LAST week’s piece in part 1 discussed the delicate issue of the club’s need to take on-board a new generation of fans, at home and abroad.
This makes it vitally important that we help in the recruitment of a ‘knowing’ fan, beyond the artificial scope of Twitter, Facebook and ill-conceived TV shows.
To start us off, here are my top five tips for getting a few more to sing our gospel. Don’t forget to chime in with your ideas and comments, below!
1. If they can’t get a ticket, take ’em to the pub on match-days.
Chances are that your ‘target’ doesn’t support any particular team, gets his/her kicks from a more musical ecosystem, or is just a plain video game addict ( more FIFA than Football Manager), not getting enough of the real thing.
They need to see the immediacy, that nervous twitch in the eyes, that awkward tension of not knowing whether we should be able to beat anyone easily anymore, the frustration of hitting the post, and the annoyance and subsequent anger that seamlessly transfers from the cheeky mug of Luis Suarez to us, watching as the referee ignores another ‘clear’ free-kick/penalty.
And then the rush. That unique, yet amazing feel, of ales going vertical as the ball hits the back of the net. The high energy (almost always missed) high-fives and the multi-pitched renditions of You’ll Never Walk Alone at various points of the game.
These things, my friends, we do better than every other set of fans I’ve seen.
2. The Romance of the Boot Room.
One could say us LFC fans harp on way too much about history, and sometimes I agree. But it would be shameful if we didn’t, for it is that good!
You could have the modern-management-manuals perspective that Bill Shankly converted this dank room in Anfield’s underbelly to foster an evolving team unity. Or you could just look at it as a bunch of middle-aged man talking shop while downing whiskeys. Either way, it was the perfect Oval Office for presiding over a club in rebuilding and gave birth to pass-and-move, the tiki-taka of its day.
Shankly had taken a full three seasons to get Liverpool up to the First Division and duly won it in 63/64. And from a fully functioning Boot Room, the club received Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish, as manna’s from a footballing heaven.
It resonates more now because it draws analogies to our current realities. Even in this ‘Dollars, Euros and Spreadsheets’ modern era, rebuilding starts with the most low-tech solutions.
3. The Tragedies.
Religious books and Shakespeare had it down pat, and it is the bread-and-butter of every sports movie, but the tragedies that have befallen this great club hurt more, because they were REAL. Liverpool fans MUST know about Hillsbrough and Heysel: their fallouts and the ties they bound between us. They are stories of loyal supporters away from home, of them copping criminal blame and accused of human barbarism for something ‘the man’ was guilty of. It is a story of perverse justice and about the disposable morality of tabloid media.
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Thankfully the truth has won out. It is therefore, also a story of redemption.
The new fan should understand that these tragic events helped to take English stadiums into a safer modern era. It also opened up for discussion the Pandora’s Box of fan and law enforcement behaviour.
Put simply: the tragedies of LFC are a fabric of this club’s humility, and that is hardwired into our philosophy.
4. United and Everton.
Every panto’ needs its villains, and though United provides that tribal rush, Everton provide a beautifully contextual backdrop. No, we don’t ‘hate’ Evertonian’s. We may hate losing to them but they are a people’s club who have never strayed from their own rich history; one that even suggests we owe a little part of our birth to Everton’s always-tight purse strings.
And yes, for fun’s sake, we do HATE modern United fans. We suspect most of them are Johnny-come-latelies, born in London during the 90s and lacking any sort of perspective whatsoever. We bloody love putting one over on them, and although recent evidence may point to United superiority, real United fans still have a sense of begrudging respect for LFC.
5. Dalglish, Gerrard and the Future.
The Boot Room philosophers made sure the team always came first, but Anfield has always loved a touch of hero worship. Of the dozens that have been anointed by The Kop faithful, two stand out for different reasons.
‘King’ Kenny Dalglish was the complete forward. Combining the roles of a #7 and a #9, he was voted the club’s most beloved player ever. In nine league campaigns he was either player or manager. Oh, don’t forget the three European Cups.
Steven Gerrard is the other. Club product. Club captain. Club god, Gerrard never had the luxury of walking into a domestically all-conquering side like King Kenny. His Liverpool was one that was only getting used to the shadow of United. Time and time again, in league and cup, especially in Europe, he picked up above-average sides by the scruff of their collective necks and curled, smacked, tackled and bossed them to victory.
There was that goal against Olympiakos that awoke the faltering juggernaut back in 2005. There was that header against Milan that started those 6-minutes-of-madness in Istanbul, and even that stoppage time equaliser against the Hammers at the Millenium Stadium.
You see, you can’t have too much of Stevie G, ever. That’s why you have YouTube.
Over to you then: next time there’s the birth of a nephew/niece, or you’ve just identified in the tube that a lost footballing soul is looking for a new home, put a Keegan-like arm round him and preach the Anfield gospel.
These are only a graspable starting point. Over time they can be educated on The Kop, You’ll Never Walk Alone, the Shankly Gates and the Texan Cowboy’s exit. There are the St. John’s, Scott’s, the Fowler’s and the Carragher’s.
Just don’t get too excited with the Anfield Rap though, ok?
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