SOURCE OF IRRITATION

Liverpool yesterday described disclosures about an American consortium joining the battle to take control of the Merseyside club as "a source of irritation" in
advance of last night's annual general meeting at Anfield.

It is believed that club officials have spoken to members of the consortium, put
together by entertainment executives Mike Jefferies and Stuart Ford, but were
unaware the group had adopted the moniker L4 - the postcode area in which
Anfield is situated.

The club say that no proposals have been received yet from the L4 group, who
join Steve Morgan, the businessman who founded Redrow Homes, and the
Thailand prime minister as interested parties.

The L4 group are thought to be backed by the Kraft family, who own American
Superbowl champions New England Patriots. Their untimely arrival on the club's
agenda brought added complications to last night's meeting, which dealt with the club's losses of nearly £22 million and the prospects of entering into a
groundshare agreement with neighbours Everton.