REDS IN THE USA

STEPHEN BRANDT LOOKS BACK AT WHEN LIVERPOOL FIRST HEADED TO THE STATES

- STEPHEN BRANDT

WHEN we see European clubs tour the world in pre-season, most of us view it as a cash grab. However, there was a time when clubs would come to the United States to help grow the game.

Liverpool have made many tours. That’s both with their American owners and without them.

The first time Liverpool made the trip to the States was just after World War Two.

Making that trip across the Atlantic was hard in those days. You had to board a steamer, a ship, and it would take many, many days to leave Liverpool and arrive at the port at New York City.

This expedition was largely the idea of Liverpool chairman William H McConnell, who was referred to as Bill. McConnell owned a catering business, and had made the trip a year before on a fact-finding mission after the war for his company.