Peter Moore, chief executive officer of Liverpool FC, has apologised for the club's ill-conceived decision to furlough their staff using taxpayer money, accepting the owners were acting like "dirty scousers".

After being heavily criticised by various former players and even the Mayor of Liverpool, the Merseyside club have since reversed its decision to pay staff using the government-backed 'Job Retention Scheme', which would have seen the government cover 80% of its staff's wages with taxpayer money, despite the club reporting profits of over £40million just six weeks ago.

Speaking to the press, Moore said:

"On behalf of the club's ownership, Fenway Sports Group, I can only apologise to our staff and the general public who have been affected by the decision we made.

"Unfortunately, having spent so long running this club, we had begun to act and think like dirty scousers, thinking it was perfectly acceptable to exploit government benefit schemes and practically steal from the British public.

"Rest assured, we have taken a long look at ourselves and realise now that we cannot be like our fans; we have to be better than you."