I DON’T go to Anfield every week. I’d like to, and I put the feelers out for a season ticket at the start of the season, but to no avail. So instead I go whenever I can, getting tickets as and when.
When I do go, I tend to end up in the Centenary Stand or the Main Stand, gazing lovingly and longingly at The Kop. There are many reasons why The Kop is the subject of my admiration and why those who sit on it are the subject of my jealousy. It remains one of the most famous stands in world football; a storied place that could, says the legend, suck the ball into the back of the net.
It’s also the noisiest part of the ground, or at least that’s how it seems when you’re on the outside looking in. While the folks in the Main Stand are complaining about, well, everything, and the people in the Centenary Stand are generally wondering when they can nip back down for a cup of tea or a pint, the lads and lasses on the Kop sing, chant and generally give off a constant murmur during the match.
Before last night, the last time I’d stood on The Kop was way back in 2012 when we beat Stoke 2-1 in the FA Cup quarter final. It felt like it was bouncing that day, with Luis Suarez and Stewart Downing, of all people, producing the goods to see us into the semis. Perhaps my dewy-eyed image of The Kop is based on that day, combined with the inevitable sense of the grass being greener when you’re not actually stood on said grass.
I mention all of this because plenty of people might, quite rightly, think I’ve got no right to discuss the Anfield crowd and least of all The Kop. I have no argument against that. Perhaps you go every week and you think what I’m about to say is a load of unadulterated codswallop. If so I apologise. I’m sure someone will write a response piece in which they completely slaughter me and everything I stand for. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Here’s the thing, though: I was really disappointed by what I experienced on The Kop during the match against Crystal Palace. I know what Jürgen Klopp has said post-match has inspired some discussion about the atmosphere and I’m looking forward to the debate becoming more public — it should be. If you want to read a great piece about people who leave the ground early then Steve Graves essentially boxed that off way back in 2012 on this site.
A lot of the problems at Anfield are often put down to the older fellas who have “seen too much football”, and perhaps in a lot of cases that’s true. But I was sat with a group of three young lads next to me, two behind one, and with a group of five older blokes the other side of me all in a line, so I was interested to see if it really was the case that the youth were the ones who hold the future of Liverpool’s famous atmosphere in their hands.
The answer, as far as this particular cross-section of the Anfield crowd is concerned, was that neither of them covered themselves in glory. Sat on my own and feeling like a bit of a dickhead, I joined in with the songs that cascaded down from the rear of The Kop whenever I could. Admittedly I found it difficult to get my pitch right, but that’s just the musical theatre performer in me.
Neither the older fellas or the younger lads sang, though. They didn’t even really join in with You’ll Never Walk Alone, the rendition of which brought me close to getting teary, coming as it did just before the minute’s silence for the fallen.
Not singing is a frustration and belting out a few songs is the most sure fire way of creating an atmosphere, I’ll grant you, but it’s not for everyone. I’m the sort of guy you’d never get off the karaoke if only you’d give me half a chance, but maybe these lot felt a bit self-conscious and decided singing wasn’t for them.
What I found truly bizarre, though, was the way that neither group paid all that much attention to the football. The old fellas on the right spend a portion of the second half talking about the fact that one of their daughters had recently moved house. One of them even got his phone out to show the others some photos.
When Liverpool had an attack and he had to stand up to see what was going on he looked annoyed that he had to put the phone away; as if he was a genius raconteur who had his best punchline interrupted by a drunken heckler.
As for the younger lads, the one in front of the two spent at least 70 per cent of the match turned around to talk to them, with them looking down to talk to him and seemingly oblivious to the football match happening in front of them. The one on his own left with five minutes to go of the first half and, deservedly, missed the equaliser.
The second half, as far as they were concerned, may as well have been a match they had no interest in but had stuck on in the background just in case something interesting happened. All of this culminated in the two younger lads in my row and half of the older chaps leaving when Crystal Palace scored the winner.
Bearing in mind that Scott Dann’s header struck the back of the net in the 82nd minute and there were five minutes of added time, that means that they missed 13 minutes of football. Add in the five minutes plus three minutes of stoppage time that the young lad in front of me missed and between them they have deliberately chosen to not watch 20 minutes of the game.
During which other activity would this be seen as an acceptable thing to do? The obvious comparison is switching off a film 20 minutes before the end. I’m not going to spoil The Usual Suspects, but if you missed the last 20 of that you won’t have a fucking clue who Keyser Soze is. Maybe you know that Haley Joel Osment can see dead people in The Sixth Sense, but if you missed the last bit you might not know why that’s important.
Realistically, though, you can’t influence things at the cinema, so what about the theatre? Having been in the cast of Blood Brothers for about a year and a half I can tell you I’d have been pretty deflated had half of the audience stood up and walked out with 20 minutes to go. Whatever footballers might say, you notice these things. You can’t help but notice when loads of people literally stand up and walk out while you’re in the middle of performing.
