‘You’ll Never Walk Alone!’

Alisson Becker, Robbie Fowler, Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres, Michael Owen, Mohamed Salah, Steven Gerrard, and Kenny Dalglish are some of the players who personified the very essence of Liverpool Football Club. Their love for the game of football made them integral to the club. The fans adored their playing style as they cheered for a team that blazed its way into history. For Liverpool FC and its fans, football is not just a sport - it is a saga of passion and resilience that unfolds every season the team takes the field.

Bill Shankly took over a struggling Liverpool side in 1962. Under Shankly’s management, Liverpool won three First Division Championships (1964, 1966, 1973), two FA Cups (1965, 1974), four Charity Shields, and the club’s first European trophy - the 1973 UEFA Cup - establishing Liverpool as a rising powerhouse.

Shankly transformed the club’s training ground, Melwood, introducing innovative methods like small-sided games, ball-focused fitness routines, and the “sweat box” to enhance stamina, reflexes, and skills, creating the foundation for The Liverpool Way, which became a guiding ideology for the players. In 1964, Shankly adopted an all-red home strip, starting with European matches. This psychological impact made players appear more imposing while boosting team identity. He also embraced “You’ll Never Walk Alone” as the club’s anthem, strengthening the emotional bond between the team and supporters. Through strategic signings and rebuilding, Shankly overhauled the squad by bringing in key players like Ron Yeats, Ian St John, and Kevin Keegan while developing talents such as Ian Callaghan and Roger Hunt. He pursued psychological innovation by installing the “THIS IS ANFIELD” sign in 1972 to intimidate opponents and boost player morale.

For Liverpool FC, the relationship of love between the game of football and the fans was also marred by two tragedies. The Heysel and Hillsborough disasters are etched as moments of darkness for the club and for the game itself. These tragedies - Heysel (1985) and Hillsborough (1989) - forever changed the sport, exposing failures in stadium safety and crowd control while uniting fans in grief and justice. On May 29, 1985, Liverpool faced Juventus in the European Cup Final at Brussels’ Heysel Stadium, a venue unfit for such an event. Before kickoff, hooliganism and poor policing led to violent clashes. Liverpool fans charged towards Juventus supporters, causing a wall to collapse that killed 39 fans and injured hundreds. The aftermath was devastating: English clubs were banned from Europe for five years (Liverpool for six), and 14 Liverpool fans were convicted of manslaughter. Four years later, on April 15, 1989, another disaster struck at Sheffield’s Hillsborough Stadium during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Due to overcrowding in the Leppings Lane end, police opened an exit gate, causing a fatal crush. Ninety-six Liverpool fans lost their lives, and over 700 were injured. Today, Liverpool fans sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” in memory of those lost. These tragedies remind us that football must never repeat the mistakes of the past.