The battle for the soul of Liverpool: a football club at risk of alienating an entire fanbase

Someone in Liverpool’s marketing team must have a crystal ball. A whole year before they beat Tottenham Hotspur in June’s Champions League final to lift European football’s most coveted trophy for a sixth time, they had filed to register “6 times” with the Intellectual Property Office, and successfully had it trademarked.

The attempt to trademark “Allez Allez Allez” – words from a terrace chant sung by at least six other sets of supporters across Europe before Liverpool adopted it – was slightly less well thought out.

Submitted last year, it was eventually withdrawn. If anybody in Liverpool is going to own it, shouldn’t it at least be the supporters who started the chant?

Read more: Liverpool also tried to trademark ‘Allez, Allez, Allez’

Liverpool are still waiting on trademark applications for “Let’s talk about six baby” and “Six baby”, which were filed on 3 June, two days after their win in Madrid.

“Liverpool”, filed on 20 June, is currently under examination, and has caused quite a stir in a city whose people would feel they have as much, if not more, of a stake in Liverpool Football Club than their American owners, Fenway Sports Group – when you factor in more than simply money; emotion, loyalty, passion, family ties, lifestyle.

Beginning of the end?

It has, understandably, not gone down well with the people who’ve been selling Liverpool-inspired merchandise on stalls in the city centre, around the city and outside Anfield on match days and evenings for decades, some of whom, despite Liverpool’s assurances to the contrary, fear it is the beginning of the end.

Read more: How ‘Allez, Allez, Allez’ became the soundtrack to Liverpool’s incredible Champions League run

These are people whose livelihoods depend on this trade; people who have been as much a part of the assault on the senses as everything else that makes live football feel alive.

The match-day experience at grounds like Anfield helps make the exorbitant Premier League ticket prices a little less painful. The buzz around the stadium in the hours prior to kick-off, with a live band playing, local pubs heaving and supporters belting out songs, never fails to heighten the anticipation for what is about to happen on the pitch.

The two supporters who set up Far Foreign Land to produce and design clothing “that captures the spirit and the passion of Liverpool supporters” remember paying £2 on the gate to sit in the Kop as kids and travelled far and wide to support the club. “They are seeking to register the name in the context of several classes, such as clothing, posters, badges, etc, so not simply trademarking the word,” Far Foreign Land wrote on Reddit.

“You could still, for example, create a T-shirt with Liverpool on it if there was nothing else football related on it. It just feels like a deliberate attempt to throw their weight around and smother small companies and local businesses. Any of the flag/scarf sellers will no longer be able to sell anything with Liverpool on it – if you wanted to buy your kid a scarf at the match it would have to be an official one for three times the price.”

Fan anger

Liverpool supporters’ group Spirit of Shankly shared their anger at the move: “Can we now assume that anyone who uses the name Liverpool could face legal action?” they said.

Liverpool Is Not For Trademarking

After a magnificent summer of optimism & celebration we are alarmed at FSGs proposals to copyright the name ‘Liverpool’.

This will alienate many fans who cherish the independents who add so much to our fan culture… https://t.co/bsGqHZzKlm pic.twitter.com/Ua42ewtARj

— Spirit of Shankly (@spiritofshankly) July 25, 2019

“Will local football teams be at risk, simply for having ‘Liverpool’ in their name? For decades, local traders outside of Anfield have sold scarves, hats, T-shirts, etc and for many it’s their sole source of income. Scores of those t-shirts have been, and still are, happily worn by players, past and present. These traders provide a vibrant alternative to the club’s official merchandise and are bought by thousands of fans every match day. What happens to them?

“After a magnificent summer of optimism and celebration for LFC, it is hard to contemplate such a controversial, ill-thought out move by FSG. It is one that will alienate the entire fanbase.”

Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore has attempted to reassure those concerned. “This isn’t any kind of attack on local football, any kind of attack on local vendors,” he insisted.

“This is trying to protect the football club, our employees, the city itself, protect the revenue that comes in, protect the visitor economy that comes in and this city enjoys. Right now, we’re under attack from large-scale manufacturing that is alluding to be official Liverpool Football Club merchandise.”

Significant resources needed

They may still struggle to see it through. In the past nine years, three businesses have tried to trademark “Liverpool” unsuccessfully. In football, Chelsea, Tottenham, Everton and Southampton were all able to trademark their names commercially, although it took Chelsea four years.

“The lesson from the past is that succeeding in such applications is very difficult,” Robert Ganpatsingh, a partner at law firm DMH Stallard, said. “Those who want to succeed will need patience, significant resources and an expertly drafted specification of the goods and services that they plan to apply their trademark to.”

Perhaps the staff member who foresaw their sixth European title a year in advance could’ve given the team a heads up that one word – Liverpool – would cause an entire city to erupt.