Liverpool facing ruin

LIVERPOOL were facing financial meltdown last night.

The club's accountants issued a chilling statement admitting there is 'significant doubt' whether the company which runs the Merseysiders can 'continue as a going concern'.

Liverpool's parent company Kop Football (Holdings) Ltd, run by American duo George Gillett and Tom Hicks, made a £42.6million loss last year.

Around £36.5m of that is interest payments on the whopping £350m loan they took out to refinance the club.

A top City analyst said: "Unless the owners find more money, the club is facing financial meltdown. Not only are the figures bleak, the future is gloomy too.

"The more you read through the accounts, the more transparent it is that the owners don't have the resources to meet the targets they've set for next year either.

"Everyone associated with Liverpool should be deeply concerned by this set of figures."

The devastating news will intensify calls from fans for the US pair to sell up.

As things stand, any profits being made on the pitch are being swallowed up by the crippling repayments on the loan.

The disastrous figures not only place the club's future in jeopardy, they also have serious side-effects for boss Rafa Benitez. The scale of the financial woes casts a huge question-mark over whether Benitez will have any significant money to spend this summer.

He has already been 'blown out of the water' by Manchester City in the race for long-term target Gareth Barry this week.

Other big-money targets, like David Silva, Glen Johnson and even Carlos Tevez, look unlikely to materialise this summer.

The club's accountants, KPMG, outlined their concerns by saying: "The group has credit facilities amounting to £350m, which expire on 24 July 2009.

"The directors have initiated negotiations to secure the replacement finance required by the group and these negotiations are ongoing.

"These conditions... indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt on the group's and parent company's ability to continue as a going concern."

Sources close to Gillett and Hicks last night said they re- mained confident of securing the refinancing deal and are also still in talks with possible investors.

But only in April the Hicks Sports Group defaulted on repaying loans totalling £354m for his other sports ventures in the States.

Before the Americans' £219m takeover in 2007, Liverpool were close to a deal with Arab investors Dubai International Capital.

Then, in January this year, Kuwaiti billionaire Nasser Al-Kharafi offered £425m for overall control.

But the Americans only want to sell 50 per cent and hopes of a deal collapsed