Billy Hogan joined Fenway Sports Group in 2004, the year the Boston Red Sox, the company’s first big purchase and prize asset, snapped an 86-year curse by winning the World Series.
A born salesman, Hogan rose through the ranks and was the obvious choice to take charge of Liverpool’s commercial operation in 2012, two years after Fenway had added the Reds to the Red Sox. After all, if he had spent eight years working with one of the most famous franchises in American sport, what could be so special about a team that had just finished eighth in the Premier League?
Hogan, who was only 37 when appointed chief commercial officer, soon found out that the Boston Red Sox open doors from California to Connecticut but Liverpool get you out of windowless rooms on the other side of the world.
“I was travelling on club business some years ago to Jakarta and when you get there, you pay £25 or something for a visa that they put in your…