Feature Interview

In conversation with…

Billy Hogan, chief executive, Liverpool FC

Liverpool FC chief executive Billy Hogan discusses 16-hour commutes, the importance of inclusion and how the club is innovating to reach fans around the world.

You passed the one-year anniversary of your appointment as CEO in September. Do you feel you’ve now settled into your new role at the club?

I’m enjoying the role enormously. It’s always been a huge honour and privilege for me to have a senior position at this football club, which plays such a major role in its local communities and enjoys the support of a global fanbase. Having been here for several years already, I’ve worked closely with senior people across LFC such as Michael Edwards, Julian Ward and Jurgen Klopp and those strong relationships have helped me as I’ve stepped into the role of CEO.

Taking over as CEO in the midst of a global pandemic must have brought its own very unique challenges for both yourself and the club. How have you been able to overcome some of those challenges?

Yes, absolutely. The pandemic was not ideal timing but, when I consider what so many people in the world have experienced, our challenges pale in comparison.

From our perspective, it was acutely disappointing. We were on our way to winning the Premier League when lockdown happened. When we were able to restart safely, it was behind closed doors and we missed the opportunity to celebrate the title properly with our supporters. It was difficult for players and staff to lose that positive energy around them, but thankfully we were able to keep the connection with our supporters and the wider community.

It’s been wonderful to welcome the supporters back to Anfield and to see full stadia again in sport, so long may that continue.

What long-term impacts do you think that the pandemic has had / will continue to have on the world of football?

The pandemic has had a profound effect on everyone involved in sports or live events.

We wanted to pull together as a club from the outset, protecting as many people and jobs as possible and supporting our communities at home and overseas. We focussed on issues such as food poverty, social isolation - programmes that we were already heavily involved in and we stepped up this involvement during the pandemic.

A hybrid approach to home working will certainly be carried forward into the future. Having previously been sceptical myself about its effectiveness, technology

advancements and the endeavours of our team have shown how productive it can be. It also supports wellbeing, as commuting cuts into family time and achieving a work-life balance.

When I travel for essential work engagements, I realise how lucky I am to be able to see the world and meet people in person again. Human interaction is so important and, once they feel safe to do so, I think people will begin to plan travel and adventures with renewed passion. The experience economy will continue to thrive and that will be crucial for a city like Liverpool.

Please tell us a little about your own career path and how those experiences have helped to prepare you for the role of CEO.

Having attended school in the US, I began my career in sales and marketing roles and

joined FSG in 2004, working for an agency within the organisation called Fenway Sports Management.

In 2010, as Managing Director of FSM I was working with organisations such as the Boston Red Sox, Major League Baseball and Nascar, and I was part of the team that worked on the acquisition of Liverpool FC. The date we acquired the club was October 15 2010, I remember it vividly and it was such an exciting time for everyone involved.

I initially worked alongside the club’s commercial team and in Summer 2012 I began a full-time role as Chief Commercial Officer. For two years, I commuted from Boston to Liverpool, taking a 16-hour journey every two weeks, back and forth to see my young family back home.

Timing in life is everything. When we began preparations to redevelop the Main Stand in 2014, we decided to open a commercial office in London and I relocated my family so that I could oversee the project.

How are you enjoying life in the UK?

We absolutely love it. It’s been a great adventure for my family and I – we came here with three children and we now have four, so that keeps me pretty busy when I’m not working. London is a great hub for doing business overseas. My American friends don’t always agree, but I think nowhere beats the UK, as GMT means you can speak to Asia in the morning and North America in the afternoon.

I travel up to Liverpool once a week by train and spend a lot of time in the city, checking in with the teams. I really enjoy running along the river, though the wind can be brutal depending on the run. I’ve loved Liverpool ever since I arrived, as has my family. The energy, the pride, the history that’s here – we’re quite partial to a pan of Scouse!

The club has put its weight behind different equality and diversity issues since you took the helm. How important is it that football use its voice in this way?

This issue is vitally important for LFC and it aligns directly with our values. People should be treated fairly, no matter what, but that’s not always been the case across a wide range of industries.

As a global club with a diverse group of followers, we have a unique opportunity to talk about what diversity and inclusion really means. It’s important we send that message.

Our Red Together initiative brings together all the strands of our activity to promote diversity and equality. We were the first club to adopt the advanced EDI standard and the FA’s diversity code.

Social media can create a toxic atmosphere and we’ve had lots of players targeted across the men’s and women’s teams. We are all just people, doing the best job we can, and it’s important we stand up for victims of abuse or discrimination and try to improve their lives.

Football itself has a wider opportunity and the players deserve real credit for recognising the voice they have and using it for good. Jordan Henderson has spoken out regularly, among others, and shown himself to be not only a leader of the club but also of football and sport in general.

With a truly global fanbase, how do you manage to connect with supporters around the world?

Digital connectivity has become more important than ever and the pandemic has undoubtedly pushed that development trajectory even further.

Through social media, we now connect with more than 110m followers worldwide and we’ve also developed content through our own club platforms such as Match Centre, which provides a more interactive way for fans to engage.

LFC has hundreds of official supporters clubs globally and they are a crucial line of communication and engagement for us.

I’m also delighted to have worked closely with representatives of the Spirit of Shankly supporters trust to create the new Supporters Board. This new board aims to deliver meaningful engagement with fans on wider strategic issues that matter to supporters at board and executive level.

Looking to the future, please tell us about the latest developments plans for the Anfield Road Stand and the benefits that will bring to the club.

Anfield is the spiritual, philosophical and literal home of Liverpool FC – it has its own soul and an aura that is difficult to put into words.

When the decision was made to stay here, we adopted a two-phase approach – firstly develop the Main Stand and then work on Anfield Road.

Working with Buckingham Group as the main contractor, we will add 7,000 seats to the Anfield Road stand, taking the total capacity of Anfield to 61,000. We broke ground in September and we are hopeful of completion in Summer 2023. In addition to the improved facilities for supporters, it will create new local jobs and improve tourism in the city for years to come.

“As a global club with a diverse group of followers, we have a unique opportunity to talk about what diversity and inclusion really means. It’s important we send that message.”