John W. Henry brutally told he had bought 'wrong club' days after Liverpool purchase

When John W, Henry completed his $392.5 million acquisition of 14 years ago, he had initially planned to delay attending his first match as the club's new principal owner. His intention was to enjoy his inaugural experience of Premier League football at Anfield, having finally wrested control of the club from the despised Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

However, after finalizing a dramatic takeover in London's High Court on Oct. 15, 2010, the then-chief of New England Sports Ventures simply couldn't resist. Arriving in Merseyside the next day to meet the staff, players, and then-manager Roy Hodgson at Anfield, Henry and the rest of NESV made a last-minute alteration to their schedules to make the 214th Merseyside derby against Everton their first game in English football.

By early evening the following day, from Blackburn the next week. The chants of "going down, going down" from the home end would have been like nails on a chalkboard for the away fans at Goodison Park, but they would have stung Henry and his team even more.

The company that would soon become Fenway Sports Group had started their ownership of Liverpool under the most unpropitious circumstances.

At Goodison Park, a voice from the home end taunted, "I hope you've kept your receipt," as Henry, Joe Januszewski of NESV, and their team exited the stadium after witnessing Liverpool's 2-0 defeat at the hands of fierce local rivals Everton.

Inside the Boston group might have questioned their investment choice as one mocking Evertonian told Henry he "had bought the wrong club".

But despite Liverpool being on offer for a steal due to issues left by Hicks and Gillett, not to mention a squad short on true stars and managed by an increasingly beleaguered Hodgson, the narrative was yet to unfold fully.

Following the match, Hodgson infamously remarked: "That is as good as I have seen a Liverpool team play under my management," blissfully unaware of his own words' biting irony. "To get a result here would have been Utopia."

At the time, reactions to Liverpool's performance were critical across the board, with one national newspaper writing: "It is certainly hard to recall a Liverpool team worse than this one and hard to imagine that Hodgson will be given long to prove otherwise."

Another paper weighed in, detailing that, "Henry met Hodgson after the match and the manager's position remains safe," but pointed out, "Although comments such as 'I refuse to accept we were outplayed or in any way inferior' are insulting to the eyesight of his new employer and to the Liverpool fans forced to endure this derby humiliation."

The ECHO didn't mince words in its post-match rundown, saying, "John W Henry and Tom Werner spoke with great pragmatism when they arrived on Merseyside this weekend, making it clear that the job of restoring Liverpool to the summit of English football will not be completed overnight."

It went on to speculate, "Maybe the club's new owners had seen a DVD compilation of their new club's performances this season; if they hadn't the chastening, harrowing 90 minutes they had the misfortune of sitting through at Goodison Park yesterday gave an idea of the depths to which the Reds have fallen."

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Finally, Hodgson's spat with a Nordic journalist capped off a grim display, where he was quoted taking a swing at both Norway and Denmark, stating he’d "never want to work in again" after being pressed about his team’s showing. If this encounter was an audition before the Liverpool hierarchy for Hodgson, it's safe to say it was as disappointing off the pitch as what unfolded during the game.

The outcome sparked chatter amongst some national media outlets about Liverpool potentially getting stuck in an unimaginable fight to maintain their Premier League status. Looking back, it may seem excessively dramatic, but given the club had just narrowly dodged administration due to NESV's takeover, such a fear was still very much alive for a fatigued fanbase eager to cautiously emerge from the lengthy and poisonous shadow cast by Hicks and Gillett.

It marked a rather modest start for FSG.