Liverpool’s American billionaire owner John W Henry today apologised for the ‘hurt’ caused by plans to join the hated European Super League as the Premier League considers how to punish the rebels with fans baying for blood.

The businessman, who also owns the Boston Red Sox, also said sorry to the club’s manager Jürgen Klopp and his players as the £4.3billion proposal crumbled when England’s ‘Big 6’ were forced to pull out amid mass protests outside their stadiums and Boris Johnson threatening to change the law to stop it.

After 72 hours of silence, Henry became the first owner to speak out as fans called for heads to roll and threatened coups to overthrow the billionaires accused of trying to destroy England’s 132-year-old football pyramid. And his apology is seen as an attempt to convince the Premier League not to give them a points deduction as his team battles to get into the Champions League.

But in a sign that they will face severe punishment Crystal Palace co-owner Steve Parish, one of the 14 Premier League clubs not involved, said today: ‘Make no mistake… this was an attempted coup, an attempt to steal football’.

In a video message shared on the Liverpool website, he said: ‘I want to apologise to all the fans and supporters of Liverpool Football Club for the disruption I caused over the past 48 hours.

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John W Henry’s message to Liverpool supporters. pic.twitter.com/pHW3RbOcKu

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 21, 2021