John Henry is taking sole responsibility for thrusting the Liverpool Football Club into the doomed European Super League project, which collapsed just two days after its ill-conceived launch.
In a video message posted early Wednesday, Henry apologized to Liverpool fans and employees for the last 48 hours.
“I’m sorry, and I alone am responsible for the unnecessary negativity brought forward over the past couple of days,” he said. “It’s something I won’t forget. And shows the power the fans have today and will rightly continue to have.”
On Sunday, 12 of the biggest teams in European soccer announced plans for a breakaway league, in a blatant attempt to maximize their own revenues at the expense of lesser professional clubs. Henry was reportedly set to be vice-chairman of the league. (Fenway Sports Group owns Liverpool FC.)
Liverpool fans were livid at Henry and Fenway Sports Group, calling the move “a betrayal,” “extreme greed,” “immoral,” “sickening,” “shameful,” “an embarrassment,” “another nail in the coffin of football,” and “the most bare-faced act of greed in the game’s history.” Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher even took his criticisms one step further, calling FSG’s decision a “betrayal of a heritage they are seeking to cash in on.” They participated in a raucous protest outside of the stadium Monday night, setting a Liverpool shirt ablaze.
A poll found that 79% of English soccer fans opposed the creation of the Super League, including 76% who identified as fans of one of the "Big Six" teams.
Henry said he wasn’t prepared to go forward without support of the fans.
“It goes without saying but should be said that the project put forward was never going to stand without the support of the fans,” he said. “No one ever thought differently in England. Over these 48 hours you were very clear that it would not stand. We heard you. I heard you.”