Topic: Atmosphere at Anfield

[kesey]

Fuckin ell what a fixture this has turned out to be as it's brought up all sorts of wounds and history.  When we got them all that bollocks about Ronnie Whelan being our first Catholic signing for example was a complete load of bollocks . It took me a few days to find out that Sir Matt Busby was a Catholic who we got in 1936 .

[kesey]

Decent in the lower anfield road I thought we were pretty noisey all night. Couldn’t hear the rangers fans at all reallly except when leaving and they were singing about hillsborough. Lovely bunch.

A few Rangers fans threw a few digs at the young lads who were singing it inside the ground.

[Red_Mist]

The Kop was half empty but it felt possessed that night.

Hi Mike, not wanting to be a pedantic divvy here as you’re one of my favourite posters but it was Anfield that was half empty that night…the Kop was pretty much packed. Probably not completely full, but rammed in the middle and fairly full all the way to the sides. “Possessed” though is a great description. It was mad!

But sparsely populated as the stands were, even they were off the wall. The Kemlyn was stood all game and was as feral as the Kop. The Kingfisher Kirkby flag was front and central of the Kemlyn. That thing went everywhere in Europe. Just a mad night. I honestly think only St.Etienne topped it. Maybe Chelsea 05.

Btw, I reckon one of the main reasons for the low attendance was the really shite weather that night. It was one of those horrible, look out and go ‘fuck that’ nights.

[Crosby Nick]

Remember watching the Auxerre game on TV and it being amazing. Alas, I had to wait a few more years before my first big European game…a 1-0 defeat to Brondby.

Some great lists on here over the last couple of pages. Someone on TAW made the point as well that atmosphere is often poor, or at least not great, for 30 years or maybe more. It can’t be electric every time although there are probably plenty of reasons why it has its lulls at the moment.

[Charlie Adams fried egg]

As a kid on the Kop in the early 80's I remember Anfield not being that full for league games.

Was just going to add something similar to SoS's post. I don't think people these days realise how different the game was back then. Midweek league games, especially around christmas, low to mid 20's wasn't uncommon. The variance in our crowds was huge depending on opposition, but early 30's for run of the mill saturday league games was the norm.

It wasn't just us. Everton were sometimes 11/12,00 for less attractive games and many others were sub around late teens early 20,000s.
I remember Arsenal home crowds in the teens too.

Back then with pay on the gate, people picked their games. It was very different times.

[Red_Mist]

Back then with pay on the gate, people picked their games. It was very different times.

Fans today wouldn’t believe it for such big games, but I remember deciding on the night at the last minute to go to the European Cup Quarter Final against Austria Vienna in ‘85. It was freezing cold and my dad wasn’t convinced, but I eventually persuaded him to go. Attendance was about 33,000. We did the same for the semi against Panathinaikos, and although it was more like 40,000, still wasn’t a problem walking up and getting in. Unimaginable nowadays. Fuck, just realised how much I miss those days. Would probably still go every week.

[Lad]

You have to remember there was a lot of financial hardship back in the 80's in Liverpool and people would pick and choose their games.
Also our support was largely Merseyside based not exclusively, obviously we did have outside support. But we've since became a 'world club' and demand is high for any game. Unlikely we would ever not sell out in the near future for any game.

[kesey]

Fans today wouldn’t believe it for such big games, but I remember deciding on the night at the last minute to go to the European Cup Quarter Final against Austria Vienna in ‘85. It was freezing cold and my dad wasn’t convinced, but I eventually persuaded him to go. Attendance was about 33,000. We did the same for the semi against Panathinaikos, and although it was more like 40,000, still wasn’t a problem walking up and getting in. Unimaginable nowadays. Fuck, just realised how much I miss those days. Would probably still go every week.

I have fond memories of me da saying to me and our kid about half six ' cmon lads were going the match '. We'd jump on the 12 or 13 bus and get off at the Belmont and walk down.

You have to remember there was a lot of financial hardship back in the 80's in Liverpool and people would pick and choose their games.
Also our support was largely Merseyside based not exclusively, obviously we did have outside support. But we've since became a 'world club' and demand is high for any game. Unlikely we would ever not sell out in the near future for any game.

Yes. The financial hardship back then did play a huge part.

