WE'RE THE CHAMPIONS - LIVERPOOL

On 26 JUN, at around 4 AM IST on a gloomy morning, I woke up just to sip some water from a bottle I had close to my bed and a notification popped on my screen which said,

" We’re Premier League Champions ". Just like any other fan across the globe, I was ecstatic. Although I wasn’t a regular follower of football, I somehow liked Liverpool when I was young and since then my admiration for the club was in leaps and bounds. The long and illustrious journey of Liverpool FC to the most coveted title was filled with lessons for the world. The hard-work, determination and dedication put forward by the team and their legacy speaks for it all.

"We’ve conquered all of Europe,

We’re never going to stop,

From Paris down to Turkey,

We’ve won the f*cking lot,

Bob Paisley and Bill Shankly,

The fields of Anfield Road,

We are loyal supporters,

And we come from Liverpool!!!

Aleez, Allez, Allez,

Allez, Allez, Allez…!!!!"

This chant in the football arenas across the world is considered to be the most celebrated and loyal one. And there has been intense resounding of this chant across the world over the last week, depicting the love and admiration for the Reds.

FOOTBALL, which is considered to be one of the grandest of all games, has always had huge fan base across the globe. It’s so surreal that someone who has zero direct association with the club turns into a devotee for their team and the team for him is simply god-like. This article takes you through the journey of not just a Liverpool fan with sheer admiration for the club but an inspiring journey that puts you on the edge of your seat.

LIVERPOOL is considered to be one of the world’s most successful football clubs with over 48 major titles since its inception way back in 1892. “The REDS” as they are fondly known have displayed great enthusiasm, determination and perseverance throughout their 128-year long journey. The journey to the summit wasn’t a cakewalk but the culmination of sweat & blood of every player and the loyalty of every fan for over 125 years.

In the history, there was a frequent sight of one big single entity such as Adidas-Puma, Reliance Industries who split into two, became rivals and stood as the pioneers in their own field. Liverpool is also an addition to the list, as it was formed when John Houlding broke from the board of a famous football club “Everton” in 1892, to form a brand-new club “Liverpool FC”. The beginning was easy as; Liverpool managed consecutive victories with huge Goal Differences, got promoted to First Division within 2 years and was also crowned the champions for the first time in 1901 and rose to the pinnacle of English game and set the tone for future generations. Over the course of time, the club has seen back-to-back title triumphs, top-class infrastructure, new players, fastest goal (in 10sec) netted and successive hat-tricks by Jack Balmer and increased supporters. It has also seen the most vocal stands in the country which served as an amplifier for the deafening roars of the passionate crowd.

Post the World-war II, adversities gradually started looming Liverpool’s way when the Fifty consecutive seasons of top-flight football came to end in 1954 when they registered consecutive defeats and suffered humiliation when they lost to a non-league team. As the great saying goes “Hardest times often leads to the greatest moments”, it was on Dec 1, 1959, a date that will forever be etched in the annals of Anfield history when ‘Bill Shankly’ took charge of the managerial hot seat which transformed the club’s fortunes. He started his stint with landmark signings of Ian St John and Ron Yeats for a record £37,500, who later repaid every penny in goals and assists over the next decade. In 1961, The Reds got promoted to Division II and everything started to fall in place for the club. In 1964, they won the Charity Shield and later in that year made their first European Cup outing which was welcomed by the entire football fraternity. An incident, which is evidence for the exceptional support that the club received even during its initial days, is the 5-0 win against Arsenal in 1964, a day when the turnstiles had to be locked an hour before kick-off because the ground was already full.

Ee-Aye-Addio! We’ve won the Cup! , it is for Liverpool from 1965 under Bill Shankly, as the Liverpool FC’s roll of honour saw many coveted titles etched on it including the FA Cup, UEFA Cup which were notable absentees on the board in the past. It was nothing less than a Sensation, as an era ends when Shankly decided to resign from his post as Liverpool manager and Paisley takes on a seemingly-impossible job succeeding Bill Shankly as the manager of LFC. The foundation was set right and hence nothing stopped Liverpool from clinching their second UEFA Cup victory in 1976 and their first European Cup in 1977 which marked the start of an unprecedented period of dominance by an English club in Europe and many more silverware in the form of Charity Cup. In 1980, Terry McDermott, a huge asset of LFC, becomes the first player to be named PFA Player of the Year and Football Writers’ Footballer of the year.

