My first Anfield experience

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By Tan Perng Yih

27th November 2011, that was the first time I watched a live Liverpool match at Anfield. I was lucky enough to purchase the ticket when it was on sale. My dream has finally come true – watching the red men playing in flesh at Anfield. As a kid growing up to be a Liverpool supporter, attending a live game at Anfield has always been my dream. Not many of you could understand how bloody excited I was. Being an overseas supporter is not easy at all (by not easy, I mean I can only support my beloved club from thousands miles away). And certainly not any easier if there were some closed minded fans saying we foreign supporters know no shit because we never been to Anfield.

It was a game against a Manchester City side full of talented and quality players and I expected a tough game. Anfield has always been known as a famous ground with great supporters on full voice and great history that other clubs can only dream of. But I don’t want to just experience the stunning Anfield atmosphere which obviously has been missing for some time now. What I want to do is, support the players who are wearing the red jersey. I want them to know how important the badge at the front of their kits is to us as supporters. I know them to know it should be as important for them as it is to us.

But to be completely honest, I was a little bit let down by the supporters during the game. Liverpool fans are known to be the loudest fans in the world and Anfield is widely famous for its astonishing fans with full voice that terrorize every opponent.  The “This is Anfield” sign at the tunnel is a warning to every opponent who is playing at Anfield before they enter the pitch. The Kop are certainly in direct connection with it. The Kop is one of the reasons why every team comes to Anfield should be feared because we are the 11th man on the pitch and we will always get behind the team through thick and thin. But maybe it is not the case anymore. Anfield has been quiet for a while now and the giant Kop have been hibernating for some time now.

I remember vividly after Kompany scored the first goal for Manchester City, Anfield had gone completely silent and the away fans were chanting so loud. I couldn’t stand it so I decided to initiate the chanting and show the away fans this is Anfield! So I stood up by myself and sang “Liverpool, Liverpool” for approximately ten seconds. I had to sit back down and stop singing because it was awkward. Awkward as I was the only one singing and no one wanted to join me.

Can you imagine me as a foreign supporter who went to Anfield for the first time and chanting alone in the crowd like a maniac? I was heartbroken. I thought we all are one big red family and we should be there for each other and be counted when the team needs us the most.

I even thought that maybe I was not supposed to sing at a certain time of a game which probably explained why the rest did not join me chanting. What other reason could possibly explain why they did not join me? I also thought that maybe we were not allowed to sing if the opponent has scored. Everyone looked at me in a very awkward way and their facial expressions said it all. But no one! No one would have guessed what happened next! Which was Liverpool scored one right after I chanted and sat back. Charlie Adam’s shot took a deflection off Lescott and found the back of the net. Joe Hart was helpless.

And then the crowd were alive again. I was really proud of myself because I know I was there when the team needed me the most. I was there singing alone even just for ten seconds. But at the same time, I started to feel as if all these Liverpool fans were glory hunters that they only chant when the team scores. But I am sure this is not true.

I know it must be hard for us as fans to go to Anfield week in week out and witness such poor performance from the red men (but to be fair, I think we dominated the whole game and Lucas had a boss game).I understand the disappointment too. I understand how much you all have spent to get to the game every week. But does that not inspire you to make it all worthy by singing your lung out and show your support to your team? Isn’t that the reason why you go to every game? I feel the frustration as well because we have not won the league title for so long. I understand it even more because Liverpool have not won a single league title since the day I was born, yet I am still a Liverpool supporter and always proud to be one. It was not my choice to be a Liverpool supporter. But instead, I was chosen to be one and I am forever grateful that Liverpool is the club that I support until my last breath. There is no other better club out there for me to pour my heart on than Liverpool Football Club.

But I would like to urge everyone who goes to Anfield frequently, I know this article probably won’t affect anything or change your mind and it was not my intention to change your mind anyways. I just want the whole world to witness the greatness and prominence about Liverpool, Anfield and the Kop.  We are the number one fans in the world sports. This is what we are about; support the team through thick and thin.

You will never walk alone. It is not just a saying. We live by it. We prove it by what we do.

Last but not least, I want to give a huge credit to all the Liverpool supporters who go to the away games. You lot are the best! Always passionate with full voice! I have huge respect for every single one of you! Which also makes me wonder why you all couldn’t do the same at home game? And I would like to apologize if I have offended any of you. And I know there must be a whole lot of you do not disagree with me. But it is just my opinion and please don’t take it personally. Also, I do not intend to cause any outburst with all of you.

In the meantime, here is a quick and short question to those who are calling for Kenny’s head. How many of you were begging and crying for Kenny to be the manager after Roy’s departure?

Follow me on Twitter: @champlaos11_LFC

25 Comments

  1. your moaning sayin the supporters are rubbish its rubbish because it full of foreigners like your self who come and expect the atmosphere to be great.get involved yourself and maybe it would be!

    1. Hi Elliot Wilson, if you read my article properly, I have actually said that I tried to get myself involved. I even tried to initiate the chanting but it failed terribly.
      And yeah, your second comment made lots of sense. I guess the reason why it was quiet over my side was because they were all probably foreigners.
      Thanks Elliot, I guess I have found the answer. But I hope you don’t judge all foreign supporters as the quiet ones because I’m certainly not :)
      I don’t get those foreigners at all. Maybe we have different definition of attending the games. I did not spend all my savings and pay more than 1k pounds to fly all the way from Malaysia to England just to sit there and watch the game. I want to support my team. I want to get involved. I want to show them my support. But I was let down by the supporters around me.

