liverpoolfc

WELCOME TO LIVERPOOL FC'S PH FAN CLUB!

Last Game: 0-1 Marseille - [CL] (H) - October 03, 2007.
Next Game: Vs. Spurs - [EPL] (H) - October 07, 2007 - 15:00 Liverpool Time.

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You'll Never Walk Alone...
Liverpool FC Unofficial Fan Club - PH Branch

Y.N.W.A

liverpoolfc

Honours:

League Champions: 18
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

Division Two Winners: 4
1893-94 1895-96 1904-05 1961-62

Lancashire League Winners: 1
1892-93

Football Association Challenge Cup Winners: 7
1964-65 1973-74 1985-86 1988-89 1991-92
2000-01 2005-06

League Cup Winners: 7
1980-81 1981-82 1982-83 1983-84 1994-95
2000-01 2002-03

Football Association Charity Shield Winners: 15
1964* 1965* 1966 1974 1976
1977* 1979 1980 1982 1986*
1988 1989 1990* 2001 2006
( * shared)

European Cup Winners: 5
1976-77 1977-78 1980-81 1983-84 2004-05

UEFA Cup Winners: 3
1972-73 1975-76 2000-01

European Super Cup Winners: 3
1977 2001 2005

Super Cup Winners: 1
1985-86

Carlsberg Trophy: 3
1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000

Reserves Division One Winners: 16
1956-57 1968-69 1969-70 1970-71 1972-73
1973-74 1974-75 1975-76 1976-77 1978-79
1980-81 1981-82 1983-84 1984-85 1989-90
1999-2000

FA Youth Cup Winners: 2
1995-96 2005-06

**LIVERPOOL FC IS THE MOST HONOURABLE TEAM IN BRITTISH FOOTBALL**

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شیرمردان غیور اصفهان، تا ابد پاینده بادا نامتان

liverpoolfc

HISTORY:

If it wasn't for one man, Liverpool Football Club would never have been born. When Everton left Anfield in a dispute over rent in 1892, club chairman John Houlding stayed behind along with a handful of supporters and just three first-team players. But he was determined to see football continue at the ground. He formed a new club from scratch, chose the name Liverpool… and created a legend.
Even John Houlding couldn't have predicted how successful it would become. More than 100 years on, no English club can match the LiverpoolFC roll of honour; League Champions 18 times, FA Cup winners seven times, League Cup winners seven times, European Cup winners five times and UEFA Cup winners three times.

When it is completed, the History channel will chart the rise and rise of Liverpool FC to the very summit of the England game, from the struggles of the early years right up to Gerard Houllier's historic treble in 2001. This channel will recall glorious domestic victories and European triumphs and reflect on the tragedies of Heysel and Hillsborough.

Here are 10 key dates in Liverpool Football Club's history to begin with but over time, we'll have over 100 chapters in this section alone as we present the ultimate history of England's greatest ever football club. This is a story of incredible passion and pride - a story that not only inspires Liverpool fans but football supporters the world over.


Chapter 2:

Just eight years after entering the Football League, Liverpool Football Club rose to the pinnacle of the English game with a title triumph that set the tone for future generations at Anfield.


The seeds of this success were sown in 1896 when the legendary Tom Watson was recruited to take charge of team affairs. The impact he was to have on the club cannot be over-estimated. One of his first major signings was the inspirational Alex Raisbeck two years later and it was around him that Liverpool's first team of champions was constructed.



With Raisbeck leading by example from the back, the dependable Bill Perkins between the sticks, Scotland international Billy Dunlop at full-back, flying winger Jack Cox and promising goal-poacher Sam Raybould in their ranks, the Liverpool team that kicked of the 1900/01 season was considered to be their most formidable yet.

This was the era of the handlebar moustache, when Liverpool players changed in the nearby Sandon public house and travelled to away games by train or horse-drawn wagonette. Anfield held just 20,000 and during the week goats grazed on the grass-covered terraces, while the Boer War in South Africa and the impending end of Queen Victoria's reign dominated the newspapers

Goals from Robertson, Satterthwaite and Raybould got Liverpool's season off to a perfect start when Blackburn Rovers were defeated 3-0 at Anfield on the opening day before a crowd of 20,000.