Over the years, the club’s reputation and glory grew and it has produced numerous match-winners like Alan Hansen, John Barnes, Alan Kennedy, Ronnie Whelan, Kenny Dalglish, John Aldridge, Ian Rush, and many more in the 80’s & 90’, who have been on the frontline for decades and helped their side clinch the European Cup, League Cup, FA Cup, All-Merseyside Shield and the Charity Cup. All these victories witnessed high sense of drama; there were new-faces, brave decisions, records etched, exhilarating attacking, late equalisers, last minute steals, spot-kicks, set-pieces, and penalty shootouts & saves and heart-breaks & tragic incidents as well. It was in 1995 when the club clinched its first ever FA Youth Cup and it was also the time it identified the immense potential of youngsters like Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher.

Things started to get out of control when the void was starting to form as they failed to win a League Title for 6 years in a row but, the fans held onto the club and kept supporting them throughout the highs and lows. 2001, a ‘Year of Comeback’ for the ‘LFC’, as they became the only English side to have won five trophies in a single calendar year emerging out of the darkest times. In 2003, a new talent started to rise, it was ‘Steven Gerrard’, who later went on to become the skipper for the side and led them to many titles during this time.

“The Miracle of ISTANBUL”, they call, which is considered to be one of the most incredible nights in the history of Football, when the Reds saw their fifth European Cup added to their trophy cabinet. It was a perfect example of the club’s attitude of ‘Revival’; LFC were clueless when they were down to 3-0 at half-time but produced a miraculous response to draw level in next 45 minutes and later sealed the game in penalties. On the other hand, the youngsters also continued to do well as they went on to win their second Youth Cup. Later, in 2006, the Reds clinched their seventh FA Cup in a game that goes down in the Anfield folklore as the “Gerrard Final” as the captain nets a brace including a stunning equalizer as Liverpool win on penalties.

The LFC continued its winning streak by retaining the Euro Cup, FA Youth Cup, and Community Cup again and again. In 2007, LFC smashed their own transfer record to land in the Spain international forward ‘Fernando Torres’ who went on to score as many goals and brought the balance for the side along with Gerrard. New purchases, new managers, New Players almost everything was changing but few players always stood as pillars for the side that helped the side end a six-year wait for silverware with a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory, retaining the League Cup. But the internal politics, change of managers affected the morale of the team which had a severe impact on the performance of players and the club.

A brave, honest, passionate and experienced manager was very much needed for the ‘LFC’ to get the club back on track. Jurgen Klopp, former Borussia Dortmund manager then comes to the rescue in 2015. He had a lot of work to do which included the most important aspect- bringing back the team together. It was tough but he could do it. It was again in 2019, Liverpool lifts their sixth European Cup in the Champions League Final in Madrid and FIFA Club World Cup for the first time in Qatar. Things got on track and everything looked perfect, the 2019/20 Premier League was the time to etch ‘Premier League Title’ on the honours board which is something every fan was craving for. It was a season the LFC and its fans will forever remember as they were stretched, pushed and shoved but they hung on, drawing games they could have lost and winning games they could have drawn. No team has overturned more goal-deficits and no team has scored more goals than Liverpool this season. All thanks to Klopp, who was simply the best manager in the world, who has instilled a sense confidence and perseverance in the club that has seemed to wilt under slightest whiff of pressure in recent years. He believed in ‘Gegen-pressing’ and then persisted, tweaked formations, brought personnel that suited his system and later refined the style of play, forging Liverpool into an invulnerable and unstoppable machine who went on to win the Premier League-19/20 with high degree of style and composure under the leadership of ‘Jordan Henderson’ and with the likes of Salah, Mane, Van Dijk and many sublime heroes. But sadly, to everyone’s disappointment, the celebrations had to be confined to closed doors owing to the current scenario of COVID-19.

With every passing year, the owners got changed, few players got sold & few players were brought and may more things have changed but, the only thing that remained constant, were the FANS. They were enormously growing in number every season and showered their uncompromising love for the team. For every Liverpool Fan, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is more than just a saying, an anthem and a sentence at the top of the crest.

Signing off with a famous quote by a well-known American Journalist ‘Hunter S. Thompson’,

"Football fans share a universal language that cuts across many cultures and many personality types. A serious football fan is never alone. We are a legion and football is the only thing we have in common."