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Football: Liverpool supremo voices fears over all-English final
AM
Agence France Presse
LONDON, May 2, 2007 (AFP) -

Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry has admitted that a Champions League final between his club and bitter rivals Manchester United would present the Athens authorities with a major security headache.

Liverpool have booked their place in the May 24 showpiece in the Greek capital, and United were aiming to join them when they defend a 3-2 lead against AC Milan at the San Siro on Wednesday evening.

Matches between Liverpool and United are high-security affairs even when they take place on home soil with the numbers of visiting supporters allowed at either ground hugely curtailed.

In contrast, tens of thousands of supporters from the two clubs would be expected to make their way to Athens for the final, many of them without tickets.

"There will be concerns from a security point of view if it's two English teams, sadly," Parry told BBC Radio on Wednesday, the morning after Liverpool beat Chelsea on penalties to clinch their second final spot in the space of three years.

"There will be issues we'll have to address. There will be a lot of supporters from both teams travelling without tickets, which the authorities will have to deal with.

"A lot of careful thought and planning would definitely be required."

Parry could not resist a swipe at Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, who infuriated most of Merseyside in the build-up to the game by describing Liveprool as a small, cup-orientated club.

"I don't care what he says, I don't listen," Parry said. "I guess when you've invested 500 million pounds, it's a fantastic season to win the League Cup. He's welcome to his opinions, we care about Liverpool."

Parry went on to pay tribute to the Liverpool supporters who generated an electric atmosphere at Anfield on Tuesday night, inspiring their heroes to cancel out a 1-0 first leg deficit before deservedly booking their ticket for Athens in the shoot-out.

"It was another fabulous Anfield night," he reflected. "I thought we'd never see anything to beat the atmosphere in 2005 (when Liverpool also beat Chelsea in the semi-final), but I think this equalled it.

"It was very, very special and I think you only get these nights in Anfield. The supporters were fantastic and the players and manager have done a fantastic job and done us proud. It was magnificent to be there."

Despite their success in Europe, Liverpool have never been seriously involved in a Premiership title battle since Benitez took over from Gerard Houllier in 2004.

That fact rankles but Parry is confident things will change now that Liverpool's new American owners have put the club on a better financial footing.

"For us, the big prize is the Premier League, we've made no secret of that," said Parry. "Every one of us wants to be a Premier League contender. We're not quite there, but we'll do everything in our power to make sure we get there."