The Reds were to set the early pace and following a 2-1 victory at Stoke City, West Brom were emphatically beaten 5-0 to make it three wins out of three for Tom Watson's men, although Aston Villa, by virtue of having played more games, topped the table.

Centre forward Sam Raybould, along with Tommy Robertson, had scored in each of the first three matches and he netted again in front of packed Goodison Park in the Merseyside derby. His 46th minute strike cancelled out a first half Everton opener but there was to be no further goals and Liverpool's one hundred per cent record came to an end.

The following week title favourites Sunderland inflicted on the Reds a first defeat of the season when they triumphed 2-1 at Anfield, thus ending our unbeaten start. For manager Watson, losing to his former club was a bitter pill to swallow but it was he who would have the last laugh come the end of the season.

Notts County and Wolves were to repeat the feat of the Wearsider's as Liverpool temporarily slipped out of the chasing pack at the top but an impressive 5-1 hammering of fellow title challengers Aston Villa restored faith around Anfield.

Despite that encouraging performance though inconsistency plagued the Reds around this time and further setbacks against Sheffield clubs Wednesday and United were suffered before a confidence-boosting 4-3 victory in a thrilling clash with Manchester City, Andy McGuigan snatching the all-important final goal after the home side had gone in at half-time 3-2 ahead.

By the turn of the year however even the most optimistic of Liverpudlians would have thought the title was out of reach and although the new century began with a 3-1 home win over Stoke but successive league defeats at home to Everton and away to Bolton seemingly killed off any last lingering hopes.

By mid-February Liverpool languished in eighth place, nine points adrift of leaders Nottingham Forest. But, with what was to become a trademark of championship winning Liverpool teams in the future, an impressive late surge saw them emerge from the wilderness to gatecrash the title race.

On 23 February, Watson took his team to his old stomping ground of Roker Park and no doubt returned home with a wry smile of satisfaction on his face after a lone Jack Cox goal secured a crucial 1-0 win that was to prove the catalyst for formidable unbeaten run.

Wolves, Villa and Newcastle were then all defeated as the Reds slowly made their way back up the table and Raybould's 75th minute winner against second placed Notts County at Anfield on 8 April was crucial.

It moved them to within five points of new league leaders Sunderland and with three games in hand the title pendulum was swinging ominously towards the red half of Merseyside.

Victory over Sheffield United, thanks to another goal from leading marksman Raybould, on Easter Monday saw Liverpool draw level with the Rokerites at the top as the season boiled down to an exciting climax.

Also still vying for the leadership were Nottingham Forest but when they visited Anfield on the last Saturday of the campaign goals from Cox and Goldie ended their title ambitions and maintained the Reds pursuit of the crown.

Three days earlier Sunderland had completed their programme with a 2-0 win over north-east rivals Newcastle and still topped the table courtesy of a slightly better goal average so the destiny of the 1900/01 championship hung on the outcome of Liverpool's final game away to West Brom on Monday 29 April.

Just one point would be sufficient for the Reds against the already relegated Albion. The doomed the Baggies were expected to roll over and hand Liverpool the title on a plate but that could not have been further from the truth.

Straight from the first whistle they fought as if their lives depended on it and Liverpool were relieved to go in at the interval one ahead, the vital goal coming via Walker after a Raybould shot had been parried by the Baggies keeper. The second half saw the home side bombard Bill Perkins in the Liverpool goal but the Reds held out to clinch the points and more importantly their first Division One title.

It was a deserved triumph and a perfect riposte to those who had written off Liverpool's chances earlier in the season. Perkins, Goldie and Robertson were ever-presents, Raybould topped the scoring charts with 16 goals and Raisbeck led by example as the inspirational skipper of the side.

In summing up the season the Liverpool Echo wrote: "It was a tussle between Liverpool and Sunderland up to the last day of the season, but the Anfield men never faltered. Since the beginning of the year they have only twice gone under. The Liverpool men are the only team who have scored more goals on opponents' grounds (23 to 22) than the home side. This is a great achievement.

