David Moores
| David R. Moores | |
|---|---|
| Honorary Life President of Liverpool F.C. | |
| Assumed office 6 February 2007 |
|
| Chairman of Liverpool F.C. | |
| In office 18 September 1991 – 6 February 2007 |
|
| Preceded by | Noel White |
| Succeeded by | Tom Hicks & George N. Gillett, Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 March 1946 Liverpool, Merseyside, England |
| Spouse(s) | Kathy Anders (1976-1977; her death) Marge Moores (1983-present) |
| Profession | Businessman |
David R. Moores (born 15 March 1946) is the former chairman (1991–2007) and now honorary life president of Liverpool F.C..[1]
Liverpool F.C.
He became Chairman on 18 September 1991. He owned 17,850 shares in Liverpool F.C. which represented 51% of the club. His uncle, Sir John Moores, was chairman of Everton where he was only a small shareholder. John Moores created Littlewoods and made the Moores family one of the wealthiest in the UK. Littlewoods was sold in 2002 for £750m.[2]
The family owned their stake in Liverpool F.C. for over 50 years.[3] However, Moores increasingly sought external investment to help Liverpool develop a new ground, and ended up selling it in 2007, to American investors Tom Hicks and George Gillett, in preference to Sheikh Mohammed and DIC. The deal turned sour soon after, and it has been alleged the deal was due to David Moores' own preference to sell to "Westerners".[4]
In 2010, Moores said that "significant shareholders like Granada and Steve Morgan were insistent the board of Liverpool F.C. should accept the Gillett and Hicks offer and left me in no doubt about my legal duty to accept the offer".[5]
In a letter to The Times in May 2010, Moores admitted that he "hugely regrets" selling Liverpool to the American duo. Moores called on Gillett and Hicks to step aside and find a suitable buyer for the club. Moores wrote: "I call upon them now to stand back, accept their limitations as joint owners, acknowledge their role in the club's current demise, and stand aside, with dignity".[6] Moores is largely seen by the Liverpool fanbase as the person responsible for the current demise of club, and its struggle to attain the heights of success enjoyed under previous managers such as Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley.[citation needed]
Under the chairmanship of Moores, Liverpool had a turbulent period between 1991 to 1994 under manager Graeme Souness.[7] When Moores sacked Souness in January 1994, it was the first time a Liverpool manager had been sacked since 1956.[8] Moores said at the time that the decision to sack Souness was made because "the results have been well below what is expected by the club and its supporters."[9]
Under Moores, Liverpool went through their most barren spell for three decades. Though they won the most club competitions over the sixteen years, this excluded the most prized English Premiership. As a result, Manchester United have now overtaken their championship total haul, and are close to their total haul for all major trophies, something which was unimaginable when Moores' tenure started. In 2005, Liverpool won a fifth UEFA Champions League after defeating A.C. Milan in the final.[10]
After the departure of Moores, Anfield legend Kenny Dalglish returned to the manager's position amid rumours that he had wanted to return in the mid-90s, but was frustrated by the hesitancy and inconsistency of the decision-makers at Liverpool. Dalglish returned to the club in January 2011 but left the club at the end of the 2011-12 season.
Personal life
Moores's first wife Kathy Anders was a beauty queen and model, who became Miss England in 1974. She featured in TV advertisements for the Littlewoods Group, and married Moores in February 1976. After just 18 months of marriage, Anders died in a car crash in September 1977, aged 26, when Moores' Jaguar car overturned into a ditch on a quiet country road in Lancashire. Moores went to hospital with serious head injuries. It was the second family tragedy that year for the Moores family. Five months earlier in April 1977, Moores's elder brother Nigel died in a car crash in the South of France.[11]
Moores is currently married to wife Marjorie.[12] Moores was the heir to the Littlewoods Business empire. Lady Grantchester, daughter of Sir John Moores remains the family head which was ranked joint 32nd in the 2009 Sunday Times Rich List with assets worth £1.2 bn.[13]
References
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