bill on tour: liverpool, part 3...
IV. Liverpool, part three: Anfield.
What Wikipedia has to say about the stadium:
Anfield is an all-seater association football stadium in the district of Anfield, in Liverpool, England. The stadium was built in 1884 and was originally the home of Everton F.C.. The club played at the ground until 1892, when they left after a rent dispute. Since then the stadium has been home to Liverpool F.C., who were formed as a result of Everton leaving Anfield. It is a Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) elite stadium, and has hosted many international matches at the senior level, including England matches. The ground was also used as a venue during Euro 96. Earlier in its history the stadium was also used as a venue for different events, such as boxing and tennis matches.
The stadium currently comprises four stands; Spion Kop, Main Stand, Centenary Stand and Anfield Road, giving a total capacity of 45,362. The record attendance at the stadium is 61,905 which was set in a Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup) tie between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1952. This happened before the ground was converted to an all-seater stadium in 1994, a change which greatly reduced its capacity. Each of its four stands now has an all-seater layout following the recommendations of the Taylor Report. Notable features of the stadium include two gates named after former Liverpool managers: the Bob Paisley gate and the Bill Shankly gate. In addition, a statue of Shankly is situated outside the stadium.
Anfield is located in the middle of a (admittedly rather dodgy) residential area, which can be totally baffling when you visit the stadium. First, there's houses for miles and miles, and then, suddenly, a giant stadium rises in front of you completely unexpectedly. XD
Paisley Gateway was closed when we arrived...
... so we entered the grounds through the little gate beside it and then looked directly upon this:
At some point during the bus drive to the stadium, I told Jen that I felt as if I was on a pilgrimage - and the feeling intensified when I stood in front of this sign.
The entrance to the museum and fanshop.
In front of the stadium, there was this little kiosk that sells the programme on matchdays. The adverts on it were absolutely fantastic. XD
I laughed a lot. Unfortunately, I forgot to check if there was another advert on the right side of the kiosk.
What the pic says. :D
The little corridor that leads to the museum has lots of awesome pictures on the wall, for example this one of Istanbul.
And this one of a beaming Carra. :D
And this one. I wonder if that was before or after Milan Baroš dropped the cup. ;)
On this door, there were many awesome pics, such as:
This adorable Pepe pic. :D
Or this pic of Lucas looking all shy.
Massive picture on the other wall.
IT'S PEPE!
After we'd taken a quick look at the museum, we gathered in front of the main entrance with the other people who were taking the stadium tour. The tour guide was absolutely hysterical. His first question was how many Liverpool fans there were amongst us. Everyone but two people raised their hands. One of these two was an Australian who claimed to be a fan of Leeds United, and the other one was a Manc. The tour guide's comment? "Yeah, one of those always manages to sneak in." XDD
He then led us through some corridors towards the dressing room.
This is what the corridors look like.
On one of the walls, directly next to the dressing room of the away team, there's this impressive list of club honours. The club hadn't really won that many trophies when Bill Shankly was the manager, but this sounds like an idea that could have come from him. ;)
One of the main events of the stadium tour was clearly the LFC dressing room. While we were standing in this room and taking a look around, Jen nudged me and asked what it felt like to be standing in the room where so many fanfics take place. She definitely had a point there. XDD
The Liverpool dressing room might look a bit spartan, but it's anything but that! From what the tour guide said, the floor is special and very expensive. It adjusts to the studs of the football shoes to prevent the players from slipping and getting injured. Apparently, one layer of this special floor costs 15,000 pounds.
Aww. :D
The first thing you see of the dressing room when you enter it is this. The first one says: "Respect the game, respect the referee. Say NO to dissent, elbowing, simulation, mass confrontation." And I totally read "get it on with each other" in that second one. XD But with that picture, I don't think I can be blamed for it. Now I wonder how this pic affects the players. Do Stevie and Nando sometimes stand in front of it and just admire it? Do the others get a bit jealous when they look at it? Ah, the many theories... XDD
Very important indeed. (Maybe this is why Sergio had his ring tattooed? XD)
The dressing room of the away team. As the tour guide pointed out, this dressing room doesn't have the 15,000 pounds floor but just a normal one. XD
The sponsors wall. This is where the players give their post-match interviews. There's a sponsors wall for BBC and one for other channels. The tour guide explained that the cameramen are told to zoom in on the players' faces so you don't see that these are just boards, not entire walls. There were a couple of problems with this in the past, for instance with Peter Crouch (6 ft 7 / 2.01m tall) and Luis García (5 ft 9 1/2 / 1.77m tall). With a grin, the tour guide said that Crouchy had to kneel down and little Luis had to stand on a box. *snicker*
The legendary sign that reminds people where they are. The tour guide told two very interesting stories about it. The sign was an idea of Bill Shankly, who thought it would have a psychological effect on both the home and the away team. While he was manager, it was mandatory for the players to touch the sign before stepping on the pitch. Now it's voluntary, but many players still touch it. As for the effect it was supposed to have on the away team, John Terry has something to say about this in his autobiography. Before a match he played with Chelsea against Liverpool, the home team made the guests from London wait outside for a while, and he kept staring at the sign, incapable of averting his gaze, and was proverbially shitting his pants. He said it definitely affected his performance in the match. Later he took his whole family on an Anfield tour to make them understand the horrors he'd gone through.
