08 Apr 2015 12:00:59
You have a couple of type of fans knocking around the grounds these days. You have your old generation, the respectful diehards who talk about the 'good ole days'. These ladies and gents are the fans that remember what real football was all about before the theatrics, gold boots and crazy haircuts. I can't help but wonder as a younger generation fan myself what it would be like watching a game of football and the main topic being the football not how much money some kid deserves to be on. The older generation have a unconditional love to the game of football, no time for the other garbage that follows. On my part, there is a huge amount of respect for the history of the club, not just the trophies we've won or the finals we have participated in, what made us special were our fans and my oh my what i'd do to participate in supporting my club back in those days and supporting football.
We are now a breed of supporters who cling on to that history, don't look back in respect but use it as a tool against the club going forward when things don't go our way. This We Are Liverpool attitude has been bringing the club down for many years, expecting to be the best, bring in the best and nothing else but the best just because of our name. We should want all of those things but as fans we go about it the wrong way, now days fans are quick to turn against people be it the management, the owners, the players or each other, we are now breaching Liverpool's famously built reputation for great support. I've been to a lot of the games over the years, more so recently where our support hasn't been great there has been a lack of singing or passion from the stands until we score of course then there's 5 minutes of horrars. More so, its full of people winging and shouting some pretty unsavoury things, the days of singing for 90 minutes non-stop support has gone which is a great shame. i'd love it if fans could talk about the game and the players that play for us instead of constantly talking about transfers, changes of management and contracts, I love football, the dramas that follow can wait till the summer but until then, shouldn't we be concentrating what happens on the pitch? Maybe i'm sounding a bit silly but we had 2 of the greatest clubs in England face one another the other day in Arsenal Liverpool but all the commentators wanted to talk about was Sterling? It just baffles me, do people support Liverpool for the football or the drama?
08 Apr 2015 13:05:16
So in essence your going through that old stuff of saying ''youth of today don't know they're born,and older generations made this country what it is type of thing?
There are different types of fans in football,you call it respect that they have where was that respect in the heyday of fans fighting and firms? Heysel,throwing bananas at john barnes etc. That sure wasn't respect all those years ago. Those fans still go to those matches. It's easy to sing when you're winning.
Liverpool fans on here and in the stadium of all ages have complained of the ticket prices especially for younger fans. asking for almost £50 a game to finish 7th place,without even a challenge having spent £100m this year. season tickets were £60 in 1990,and including inflation would cost £106 now,however the real term value is £725.Fans have the right to feel abused especially in the economic climate. That's a whole lot for cash for not a lot of euphoria.
Sadly it's not just about spending a small lump of your wage going to your local team anymore. It's a global industry and people can cry all they want about tourists coming to watch games,but without them you wouldn't see such partnerships with many sponsors who feel they can benefit from our global brand,and these global fans coming to watch us liverpool.
I've also been there and heard the ''OLD TIMERS'' spout utter nonsense,I personally am of the opinion that people are more educated on football today given analysis replays,more academies better coaching at youth level etc. (certainly people may disagree on that but it's my opinion)
I'm all for supporting the team singing till you lose your voice. but I feel it's highly ignorant to blame the youth and current fans being demanding,when you see it from every quarter,and the old economy steves had it so good.
08 Apr 2015 13:52:55
Want to know what fans you get at a Liverpool game nowadays?
You get genuine scousers frustrated at what they see around them.
They see day-trippers who haven't got a clue about what it is to be a Liverpool supporter.
You get people more interested in taking pictures and talking.
It's them that give us a bad name on here.
An opinion of this nature is often controversial but very true.
{Ed001's Note - except that these days there are as many scousers only interested in taking pictures as there are ones watching the game. Stop being such a bigot and you will see that it is just the way people are these days, they watch everything through their phone screen.}
08 Apr 2015 14:01:43
that is what football is about today. most people watch it on their tv or internet and there is no dearth of football programs on tv . now only so much time can be given to analyzing a game of football between two clubs, so media goes on scrutinizing other aspects of football. topics are open up for discussions and every ex footballer is an expert and their views are well entertained . The TV buisness forms one of the major sources of revenue for the clubs as well. so drama has to be a part of it , it doesn't sell if there is no drama no tasty bits.
nowadays we people lot more about than just football or well we pretend to know at least , people know abt sterling's contract situation for instance and when he doesn't perform he is bound to get a sore reception from a section of the crowd.
for instance back in the days there was no forum like this to discuss football everyday and share opinion about football 24x7 . eds had easier lives and football was a topic of discussion when people met for drinks and discussion ended when the drinks did.
so its not just football its basically the world that has changed with internet and tv and easier access to info. yea back in the day probably days were good but today it would be boring today if there is no gossip speculation and controversy.
as for the fans they have their opinions and they are bound to express it , we haventthe leaguewon in a long time , we have been frustrated for a long time, issue galore surround the club and fans well they just voice their concern . its not that they don't love the club no more , its their concern for the club that makes fall away , they want to win , in this world patience is a virtue that doesn't behest upon all.
to be honest when our club is loosing 4-1 its hard to find voice to sing songs of the club , yet we do just that there is no heart in it.