"In away games they won seven times and drew five times, which secured them 19 points out of 34, more than half on opponents territory. Their goals at home were nearly 3-1 against the opposition, when they won 12 times and drew twice. The facts mentioned point to the all round excellence of the Liverpool team, their defence having the best record of the whole division. Liverpool are also credited with the most goals in the tourney, 59 to Sunderland's 57."

After the win at West Brom the newly crowned champions returned to Central station later that evening where thousands of fans were waiting to greet them. Raisbeck was carried shoulder high through the crowded streets, while a drum and fife band provided the perfect soundtrack to the moment with a rousing rendition of 'The Conquering Hero'.

The players and directors eventually made their way back to Anfield by horse-drawn carriage and the League Championship trophy was proudly placed in the trophy cabinet for the first, but by no means the last, time.

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شیرمردان غیور اصفهان، تا ابد پاینده بادا نامتان

liverpoolfc

Legends:



It's a sobering thought. That a man of such humble origins can become a personality of such overpowering influence in the minds of millions of others. Such power, in misguided hands, can lead to unpalatable scenarios, and the twentieth century has witnessed such tragedy far too often. We must be thankful that Bill Shankly possessed neither the political nous, nor the latent evil of a Hitler or a Stalin.
Born into a family of ten in the Ayrshire mining village of Glenbuck, where conditions were harsh, Shankly was however certainly subjected to the workings of grass roots politics. Keir Hardie, one of the founding members of the Labour party, was chipped from the same Ayrshire coal seams, but for Bill, whilst never losing sight of his humanitarian socialism, football not politics was to be the life's devotion.

Like 49 of his fellow villagers straddling the latter part of the 19th and the early years of the 20th century, Shankly became a professional footballer. Football in Glenbuck was the elixir of life, a blessed relief from the toil of the mineshaft. In 1932 he signed forms with Carlisle United and, within a year, had moved onwards and upwards to Deepdale, home of Preston North End. A distinguished playing career at wing-half that brought 7 caps for Scotland was cruelly interrupted by war in 1939. When the 1946-47 season kick-started organised professional football again in England, Shankly was 33 and rapidly coming to the end of his playing days. He decided quite simply that he would become the greatest football manager of all time.

However, by the time the chairman of Liverpool, T.V. Williams appointed Shankly manager of the club in December 1959, Bill had been a manager for over a decade with precious little in the way of success. He had started his managerial career at the club which had given him his chance in professional football 17 years earlier, Carlisle United. A roller coaster trip of northern clubs took him to subsequent spells at the helms of Grimsby, Workington and finally Huddersfield, where he granted a debut to an upcoming 16 year old called Dennis Law. Disappointingly, Shankly appeared prone to falling foul of the boardroom at each of these clubs as he never felt they gave the same commitment to team affairs as he did. He had walked out on Carlisle, and Grimsby citing a lack of financial commitment on the part of the directors and often felt exasperated by people who simply didn't share his passion for the game. It was Shankly's own commitment and enthusiasm that had first intrigued T.V. Williams years earlier when Bill had been interviewed for the vacant Liverpool job in 1951. Back then, it was felt he wasn't a big enough name for the club, and somewhat lacking in experience, but this time Williams knew instinctively that Shankly and Liverpool were right for each other.

It's hard to understate the ordinariness of Liverpool's position in 1959. Languishing in the old second division, with a crumbling stadium, poor training facilities and a large unwieldy playing staff, the challenge facing Shankly was enormous. He dispensed with the services of 24 members of the playing staff. Liverpool's, and his, good fortune, was that in Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, and Reuben Bennett, the club had an experienced and resourceful backroom staff. He wasn't about to dispense with them. The addition of Shankly was the catalyst they needed to grow and blossom into their natural roles at the club. Slowly at first, and then with a gathering pace, Shankly and his backroom team turned Liverpool around. The legendary 'Boot-Room' was born. The Anfield crowd sensed the change. Gates regularly topped 40,000 and promotion was quickly gained back to the first division. Shankly had rebuilt the club around two key players he brought in, both Scotsmen - Ron Yeats and Ian St John. The Reds romped away with the Second Division title in 1961-62, finishing 8 points clear of their nearest rivals and amassing a stunning - in days of two points for a win - 62 points and scoring 99 goals in the process.

