Love this thread to bits. Everyone’s comments are valid and useful but in my humble opinion, all of our supporters around the world and especially the younger ones need a crash course in what the Kop, the atmosphere in the ground and our unique relationship with the club is all about.
Sorry if it’s a bit long-winded. I’m just writing this simply to explain my own link and relationship with the Kop and to comment on “atmosphere” both perceived and real. It’s my attempt to tell our fans not to worry that the atmosphere has gone forever because it hasn’t. I reckon that our “atmosphere” can and will right itself probably when we least expect it to. But I reckon that there should be a word of warning because the atmosphere and more specifically the uniqueness of our support needs to be fully appreciated and like other precious things it needs to be nurtured. Like anything of heritage.
The Kop is a time capsule of memories and like the Songlines it ought to be handed down from generation to generation. It’s that precious. It’s a memory of my dad and my granddad. It’s a link with my past and I want my kids to understand it too.
Older generations need to pass songs and memories down to the younger generation. I also think that the older songs need to be sung every now and again. I really do. Nothing wrong with an occasional “12 123 1234 St John.” In the same way as the Luis Garcia song is given an occasional airing. I’d love to hear “It’s Cally , it’s Cally...” Why? Because it’s there and if it’s not sung it’ll be forgotten. That’s why the Boss nights are exactly that.
Sadly there aren’t enough young people getting into the Kop because of ticketing problems. That needs to be addressed by the club and personally I reckon that older generations, if they no longer feel like being part of what the Kop has always been with the songs and the chants, season ticket holders or not, they should be encouraged to move elsewhere in the ground. That is if we want to preserve the unique thing that the Kop is. Not sure how you do it, but it needs to be discussed and shouldn’t be a taboo. In the past older Kopites used to take themselves off to the Kemlyn Rd or the Main Stand. It was the way things worked. Sorry if it’s unpopular but it’s only an opinion.
It is after all the opinion of an old git who doesn’t get to the game very often but who followed the team up and down the country in the 70s and 80s and who stood on the Kop for about 10 years through the 70s and 80s. I don’t claim to know about the modern dynamics in play these days but I’d like to think that I know enough to give a general opinion about what makes for our special and unique atmosphere. Even when the atmosphere is shit and the opposition fans are singing , “where’s your famous atmosphere?” Where? “Sing something simple, you simple twats!” Even when the atmosphere is shite at our place, it’s unique. Maybe even uniquely shite.
And, as I’ve said before on a few occasions , like the repetitive old git that I’ve become, our support and more specifically the Kop is as important as our successes on the pitch. As far as I’m concerned, our trophy haul wouldn’t have the same glitz or significance if the team and staff weren’t in symbiosis with the Kop and of course the rest of the supporters. Nor would it be the same if there wasn’t the special relationship with our very very special and unique city.
I don’t honestly think that you can separate our team’s success from the support we give them or the relationship that we have with the manager and the city( or lack of relationship as happened with Hodgson.) It’s basically Shanks’ Holy Trinity. The three things work together.
But atmosphere isn’t on tap. Good atmosphere comes together when the harmony is there and it ebbs and flows as in every relationship. A Tuesday in October isn’t always exciting nor is a Saturday morning in early January, but then again neither was it all the time in the 70s and 80s .
A grumpy crowd whinging about form or leaving on the 80th minute also comes across loud and clear too. Frustration and collective whining comes across loud and clear as well and it has an effect on the team. Indeed, The Kop used bollock the early leavers in the Kemlyn Rd when they sneaked out early. “Sit down you bums,” they would roar.
But having said that, even when the atmosphere was low-key and the Kop was under-performing., there was always the chance that it could be resuscitated at any moment. With humour or with something that happened on the pitch. A cat running on the park, the bizzies marching towards the Kop like the Keystone Cops and getting the Laurel and Hardy tune, an attractive St John’s ambulance lady walking towards the Kop, ( obviously not politically correct these days,) Gary Sprake the Leeds goalkeeper chucking the ball into his own net , or even the Grimsby Town fish chronicles. Something could always spark the masses out of slumber.
Our support and our relationship was/is so unique that it almost acted like one person. Its personality took on the character of a single being and could change if circumstances dictated. Our support on the Kop, could change the shape of a game and the Kop used strategies to encourage, “Come on Scousers, come on scousers!” was a rallying call which demanded greater intensity from the players. And they responded.
