So, we took the bus out of the city centre towards Anfield. We got off the bus and the first thing we saw was a HUGE window with photos of Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, and Jamie Carragher in the new red kit. Clearly we were in the right place! We picked up our tickets and since we had 30 minutes until our tour started we looked around the shop a bit. This was a good thing because Youval wound up finding a jacket that she not only like better than the one she had bought the day before, but it was also significantly cheaper! I also found a cool jacket/sweatshirt/thing made of the material that North Face jackets are made of (yeah, you know what I mean) that I really liked so we bought those and then left the store before we bought anything else that we really didn't need. It was then time for our tour and we began at the statue of Bill Shankly, the legendary Liverpool manager who took over the squad and made them into champions. Our guide was a friendly old man named Steven (who had an assistant named Kevin) and he was clearly a lifelong Liverpool fan who knew tons about the squad and the stadium.
We went into the stadium and sat in the dugout where the players sit when they're not on the pitch. From there, Steven told us about the pitch and the stadium. We learned, among other things, that the capacity of Anfield is 45,562 (I said 46,000 and I still say I was right because you round up from 45,562), that Liverpool is one of 5 teams to win the Champions League at least 5 times (Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, and Ajax), that the pitch is 96% grass, 4% nylon, the mowers can walk up to 6 miles while cutting the grass, and that Liverpool is the most successful British football team in history (18 league titles, 5 Champions League titles, 3 UEFA/Europa Cup titles, 7 FA cup titles, 3 League cup titles). From the dugout area we moved over to the Kop end, the most famous section of the stadium where the most fanatic of the Liverpool supporters sit.
While on the Spion Kop end we learned that the Kop takes its name from the Battle of Spion Kop, a battle from the South African Boer Wars. Spion Kop was a big hill that was fought over by the British and the Dutch and, in one day of the battle, over 300 people were killed, mostly from the regiments in and around Liverpool. We also learned that most of the stadiums in the UK used to have standing areas and, before they put in the seats, the Kop would hold 28,000 people. Following the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989, however it was mandated that British stadiums install seats and so the Kop diminished significantly in capacity. It was (and still is) said that, whenever Liverpool attacks the Kop end, the Kop inhales and the ball is sucked into the net. The Kop used to be a huge attraction for television cameras and did wonders for spreading the name of Liverpool Football club in the 50s and 60s. Back then, and still today, the Kop was famous for its songs, chants, and banners.
Because they are redoing all the flooring inside of the stadium we were unable to see the locker rooms or the inside of the stadium which was defo a bummer, but it was still cool to see what we saw. After the tour we went into the museum. First thing we saw was the memorial to the victims of the Hillsborough Disaster. If you don't know what this is, you can read up on it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_Disaster. Liverpool players (especially those who remember learning about the disaster day of, including Steven Gerrard who had a cousin that was killed) hold this tragedy close to their hearts and a yearly ceremony is held at Anfield that all the players attend.
We don't know what the story behind this is but it was pretty amazing anyway because it combines Liverpool and surfing. Um, hello, perfect!
The museum took you through the history of Liverpool Football Club, beginning in 1892 when the club split from the other Liverpool club, Everton. The club did well in the early years but following World War II it floundered and was stuck in the second division. That is until Bill Shankly showed up and worked a few miracles, bringing the team to a league championship in a few short years. This quite pretty much sums up his philosophy and what he accomplished.
Shankly did wonders with the club but even after he left the club in 1972 they continued to improve, now under the leadership of Bob Paisley. They won the FA Cup in 1974 and then in 1977/8 and 1978/9 they won back to back Champions League titles. Liverpool then went on to again win the Champions League in 1981 and 1984 and won the UEFA cup and FA cup many times as well.
2005 saw Liverpool play in arguably the best Champions League final ever. This game cannot be described with words, you must simply watch this film:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHtjmofqBeM&feature=related
They showed clips from an LFC documentary on the game in the museum and, despite the fact that we've seen what happens many many many many times, we still found ourselves getting worked up and excited and nervous all over again. This picture made us laugh and we felt it should be included.
When a team wins the Champions League, the are given a replica of the trophy to take home with them. However, if you win the cup 5 times, you get to keep the actual trophy and they made a new one. Here is the actual trophy that Liverpool won in 2005.
The rest of the museum highlighted other honors won my Liverpool, including the 2006 FA Cup (another epic final). Check that one out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm6-S6T_nGkAfter the tour we walked around the stadium to the Shankly Gates (with Liverpool's motto You'll Never Walk Alone written across the top) and the Hillsborough Memorial. Someone was cleaning the Memorial so we couldn't get any great pictures of it, but it was good to see it anyway.
All in all, a great day at the greatest stadium in England! I (Roni) can't wait to come back for another match (this time hopefully I can snag a ticket on the Kop end), and I will be really sad when Liverpool gets the new stadium that is long overdue and they tear Anfield down.....
And now back to our regularly scheduled programming, the rest of our time in Liverpool and Newcastle.
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