The supremacy of Everton in the city of Liverpool was the first target for Shankly now that he had got the club back into the top flight and in season 63-64, Everton handed over the league championship trophy to their neighbours as Liverpool clinched their 6th title. Battle was joined, and between them, Liverpool and Everton did as much the Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers to put Liverpool on the world map in those fab years of the mid 1960s.

The training ground at Melwood, in a terrible state in 1959, was transformed into a top class training facility. Shankly introduced the five-a-side games that so defined his football thinking. Pass and move, keep it simple, a creed taken from the daily matches played by the miners of Glenbuck all those years ago. He introduced a new routine whereby the players would meet and change for training at Anfield and then board the team bus for the short trip to Melwood. After training, they would all bus back to Anfield together to shower and change and perhaps get a bite to eat. This way Shankly ensured all his players had warmed down correctly and he would keep his players free from injury. Indeed, in the 1965-66 season, Liverpool finished as champions using just 14 players and two of those only played a handful of games.

The first F.A. Cup win in 1965 was followed by magical European exploits across the continent as Liverpool established a passing style that became the envy of the watching football world. Amidst all this, stood Shankly, orchestrating events at Anfield, at one with the fans. He was perfectly in tune with the Kopites, knowing and understanding how they felt about football and the pride a successful team gave them. And always, he would remain in touch with his working class roots. His would tell anyone who cared to listen that his lads played to a socialist ethic. If a player was having a poor game Shankly would expect a team mate to cover for him and bail him out like you would do for a neighbour or a colleague down the mine. All for the greater good of the team. The fans on the Kop understood the simple philosophy.

The decline of the great 60s team saw the birth of Shankly's second great Liverpool side. Out went Hunt, St.John, Yeats and Lawrence, and in came Keegan, Heighway, Lloyd and Clemence. Success followed success. A first European trophy in 1973 ( the UEFA cup ) was won in tandem with the club's 8th league title. In 1974, the F.A. Cup came back to Anfield after a breathtaking Wembley performance against a hapless Newcastle United. Then came the shock resignation, on a July day in that summer of '74. Shankly was 60, and wanted to spend time with his wife Ness and their family. That he left the club in such capable hands speaks volumes for the man. The bootroom staff, now joined by ex-players Ronnie Moran and Roy Evans, got behind new manager Bob Paisley and the club went on to even greater glories in the years that followed.

There is no doubt that Paisley's era as manager was more fruitful than Shankly's in terms of trophies won. Also, it seems fair to speculate that much of what Shankly achieved would not have been possible without Bob Paisley's calm influence and knowledge of the game. But it is equally likely that without the driving force and sheer charisma of Shankly, Liverpool's spell in the doldrums in the 1950s would have reached long into the 60s and perhaps even further and Bob Paisley may never have become manager at all. That the club contrived to bring them together at all in those dark post war days, the fans will be forever grateful.

The city of Liverpool was shocked when Bill Shankly died unexpectedly in September 1981 after suffering a heart attack. His good friend Sir Matt Busby was so upset when he heard the news that he couldn't even answer the telephone that morning. In the years following his resignation, to the disbelief of the fans, relations between him and the club he so loved had become somewhat strained. There was no such problem on the terraces. In the first game at Anfield following his funeral, a huge banner was unfurled on the Kop which read 'Shankly Lives Forever'. Perhaps the differences between Keir Hardie and Bill Shankly were only slight after all. Both had achieved immortality through their brand of socialism. One through the ballot box, the other through the turnstile.

His spirit lives on at Anfield to this day, where a statue to the great man stands before his beloved Kop and the Shankly Gates bear the immortal words "You'll never walk alone". Certainly Shankly never walked alone and he is revered by all Liverpool supporters to this day.

