Liverpool Report Near £50 Million Loses

"I guess people will focus on the loss of £49.4m and there's no business - or people running any business - who are going to be pleased with any loss,". "But I think the important indicator here is this £59m charge for exceptional items and as a business that's been in a transition, it's about moving from where we were to where we want to be. "We have written off a huge amount on the stadium project. A big chunk of that £50m loss relates to the HKS project - which is now defunct - and associated costs around that."

Fenway Sports Group scrapped the ambitious steel and glass design for a new ground at Stanley Park as soon as they took over the club but have still had to pay out legal, planning and design fees and other associated costs.

"With new ownership that was kind of milling around within the club's accounts and there was a very definite need to move that out," said Ayre. "It is a huge loss but that goes with a lot of other things that nobody was really happy with in that period. "So rather than dwell on it, we've very smartly made the decision to remove it from the club's accounts. "It is a big write-off but it means that it's gone forever now and we can move forward now without that around our neck. "And it also means that we are in pretty good shape in being a sustainable business. It's a positive step forward."

Speaking on the Roy Hodgson dismissal after just six months, Ayre insisted this was a highly unusual situation and they have a past record of sticking with managers for lengthy periods.

"It's nothing untypical of anything in football. Contracts are typically fixed term," "When you make a decision to terminate somebody, the right and proper thing to do is honour the pay-out of that contract. "This relates to Roy and to some of his backroom staff and also to Christian Purslow leaving. It's standard across football. "It's unfortunate to have to have them - nobody wants to see anybody go - but in certain circumstances it's right to make a change and that's what that relates to."

The future is bright, insists Ayre, as the figures do not include the recent kit deal signed with US sports company American Sports, which will bring in £25 million a year and the fact that Liverpool will be competing in the Europa League again next season.

"If we had not written off these extraordinary costs, we would have been looking at breaking even," "We have reduced interest charges from £18m to about £3m. That puts us in a much stronger position to utilise our revenues more effectively on the team. "These figures in many ways represent the commitment of the owners, in paying down the acquisition debts and in other areas. "What is reflected in these accounts was going on around the time they actually came into the club. "It's not where we are today. It's a year on, so it was a big commitment at an early stage "The owners have continued to make changes and commitments. "They have made some great investment at the start; they cleaned up a lot of what was a problem at Liverpool and they have invested in both the team on and off the pitch. "They continue to do that and look at what's right - and what works and what doesn't work."