The pitch!
We were invited to sit on the bench for a while and enjoy the view while the tour guide gave us some information about the terraces. There are plans to replace Anfield with a new stadium in Stanley Park which would hold around 25,000 more spectators than Anfield's current capacity. The opening of the new stadium is scheduled for 2011 but many factors make this highly unlikely. The tour guide said that it depended on the company that gets the job to build the new stadium - if it's a company from Australia (he winked at the Australian tourist who had asked the question), it would take very long, and if it's a company from Manchester, the new stadium would never get finished. ;)
The seats behind the bench.
In this little box below the roof, the match commentators sit. They are transported up there with some sort of elevator before the spectators are allowed into the stadium. You mustn't be afraid of heights when commenting on a match at Anfield! XD
The Liverpool bench. Oh, it was so comfortable. :D The seats behind the bench are reserved for police and security. The tour guide said that when Liverpool are playing Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson would be sitting one of the front seats of the away bench, and the spectators must be protected from him. XD
Note the nifty logos on the seats! The away bench doesn't have them, of course.
How convenient!
The Kop, as seen from the bench.
The clock.
The Kop was originally built as an uncovered terrace capable of holding 30,000 spectators, although a roof was added in 1928. However, following the Hillsborough disaster and the subsequent Taylor Report, a new all-seater Kop was constructed with a capacity of 12,409, with nine disabled spaces. It is currently the largest single tier stand in Europe.
The Anfield Road stand, as seen from the Kop.
This is where our stadium tour ended. After having asked the tour guide a couple of questions, we all returned to the main entrance, and Jen and I decided to have another look at the museum.
The entrance to the museum. How awesome is this?
From the other side.
A model of Anfield.
The Shankly wall with lots and lots of information about the legendary manager.
This part made me giggle so much.
One of Shankly's most famous quotes.
Another awesome quote. This reminded me of a conversation I once had with dastier in which we discussed the parallels between football and war.
Bob Paisley, the slightly less famous manager even though he won a lot more trophies than Shankly.
Totally fugly Scotland jersey. Apparently the colours of Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, an influential figure in Scottish football in the 19th century. Still - urgh.
"Oh no! Not another one!"
The 15th Trofeo Villa de Madrid.
"The Old Lady", the first division championship trophy which Liverpool have won 18 times, last in 1990.
More trophies!
The "Fab Four", the trophies of the Champions Leagues of 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1984 (hee, my birth year!).
The cup from the 1980/81 season, when Liverpool played the final against Real Madrid and won 1-0 after a goal from Alan Kennedy. That would be an ideal final for me! I can has sometime soon again, pls?
And, of course, the trophy from Istanbul, 2005.
The trophy of the 2006 Community Shield.
Lots of items from the 2005 Champions League.
Including Xabi Alonso's boots. I don't remember what the sign below the boots said, but I assume these are the boots with which he scored the penalty in the final that took Liverpool into extra time.
RAFA! My Mum's first comment when I showed her this pic: "My, he looks like a very nice chap!" XD
Some information on the 2005 final. I particularly love the pic of Luis at the bottom. XDD
Good idea! (Don't you just love the stuff fans come up with?)
The "Grafton" is a legendary nightclub in Liverpool where the Beatles used to play. It was closed in 2008 and re-opened as a comedy club. Apparently, it was rather crowded, to say the least. ;)
Poster on the wall of the video room where they showed a video about Liverpool's history. I LOVE this poster. If they sold it, I'd so have gotten myself this.
Happy Pepe and Mori! I love the quotes by Rafa on this board, by the way.
A little overview on the 1988/89 season, when Arsenal won the league as described by Nick Hornby in "Fever Pitch", an event which Anfield has tried to forget, and the disaster of Hillsborough happened.
Hillsborough memorial mosaic outside the museum. There's a shirt for all the 96 with their names on them.
And finally, the entrance of the fanshop with a rather funny pic of Torres and one of Adidas' best slogans, imho.
Thanks for your attention, I hope you enjoyed this little tour! Oh, and it would be great if you didn't repost these pics anywhere without asking me first. I'm quite likely to allow you to repost them, I just want to know where the pics end up.