What Liverpool owner John Henry said about playing PL games abroad as LaLiga and Serie A go global | OneFootball

In light of this week’s events in European football, it’s worth revisiting what Liverpool owner John Henry previously said about the idea of playing Premier League matches outside of England.

On Monday, UEFA ‘regrettably’ agreed to requests from Serie A and LaLiga for one fixture in each division to be held abroad this season, with Vilarreal v Barcelona set to be played in Miami just before Christmas and AC Milan v Como earmarked for Perth in February (The Athletic).

It’s a bombshell development which has left many English football fans wondering if the same thing might happen to top-flight fixtures in this country, and one of the most influential figures at Anfield has previously spoken out in favour of it happening.

What did Tom Herner and John Henry say about playing Premier League games overseas?

In June 2024, Liverpool chairman said in an interview with the Financial Times: “I’m determined one day to have a Premier League game be played in New York City.

“I even have the sort of crazy idea that there would be a day where we play one game in Tokyo, one game a few hours later in Los Angeles, one game a few hours later in Rio, one game a few hours later in Riyadh and make it sort of a day where football, where the Premier League, is celebrated.”

However, LFC owner Henry had a rather different view, saying in response to those comments (via The Guardian) that the notion of taking English top-flight matches overseas was “not something that I advocate or am particularly interested in”, with club CEO Billy Hogan expressing a similar stance.

(Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

Premier League matches outside of England could unfortunately be viable

It’s a painful thought, but the possibility of Premier League games taking place outside of England is growing, particularly after the controversial decision over the aforementioned Serie A and LaLiga fixtures a few days ago.

On the latest episode of The Overlap Fan Debate, a Tottenham Hotspur fan voiced his concerns that the prospect of his club falling under American ownership could take that number in the English top flight dangerously near the landmark of 14 which is needed to vote in favour of rule changes in the division.

Should that threshold be reached, the probability of league games such as Liverpool v Manchester United (or Arsenal v Chelsea, etc) would likely increase, as the U.S. majority could be sizeable enough to propose and approve a motion to take Premier League fixtures Stateside.

We understand that there are millions of people outside of England who support clubs in the English top flight and would need to undertake substantial travel and investment to attend matches at Anfield, Old Trafford et al, and they would no doubt love to have such high-profile games being staged much closer to where they reside.

However, the idea of taking Premier League fixtures overseas feels like another step away from the dearly-held traditions of football in this country, many of which have been consigned to history in the sport’s gold rush over the past generation (the scrapping of FA Cup replays and reduction of Saturday 3pm kick-offs spring to mind).

Henry has read the room by previously declaring his opposition to English top-flight matches being staged abroad, but we can only hope that he doesn’t have a change of heart if (or maybe when) the time comes for club owners to vote on whether that could actually happen.