It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone why some of Britain’s top football pundits are eagerly waiting for the match between Liverpool and Man City at Anfield next Sunday. If it is then this writer is hoping to give a short explanation as a backdrop to this narrative that’s gathering support from even arch rival Man United’s ex players and fans.
One of the biggest reasons behind the narrative is that the Jurgen Klopp vs Pep Guardiola era produced possibly the most exciting, tense and high fueled
Premier league seasons since it’s conception on February 20th 1992 when clubs resigned from the Football League and the following August was the inaugural 22-club season. Regardless if that is agreed upon there is no escaping how intense some of the seasons were with Klopp at the helm of Liverpool and Pep at Man City.
The added layer to this is Anfield’s Kop end where some of the most socially and politically engaged football supporters make the most of chants and banners as a way to demonstrate their feelings from the Hillsborough disaster, UEFA, FIFA and FA scandals, Anti-racism, protests against various FSG proposals like the Super league and many other subjects. It is also a place where the supporters celebrate the love for so many Reds players and managers with songs and banners.
The first reported protest from The Kop was all the way back in the 1930’s when the club was making an effort to sell Elisha Scott who happened to be a favorite amongst the supporters and the supporters did what was natural to them and made a stand. Since that time Liverpool supporters have become renowned for their passion and expressing it through banners and chants of which FSG have had to grasp and acknowledge during their ownership due to finding themselves the target of such actions.
When we step further back to the very birth of the globally respected stand that is the heart of Anfield there is a story that illustrates the inherent honoring that lives within the people of Liverpool. The Kop was first built as an open-air earth embankment in 1906 and the supporters named the new stand ‘The Kop’ in honor of all the soldiers from the city of Liverpool who died at the battle of Spion Kop during the Boer war in South Africa. The losses where so vast that the place became known as the ‘Acre of Massacre’ and the hilly nature of the area was seen by the local supporters as echoed in the newly built earth embankment and the standing fans upon it as the soldiers.
In 1928 the Kop was expanded from a capacity of 25,000 to over 28,000 but more importantly the inclusion of a steel framed roof gave the supporters at the Kop end an added voice in the form of an acoustic box. A gift that continues to give even today as the chill inducing and blood stirring “You Will Never Walk Alone” pours from the hearts and voices of the Kopites and Anfield as banners sway and those who’ve gone before are called back with honoring.
Coming back to the present day and the situation the Premier League faces with the charges brought against Man City it has been a common theme for pundits and football supporters alike that Liverpool and the Kop are the perfect opponents for Man City when the PL season gets back underway after this international break. This writer would go as far as to say there will be widespread disappointment if the Kop doesn’t demonstrate the disgust and anger felt by the majority and do their part in hopefully forcing the Premier League to remain true to the criminal findings and protecting the beautiful game.
This writer’s hopes are that some very inventive chants and powerful banners will be out in full force to welcome Man City and even though Pep won’t be there to face it nor the owners it is without a doubt they will be watching on from a safe place somewhere. The only other thing is that the Reds have to do what most of the country are wanting and that’s beating Man City to insure the day is as nightmarish and demoralizing as possible. There will be no place for them to hide and I can only imagine that the Anfield atmosphere will be deafening which must be matched by our players with intensity and passion.
Liverpool’s head coach Andoni Iraola has experienced games at Anfield including a great European night when the Reds beat Atletico and they must have been very special moments but I hope he’s prepared for what the Anfield faithful might serve up next Sunday.
