?p=75 Good Afternoon Chicago Red Men and Women,

If you haven’t heard (where have you been?!) Liverpool FC today announced the finalization of their sale to New England Sports Ventures and name change to the Liverpool Red Sox! Let’s go Red Sox!

In all seriousness though this week has been a stressful and anxiety ridden week for most of us, with the beginning of each day starting with one conclusion and by the end of the day finding Hicks and his lawyers have scuppered the deal somehow. It’s been a whirlwind of emotion but I’m happy to say it’s all over now – we have new owners, NESV and John Henry, Hicks and Gillette are gone (though their claims for damages remain…)

Timing couldn’t be better going into the Merseyside Derby on Sunday at 7:30am so in order to celebrate the new dawn of our football club we will be raffling off a Signed JAMIE CARRAGHER Shirt!

Come on down and enjoy the game, the atmosphere and doubtless discussions about Mr. Henry and the success being debt free will hopefully bring!

John Henry’s first official LFC interview is available on the clubs website…
See the interview here

See this NESV video for information on who they are and what they do…
See the video here

You’ll Never Walk Alone… in Chicago

ChicagoLFC… Probably the best supporters club in the world…

Chicago LFC
Follow us on Twitter!
The Globe (NEW WEBSITE!!!)

]]> http://chicagolfc.com/blog/free-of-hg-celebration/feed/ 0 http://chicagolfc.com/blog/chicago-lfc-grows-up%e2%80%a6-by-soccerhaus/ http://chicagolfc.com/blog/chicago-lfc-grows-up%e2%80%a6-by-soccerhaus/#comments Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:00:34 +0000 admin http://chicagolfc.com/?p=80 Insight from Dan Skinner (@soccerhaus) about the amazing growth and exciting developments from everyone at the Chicago Liverpool Supporter’s Club…

Read More Here

 

 

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