  2. I recently went to Anfield for the first time also.. And as you said, I was surprised at how quiet it was. I wonder when this began, if we were in the midst of a winning run would it be more atmospheric?
    Interested to know others opinions on this…..

  3. if more of the foreigners like you (because anfields full of them) got involved it would be good, also they was probably all foreigners sat around you.

    1. Bit harsh Elliot foreigners as you put it spend alot of money going to see Liverpool play, they also spend money in the club shop and city of Liverpool. I would seriously doubt that anfield is full of them given the money required to see Liverpool play travel expenses etc but its probably easier to blame them.

  4. Lfc fans were tested with noise meters and found to be the 2nd loudest in the prem, maybe the writer of this article has wax in his/her ears.

    1. Yes yes, oh my, thanks for that! I didn’t notice it all! I should have asked my friend to prove read but most of them are Man Scums fans and the only word they know is “cunt”. Thanks for reading my first ever article, Kev!

  5. I went to that man city game and where I was sitting it was ROCKING!! Have not been to a game where it wasn’t..

  6. I have been to Anfield 12 times although I live in New Zealand. I watch EVERY game that is televised sometimes at 2am or 4am!! I am blown away every time by the amazing fans at Anfield and I never want the game to end! Maybe thats because the Reds have NEVER been beaten when I am at Anfield! I love the atmosphere, crowd and team. My family call it my happy place.

  7. ‘Have not been to a game where it wasn’t’ – when was this – About 1986? Atmosphere at Anfield has been rubbish for the last 5/6 years.

  8. Well I went to Liverpool vs Fulham in 2006 when Liverpool won 4-0. Those were the days when Alonso and Luis Garcia graced our tage. Needless to say, the atmosphere was amongst the best I’ve ever heard.

    What do you expect when you have Carroll, Downing and Adam running around the pitch and we lose to WIgan, West Brom, QPR? People aren’t going to be singing gleefully.

    You’ll never walk alone shouldn’t be a slogan for crap players to hide behind, but that’s exactly what it’s become. Dortmund sing it but it’s not their motto.

    1. I expect if those players are wearing the red jersey on the pitch, then I will surely support them for the whole 90 minutes. But after the 90 minutes, we can start to discuss about which player didn’t play well and all. In my opinion, as long as they are on the pitch then we should back them as much as we could. Cheers.
      And yes, we did lose to Wigan, West Brom, QPR and so on. But if that was the reason for you not to sing during the game, then I have nothing to argue with you. We clearly have totally different opinion.
      “You’ll never walk alone shouldn’t be a slogan for crap players to hide behind.” Yes that is true. But again, as I said, if they are on the pitch, then I will support them no matter what. We could talk about how bad they played after the game.

  9. There is a great misconception about Anfield and the Kop, a West Brom fan was a little underwhelemed by the experience and rightly so but what He and others dont understand is that the Kop are individuals and like everyone else require a reason to be cheerful, West Brom etc are not that – Now put a great Team or something at stake or a great display into the equasion and you get the real Kop – unsurpassed, unsurpassable, the West Brom fan etc. Would never in a hundred lifetimes experience such an atmosphere nor in a hundred worlds. they might as well have visited an empty ground for what they found out about Anfield and the Kop, I was there when Billy Liddell lit it up like no other before or since. IF YOU NEVER STOOD ON END YOU WERE DEAD.

    1. “the Kop are individuals and like everyone else require a reason to be cheerful” Yes I agree, but in my opinion, to watch the red men playing in flesh at Anfield is enough to be the reason for me to be cheerful and sing for the whole 90 minutes.

  10. THAT SHOULD OF COURSE BE IF YOUR HAIR NEVER STOOD ON END, PLUSTHE STANDING MASS OF MOVEMENT THEN MADE THE EXPERIENECE EVEN MORE AMAZING.

  11. Well Done…You dont need to apologize to anyone for being a foreigner, or for having your own opinion. I havent yet realized my dream of taking in some games at Anfield, but when I do, you can bet I’ll be screaming my ass off in support of the Reds…YNWA…

  12. What can one expect from a mediocre Prem campaign, and one again watching Liverpool fall further behind the likes of ManU? It’s a mercenaries game now, and to say that a mercenary wearing the Red shirt has the same passion as a supporter is a stretch, in my humble opinion. Unless it’s Gerrard or Carra, local lads, it just doesn’t equal the blood and guts mentality of a diehard supporter. If the players are only half trying, you can’t really expect the supporters to be in full voice, over a terrible effort. Unfortunately, we don’t seem to have a Firm that will police both the fans, and the players. Someone needs to be held accountable, before the whole thing falls apart.

    That said, I watched the last match, albeit on TV, and Anfield sounds like a fucking Church on Sunday morning. Simply not good enough.

    And to answer your subquestion: I very much wanted Kenny, and I haven’t yet called for his ouster. I blame the players, much more than I do The King. Sure, some tactics can be second guessed, but the personnel isn’t right yet. To me it’s similar to the last season with Rafa. Everyone wants to hail him as this GENIUS, but remember when he was subbing in the 77′ every match, and we still had nobody to finish goals? More wingers, more strikers, and we’ve regroup for next season.

  13. The crowd still makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Its like no other atmosphere certainly in the Uk. The Arsnl, Chelski with their plastic flags and OT are truly embarassing atmospheres.
    Tan, my apologies for an earlier comment, it was a bit knee-jerk.

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