NEIL Atkinson was joined in the studio by Steve Graves, Rob Gutmann and Jim Boardman as they reminisce about the 2002 season and other nonsense on a matchless week – including our impending trip to NYC – for AN ENTIRE 75 MINUTES!
Get issue 8 of TAW’s monthly digital mag free from iTunes for iOS devices or from app.theanfieldwrap.com for everything else.
DIRECT LINK TO PODCAST: SEVENTY FIVE!!!
Great stuff, as usual. A lot of things I had forgotten about that season, and also things I didn’t know. Different media coverage back then and much more difficult for us foreigners to gather day to day information about the club.
Would be brilliant with a similar podcast about the 08/09 season and what happened next. Fresher in people’s minds of course, and I guess we all have our opinions about that period, but it would be interesting to hear your take on it.
Heh, interesting talking about games not selling out. I was telling my mate the other day about how me and some school friends used to get the bus up to Anfield after school and buy tickets to European games on the day.
Those were the days, eh?
Nice episode.
Hope someone reads this.
I’d like to start out by saying, I really enjoy the podcast, and have in the last 5 years become an ardent Liverpool supporter. So much so that I have started seeking out Liverpool information on twitter, podcasts, and through other mediums. Generally when an American gets involved with a team, they go nuts. I am no exception. But I do support several teams across several sports.
I was present with my girlfriend tonight at ‘Legends’ in NYC. My girlfriend is a Liverpudlian, and she is old enough to have seen Rush,Fowler and Tony Evans as a teenager. She has brought me into the Liverpool community. I’ve been to Anfield two times just this year including Suarez’s masterclass v. Norwich.
She urged me to tell you why I thought the room emptied tonight. Because I have a different perspective to her, an American perspective.
There are a few things that you might not entirely realize about American supporters. The first and most important is, we didn’t have access to Premier League games prior to 1990. Even then, you had to pay a huge premium to watch them, so without some kind of catalyst we didn’t. So, Tony Evans talking about the 83/84 season doesn’t have the nostalgic value to us, as it does to you or my girlfriend. If Evans had talked about Moyes’ past and the implications on this season, more people would have been engaged.
She asked me, why didn’t you go back and watch the games from the 83/84 season? I’m from the Detroit-Metro area (before relocating to NYC). We have several successful teams, what we refer to as ‘Dynasty Teams’, probably our most successful is in hockey. Americans only need to know, that Liverpool was a Dynasty team. They most likely (99%) will not ever go back on youtube, and try to piece together that season, like you and your friends seem to have done as several of you are too young to remember it either. You have to remember, this is relatively new to us. We are watching several sports, most likely American Football at the professional and college level as well as basketball, baseball or hockey. All of my teams have been successful in the past, but I watch them all in the present and look towards the future.
Also, I would say this about the Liverpool American supporters that I have met. We don’t care about MLS. The MLS supporters are, for the most part, an entirely different breed who do not recognize good football or know why its sad to see Henry play for Red Bulls. And, it was really really, can’t stress this enough, sad when I saw him there. Its not football, its chase-ball. The U16’s hold to a formation better than these guys.
What I think American audiences would enjoy is more akin to the opening question tonight. “What was the best goal Liverpool scored in the league this season.” They can all relate to that. Basically, more Suarez, less Rush or St. John or other player we couldn’t have seen and won’t see outside of a goal montage on LFCTV. The current team is what they want to talk about. They recognize the past, but its not what keeps us watching or listening to your podcast.
I hope this doesn’t come across harshly. I just wanted to give you an American perspective. You have to understand every non-European there tonight had some kind of catalyst for being a Liverpool supporter, and most are more recent supporters than Istanbul or even Hodgson. I wasn’t enticed by the all-MLS program on Saturday, would be interested to hear what the turnout was, maybe I’m wrong.
Thanks for coming to see us, I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip. I was geeked to shake hands with Neil, strangely.
Ray.