Liverpool to play Roma at Fenway Park

Liverpool will play Roma in a pre-season match in July at Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox, it was announced Wednesday. Fenway Sports Group is the sales arm of the ownership group for English Premier League club Liverpool, Major League Baseball team the Red Sox and a US stock car racing team, all now effectively under the control of US businessman John W. Henry. Boston will serve as Liverpool's base for a 12-day tour that is set to feature what a Liverpool statement said was "two competitive games". Fenway Park is one of baseball's most iconic venues and Henry hopes that staging a football (soccer) match there between Liverpool and Roma on July 25 will be a fitting way of helping the ground mark its centenary. "During its 100-year history, Fenway Park has hosted some of the best in athletic competition, and a match between Liverpool and AS Roma - two of the world's most well-known and respected clubs - is an appropriate way to help celebrate Fenway's 100th anniversary and showcase our ballpark to an international audience," he said. Liverpool have already won the English League Cup this season and are in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. But the Merseyside club, who dominated the old English First Division in the 1970s and 1980s, are a huge 31 points behind Premier League leaders and arch-rivals Manchester United, the reigning champions, with just eight league games of the season left. "We had a great time playing in front of our supporters in Asia last year and it will be good to give our fans in North America the chance to watch us live this summer", said Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish. "My son Paul worked and played in America and he's told me about just how much interest there is in Liverpool, and English football, right now. "We've had some amazing matches against Roma in the past, particularly the 1984 European Cup final (which Liverpool won after a penalty shoot-out at Rome's Olympic Stadium), so it should be fantastic."   Liverpool's pre-season trip will be the first time they have travelled to North America since 1994, when they played games in Connecticut, New Jersey and Toronto in Canada.