[Kenrick_66]

If you look at the cup treble season of 00/01 there was some very low crowds in the cups until the later stages.

There were - and our first ever Champions League season (01/02) saw gates in the low/mid 30s - as did the 04/05 group games, Oylmpiakos aside.

[Red_Mist]

Yep, the financial hardship definitely played a part, combined with a complacency brought about by our relentless success. You might look at a fixture and think, easy routine win there. And it was easy not to bother.

By the time Auxerre came around, things weren’t much better financially, but it was almost the opposite in terms of belief in the team. A lot would’ve dismissed our chances of overturning the 1st leg deficit. Those of us who did go clearly thought otherwise and wore the rose-tinted specs of the ghost of St.Etienne, so 23,000 believers created an incredible atmosphere.

[SouthDerryLaggo]

https://youtu.be/iK-CGFzMTFM
Is this Auxerre game being referred to? Have it on here and it’s class

[disgraced cake]

Yep, the financial hardship definitely played a part, combined with a complacency brought about by our relentless success. You might look at a fixture and think, easy routine win there. And it was easy not to bother.

By the time Auxerre came around, things weren’t much better financially, but it was almost the opposite in terms of belief in the team. A lot would’ve dismissed our chances of overturning the 1st leg deficit. Those of us who did go clearly thought otherwise and wore the rose-tinted specs of the ghost of St.Etienne, so 23,000 believers created an incredible atmosphere.

Nailed it. 23000 who didn't have to be in the ground, but 23000 who needed to be there.

[ToneLa]

So if I bought dodge tickets off a scalper would that make me a shit head or

Not actually that bothered in going to the point touts and scalpers sound AMAZING as its shit let's face it absolute fucking shit but tired of other people benefitting when I, Mr Legit, basically can only get to games when a mate who works for the club takes pity

Just wanna know if I'd become an automeff through embracing the dark arts

Stage 1 is probably not ask about it online haha

[Billy Elliot]

So if I bought dodge tickets off a scalper would that make me a shit head or

Most of the time the atmosphere's better in the pub. Not going the match is the new, going the match. Just fuck it off.

[scouse neapolitan]

"They're away now!!!"      Nice one Barry Davies..

Men of Harlech for Tosh, a decent authentic YNWA, sung as it was meant to be sung.

Keeping it topical, there's even the Celtic Rangers chant with the drone coming in towards the end.
I'd not seen this before.  Memories  are of made of this! Recognise anyone?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMPo2VX6SCM

[scouse neapolitan]

Correction . No Men of Harlech. Only Toshack's name followed by the Dambusters song

[Son of Spion]

"They're away now!!!"      Nice one Barry Davies..

Men of Harlech for Tosh, a decent authentic YNWA, sung as it was meant to be sung.

Keeping it topical, there's even the Celtic Rangers chant with the drone coming in towards the end.
I'd not seen this before.  Memories  are of made of this! Recognise anyone?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMPo2VX6SCM

*Goosebumps*

[scouse neapolitan]

Only found that clip the other day,and I reckon that apart from the brilliant BBC documentary from the 1960s, it's as close as you’ll get to the pre-match buzz on the Kop back in the 1970s. Feather-cuts , Flemings and all.
 All that's missin' are the bad breath, beery, smoky, farty pissy and damp aromas and the steamy upper-body heat pushing up through your Wrangler jacket. Don't know if they’ll ever invent a  virtual- reality machine to make the experience even closer to the original!

Nephew: How did you find your mates in there?
You: You just did, didn't you...?

[scouse neapolitan]

Love the enthusiasm on their faces as the scarves are unfurled for YNWA. The voices are a few youthful decibels higher too which speaks volumes about the age demographics too.

[Red_Mist]

https://youtu.be/iK-CGFzMTFM
Is this Auxerre game being referred to? Have it on here and it’s class

Yes it is (but then you’d probably worked that out if you’ve watched it! )

That pre-kick off roar is something else. It was like everyone had been given a line of something on the way in. Just manic. Although in reality it’s just that idea that you can influence the result of the game by creating a deafening cacophony. Which of course the Kop knows full well that you can. Fire them on to an unlikely victory by sheer willpower and almost anger. And that’s exactly what Anfield has done over the years, repeatedly, against the odds. And although this was ‘only’ the UEFA cup, that’s one of the reasons there’s 6 big ones on the flags and the walls.