This was no better demonstrated than on 18th December 1999 when the 40th anniversary of Shankly's arrival at Anfield was celebrated in a manner that took the breath away. Nearly the whole of the 1965 and 1974 F A Cup winning teams reassembled to view the exhibition commemorating Shankly and then paraded onto the pitch, where they stood in silence as two bagpipers played "Amazing Grace".

12,000 voices on the Kop gently sang the word 'Shankly' to the tune as they held up a mosaic bearing his face and the Saltire. The version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" that followed rivaled any previously heard before. His spirit and his legend is clearly set to live on well into the new Millennium.

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شیرمردان غیور اصفهان، تا ابد پاینده بادا نامتان

liverpoolfc

Hillsborough:

On April 15th 1989, over 25,000 Liverpool supporters travelled down to Hillsborough to watch the FA Cup semi-final match with Nottingham Forest. 96 of them never returned. The sun had been shining and what should have been a fantastic day for both the club and the fans turned into the scene of the most horrific football disaster the English game has ever seen.


96 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death in the Leppings Lane end just after kick-off. Football in England and Liverpool Football Club, in particular, would never be the same again. But - amidst the tears, the scarves, the flowers and the funerals, an unbelievable bond between the club and the supporters emerged. Players, staff and fans from all over the world supported each other through the most difficult time in the club's history.

The events at Hillsborough on April 15th Shook The Kop more than any other day but the aftermath - with supporters, players and LFC comforting one another - highlighted why we all support Liverpool Football Club.

96 Reds live on in our memories.

John Aldridge (LFC player 1987-89): If I hadn't become a footballer it is almost certain I would have been in the middle of the Leppings Lane terrace at Hillsborough on Saturday, 15 April 1989. In the days when I was a fan I would never have considered missing an FA Cup semi-final involving Liverpool so I have to assume I would have travelled with everyone else to Sheffield for the game against Nottingham Forest. But fate decreed that John Aldridge be elsewhere that day. I was not on the Leppings Lane terrace, I was on the Hillsborough playing field, oblivious to what was going on among the Liverpool contingent.

John Barnes (LFC player 1987-97): Saturday 15 April 1989 should have been a day of excitement when a compelling FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest was played at the home of Sheffield Wednesday. I try not to think about the day itself, but I will never forget it. The events were like a nightmare unfolding.

Kenny Dalglish (LFC manager 1985-91): I will never, never forget 15 April, 1989. I cannot even think of the name Hillsborough, cannot even say the word, without so many distressing memories flooding back. I find it very difficult to write about Hillsborough, where terrible mistakes by the authorities, both police and football, ended with 96 of our supporters dead. The memory will remain with me for the rest of my life.

Alan Hansen: In the opening few minutes of Liverpool’s FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough on Saturday 15 April 1989, I felt happier than I could have anticipated. Two months short of my thirty-fourth birthday, I had been out of Liverpool’s first team for nine months – the result of a dislocated left knee sustained in a pre-season friendly against Atletico Madrid in Spain – and had only started playing again, for the reserves, four days before the semi-final. The Liverpool fans gave me a tremendous reception as I came on to the pitch, and I made a great start to the game. In those opening minutes, I hit three good passes – two long balls over the top of the Forest defence to Steve McMahon and the other to Peter Beardsely, who hit a shot against the Forest bar. All my fears about my fitness evaporated. I felt as if I had never been away. Then, suddenly, I started to fall into the blackest period of my life.

John Barnes: I didn't realise anything was amiss on the Leppings Lane terrace until a couple of fans ran on to the pitch shouting, 'There are people being killed in there.' I thought they were exaggerating, like when players say 'that tackle nearly killed me.' I just thought the fans were getting a bit squashed. But Bruce Grobbelaar, who was closest to the Leppings Lane terrace, quickly realised there was something terribly wrong when he went to retrieve a ball and heard fans screaming - 'They're killing us, Bruce, they're killing us.' Bruce shouted at the stewards to do something.