Maybe you’re the sort of person who hates queuing for things and the idea of having to wait to get out of the stadium and then sit in a warm car for an extra 10 minutes because you stayed until the end of the match makes you involuntarily vomit. I don’t know. Everyone’s got their reasons for everything, I suppose.
I’m glad Jürgen Klopp’s called you out on it, though. I think there’s legitimate conversations to be had about why the atmosphere is lacking in grounds around the country, with prices being number one on the agenda.
But if my experience on The Kop last night has taught me anything it’s that it’s not just the older members of the crowd who need to have a look at themselves.
People should be allowed to have a chat with their mates when they’re at the match. It’s meant to be a laugh and you’re meant to be having a good time — Klopp would be the first person to admit as much. But aren’t you also meant to be watching the game of football taking place in front of you, so that when you shout, “You’re shite you, Can!” you’re actually basing your opinion on something factual?
Maybe the key isn’t to have a go at all the people who leave early or do anything for 90 minutes apart from watch the match that’s taking place in front of them. Maybe we need to adjust our expectations of how people enjoy the game instead.
That’s shite, of course, but it might stress me out less to think of going the game less as a passionate enterprise and more like a chance to sit and observe.
You’ll Never Walk Alone, they sing. Especially not if you leave with 10 to go. There’ll be loads of other pricks walking with you.
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Leaving the ground early has always happened. I’ve been going for 44 years and in the old days whilst the kop were singing we can see you sneaking out to the Kemlyn Road the rest of the kop was streaming down the steps at the back but no one could see them! And where I sit in the Centenary with my lad (Yes John!) the young lads behind us always leave very early, And don’t get me started on the young couple this week who may have been at the start of a meaningful relationship, but they saw none of it. Although she did have a lovely freshly purchased scarf on.
Well said, Adam. I also just read James Pearce’s piece in the Echo in which he describes the difference between the support Jürgen was used to at Dortmund and what he’s now experiencing at Liverpool. The poll at the end of that article asked if readers supported those who left early on Sunday or not. 90% said they didn’t, but 10% replied that they did. That extrapolates to 1 out of every 10 people. 1 out of every 10.
We desperately need Jürgen Klopp. He does NOT desperately need us. He took on Liverpool as a challenge, wanting to revive our past greatness. His contract is for 3 years. He lives and breathes for the romance of football, the pleasure of the game and seeing that pleasure and hunger in the eyes of his players, seeing it in the faces of the fans and hearing it in the support they give to him and the team he picks. It remains to be seen whether he’ll stay if stepping out onto the touchline every weekend as well as facing the British media becomes mostly UNenjoyable for him. This is our chance; we got the manager we asked for from the owners. If we blow it, there won’t be a better one waiting in the wings.
It isn’t only on the pitch that we need to find our identity. The question is: As supporters what kind of identity do we want as a club? It’s not good enough to say ‘It happens at all the grounds’ or ‘It’s the high ticket prices’ or spin the wheel on the excuse machine for every other kind of reactionary excuse. The question remains and cannot be avoided — ‘What kind of identity do we want at OUR club?’ It doesn’t matter whether one is a fan who has the exceptional PRIVILEGE of being able to go to Anfield regularly, or a fan who can only dream about being able to do so. The question remains.
Sorry to say it, but now I’ll sit back and wait for the inevitable criticism of this comment — because sadly I already know from experience what that part of our self-created identity is like.
You’re right! Klopp must look at the fans at home and wonder what all the fuss was about….
It’s a shame so many leave early, because it makes me feel guilty when I do it. But if I don’t leave 5-10 mins early I legitimately can’t get home until 7am the following day, thanks to train providers not putting any trains on past 10:30. Now that’s my issue, as due to work, family and other commitments, I’m usually unable to go to weekend games, so I’m limited to midweek cup games. And I can’t drive because my missus needs the car in case of an emergency with her or one of our newborn twins.
But I know when I get to the last train, there’s plenty of guys and girls legging it because they’ve stayed until the last possible second they can afford. Then, at least on the train I get, it’s usually packed full of reds travelling to various towns & cities en route to York. These are the people that likely leave work early, spend 4 hours each way travelling, and we’ll be tarnished with the same brush used to paint the rest because we have to get off early. Not by everyone, mind, but I’ve had my fair share of abuse when I get up to go.
Don’t go to the game then. It sounds like you already have enough on your plate. Watch it on the tv and let someone else have that seat. Why do you have to be there? Any support you give vocally, during the time you remain inside, is outweighed by the effect that you leaving the ground early has on the players and the other fans. I’m not having a go at you, I’m just saying that there is an obvious decision that you can make here.
I don’t think its fair for you to judge whether or not someone should go to the match.