Similarly, when the players needed to show a bit less refinement and a bit more grit, “Get into them! “ was roared out and the players responded too, getting into the oppositions’ shins. Of course, “get into them” also encouraged the Anny Rd enders to lead the charge at the away supporters gathered in the Anfield Rd end and the Rd Enders usually responded with a “We are evil!” or “we are the Anny Anny Rd end” to confirm that they were in attendance. This was then followed by a “it’s nice to know you’re here from the Kop.” That was the way the conversation went.
There were chants, not songs, to change the flow of the game. It was mass communication with the players. “Attack, attack, attack, attack, attack” needs no explanation. But if a win was needed it communicated urgence and the team usually responded. “ More persuasive than “Come on scousers!! “ which admittedly was a little chastising, was “Come on you mighty reds, come on you mighty reds. “ This was a reminder top the players that in case they’d forgotten that they were world beaters, we hadn’t. So start showing it. I personally reckon that we could do with a few of these chants of encouragement, not just songs. Just saying like.
The starters of the chants and songs were hidden in the massed Kop. It could actually be anyone, but it was usually a select few. I even got a couple of songs started to my eternal pride. But we didn’t need a drum or an ultra man with his back turned towards us to get us by the scruff of the neck. We were a many-headed animal and the life flowed out of us from all over the place.
Interaction with the referee was also very personal. He was also told in no uncertain terms if he was having a stinker or not. There were songs which asked about his parentage or if he was prematurely bald then he would be reminded that his arse was on his head. Whether this put pressure on the officials or not, I don’t know, but we certainly got a fair rub of the green when we played at home. This was (and I’m sure still is at times) the power of the Kop.
When there was a lull in the game or the Kop was quiet, it would be time for the Kop drone. As Son of Spion and Mike 58 have pointed out. Again, something totally unique and special . It really needs to be revived. It could start on the left, in the centre or on the right. And it whined. Liiiiiiiiiiippoooooooooolllllllllllll!!! A wondrous thing!!!!
Then there were the foreign delicacies. We really were unique. The port city and the city of travellers when most people still didn’t travel. I like to think it was superior level of mass culture. Scousers read and were informed and they knew their opera and literature. “ Go back to Italy “ roared the Kop, paraphrasing Cottrau’s 1850’s Neapolitan classic to the Inter Milan players as we stuffed them 3-1 but should have scored more. Come on! Who was the genius who thought of that one on the spot in the Kop that night?
Even when success was imminent, we didn’t limit our repetoir to “We’re gonna win the League,” as great a song as it was. No, we had our French version. We changed the epic Edith Piaf number ,Milord, and it became,” We’re gonna win the League, we’re gonna win the League. “ How I’d love to hear that again from the Kop. Then were the other classics like Renato Rascel’s “Arriverderci Roma,” changed to “the 25th May” or the Dean Martin classic, “ The Bridges of Paris, “ for our 1981 “ Gay Paris classic”. And then there was the Dambuster dirge against our German opponents. Witty and a bit below the belt but memorable. We were more international than Internazionale!
This , don’t forget was before the easy access of the Internet. It’s a delight to see that the more recent songsters are still dipping into the foreign bag as well as using the Beatles’ song book. This is who we are. We must never forget it.
I could go on. All through the 2000s with the Istanbul classics and even the more recent beauties. The Rafa song which I had to laugh when I heard the Geordies rip it off so blatently...and badly. The Maxi Rodriguez beauty as well as the more recent gems. Why not sing these songs occasionally? After all they are things of great beauty and recall moments of our glorious past.
I’ll conclude and apologise if I’ve gone on about this thing that is so dear to my heart for such a long post. Our support is different. It’s not always at the highest level, and anyone who thinks that the atmosphere should always be amazing forgets that the Kop is only human .We are not artificial.
The Kop is a treasure that needs to be handed down to future generations. As I said It is a time capsule of collective memories, of our dads and granddads and it needs to be understood. Pink Floyd didn’t use the Kop on one of their classics for nothing. If we ever worry that the atmosphere is a bit subdued, don’t worry. It might change at any moment like it did against Leicester in the League Cup. Let them sing, “where’s your famous atmosphere?” and they’re right. It mightn’t be there at that particular moment but the magic of our place is that it’s only ever round the corner.
The important thing is that we never forget who we are. We are very special.
