Welcome to the latest installment of the Gloucester Groundhopper blog.
For this installment, we travelled to Merseyside to take in one of the biggest grounds in the world of football as Liverpool Legends took on Celtic Legends at Anfield.
It's All In The Name
The team's nickname is the Reds. While there is nothing intriguing about the nickname that pays tribute to their shirt colour, there is when it comes to Liverpool’s badge, which features the Liver Bird. The Liver Bird is a mythical creature – an imaginary cross between an eagle and a cormorant and was used as the seal of the city from well before the formation of the football club in 1892.
The most famous section of the club’s fans, and at times the club itself, is referred to as the Kop. It gained the name from a battlefield in South Africa called Spion Kop where a local regiment had suffered heavy losses during the Boer War in 1900. In 1906 the club erected a new stand made of cinder and brick and a local sports editor Ernest Edwards came up with the name to honour the fallen soldiers.
Some Notable People From Liverpool
John Lennon- Singer For The Beatles
Cilla Black- Singer
Jason Isaacs- Actor
John Bishop- Comedian
Jodie Comer- Actress
A History Lesson From AFC Finners
Liverpool was founded in 1892 as a result of a disagreement in the Everton boardroom. The Toffees were the original tenants of Anfield, but after moving to Goodison Park, Liverpool was formed to take over. They were originally known as Everton Athletic before changing their name to Liverpool after the Football Association refused to recognise them.
Liverpool won the Lancashire league in their inaugural season and went on to play in the Football League's second division. They were promoted to the First Division in 1896, and Tom Watson led them to first division titles in 1901 and 1906.
They reached their first FA Cup final in 1914, losing to Burnley, and won top flight titles in 1922 and 1923, but then went on a trophy drought. This was ended by their fifth first-division title in 1948, and they returned to the FA Cup final in 1950, but were defeated by Arsenal.
The majority of the 1950s would be a disaster for the Reds, who were relegated in 1954 and suffered an embarrassing defeat to Worcester City in the FA Cup in 1959. This defeat, on the other hand, would prove to be a blessing in disguise.
Phil Taylor resigned as manager soon after, and was replaced by Bill Shankly, who would go on to become Anfield's messiah. Shankly released 24 players upon his arrival at the club, overhauled the training ground, emphasised hard work, and formed a strong bond with the fans. It was the beginning of a dynasty.
Liverpool won the Second Division in 1962 and the First Division two years later. Shankly's ambition when appointed Liverpool manager was to win the club's first FA Cup, and he got his chance in 1965. Liverpool advanced to the FA Cup final against Don Revie's Leeds. Liverpool won the FA Cup for the first time with goals in extra time from Roger Hunt and Ian St John.
Shankly was still popular on the Kop and led them to another league title in 1966. However, his ageing squad caused the club to go into a slump, but after bringing in new players such as Ray Clemence, Kevin Keegan, and Phil Thompson, the team rose again. They won the first division and the UEFA Cup in 1973, and they won the FA Cup for the second time with a 3-0 victory over Newcastle in the 1974 final. But the club was dealt a devastating blow that summer.
Bill Shankly announced his resignation as manager after 15 years with the club. The news sent shockwaves through football, with many pleading with Shankly to reconsider, but the Scot stood firm. For continuity, his assistant Bob Paisley was given the difficult task of replacing him.
Paisley did not want the job, and many thought Liverpool's best days were over, but things turned out to be even better.
Paisley's first season ended without a trophy, but it would be the only time this happened. Liverpool won the first division and the UEFA Cup again in 1976, and they upgraded their double in 1977 by winning the league and their first European Cup. Paisley hoovered up trophies for fun the following year, and they won the European Cup for the third time in 1981. Paisley retired in 1983, having led Liverpool to three league cups, six first-division titles, a UEFA Cup, and three European Cups.
When Paisley was replaced by his assistant Joe Fagan, whose debut season was one of the best in the club's history, Liverpool chose continuity once more. They defeated Everton in the league cup final, won the league, and defeated Roma on penalties in the European Cup final at the Stadio Olympico. Fagan's career began brilliantly, but ended tragically.
The following season, Liverpool reached the European Cup final for the second time, but the game was overshadowed by the death of 39 fans in a stampede before the game. Juventus won 1-0, and Joe Fagan returned home in tears before retiring quietly.
Fagan was replaced by player manager Kenny Dalglish, who continued to bring honours to the club, winning a double of the first division and the FA Cup in 1986, and again in 1988. They reached the FA Cup final in 1989, but were tragically defeated.
A crush occurred in the Leppings Lane end of the Hillsborough stadium during the semi-final, killing 97 Liverpool fans. It is a tragedy that had a significant impact on the game and continues to sting the heart of football to this day.