08 Apr 2015 14:10:11
I'm an old school fan.
And I certainly Feel the romance is slowly disappearing from the game.
MONEY has changed everything.
The cost of going to matches these days is outrageous.
Even worse if you travel away from home taking into the cost of train fairs etc.
But without the money being put into the game we wouldn't see some of the best players in the world grace our pitch either playing for us or against.
I do feel that the tv coverage has improved how a lot, if not the majority see the game today.
And without the TV money the clubs wouldn't be able to attract the best players for us all to watch.
you could say it is a double edged sword.
08 Apr 2015 14:13:41
Bobatron,
My point is that football fans used to be interested in football, these days fans just want to know about transfers, contracts, sackings & these fans probably couldn’t explain what offside meant. 10 years old, 14 years old or 34 years old it doesn’t matter what age they are, the new age football fan could be 60 years old if all they care about is the politics surrounding the game as aposed to showing general interest in the concept of football. I would hardly call it intelligence either, its simply going off concept and following a sport for the wrong reasons, that’s my point not what happened to John Barnes or anyone for that matter.
08 Apr 2015 16:13:26
For me with our particular fans there are 3 issues:
1. Hostility towards non-local fans (expressed both venomously and passively by too many people but essentially focusing on the 'it's all the non-scousers faults and the scousers are all the best ones' view). Rarely a problem elsewhere.
2. Desensitized crowds. So many people never let go of their season tickets, they hold them forever so there is no turnover of crowd. Crowd gets more used to the event so it stops being an event (it's the human condition, eventually anything will become the norm). New people don't get a look in so we never have freshness in chants, freshness in people and the same sort of average excitedness. I was practically wetting myself with excitement before my first ever game which was a boring hull match, but for too many people around it was clearly just a Saturday afternoon. Less of a problem elsewhere - most other clubs either have bigger stadiums so get more new blood in regularly e.g. United or don't have the same draw to retain big sections of the crowd e.g. QPR. Only Spurs and Chelsea are really in our position, and both have many of the same problems that we have. To be clear, I'm not saying that old people should be bowing out gracefully or any such nonsense. What I am saying is that going to the match every weekend must not be just something anyone does. It has to always be something special for them and if it's not, let someone who it is special for have a chance.
3. Our fixation with the past and tradition. It's fine to sing about and glorify our old players and achievements but they shouldn't be the bulk of our songs at your average match. We laugh at Arsenal and Chelsea's pathetic player songs but barely have any of our own (Diego Diego Diego - genius right?). But at least the guys in front of them are the ones being supported. I've never seen Costa busting a gut to get into the box, be hacked down time after time and pick him up to a song about Zola - they sing about him! We need to remember the past - it's not just important, it is crucial. But we can't remember the past at the expense of the present, the guys in front of us need to be the on field focus. Anyone who attends matches will know this isn't the case - last 3 times I went I heard we all dream of a team of carraghers alone as many times as I heard songs about the guys on the pitch (although in fairness if Gerrard had been playing that would have been different).
And then there is the normal problems that everyone faces e.g. the focus for 6 days out of 7 is on football politics not football, so much of the population is priced out of games, people watch their lives through screens etc.
Some we can do something about e.g. ban selfie sticks so people know it's not okay, write some player songs and get them sung even if they suck so Sturridge doesn't have to score a brace and celebrate to a song about Luis Garcia. Some, such as people not giving up their tickets when they don't really have the joy and aren't really up for it anymore, we can't do anything about.