John Aldridge: I was the Liverpool player furthest away from the Leppings Lane terrace when a fan decked out in Liverpool red approached Ray Houghton and shouted something at him. I assumed it was some kind of pitch invasion. The last action I could remember was Peter Beardsley hitting the crossbar with a fierce shot. But soon a policeman with a look of concern approached referee Ray Lewis and began talking to him. The game was brought to a halt. I remember Steve Nicol saying something to the referee, though I was too far away to hear anything. I didn't have a clue what was going on.

John Barnes: Six minutes into the match, a policeman ran on to tell Ray Lewis, the referee, to halt the game. Lewis immediately led the players back to the dressing-rooms. The scale of the tragedy was still unimaginable. We thought a few fans had been squashed but that we would be playing again soon, once the stewards had sorted out the problem. Lewis kept coming in and saying, 'Another five minutes.' Each time, we all got up and started jogging again until he finally came in and said, 'That's it, lads, match off.'

Kenny Dalglish: Nobody knew the scale of the disaster. I ordered the players to stay inside and went out into the corridor. A few fans had gathered there. They called out to me: ‘Kenny, Kenny, there are people dying out there.’ News of the horror filtered through. People who had been outside began to give a hint of the unfolding disaster. Like any man, my first reaction was to check my family was all right.

John Aldridge: The confirmation that Liverpool fans had died reached us while we were getting changed. Some of us were showering, though some had already put their clothes back on. Again, I don't remember exactly what I did. I cast my eyes over to John Barnes and could see tears in his eyes. He was sitting there quietly, not wanting to be disturbed. A few of the other players looked stunned. I couldn't talk. Nobody could. There was a strange sort of silence. Usually there is much conversation and banter when the lads are all together in the dressing-room. Not now. Too many thoughts were flashing through our minds. The sense of logic was disappearing.

John Barnes: All the rumours of crushing and deaths became desperate reality when I heard Des Lynam say, 'There's been a tragedy at Hillsborough. There are many dead.' I went numb. I couldn't believe it. Complete silence seized the room. Every face turned towards the television screen. No one sat down. No one spoke. Forest's players were also in the lounge. What could they say? 'We're sorry your fans have been killed?' The fact that they played for Forest and we played for Liverpool was irrelevant. These were human beings who died. We watched the television for an hour in silence. Many in the lounge were crying. Each of the players wondered whether he knew anyone who could have been in that terrible cage. I had only been at Liverpool for two years and knew hardly any of the fans. It was far worse for the local players like John Aldridge and Steve McMahon. Aldo was very agitated. He was desperately trying to make phone-calls. Eventually, we got on the coach, each player sitting next to his wife, holding hands, still numb and speechless. Everyone drank heavily all the way back to Liverpool. I got completely smashed on brandy. People wept all the way home. All the wives were crying. I was crying. Kenny was crying. Bruce said he was considering quitting.

Kenny Dalglish: The next day people began coming up to Anfield. They just wanted to leave tributes and flowers at the Shankly Gates. Peter Robinson got in touch with the groundsman and told him to open the ground. Liverpool Football Club didn’t want supporters standing around on the street. That was a magnificent thing to do. At 6 pm. we all went to St Andrew’s cathedral. Bruce Grobbelaar read from the scriptures. There was an awful sense of loss, confusion, and frustration. So many emotions were felt. The players and their wives were determined to do something. We all went into Anfield the next day. The wives were brilliant. Everything just stopped and rightly so. It comforted people coming into Anfield, talking to the players, the wives, and having a cup of tea. Liverpool Football Club was the focus of so many people’s lives that it was natural they should head for Anfield. It gave them somewhere to go, something to talk about.

John Aldridge: When the full extent of the disaster that eventually claimed the lives of ninety-six people unfolded, my emotions were of great sadness for the victims whose only mistake was choosing the wrong day to watch a football match; a football match in which I was playing.

I remember giving an interview to the Liverpool Echo in which I said I didn't care if I never played again. I meant every word. For the two weeks following the disaster I was in a state of shock, helpless to do anything. I feel no shame in admitting Hillsborough affected me mentally for a time, a long time. I couldn't cope, It weakened me physically, emotionally and mentally. The thought of training never entered my head. I remember trying to go jogging but I couldn't run. There was a time when I wondered if I would ever muster the strength to play. I seriously considered retirement. I was learning about what was relevant in life. I didn't really see the point in football.