Liverpool won the FA Cup for the fourth time, paying a fitting tribute to those they lost to in the final. They won the league again in 1990, but manager Kenny Dalglish resigned in 1991 due to the emotional trauma of the Hillsborough disaster. He was replaced by former captain Graeme Souness, who led them to the FA Cup in 1992 before being fired in 1994 due to poor performance. He was replaced by Roy Evans, who won the league cup in 1995, but after a string of poor league results, Gerrard Houllier was brought in as a co-manager, eventually taking over as sole manager after Evans resigned in 1998. Houllier led the club to a treble of the league cup, UEFA Cup, and FA Cup in his second full season in charge. Rafael Benitez took over after he failed to mount a title challenge in his previous two seasons. In his first season, he performed a miracle when Liverpool came back from 3-0 down to defeat AC Milan on penalties in the Champions League final.
The following season saw another final that ended 3-3 and was won on penalties by Liverpool, with the "Gerrard final," as it was known, seeing Liverpool defeat West Ham to bring the famous trophy back to Anfield for the seventh time. Liverpool made a strong title challenge in 2009, but were defeated by Manchester United.
After finishing seventh in 2010, Benitez stepped down as manager, and a disastrous spell under Roy Hodgson ended with Kenny Dalglish's return. Dalglish led Liverpool to their eighth league cup and an FA Cup final in the 2011-12 season, but his second spell at the club was cut short due to poor league form. Brendan Rodgers would take over and bring the club agonisingly close to the title in the 13-14 season, with Luis Suarez in incredible form, but a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea saw their charge come to an end, and they lost the title to Manchester City.
Rodgers was fired in 2015, but was replaced by Jurgen Klopp, who transformed the club's fortunes. In his first season as manager, Klopp led Liverpool to the League Cup and Europa League finals, but both times they were defeated. Over the next few years, Klopp restructured the squad and emphasised intense, high-pressing play, which he dubbed "heavy metal football." In 2018, they lost 3-1 to Real Madrid in the Champions League final. They lost the league title despite finishing with 97 points, but they were back in the Champions League final, and this time they would not disappoint.
Mo Salah and Divock Origi scored to help them defeat Spurs 2-0, and Klopp won his first trophy with the club. The following season, they sailed to the title with incredible form, winning the Premier League for the first time in 30 years, with 99 points and only dropping points in six games.
They finished third the following year after a difficult campaign, but they exploded the following season, fighting on all fronts. They won their ninth League Cup on penalties against Chelsea, and then repeated the feat in the FA Cup final to win it for the first time in 16 years. They would, however, miss out on a quadruple, finishing one point behind Manchester City and losing the Champions League final to Real Madrid. This season has been marked by inconsistency, as Klopp attempts to rebuild his team after a successful run that has seen them add to their trophy cabinet.
And here's a fun fact: Liverpool's first ever starting lineup was made up entirely of Scottish players after manager John McKenna went scouting in Scotland.
Honours
🏆 First Division/Premier League (Winners: 1900-01, 1905-06, 1921-22, 1922-23, 1946-47, 1963-64, 1965-66, 1972-73, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1985-86, 1987-88, 1989-90, 2019-20)
🏆 European Cup (Winners:
1976-77, 1977-78, 1980-81, 1983-84, 2004-05, 2018-19)
🏆 FIFA Club World Cup (Winners: 2019)
🏆 FA Cup (Winners:
1964-65, 1973-74, 1985-86, 1988-89, 1991-92, 2000-01, 2005-06, 2021-22)
🏆 League Cup (Winners: 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1994-95, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2011-12, 2021-22)
🏆 UEFA Cup (Winners: 1972-73, 1975-76, 2000-01)
🏆 UEFA Super Cup (Winners: 1977, 2001, 2005, 2019)
🏆Community Shield (Winners: 1964*, 1965*, 1966, 1974, 1976, 1977*, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1986*, 1988, 1989, 1990*, 2001, 2006, 2022 (*shared))
🏆 Division Two (Winners: 1893-94, 1895-96, 1904-05, 1961-62)
🏆 Lancashire League (Winners: 1892-93)
🏆 Football League Super Cup (Winners: 1986)
Matchday: Liverpool Legends 2-0 Celtic Legends
We travelled to Liverpool on a beautiful Spring morning. We arrived in Liverpool in good time, so we had a look around the Albert Docks and then headed over to pay our respects to Joe Fagan, a former manager of Liverpool who is buried in Anfield Cemetery. Unfortunately, as the cemetery is so large, and there is no indication anywhere of where the grave might be, we were unable to find it.
