Liverpool FC Fans – Glory hunters?
Now far be it from me to start with an outspoken “It wasn’t like that in my day…!” type speech, but in the wake of Jürgen Klopp’s recent comments about Liverpool supporters leaving early, I have to say well, no it wasn’t. Thing is, it’s not just the Reds of Anfield it’s the same across many “top” clubs these days.
I very rarely go to Anfield these days. Firstly because it’s a plane ride away, secondly family life, time and cost often doesn’t permit. And sadly I believe much of the soul from the ground has gone. The last time I went was around 1998 (to watch Aston Villa I think it was) a season or two after the Kop got rebuilt and I couldn’t believe it. It’s absolutely unbelievable how a change from standing to sitting could make such a difference. The atmosphere had all but disappeared. Within the space of a couple of years. Herein lies the problem.
Many people won’t thank me for saying this, but the lack of perseverance in the people attending nowadays I believe, is a direct result of the spiraling cost of going to see a game. I met my son’s mother on a night out after going to watch a match at Anfield around 1992. It cost me £8 or there about a for the ticket. It most definitely wasn’t more than a tenner. OK, this was a lower “grade” game as it was called but I believe the highest then was around £12. The last game I went to cost me around £40. That’s a 300% + increase. For me, the genuine, grass roots supporter has largely been priced out of the game. A controversial statement but I don’t see anything to sway my opinion. Klopp’s observation is no surprise.
Look at this footage below. This was the Kop in its heyday. Before my time but it was something to behold. Of course there were occasions when it was quiet. During a game things can get like that. An old friend of mine said you could hear people farting on the Kop such was the absence of noise sometimes so that’s nothing new. However, what is new is the fact that many of the people in the clip below likely couldn’t afford to go at today’s prices.
What I notice when I watch on the TV, and this goes for many so-called top clubs, the crowd are sitting waiting for the team to lift them. No. This works both ways. The supporters are supposed to get behind the team and I often don’t feel that now. You can’t only sing when you’re winning. Many of the followers are… Yes, glory hunters. This is why they left early on Sunday. They didn’t believe there was anything worth staying for. Was the team really that bad? I can remotely understand if the side was getting spanked 1-6 but this wasn’t the case. Liverpool fell a goal behind in a game they were dominating and deserved more from. At this point, the players need the fans. It shouldn’t be the other way around with a “Well, I haven’t got my win, now. I’m off, tata…!” kind of attitude. They’re not supporters. They’re spectators and the two are not the same in my opinion.
What happened at Anfield on Sunday is not isolated to Liverpool as I said earlier. This is endemic in the game, now. As in life, everything is disposable. And that includes support. More fickle now than it’s ever been. I have a friend. He’s a Manchester United season ticket holder. Twenty five years ago when we used to go and play football on a Sunday morning after a night out, he never bothered, simply because he didn’t like football. Now he’s this “die hard” Manyoo supporter. Supporter bollocks! Where did that come from? It’s the same at Liverpool. Sadly things have changed and this is only normal.
The current capacity of the Kop, from memory is around 12,300. It used to be well over double that. The rest of the ground fed off it. This is for sure. Now with less than half the occupants, you end up with half the atmosphere. The seating has definitely made a difference. Now I know the supporters were leaving from the Main Stand but as I say, the atmosphere is not one that makes them want to stay. And much of the atmosphere is generated from the Kop. Anyway, they probably left so they could get their cars and beat the traffic! That’s what it’s come to.
The fact that the stadia are now all-seater brings about a different atmosphere and of course, attracts a different clientele needed to support the higher cost of development and maintenance requirements. The Westfalenstadion or Signal Iduna Park as its now known, home to Borussia Dortmund is a classic example of what’s missing at Anfield. The Südtribüne (The Gelbe Wand – Yellow Wall) although fitted with 15,000 seats remains terraced on match days allowing for 25,000 standing spectators.
I’m not going to go into the merits (or not) of the Taylor Report that came about as a result of the Hillsborough Disaster, but I do feel there remains a place for standing spectators at football grounds, albeit to a lesser degree because the safety benefits are also without question. However, you can’t have your cake and eat it and higher, arguably prohibitive costs have been one of the results. Something has to give. Unfortunately it’s some of the atmosphere.
Now, we have a situation where one could argue that the fan that made football what it is can likely no longer afford to go. Sad but true. Another fact worth noting is that for all of the success Liverpool has achieved over the years, many current supporters have not witnessed the heady days of the past. What they fail to realize is that the crowd was as much a part of the success as the team.
The archetypal, quintessential “12th man”. He’s sorely missed at the moment and when he returns, along with his belief in the team, then Jürgen Klopp and his Liverpool side really will never walk alone.
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