John Barnes: The events of 15 April 1989 at Hillsborough made me realise what is really important in life. Before Hillsborough, I had always tried to keep things in perspective but what happened on the Leppings Lane terraces made me question so much in my life. Football lost its obsessive significance; it was not the be all and end all. How could it be when ninety-six people died, when parents lost children and children lost parents? Bill Shankly's comment that 'football is not a matter of life and death, it is far more important that that' sounded even falser after Hillsborough. Football is a game, a glorious pursuit but how can it be more important than life itself?

John Aldridge: Hillsborough was a real tragedy on a real day involving real people. We often talk of nightmares in our lives, of disaster, of tragedies, but most of us don't really know what we're talking about. I was injured playing for Liverpool the season before Hillsborough and I called it a personal disaster. Disaster? When you know people have died in your vicinity you realise missing a football match or two through injury is irrelevant. Most things are irrelevant. The death of the innocent - the suffering, the injustice - is a real disaster. A real tragedy.

Kenny Dalglish: I was offered the manager’s job at Sheffield Wednesday after I left Liverpool but I couldn’t take it because of what had happened at Hillsborough. The person who offered me the job said: ‘I never thought of that.’ But I can never be in the stadium without thinking of all those people who died on the Leppings

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شیرمردان غیور اصفهان، تا ابد پاینده بادا نامتان

liverpoolfc

The KOP:

The Kop at Anfield dates back to 1905-06. At the end of that season which saw Liverpool lift the second of their league championships the directors at the club decided to reward the loyalty of the fans by building a new brick and cinder banking at the Walton Breck road end of the ground. It was christened as the Spion Kop by Ernest Jones in memory of the many scousers who died in battle over a hill in South Africa by the same name during the Boer War.

In 1928 The Kop was altered to terracing and a massive roof added to protect the thousands of fans who gathered to watch their beloved team play. Other teams named their stands as the Kop but the one at Anfield was the original and the best.

The terrace housed the greatest fans in the game and it was often thought that the fans were worth a goal start to the reds. They would try and suck the ball in if their team was losing and in one of the Kop's famous nights they put the fear of God into Inter Milan in a European semi-final.

The Kop was turned into a shrine in 1989 to the 96 fans who were innocently killed at Hillsborough. The fight for Justice still goes on today more than 10 years after the disaster. After the disaster new guidelines were issued about terracing at football games which brought to an end standing at top flight games. And so in 1994 the Kop changed from a terrace to an all-seater Kop Grandstand. The Kop's Last Stand came against Norwich City in May 1994 and Jeremy Goss went down in history as the last player to score in front of the famous terrace.

Pieces of the Kop were put up for charitable sale when the terrace was demolished and some can still be bought in aid of the Forget-Me-Not Campaign.

The Kop Charter:

1. We are only custodians. The Kop is a spirit, an attitude, the heart and soul of Liverpool F.C. No-one owns it, but together we are a legion, a force like no other.

2. There is no other. The Kop is a one-off. It’s the cradle of terrace culture, humour, songs - the original 12th Man. The Kop innovates. It has never followed. As Liverpudlians, we should never follow the rest of country’s trends and fancies. Whether that takes the form of lower-league grade chanting, overhead seal-clapping or the wearing of yokel-style head gear, The Kop deserves better.

3. “Liverpool F.C exists as a source of pride for its supporters. It has no other purpose.” If that is the club’s pledge to us, here’s ours to the team. “The Kop exists as a bastion of support. We will get behind the team through thick and thin. We will, always, give them strength.”

4. It’s the law of nature that fans have favourites. Let’s leave the negative stuff in the pubs and schools and wherever else there’s a debate to be had. Once we set foot inside Anfield, we are Redmen and we have one purpose; to help the team win.