[scouse neapolitan]

Didn't go to the Auxerre game and didn't even see it on the telly. I've only seen the YouTube clips but it looks quite something. I heard that the atmosphere against Zenit was quite something as well but I wasn't there.

[Red_Mist]

Didn't go to the Auxerre game and didn't even see it on the telly. I've only seen the YouTube clips but it looks quite something. I heard that the atmosphere against Zenit was quite something as well but I wasn't there.

It would’ve been a memorable one even without Mark Walters’ icing on the cake. The early goal helped. Now the belief is tangible and Auxerre can feel it too. I think a half time YNWA is always a good indicator. Quite a rarity, but means it’s buzzing. But that winner took the night to another level.

[Crosby Nick]

Mike Marsh played at right back and scored a header didn’t he. Must have been around the time we signed Rob Jones.

[Red_Mist]

Mike Marsh played at right back and scored a header didn’t he. Must have been around the time we signed Rob Jones.

Yeah he did. Nice finish back across the keeper from a Ray Houghton floated cross. Around the 40 min mark on that YouTube vid.

[Redric1970]

Didn't go to the Auxerre game and didn't even see it on the telly. I've only seen the YouTube clips but it looks quite something. I heard that the atmosphere against Zenit was quite something as well but I wasn't there.

I was on the kop that night only 23k there, still my favourite game and atmosphere, I was at the next round aswell we lost to Genoa.

[Crosby Nick]

I was on the kop that night only 23k there, still my favourite game and atmosphere, I was at the next round aswell we lost to Genoa.

In the next round we battered Svarski Tirol with even Barry Vennison scoring. Was absolutely Baltic.

Genoa came in about March I think.

[mikeb58]

I wonder what proportion of how the 23k fans against Auxerre were on The kop that night?

Looking at the extended highlights, it's clear the Kemlyn and Annie Rd are sparsely populated. Obviously we cant see much of the Main Stand, I was slightly right of middle in The Kop and it wasn't heaving, but it was pretty packed. On the telly though, The kop does look quite packed overall, which means the rest of the ground must have been virtually empty!

[Red_Mist]

I’d hazard a guess at about 80% of the attendance was on the Kop. About 18.5K which would make it look and feel fairly full in the middle, with plenty of room towards the back…which you can never really see from the tv camera angles. Bit i was in between the pillars felt like a typical, packed Kop. With added loads of jumping up and down!

[mikeb58]

^^

Wasn't The Kop already reduced to a 16k capacity by the Auxerre game though?

I thought more along the lines of about 13k Kopites and approx 10k spread around in the rest of the ground.

[Red_Mist]

^^

Wasn't The Kop already reduced to a 16k capacity by the Auxerre game though?

I thought more along the lines of about 13k Kopites and approx 10k spread around in the rest of the ground.

I thought it was reduced to about 20, but you could be right. 28 in its heyday wasn’t it? 16 feels a bit low for it to still look packed when full.

[mikeb58]

By the way, I forget to explain what was really taking place on The Kop the day of this picture...


'Merseyside dockers, at their mass meeting at Anfield football ground today, indicate by a show of hands their decision to resume work on the docks on Monday. Mr. Frank Campbell, chairman of the Merseyside Dockers’ Strike Committee (standing on the right) also signifies his agreement'


(Evening Express, 02-11-1945)

I wonder if this the same occasion as that pic I posted on RAWK years ago? It showed a line of people making their way out of The Kop at the ground level exit to the Main Stand side.

It clearly wasn't a match day and it could have been from that era. I can't  find that other pic now to make a comparison, I don't  think anybody posted a definitive explanation behind the occasion.

[mikeb58]

I thought it was reduced to about 20, but you could be right. 28 in its heyday wasn’t it? 16 feels a bit low for it to still look packed when full.

Can't remember, post Taylor Report whether The Kop was reduced to 20k then a futher reduction to 16k. I'm sure it was deffo 16k for the final game against Norwich.

Even then The Kop looked packed on the telly, but in reality it could physically hold 12k more.

