Boston Red Sox and Liverpool football: Déjà vu.

The Boston Red Sox and Liverpool soccer have a connection with the ownership and how history is playing out. Maybe Liverpool will eventually win a championship?

Liverpool is a noted English football club that has a dubious connection to the Boston Red Sox based on the ownership. The team, or club, has a noted history that goes back to the late 19th century and is one of the most recognizable clubs in the world of football (soccer).

Once a noted club comparable in performance history of the New York Yankees and that is now in the past. The club has a notoriously vocal fan base that is knowledgeable and highly impatient for success. I spoke over coffee this morning with a friend – Barry – who coaches soccer and avidly follows the professional ranks.

Barry explained the rudimentary organization of internal English football and that is what follows and what is written below. I needed some information before making a fool of myself and got the basics since there is a strong relationship between Liverpool and the Red Sox. We share ownership and passion, but, of late, the Red Sox have been far more successful.

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EFL, or English Football League for those not accustomed to it – soccer – not our version of football. The league has twenty-four teams and is called the Premier League, or in our baseball terms it would be the major leagues – the highest ranking in England. Liverpool is one team and it is owned by The Fenway Sports Group and since that took place a swirl of controversy has surrounded the franchise.

There are also two other leagues named Football League One and Football League Two that are comparable – according to Barry – to our minor leagues, but the teams move up and down in rankings and quite frankly I could care less how that migration is accomplished.

The puzzle for me gets more confusing since there is – yet again – another level to advance to called the Union of European Football Associations – any further examination of the operations and connections and how they weave together is of no interest to me. The interweaving is – to a novice – complex and I would rather spend my valuable time attempting to solve Beal’s conjecture – it appears an easier task.

The Liverpool fans are peeved, distraught and generally in a revolutionary mood over owner John Henry. Some of it may be the association of a provincial taking possession of the team, some of it may be the costs of seeing a game and the rest could be dumped into the “we need to win” category.

What captured my attention was the similarities between Liverpool and the Red Sox. The eerie parallels that seem to be a constant in sports of today, be it the United States, England or Mongolia. Much of it is driven by value as Liverpool is a very valuable franchise. One of the most prized possessions in soccer – this is one valuable team with great brand recognition. Sound familiar?

You have the drama of a star player being sold or not sold. I have little comprehension of the process of player movement in soccer, but I have noticed through the year’s star players moving from team to team. Most soccer players apparently have only one name like Pele or Maradona. I guess they are so internationally recognizable they can be referred to as such – like Elvis or Ali. We have certainly seen the drama surrounding players being free agents or traded.

The thirst for success is also quite present. There are no – as far as I can tell – 1918 shirts being worn, but Liverpool needs a thirst quenched and that can be accomplished by some banners. In the Premier League, they have not won anything since 1992 when it was founded. Prior to that a different story when the league was called the Football League First Division.

Liverpool had 18 championships prior to the 1992 organization and that was second to Manchester with 20. The history of success was there and now it has dissipated into a drought – not an 86-year drought, but one that has the fan base a bit testy. That, again, is a link we Red Sox fans can understand.