Every set of away fans that experience the Anfield atmosphere ask the same question, but do they have a right to question our support?
I’VE ummed and ahhed about writing this.
It’s an uncomfortable subject and I’m probably going to get some stick for it. I know I should be thinking about Harry Kane and VAR and England and Scotland, but this has affected my match-going ‘experience’.
No one wants to slag anyone off who gets out of bed, travels miles and pays out a lot of money to watch The Reds at Anfield. No one. But this needs saying.
Sorry, but Anfield is bloody awful these days. It’s quiet enough to hear a mouse fart at times. It’s more like a cinema than the cauldron of noise many believe it to be.
It annoys me and it annoys me more because I hate pointing the finger at people who give up so much time, money and effort to get into the ground in the first place. I’ll admit that I’m also part of the problem and one I can’t begin to solve.
I sit in the Main Stand this season. I’m reluctant to point out exactly where in case people spot me, point and stab me with their fingers as I pass, but suffice to say, I’m near the away end. Close enough that a well-lobbed pie could hit a visitor with a fair degree of accuracy.
This means I have to sit through the usual shite of ‘is this a library?’, ‘your support is fucking shit’ and the usual festive ‘feed the Scousers’ — often delivered from those whose home cities are seldom mistaken for the plush streets and boulevards of Dubai and Monaco.
(A nod here to those who run NUFC Fans Food Banks. Good people all. Poverty shouldn’t be a topic of tedious persiflage as some of your lot thought on Thursday night. I know it’s not representative of all Newcastle fans but one thing that song isn’t is fucking ‘banter’.)
It’s the library song that rankles the most. Of course, it isn’t a library. You can’t borrow books there and, looking at it from the other side, you don’t need an NFC pass on your phone to get to the Catherine Cooksons in your local council library. They should know that.
But Anfield is quiet. Too damn quiet. True, it’s not always easy to generate an atmosphere when there’s little drama in front of us (most home games have been over in terms of the outcome with 20 minutes to go), but we shouldn’t be able to hear the substitutes shouting to the bench as I could with James Milner at the Newcastle game.
Being next to the away fans makes it worse as they’re loud, albeit with a mediocre song book. Southampton, Villa and Brighton sang the exact same songs, a perfect identikit portrayal of each other.
But it’s worse when they slag off the atmosphere and have a point. I hate that the most. Not an original song between them but they’re right when they ask, ‘where’s your famous atmosphere?’ I’d like to know too. I’d also like to know why we don’t answer. Loudly.
I could understand the lack of atmosphere if we were a bit shite. It was difficult enough to generate an atmosphere in the dark days of late Houllier or when the fans were at war with the owners in 2010, but this is an incredible side we’re watching — possibly the best one we’ve ever seen — and we’re refusing to paint it black.
Mo Salah is breaking records every week, Diogo Jota is fitting in nicely, the best goalkeeper and centre half in the world play here and a local lad is reinventing the role of the right back. Nothing. A half-hearted ‘Liverpool’ when it’s 0-0. They deserve better than that and so does the ground.
Regular match-goers will either agree with me on this or shoot spittle at the screen, asking where the hell I get off slagging off our fans and I’m with them on that too. I hate drawing attention to it. I know the sacrifices so many make to do this thing, but sometimes you have to point to the elephant in the stadium. A pretty quiet elephant at that.
It should also be said that it’s a myth that the ground was always vibrant back in the day. Just over 37,000 made it to my first ever game back in 1981, though that might have something to do with the mass unemployment of the time. Not every game was like Saint-Etienne.
I said that I’m part of the problem. The average age of the Kopite is probably in the 40s and I’m even older than that. Also, the Main Stand has never been the hotbed of atmosphere even in its previous guise, but it’s quiet enough to hear people chewing hot dogs at times.
And yet it’s so different for away games. It’s cheaper at £30 so younger Reds can get in and paper tickets are easier to come by than a phone with an NFC pass. The result is that the travelling Kop is much more vibrant than the home version. Watford in particular was a laugh with noise and song, rather than me and people like me wondering if their bladders can hold out to half time.
I know what you’re thinking. Give up your membership and credits then! Let some younger Reds have your spec, dickhead! It’s a fair point and predictably my answer would take just two words. Hence, the difficulty in sorting it all out and bringing some life back into the place.
I’ve been in a similar situation with the manager in his early days here. Shouting at the crowd to get us going irked me more than I could say. We’ve been coming here for years, spending thousands, missing family occasions and sacrificing other opportunities to see often substandard Liverpool outfits and now a lad who’s been here 10 minutes is telling us that it’s not good enough.
But he had a point and I hate that he did.
This might be the last chance we have of seeing The Reds for a while as more and more games are called off so can we just… Y ’know…
The players deserve better than we’re showing and that’s not always been the case. We should paint it black again.
Why not start tonight?
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Can’t disagree atmosphere can be flat. But isn’t that also an indication of the teams we are playing. Some teams come with a back 5 ambition, too often at 12:30, most of the time intent to time waste the life out of the game.
I’m quite happy knowing when we need blood and thunder Anfield obliges and has it primed and ready.
