Liverpool Fans Turn To Morpheus For Campaign

Liverpool fans are ramping up their opposition to the club's American owners by calling on celebrities including Samuel L Jackson to star in a video protest film. Campaigners are hoping to gather high-profile names at the Hope Street Hotel in Liverpool on Saturday to film a video that will be posted to YouTube. The group, fronted by Hollywood producer Mike Jefferies, hopes to force Tom Hicks and George Gillett out of Anfield by spreading their message of opposition around the world.
Samuel L Jackson filmed The 51st State in the city in 2001, starring alongside Rhys Ifans, left Celebrities will record messages alongside average fans and already involved are Echo and the Bunnymen singer Ian McCulloch and Lightning Seeds star Ian Broudie, as well as comedians John Bishop and Neil Fitzmaurice. But a feather in the cap for he organisers would be attracting bona fide film star Samuel L Jackson, who is rumoured to be in the city filming Hollywood blockbuster Captain America. Jackson has some previous experience of Liverpool, having filmed 51st State in the city and organisers hope he will lend a hand ... or at least his face.
Jeffires, the film producer behind the Goal! trilogy of films, tried to invest in the Anfield club himself in 2004, and he is unequivocal about his feelings for the current owners. 'Nobody has been despised on Merseyside as much as Hicks since Kelvin Mackenzie,' said Mr Jeffries. 'This will really get right in Hicks' face as he doesn't appear to pay any attention to sit-in protests. 'My fear is that if the Royal Bank of Scotland repossesses the cub, Hicks will injunct their ability to sell it and get rid of it from underneath them. 'This film will illustrate how much he is hated.' Mr Jefferies, who flew in from Capetown to run the video project, has also significantly helped with a viral email bombardment of US media institutions. He even wrote a letter, which was printed in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, which read: 'Dear USA media executive, we love America in Liverpool but …we gave you the Beatles, and this is how you repay us?!' The letter went on to suggest that American banks should refuse to lend Hicks money to cover the £237 million he needs to pay-off a loan to RBS. Singer Neville Skelly, who is backing this weekend 's video campaign, said the owners should not be allowed to run the club if they do not have the money to do so. 'The club is in dire straits,' he said.
'When they took over we were European champions. 'Hicks and Gillett said they wanted to be custodians of the club but now, they 're not even thinking of cutting their losses and getting out. 'They still want to make a serious profit. 'It's so gutting to see the soul getting ripped out of the club. Liverpool FC is a way of life that defines our city.'