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View from the Kop

The most important journey upon which the Kop has embarked

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This is Anfield, and how they knew it, in every European language. Visiting teams and supporters arrived at Anfield both in fear and awe, trepidation at the thought of taking on the Mighty Liverpool on their home patch, and wonder at the seemingly mystical aura of this famous old stadium. As Bill Shankly once said:

“This is to remind our lads who they’re playing for, and to remind the opposition who they’re playing against.”

The very plaque that he described, remains one of Anfield’s most famous artefacts, reproduced en masse across the globe for supporters to perform their own pre-match ritual. My personal routine has always been, when watching or listening at home, to change into my Liverpool shirt exactly 15 minutes prior to kick off, which traditionally always meant a trip to the wardrobe at 2.45pm on a Saturday afternoon.

The landscape of football, admittedly, has changed not only with gross commercialism, but also with technology. The days of Radio 2 and 5 Live are a throwback, as supporters just head to the nearest PC to watch a live stream and discuss proceedings in real time using Social Media. I have no idea what Mr Shankly would have made of it although his quotes would have made great twitter!

As football has changed, the transformation in the suburbs of L4 have been starker still. As it stands, this most famous of clubs is making more headlines off the pitch than on it, and even those made on Shankly’s ‘great, professional grass’ do not make pleasant reading.

“It’s great grass at Anfield, professional grass!”

The tragedy in this whole sorry saga is that football has become almost a secondary matter. If there is a battle to remain even close to the highest echelons of English, let alone European, football, the struggle for mere survival has taken the form of a crusade. It is a necessary campaign but one that continues to strip the club of its essence and dignity.

In terms of contemporary analogies, I doubt even that Jack Bauer has endured a 24 hours like those perpetually experienced by Koppites in recent months. Last weekend was a typical example of this for many with events preceding and after the Sunderland fixture all too reflective of the club’s current plight.

In between the – and I restate very necessary – protests and another Friday night of multiple rumours about the club’s ownership, there was actually a football match. Such has been the focus on the battle to save the club, the ninety minutes of frustration at on field events was almost a relief. Amidst a little controversy, and some referral to a ‘big fat head’, the Anfield faithful watched the Reds stumble to a 2-2 draw. For those ninety minutes, and at least a whole hour afterwards, the questions and in most cases dissatisfaction was aimed at the playing staff and manager.

This would not last of course, and somewhat predictably, by the middle of the evening we were being bombarded with yet more conflicting stories of the club’s uncertain future. That ninety minutes was a pure relief, which is potentially a health hazard since my pulse probably went through the roof whilst ‘uttering’ small pieces of advice to Mr Hodgson and his Red Men!

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4 comments

  • stah howard says:

    its all right people like daglish saying the owners mess should not affect the team, well it doe’s because it affects the crowd and the crowd affect the team, the crowd are more easilly disheartened.

  • A point well made. However, I would disagree with Kenny and say that if affects the team equally if not more. I quote from a piece I wrote on my own site just last weekend:

    “I put it in a very basic concept to which most can relate, that if the company for whom you work or the college at which you studied was constantly the subject of rumour, speculation and negative publicity, could you honestly say that you would be able to concentrate fully on the task at hand? I would be queuing to go and work in a more secure and happy environment.”

  • Rik Makwana says:

    I was sitting in the kop that day. The “Steve Bruce, he’s got a big fat head” song served us great amusement in these struggling times!

  • Sam Wanjere says:

    The best way to sum up the poisoned atmosphere at Anfield nowadays is that Shankly quote, “At a football club, there’s a holy trinity – the players, the manager and the supporters. Directors don’t come into it. They are only there to sign the cheques.”

    There IS a correlation, and a direct one at that, between the antics of G & H, debt, rising ticket prices, Hodgson’s team and the players. No one ever planned well amidst instability. This is not to collectively lump blame but to apportion it as appropriate, and yes, players do have their role to play.

    Through it all, class like Pepe’s has shone, leading LFC by example and proving that: 1) You need not be Scouse to appreciate what Liverpool FC’s truly about, and, 2) You can choose to rise above all the garbage at Anfield (or any club for that matter) and keep your head high through the storm.

    It is time we fans followed that lead and improved our own game. There should be no compromise in seeking the two bozos at Anfield out, and no excuse too not to support SOS and any relevant pro-LFC initiative, especially one that’s fan driven.

    Negativity is worse than contagious disease, quickly spreading and poisoning the atmosphere. This is when we are called to stand for this legendary institution like never before. Yet, history reminds us we’ve been here, proving the Ecclesiastical wisdom of nothing new under the sun.

    I still believe that history is a useful pot to draw strength, endurance, perseverance, from. We must now.

    This second of Shankly quotes I’ve used here, “Fire in your belly comes from pride and passion in wearing the Red shirt. We don’t need to motivate players because each of them is responsible for the performance of the team as a whole. The status of Liverpool‘s players keeps them motivated”; is proof not one player is to blame. It could be all, a few or any of the two scenarios (if not both).

    With hope in our hearts, with our heads held high.

    Kwame Nkrumah (Independent Ghana’s first president): We look neither to the east nor west. We look ahead.”

    YN(Ever)WA(Ever)!

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