I think that is getting a bit silly now.
Everyone is entitled to do what they want especially when they have paid to do so.
The reason the atmosphere is crap is because the team had been playing crap before Klopp arrived.
Rodgers was on his last legs and everyone knew it.
The players, the fans, the owners, we all knew what was coming.
What was the atmosphere like at Anfield in the title run in 18 months ago?
It was immense.
Why?, because the football we were watching was brilliant.
So there has to be a relationship between the quality of the football being watched and the atmosphere generated on the back of watching it.
I don’t mean winning football either…..
United are currently winning matches and yet their fans are still pissed off with the style of football under Van Gaal.
We had the perfect combination for a fan during that whirlwind season, we had the style of play (best football seen at Anfield for 20 years) combined with winning football.
I honestly think as fans we are still pissed off with how we did not win the league…
Even now that Palace or Chelsea game can still have me cursing under my breath at work (“That bastard Demba Ba”) (“Dwight Gayle turns into Pele and then nearly gets sold to Bristol fuckin City”)
I need to let it go and so does the whole fan base in my opinion.
We are at the start of the journey under Klopp and it will take time for the fans to find their voices again because we still have:
A) The lingering memory of the previous manager and how it all unraveled under him.
And B) The added war wound of coming as close to winning the league as you can without actually winning it.
You don’t get over that quickly.
It takes time.
I think that under Klopp we won’t be talking about this issue for too long though.
Once his methods and philosophy are fully transmitted to the players I expect both the quality of football and results to improve dramatically.
In fact, the quality of football has improved already in my eyes.
Defensively much better, Palace aside, and we can all see the players giving it everything in the games.
I trust Klopp in a way that I never trusted Brendan because I knew he was a rookie manager, no disrespect intended, it was just a fact.
Rodgers never knew what he wanted, I still don’t think he knows his best 11 now!!
Whereas Jurgen knows exactly what he wants and how to get there….
That makes me more calm about our long term future.
Not sure how you disassociate the “best football seen at Anfield for 20 years” from Rodgers, whom you only mention by name in a negative light. You don’t bumble your way into 84 points out of a possible 114, especially if “Rodgers never knew what he wanted.”
Rodgers was very clear what he wanted: “I would rather have one or two absolute top players than seven that might not help us.” It was clear that Rodgers did not get what he wanted, Suarez replaced with a striker who negated the strengths of Gerrard, Coutinho, and Henderson while the European Golden Boy was offered a fraction of his market value wages.
While the formations changed, the 13/14 side played with a singularity of vision. With a transfer fiasco exacerbated by the absence of Sturridge, Sakho, Flanagan, and Lallana for most if not all of the season, and a GK in some sort of metaphysical crisis (really, we couldn’t pay 3M for Vorm?) we watched on as the Manager of the Year was slowly, painfully crushed by the pressure of The Hardest Job in Football.
At least Klopp doesn’t have to worry about people constantly doubting his talent from day one, otherwise those dropped points might already have taken on a different hue. YNWA
Not my intention to disrespect Rodgers fella.
I thought he did well considering his experience in management.
I will always like him because of the “best football in 20 years” but I was not trying to disassociate him from that success, just referencing it as a reason for the current atmosphere at the ground.
Lets face it…. He’d still be in a job if he had won the league.
As a fan if you are being served amazing football one season and then the standard drops then that will have a negative, frustrating impact on the supporter base? Or do you not agree?
Klopp doesn’t think we have the best fans in the world (copyright every previous manager we’ve had). I doubt he thinks we even have the best fans in Liverpool.
His response to the latest walkout was brilliant…
“I felt pretty alone in this moment.”
Nails it. Calls the fans out for singing YNWA, then leaving him and his men to do exactly that when they needed them the most.
I’ve no idea if it’s true that Dortmund fans all stay until the end, no matter what. If it is, it won’t be because every single fan wants to stay. It will be because those that want to leave are too ashamed to do so, will look very conspicuous as the only person walking up the aisle and know that they will be loudly heckled for making an early exit as well. Most people don’t like to stand out.
It’s the fans that stay that are paradoxically the problem, simply because they allow people to leave without really getting on their backs. I’m sure there are one or two that do so, but they aren’t backed up by the people around them.
The support that is enjoyed by Turkish clubs doesn’t happen by accident. Armies need leaders and you will see them dotted all over the stands, backs towards the game and making sure that all their soldiers know what is expected of them. The result is that every fan joins in and loves doing so, because they don’t feel embarrassed about it. Embarrassment only comes when you refuse to take part.
No leaders on the pitch and none in the stands either. That’s why the club is a shadow of what it once was (and what it once was was still only a fraction of what it really could have been).
