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Holding red scarves bearing the word “Liverpool” in large letters above their heads, a stadium full of English football fans sings along to a tune that has its roots in the 1945 musical “Carousel” by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
The song: “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
The place: Anfield, home of the Reds — the Liverpool Football Club.
The singers: The KOP, one of the greatest group of fans in the world of football (soccer to Americans). And when I talk about the people singing, we’re not just talking about the kids or one person at the beginning of a game. I’m talking the whole crowd — men and women of all ages and of all levels of society uniting in song.
 Liverpool midfielder and superstar Steven Gerrard after scoring a goal on Dec. 13 at Anfield in Liverpool, England. (The Associated Press) |
My dream is to someday join the KOP and sing along. I’ve downloaded the song off iTunes so I can start to learn it for that day.
The scarves, chants in unison and sing-alongs by the crowd are a common part of European soccer. I’ve been watching it every moment I get for more than a year, ever since I was blessed with the Fox Soccer Channel. I’m intrigued by it all — especially the music.
I have gone to many baseball games in America. I’ve been to an NFL game. I’ve been to college football games. I’ve been to a Major League Soccer game. In all of those sporting events, I have never experienced a sing-along filled with passion in support of a team.
Only baseball with “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” seems to come close to having the same intensity in sporting song. But the tune is about a sport, not a team. And let’s face it, as Americans, we don’t sing our national anthem with enough passion all of the time. We usually let the person or people at the microphone sing it to us as we hold our hands over our hearts.
What I find great about Liverpool fans, as well as other European football fans I’ve heard over the TV, is their energy, unity and respect for their club’s history.
The tradition of singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” at Anfield started in the early 1960s. It is a phrase that is seen at Shankly Gates (named after legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly) at Anfield. It’s a phrase placed in the team’s logo. And the logo is on the uniform near the hearts of the players, which I find fitting.
But “You’ll Never Walk Alone” was a popular song before it was adopted as the club’s anthem. Not only was it in the musical mentioned above, but the song has been recorded by Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Johnny Cash, Doris Day and, yes, Elvis Presley. Quite a crowd. Do an iTunes search using the title and you’ll see it’s been recorded many times over.
And here’s another interesting note: Pink Floyd put a recording of the Liverpool fans singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” in their song “Fearless.” I didn’t know that until I did research for this entry.
I have grown more in love with European football over the past several years as I’ve had a chance to watch it and really get to know it. One reason is a pure love of the game. And then there’s the enthusiasm of the clubs’ fans, which almost always shows for 90 minutes, even when their team is down. Their energy is not a reaction to when someone plays “We will rock you” through a sound system. Their energy comes from camaraderie and unity with their favorite club, and the sound system in many stadiums seems to be the fans’ voices in unison.
To me, it would be a magical musical moment to join and experience.
This weekend, as Arsenal and Liverpool face off on Sunday in what may be the top match this weekend in the English Premier League, I’ll be watching and listening — hoping to hear the Liverpool fans singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
Want to hear or read more?
• If you want to see Liverpool fans at Anfield in action, check out a video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nfFi-_Hb2A.
• If you want to find out more about the Liverpool Football Club, go online to www.liverpoolfc.tv/.
• If you want to learn more about European football, go online to http://soccernet.espn.go.com.
• I also suggest the book “How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization” by Franklin Foer.
• And if you’re interested in hearing more European football anthems, there are collections available. For example, go to iTunes and search for “Football Club Classics — The Sounds of the Terraces.” It has the KOP singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” as well as anthems from other English soccer clubs.
kc wrote on Dec 22, 2008 10:30 PM: