-----Welcome to the Carslberg Sponsored Everton Valley Stadium--
Just who are this vast majority of Liverpool fans? Have you just stumbled upon something that no-one else can define. Does this vast majority include all those kids all over the world who've just picked up on Liverpool after the treble win? Does it include people who say that they support Liverpool but who wouldn't go to the match if a ticket was presented to them on toast or does it include the 20,000 or less that attend those "meaningless" mid-week matches that set up the treble wins. The same 20,000 or less who don't want the "pleasure" of sitting in a three quarters empty woolydome on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday night in November, December, January just so that this "vast majority" can get tickets for the derby, Man United, Arsenal and the game when we win the league.
Of course we need to catch up don't we? With who precisely? When we win our 19th title next May, or possible the year after, it won't be because we've got a big #### off ground. It will be because of Gerard Houllier's managerial ability. Just as our previous titles have been down to the legends that have made the club what it is today. We didn't finish forth in a two horse race because Old Trafford is bigger than Anfield. It was because Royston didn't have what it takes to turn the most talented team in the league that season into champions.
And when we're champions again, will Man United then talk about reducing capacity in order to catch the team that even now, after a decade of relative failure, lies five place ahead of them in the World Soccer rankings. When you go abroad with Liverpool and talk to German, Spanish, Basque, Italian, Dutch etc supporters you realise just what we've got at Liverpool. We have a recognition abroad that we will never have in Ingerland, second only to Real Madrid. Where did the Alaves team dream of playing? Old Trafford? Like ####. They would willingly have switched the UEFA final to Anfield. Where did Sven Goran Erikson say the heart beat of English football was? Wemberlee? Did he shite, it was Anfield - our home.
If you think that a move to Speke will mean the end of "mind yer car mate" and pushing for a pint in a crowded ale house you're probably right. That is if you think you are going to park in the official car park and spend a pleasant couple of hours perusing the bargains on offer at the neighbouring B & Q Warehouse, Next etc. Anyone else will be sampling the delights of Garston, Speke and Halewood. Of course the M57 and Speke Boulevard won't be at all like the Millennium Stadium on a bad day (one way in and one way out)will it? And what's the odds on Miseryrail getting everyone from town out there without a hitch? The local economy will take a bit of battering as well. Speke's nearby motorway and rail links will mean visitors never going anywhere near the city centre, while the economic and social fallout in Anfield and Walton will reverberate accross the city. The experiences of decline in Scotland Road and Kensington will be repeated accross the north end.
"History dwellers" like Edge eh? Well how about a little look into the near future. Lazio and Juventus are ####ing off their big stadia and down sizing to forty odd thousand grounds in built up areas closer to their core support. Suppose its pointless trying to "keep up" with Juve isn't it? You've probably never even thought about the other giants of Europrean football. That's because this debate is tinged more than a little bit with an obsession with Manchester United that betrays a growing woolyback attitude (and that applies to those residents of Liverpool who can't see any further than our friends in Salford) among our support that is ignorant of Liverpool's true standing in WORLD FOOTBALL. It's an attitude that is informed by media hype and the Premier League media machine.
Liverpool are the second most successful club IN THE WORLD. This has been achieved while always having a much lower average home gate than Man United. It has to be said that their avaerage was better than ours even when they were in the second division and we were challenging for the title. Our biggest EVER average home league gate is 48,000. But trophies are not awarded on the basis of bums on seats. We are not at the beck and call of the City of London, we are not in hock to the banks and we are not in a situation of looking to rent a new stadium from a motley crew of "partners" that includes a government quango, music promoters and that bastion of stability and good governance Liverpool City Council. The proposed ground move threatens the very viability of Liverpool Football Club, the figures don't add up. It's an execise in vanity on the part of Parry and Co and our current City Fathers, who see Speke/Garston as the promised land of Liberal democrat hegenomy.