[Son of Spion]

I thought it was reduced to about 20, but you could be right. 28 in its heyday wasn’t it? 16 feels a bit low for it to still look packed when full.

I've been looking for the dates when the Spion Kop capacity was reduced, but can't find them.

As a kid I was always told the Kop held 28,000, although online a figure of 27,000 keeps cropping up. Wiki suggests that 30,000+ have been reported though.

I definitely remember the capacity being reduced at least twice. I know it was pegged back at 20,000 and then down to 16,000 but I can't recall the dates that happened.

At times in the 70s it was pretty scary. I remember the '76 derby against the shite. The Kop was heaving long before kick-off and the constant swaying and tumbling was making me feel ill. You'd be packed so tight your feet could lift off the ground and you'd be carried whichever way the crowd went. I almost broke my forearm on a crush barrier too. There were games when it was pretty clear that capacity had been exceeded.

[mikeb58]

^^

Agree, there were times in the mid 70s I couldn't enjoy the game half the time, I was too worried about getting back up off the deck. There was always a load of helping hands to immediately get you back to your feet, but a few times I moved away to relative safety of the side, Kemlyn Road usually, better spec there.

I remember one mid week game in particular was really scary, I'm sure it was a cup game against Leicester, nothing special on paper, but it was a 54k sell out and The Kop was heaving, a real pressure cooker of a night.

I found myself rammed waist high against a barrier, almost bent over, but I couldn't get away it was so tightly packed.

 Once it got to HT I moved to the sides....weirdly, when I then looked to the middle and saw all the heaving and swaying I thought to myself  'wish I was part of that'!

[Son of Spion]

I was always compelled to be in the thick of it, but it was tough going at times. I learned pretty quick to try to stand in front of a barrier and not behind it.

It's sort of like another world now, when you look back on it. I remember being on the Kop for our highest ever home European game capacity; 55,104 against Barcelona in '76. We went one-nil up in the 51st minute and there was bedlam on the Kop. I was chuffed with our '1-0 win' until going home and finding that they'd equalised in the 52nd minute but we'd all missed it due to our mad celebrations. 

I loved that night. Seeing Johan Cryff play on our ground. They came out onto the pitch to look around before kick-off and the Kop was feral. They walked over to the already full Kop and a massive chorus of ''Barcelona, Barcelona There's Fuck All Down For You'' rang out. They knew their card was marked right there.

[Billy Elliot]

I definitely remember the capacity being reduced at least twice. I know it was pegged back at 20,000 and then down to 16,000 but I can't recall the dates that happened.

That sounds right. It was brought down to 16,000 after Hillsborough. The year after the Auxerre match it was brought down further - for European matches only. We got knocked out by Spartak (1st leg Grobellar was sent off and we had David Burrows in goals - got beat 4-2). But although it was brought down even further (think to 14,500) and two down from the first leg - the atmosphere was still better than anything bar the really big matches now.

[Billy Elliot]

My older brother came round to my house the other night for the Rangers match. He was telling me about the 11-0 match against Stromsgodset.

He was telling me the atmosphere was dead, then a cat came onto the pitch. Everyone started singing about the cat, and we all hate dogs and dogs and dogs. Then the atmosphere got going and we won 11-0. Because of the cat.

[mikeb58]

My older brother came round to my house the other night for the Rangers match. He was telling me about the 11-0 match against Stromsgodset.

He was telling me the atmosphere was dead, then a cat came onto the pitch. Everyone started singing about the cat, and we all hate dogs and dogs and dogs. Then the atmosphere got going and we won 11-0. Because of the cat.

'A cat...a cat a cat a cat a cat a cat' (attack...attack attack attack attack) I was there, but can't remember if that chant get sung that night.

[andy07]

'A cat...a cat a cat a cat a cat a cat' (attack...attack attack attack attack) I was there, but can't remember if that chant get sung that night.

I think it was although I was quite young then.

[andy07]

I’d hazard a guess at about 80% of the attendance was on the Kop. About 18.5K which would make it look and feel fairly full in the middle, with plenty of room towards the back…which you can never really see from the tv camera angles. Bit i was in between the pillars felt like a typical, packed Kop. With added loads of jumping up and down!

About right.  Must have been a couple of thousand between the two stands and a similar number on the Road End.