5. Let’s get inside the ground earlier. This is all about playing our part in making Anfield special, and providing the backdrop and the inspiration for the team to walk tall. It’s also about letting the other team know where they are. When they come out to warm up, we want our heroes’ hearts pumping - and want the opposition shrivelling. Everyone loves a pre-match pint, but let’s get The Kop rocking, too.

6. On 15th April 1989, many thousands of us set off to support our team in the semi final of the F.A Cup. 96 of us never came home again. We will always honour the memory of those who died at Hillsborough. In our respect for them and their families, and in our disdain for the unprincipled and unregulated hacks who scared up a shameful pack of lies out of a desperate human tragedy, we will never purchase or read The Sun newspaper, and we deplore the reading of it by any Liverpool supporter.

7. It is our custom and our privilege to welcome supporters from far and wide. We expect all Kopites of all ages, wherever they sit inside the ground, to show similar respect to the city of the team they support. It’s not endearing when visitors don curly-perm wigs and tell locals to “calm down”. It’s not clever to laugh along with away fans who sing tiresome nursery rhymes about car crime. Support Liverpool F.C, and you support Liverpool, too.

8. We always applaud the other team’s goalie - it's the Liverpool way.

9. “Liverpool F.C. Supporters All Over The World.” We don’t tolerate racism. Everyone knows LFC, all around the globe. From Nairobi to Ngoya, we have fans, people who love us because we do things The Liverpool Way. We have style, we have honour, we have principles. We are a global force with a local pulse - truly, a club of the people.

10. Our own icon, the symbol that makes The Kop a legend all over the world, is our anthem: You’ll Never Walk Alone. If there is one thing that sets us apart as fans, it’s this pre-match ritual, this war cry, our hymn of triumph, and occasional pain. We’re custodians of the anthem, and we have to maintain it and pass it on to the next generation, in pristine condition. We can never dilute the song, its message and its impact with half-measures and bursts of applause half way through. Let’s respect the anthem and do it proud, sing it slowly and with heartfelt emotion, right to the end, scarves held high.

Amen.

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Songs To Sing:

The KOP has always been famous for its marvelous atmosphere ever since it was formed. The Kopites (Somebody who comes from the KOP, Liverpool Fan) all around the world respect the club's vast culture and traditions. Liverpool FC's official anthem is called You'll Never Walk Alone. It is sung like the bible and means more than just a song to the Liverpudlians. The lyrics of the song is a great example of true spirit that exist all around Anfield.

Written by Rogers and Hammerstein for the 1945 Broadway musical 'Carousel', Gerry Marsden and his Pacemakers performed the song in Liverpool clubs during the birth of Merseybeat. "The audience would just stop, stand and listen. It had this immediate effect," says Marsden. Released in October 1963, YNWA was the Pacemakers' third consecutive number one and nowhere was it more popular than on the Kop, as fans sang along with the PA before matches. When it fell from the top spot, Kopites continued to sing it and YNWA has been played and sung at Anfield ever since.

When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of the storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark

Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone

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Classic Quotes

1 "Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that." Bill Shankly

2 "If Everton were playing at the bottom of the garden, I'd pull the curtains." Bill Shankly

3 "The trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they don't know the game." Bill Shankly

4 "A lot of football success is in the mind. You must believe that you are the best and then make sure that you are. In my time at Liverpool we always said we had the best two teams in Merseyside, Liverpool and Liverpool reserves." Bill Shankly

5 "If you're in the penalty area and don't know what to do with the ball, put it in the net and we'll discuss the options later." Bob Paisley

6 "Liverpool was made for me and I was made for Liverpool." Bill Shankly

7 "Liverpool without European football is like a banquet without wine." Roy Evans

8 "Mind you, I've been here during the bad times too - one year we came second." Bob Paisley

9 "I hate talking about football. I just do it, you know?" Robbie Fowler

10 "Sometimes I feel I'm hardly wanted in this Liverpool team. If I get two or three saves to make, I've had a busy day." Ray Clemence

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== KK ==

Bah Bah
Liverpool Fan Club ham rah oftad,
Good job bro, Keep it up.

liverpoolfc

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