Where is Everyone Tonight?

[Guest F. Sostenido]

 

Circumstances can drag a man away from a city, but they can’t drag the city away from the man. Although a man may drift to pastures new, the culture that he is surrounded by when he is being dragged up will stay with him for the rest of his life. In some places throughout the world, football plays a sizeable part in defining that culture.

 

As a kid, I was always surrounded by football fanatics and I still am, even though they now happen to be foreign. But life’s a learning curve and every twist and turn teaches you something new. Something you learn from being away is how foreign football supporters view the greatest club in the world. The genuine football fans, the ones who have heard about and seen the likes of Steve Nicol, Roger Hunt and John Aldridge, know that Liverpool F.C. play in some mythical place called Anfield, a place where You’ll Never Walk Alone is sung by knowledgeable football supporters. Anfield itself plays an important part in shaping the image that people have of the Mighty Reds. So why on earth would Liverpool F.C. want to rid itself of such a valuable commodity? This is a decision that could affect business over a long term period, especially if a recession hits the pockets of the more affluent sectors of society that the clubs seem to want to attract. It doesn’t make good business sense.

 

When football supporters decide to visit Anfield, it’s because they want to feel that magical place which King Kenny once graced. They want to see where Bill Shankly whispered words of wisdom. It was a disgrace that the Bootroom was allowed to be demolished.

 

Liverpool F.C. should always play at the Anfield Road stadium, full stop.

 

I agree that the club needs a bigger stadium, but I believe that Anfield should be enlarged. Buy the houses around Anfield! Don’t let anybody tell you that land around the stadium would not become available if the price was right. Liverpool should turn Anfield into a 150,000 seater stadium and reduce prices by half in order to encourage the return of those to which the game belongs.

 

A move to a new ground would mean a move to a truly soulless place. How can the club possibly consider the destruction of such an important part of Liverpool culture? We should learn from History and not repeat our mistakes. Liverpool has lost too many of it’s important landmarks already. Imagine the Pope goin’ into work one day and decidin’ that he’s pissed of with the place, “Can’t squeeze all of the followers in, can’t drive me Popemobile up the steps. Fuck it! Let’s move and knock St. Peter’s down”. He’d be strung up by the bollocks! So why should Liverpool supporters be asked to move away from their spiritual home? A congregation without a church, new hymns to learn. We already have one example of how a move away from Anfield can negatively affect both a club and it’s supporters.

 

A new ground, nah, not my cup of tea! Suppose I’ll have to say “Not my glass of champagne!” when I get to go to the new super stadium!