I’ve been waiting for someone to notice this and speak out about it , I am 23 I can’t go to every game especially after covid but I am working my arse off just trying to get into anfield and I see people standing there on their phones , my mates texting me how people are leaving on the 85th minute, people not knowing some of the most famous songs never mind some of the more let’s say “rare” ones, we have sped up all our songs we aren’t Stoke fans we sing anthems not 4 second chants .We should not ignore this issue cause we have to be honest with ourselves and try to improve the atmosphere and that’s where I wonder what options we have but we need newer fans to know the standards we have as Liverpool fans and I believe the club need to look at these options too cause if this carries on for 1 year that quickly turns into 3 ,4 and 5 years and with inevitable drop in level after Klopp we will look back on this with regret .
YNWA
Agree 100%. The demographic of home & away support contributes to this- at ALL clubs, I have held a season ticket at Anfield for 30+yrs & the atmosphere in the majority of games has declined over time, yes the Anfield support/atmosphere is as good as anywhere on a crucial European night but seldom reaches those levels on a game to game basis & in my opinion is purely down to the demographic of those attending which has changed dramatically over time, people arriving with their packed lunches & leaving their seats 10mins before half time only to return 10mins after the second half has resumed & subsequently leaving 5+mins before full time. Going to the match is for too many of those attending just a day out with the family. Thanks for motivating me to get that of my chest.
Interesting timing for this piece. I live in Portugal but was lucky to see the League Cup thriller v Leicester on the TV. I couldn’t hear the commentator because he was drowned out by the crowd noise. The atmosphere must have been amazing.
Can’t disagree with this. Used to sit in the Kemlyn Road as a kid and get shushed by all the old farts. “If you want to sing lad, go stand in the Kop.”
Last night sounded incredible though – get them in every home game.
“Why not start tonight?”
Box ticked.
I try my hardest to get tickets for Anfield and I take any opportunity that comes along, but sadly it’s rare. That’s why it irks me when I’m watching on TV and the atmosphere is dead and all you can hear is the away fans taunting us for it. I’m like “I can’t get a ticket but this lot, who are lucky enough to be there, can’t be arsed to sing! Which I know isn’t necessarily fair for lots of reasons you’ve stated, and I sometimes wonder about the broadcaster’s placement of microphones and sound mixing, but still.
Every fan in that stadium represents thousands more who would give their right arm to be there if they could (I know – I’m always behind most of them in the Members’ Sale queue!). When the away end sings “Where’s your famous atmosphere”, I’m yelling at the screen for the rest of Anfield to respond. You regular, match-going fans are all of us. You’re the voices of Reds everywhere. Please, if you can, sing like it!
All that said, it was incredible to hear Anfield at its deafening, raucous, seething best against Leicester. Long may it continue!
I’d like to see what would happen to the atmosphere if you moved all of those who sit in the Kop 300s to the 100s behind the goal. They are the ones who get the songs going and sing all game. But with them being right at the back it doesn’t travel round the ground. Maybe if they are at the front it travels further and more people join in. It would also sound louder than it does stuck at the back…..think German or Eastern European crowds with their drums and fella on a megaphone (no I certainly don’t want that by the way!) but they are always at the front of the stand first and foremost making the noise.
Completely agree, but for me the problem is very simple. Liverpool has become one of the best teams in Europe and World football, attracting fans from everywhere in the world. The new NFC passes and ticket distribution methods mean that it’s much easier for people to get tickets for matches at Anfield. They won’t know the songs, the history, maybe even some players, but they’ll still easily get tickets. That’s why I’m slightly against Anfield expansion. It will just bring more people from outside and possibly make the atmosphere even worse. I don’t think there’s an issue with credits or average age. You have great atmosphere for UCL games and away games, and you need credits to get to those.
This! I’m also a ST holder for the Main Stand, plus I also sit near the away end, just yesterday I had to sit and listen to the usual ‘where’s your famous atmosphere’ ‘have you ever been before’ and then the one that is so true and like the article says, might be a bone of contention, ‘it’s just a ground full of tourists’, I was sitting there agreeing with that statement! I had a couple of fellas behind me talking about how they had been to the Everton game in Norwich the day before and that they ‘don’t usually follow football’
I’m Newcastle mate and I share the same frustration with fans around me who dont seem to understand what getting behind your team means..and I’ve no doubt every single fanbase has the same issue. I’m an ex ST holder who now has to apply for home tickets on a match to match basis so I’ll end up in various stands throughout the season…my least favourite place to sit is the Leazes end which generally means I’ll be below the usually raucous away following..if I’m in the Gallowgate which is equivalent to your Kop I generally wont be able to hear them…but it really is lucky dip …there are pockets of great support all over the ground but there are also pockets that give absolutely nothing..last saturday against villa I went downstairs at half time and stayed down there because I couldnt stand the silence where I was sitting ..it was doing my head in …..dortmund is famous for its yellow wall but I’m guessing the rest of the ground is quiet….putting all the singers in one end like your Kop is the answer I reckon mate…the same goes for us and our Gallowgate…