Following this, we had a stroll through the world renowned Stanley Park, and headed for Anfield Stadium. Firstly, we visited the club shop, and it has to be said, it was absolute carnage in there. There was lady insistent on screaming 'let's keep the line moving' at the top of her voice into people's ears and there was absolutely no order in there. They do have a large range of merchandise in the shop, including some Pop Vinyl figures of the players, scarves, shirts signed by players and chocolate bars. I have to say, I've never really understood the notion of buying a club branded chocolate bar. If you're not going to eat it, it's a waste of chocolate, if you are going to eat it, it's a bit pointless buying a club branded one.
Taking our circuit of the ground, it was clear that the ground is well maintained and really modern. They were doing some renovations on one end of the ground, which was a bit of an eyesore, but I'm sure it will look nice when it's finished. There are a variety of statues paying tribute to legends in Liverpool's history including Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley too. After this, we headed into the stadium.
It has to be said that the ticketing system is a bit of a nightmare at Liverpool. You need to download an NFC Pass onto your phone, then once youve downloaded that, you need to download the ticket. This seems simple enough, but if you're not au fait with technology or don't own a smartphone, this could end up being a real sticking point.
There are multiple food stalls in the ground, selling a variety of foods including pies, burgers and hotdogs. I was absolutely starving so I bought the meat and potato pie and the scouse pie. Both pies were absolutely delicious, and really good value for money. Thanks to the guy who recommended I put a bit of HP sauce on them too, a champion idea.
Most people at the ground were really friendly. Other than the aforementioned cacophony of screaming in the club shop, everyone was really helpful, friendly and willing to chat. The atmosphere was electric throughout the entire game, and to be able to witness 'You'll Never Walk Alone' in person was an absolute honour. It was spine tingling. The Celtic fans were particularly loud and offered a lot to the atmosphere, singing throughout the entire game.
Teamsheet
Liverpool Legends
Manager: Sir Kenny Dalglish
Sander Westerveld
Bjorn Tore Kvarme
Martin Skrtel
Ragnar Klavan
Sami Hyypia
Gregory Vignal
Salif Diao
Charlie Adam
Steven Gerrard (c) ⚽️
Steve McManaman
Dirk Kuyt
Substitutes
Jerzy Dudek
Albert Riera
Mark Gonzalez ⚽️
Mohamed Sissoko
Luis Garcia
Gary McAllister
Fabio Aurelio
Djibril Cisse
Robbie Keane
Celtic Legends
Manager: Paul Lambert
Artur Boruc
Mikael Lustig
Stiliyan Petrov (c)
Darren O'Dea
Ross Wallace
Marc Crosas
Joe Ledley
Emilio Izaguirre
Niall McGinn
Robbie Keane
Jan Vennegoor Of Hesselink
Substitutes
Shay Given
Ramon Vega
Glenn Loovens
Lee Naylor
Simon Ferry
Trevor Sinclair
Simon Donnelly
Harold Brattbakk
The game started slowly, with Celtic perhaps getting into their passing rhythm faster than the hosts. Sander Westerveld saved a more accurate drive from a similar distance by Stiliyan Petrov after Ross Wallace thumped a long-range effort wide. Wallace's angled delivery into the area was headed off target by Robbie Keane, who started for the visitors before switching to the visitors in the second half, and Westerveld had to rush from his line to prevent Emilio Izaguirre's attempted dink finish after an incisive one-two. Artur Boruc was relatively comfortable tipping over a rising hit from Gonzalez at the other end, but the Celtic goalkeeper would soon be picking the ball out of his net.
Martin Skrtel won possession in midfield and carried it into the penalty area before being brought down by Darren O'Dea's challenge. Naturally, Gerrard took over from 12 yards out and gave the home fans exactly what they wanted, stroking in the kick to break the deadlock and secure a half-time lead.
When play resumed, that advantage was doubled in a matter of seconds. Djibril Cisse, one of Dalglish's four subs for the second half, slid a pass behind the Celtic defence for Gonzalez on the left, who beat his final marker and rolled a low effort in off the near post.
In response, Niall McGinn tested Jerzy Dudek with a 20-yarder, which the Pole cleared, and O'Dea's close-range flicked header was ruled out by an offside flag. Ragnar Klavan had crept into a more offensive role down the left during the game, and he had a chance to score after darting forward to meet Cisse's diagonal into the area - but nodded wide. The defender then put the ball into his own net during the next Celtic attack, but he and Liverpool were saved by another offside call.
Keane, now in red, was denied a Kop-end strike by the goalkeeper after a neat exchange of passes with Luis Garcia to create space, but Dalglish's LFC Legends had done enough to claim victory on their Anfield return.
Scores On The Doors
Atmosphere: 9/10
Food and Drink: 7/10
Stadium: 9/10
Welcome: 8/10
Overall Experience: 8/10
GG
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