The liverpool way.
There’s been so much talk of it recently. There’s even a website in its name. But what is it? And when did we lose it? Because I’m afraid we have lost it and there is no such thing anymore.
Was it the regime that Shankly laid down that was built on by Paisley and others from the bootroom? Was it the fact that off the pitch we were led by cautious but caring men? That we were a community club? The last great demonstration of this in my memory was its magnificent response to the Hillsborough disaster.
Of course it was all of these. A socialist manager was undoubtedly the catalyst for Liverpool caring about its local fan base from the early 60’s onward. But the people on the board were undoubtedly competent but just as importantly caring people.
We were in every sense the People’s club.
That ended some time ago. It didn’t end with the takeover by Gillett and Hicks, hideous as that has been. We haven’t played the Liverpool Way on or off the pitch for a long time. We are just the same as any other club now except in one respect.
Our fans.
And this is where I hope the new catalyst for the Liverpool Way will be born.
We need to tell Gillett and Hicks that we have rejected them. This will come on Monday evening surely. But more importantly we need to influence the new owners to get back to some basics.
Parry lost the Anfield community when he worked behind their backs in 1998 to propose the ‘New Anfield’. No involvement from any locals in major regeneration? How dare you Mr Parry. The plans were soon ditched but the damage had been done. Meanwhile the houses the club owned all around the stadium at this time were allowed to decay. Community club? No longer.
And then the announcement of the new stadium. In 1999 or 2000 originally I think. Then they were scaled back in 2002. And since the plans were announced…………….well. The image of Nero playing while Rome burned around him is lost on Parry. The Anfield community which had done everything in building the club up from nothing was not important. It was decaying rapidly and the generator for redevelopment never got further than an artist’s impression and the CGI’s that played on the official website……for years.
I have some other examples of how Liverpool has neglected its roots in recent years but I’m not going to elaborate on them here.
It’s back to us. The fans. We have to show the new owners (DIC) that we are different. I think we’ll have already shown Gillet and Hicks that we are different on Monday. It would be nice if DIC immediately recognised what The Liverpool Way was.
So to close this article, here is my take on what it was.
Responsible to the local community
Always provide a stadium fit for fine people
Never wash your dirty linen in public
Never brief the press against each other or in isolation
Look after your fan base – fair ticket allocations
Always treat the league as your bread and butter
Respect the opposition but provide overwhelming support for our own
Always support the manager in his sourcing and purchase of the finest players available
Treating the game simply – we have strengths and we can exploit other teams weaknesses
Please tell me what you believe The Liverpool Way is