Read James Pearce’s article in the Echo titled ‘Liverpool FC: Jurgen Klopp will want special relationship with fans’. It contains direct quotes from the editor of a Dortmund newspaper who covered the club throughout Jürgen’s time there. It explains exactly what the atmosphere is like and why. The fans arrive early and stay afterward. It’s an entirely different mindset and culture, and not merely because beer is allowed in the terraces and people can stand.
Greetings from Mainz, Germany. I can assure you, 2/3 of the fans enter the stadium one hour prior to the match start and cheer their team during warm-up. Of course, there are people leaving before the whistle, but you can count them with two hands. In general, people will stay and applaud even if the match was lost. You acknowledge the effort, the fight.
A little off-topic, but another thing that comes into my mind is the way how (some) LFC fans see their players, especially when they are underperforming. Here in Mainz, even without having such a background as LFC we regard ourselves as a family, too. Small one, granted, but a family nonetheless. And there are things we don’t do very easily with family members. Bashing them for instance, and oozing a plethora of comments about how unable, rubbish or worthless they are. You just actually don’t do that with anyone. I think the players in Dortmund or in Mainz perform so well because they know that even if they should have a negative run.
Take a look at Mhktarian in Dortmund for example. His first season was horrible, his second very mediocre. Visible quality yes, but he just would continue to make bad decisions in the majority of cases. Jugding by my impressions of the last five weeks, I am sure that most of the fans would have wanted to trade him if he was playing in England. But both managers Klopp and Tuchel, his team and the fans believed in in him. There has not been a single word doubting his value for Dortmund. And since the beginning of this season, he is paying back, you can see, feel and smell his dedication to do so. Five superb goals and six assists in 11 matches. There are quite a number of examples like him in the Bundesliga.
I am thinking about Origi, Can and Millner, and I wonder what LFC could achieve with an atmosphere like that.
Brilliant, Martin. Thanks for sharing.
We’ve got some growing up to do.
Thank you, Martin. Every word of your comment rings with truth. The fans in Mainz and Dortmund understand and exemplify the real meaning of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ far better than Liverpool fans.
Conversely in the golden age.Liverpool 3-0 up and cruising- people would leave early. Those who left early when Liverpool where trying to salvage the game invariably got serenaded with Sit down yer bums, sit down…yes they were usually in the stands.
Was at the game on Sunday, It was my first time in about 7 years getting over to watch the redmen for various reasons, mainly financial, but luckily enough for us we were sorted with Kop tickets block 306. The atmosphere around us was very supportive of the lads as it should be and fairly constant. If a chant died down someone quickly belted one out that was taken up as fast.
As an out of towner it’s fair to say I can’t get my head around the early leavers but everyone has their reasons. Given how rarely I can afford to get over, taking in as much of the experience is important to me.
My mate & I were a bit shocked to see it, not so much that there are early leavers but that as soon as CP scored they were making tracks.
My two cents, for what it’s worth, I’d just like to see supporters support.
Another great article. Let’s hope the courage of Klopp to raise the issue and articles like this bring some much-needed change. It’s not a simple issue, granted, but the atmosphere at Anfield is worth contending for.
Agree with Klopp but the German comparisons are slightly misleading. Most (all?) German clubs have excellent train services next to the stadium and these trains don’t leave till after the final whistle has blown so even if you want to leave early you’ll just be sitting in an empty train so why not stay till the end?!
I remember when I lived in Munich and went to Bayern games in the old Olympic stadion, you could stay till the final whistle and still be in the city centre within an hour of the game ending, even though most games were 75,000 sell-outs.
Anfield, by contrast, isn’t served well by public transport so lots of fans have to drive but I agree with the comment above – if you’re not intending to watch the whole game then give your ticket to someone who will, ie someone local.
In an ideal world, the club would distribute, say, 15,000 for each game at no more than £20 a pop to all the local Sunday league and schoolboy clubs. Even if it only worked out at a few tickets a club they could hold raffles for the tickets and bring in much-needed funds, whilst ensuring the next generation of local support get to the game and create some sort of atmosphere.
Trouble is, we’d need the Mancs, Arsenal, Chelsea, etc to do the same, otherwise the gap in match day revenue would grow even greater and then we have even less clout in the transfer market
It’s not just about people leaving early to catch trains or beat the traffic, though. That’s always happened, but on Saturday it was a mass exodus immediately Palace scored. That’s not people who had to leave early, but people deciding to give up on the game because we’ve gone behind late on. The loud and clear message that conveys to the players is we’ve already lost. There’s no point sticking around because we’ve no chance of equalising. That’s our defeatist mindset that Klopp’s having to work to change, as well as his work with the team.
Conversely, I was proud of the fans for getting so vocally behind Sakho. If we could replicate that support with more players, we might actually resemble the 12th man theory.
Does Sturridge even have a proper song yet? Guy has a 24 goal season without a song? A dance without a song?