Thats my view anyway. No doubt one that will get stick from all angles, and is because I'm a London fan and too young to know about tradition and whatever. But it's still my view
08 Apr 2015 16:41:15
as with the above answers its all about the money , plus its sky and the pundits and the papers , years ago the likes of keegan and toshack played because they wanted to play for us , we can all go back to older and better players of yesterday but to me players of today are only interested in the money , imagine how much kenny and rushie would be worth and would want in wages , players who say they want to leave because they want to win cups are lying pure and simple , its either money or the status of the club like barca or real madrid , years ago players wanted to come to us because we were liverpool and we were winning , we are not winning so players don't come , if we were winning the prem and cups and we went in for a player and barca or real madrid was in for the same player who would the player go to
its interesting to see how much the wages will go up to before there's a global cap ,
{Ed001's Note - Keegan played for money, he left for money and he came back to England for money, he is all about the money.}
08 Apr 2015 16:58:34
This is the age of the internet and social media Anfield Apple! Everyone's dirty laundry is out in the open! In the old days nobody knew anth about the on goings of the club! Supporters are naturally more demanding and critical because if you get left behind its really hard to get back on top and its even harder without champions league. I don't blame kids today on how they view football matters today because today money talks and bull---- walks and without success on the field, money is hard to come by
08 Apr 2015 17:38:39
Really liking Ed001's comments, times have changed and so has technology!!
You do know most mobile phones have cameras right? It is the same all over - restaurants, cinemas and yes football grounds; people on their phones.
Personally, I love technology and everything it brings. After all without HD I would not hear Rooney's scream - he sounds like a little girl, which is a silver lining when he scores, as he sounds like a little b*tch.
08 Apr 2015 18:38:11
DaveyBootle proves my point. It borders on xenophobic sometimes.
People want Liverpool to compete but don't want the trappings of what that brings.
You want to see the best, footballers, but not the (diving foreigners bring) as pundits like to blame.
You want the Dunkin donuts/Newbalance money but not the ''yanks'' it brings to watch the game.
I get frustrated because you see people nowadays criticising those people with the dual team shirts and scarfs, like that woman who wore a hull and liverpool top, but those scarfs have been around for years(since I went to my first game), what difference does it make if its a top of scarf? it's just the garment that's changed.
People criticise the media and players etc about the transfer sagas and say journos spout utter nonesense on twitter, yet you still follow them, to read their views and come on a site like this begging the eds for tid bits of information.
With the superfast highway of information now, you're ofcourse going to get a lot more inside info, there's no way 20 years ago Ed002 or ed001 could get this info out to every one of us. People are desperate to know more and more about the ongoings of football, then criticise when they are fed the information they crave.
It's why clubs are so secretive none of this information should be out there, and probably wouldn't have been in the 70's 80's 90's but modern times and a manager that can't keep his trap shut, have brought this on us. It all just seems so hypocritical and contradictory to me.
Anfiel Apple if I misunderstood anything you were saying I apologise. but this is a big bug of mine.
08 Apr 2015 22:09:52
I'm a scouser who grew up and lived for 20 years in the road next to the ground. I used to get into the ground at three-quarters time when they opened the gates, and then in the old boys pen and the Kop- and I think its absolutely brilliant that LFC attracts supporters from all over the globe.
If the atmosphere at Anfield has gone a lot quieter in recent years, that's nothing to do with fans from out of town.
I guarantee that even if Anfield was populated exclusively by fans born within the Liverpool area, there would still be a similar noise level.
It's the same story in every premiership ground. Even Stoke aren't as deafening as they used to be at the Britannia. I went to St James for the Newcastle game (about which the less said the better), and the home fans weren't as loud as I remember them being.
And as for fans from out of town not being true fans, well I know an old friend who emigrated to Australia in the 80s and is still a fanatical LFC fan to this day. His son is also a fan, even though he'll probably never see them play live at Anfield. His grandson will also be an LFC fan, most likely.
I have a brother who moved from Liverpool to Nottingham many years ago, and he also has raised his lad as a mad LFC fan, albeit one with a Nottingham accent.
I know a mate who moved to Spain and married a Spanish woman, and his lad is an LFC fan as well, even though he speaks more Spanish than English.
The fans of LFC have spread all over the country and all over the world- even counting my family and friends alone there are dozens of LFC fans both young and old, spread all over the place.
A lot of them weren't born in Liverpool and don't have English as a first language, but from what I can see they are just as nuts as the local lads who fork out their money to sit in the Kop.
LFC have had a big Nordic following since the late 70s, for example- these people have been visiting many times each season for 30 years and more, and helped to keep the club solvent.
LFC used to be a club that attracted glory hunters in the 80s, but more recently that mantle has been taken by Chelsea and Man Utd.
How LFC continues to attract fans worldwide despite the lack of major success in recent years is a mystery to me, but I think its great because it means the fans coming in are not just in it because of trophies- there is something else that appeals about our club more than many other clubs, and long may that continue.
I don't care if you come from Timbuktu or Tinsley Street- if you support LFC that's good enough for me.
09 Apr 2015 12:46:37
40,000 more of anonymush and we have ourselves a top bunch of fans!