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Kelly, Stephen

An Oral History of Footballing Communities at Liverpool and Manchester United Football Clubs

Original Citation

Kelly, Stephen (2009) An Oral History of Footballing Communities at Liverpool and Manchester
United Football Clubs. Doctoral thesis, University of Huddersfield.

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PhD by Publication

An Oral History of
Footballing Communities
at Liverpool and
Manchester United
Football Clubs

The Kop
Red Voices
The Boot Room Boys

Stephen F. Kelly

University of Huddersfield,

School of Music, Humanities

& Media

June 2009
 2

Table of Contents
__________________________________

Abstract p.3

Introduction p.4

Literature Review p.10

Thematic Review of the Current Academic Debates p.18

The Submission p.28

The Pre-1960s Experience of Fandom: People’s Fandom p.30

The 1960s and 70s: The Emergence of Fanatical Fandom. p.34

The 1990s: The Bourgeoisification of Football Fandom p.46

Conclusion: p.48

General Note: p.53

Methodology p.54

Bibliography p.58

List of Interviewees p.62

______________________________________________________
 3

Abstract
My three cited studies, The Kop, Red Voices and The Boot Room Boys, focus on two
English football clubs, Liverpool and Manchester United and some of the footballing
communities within these clubs. All three books use oral history as means of detailing
various aspects for historical study.

The clubs have been deliberately chosen because they rank as the most successful and
best supported clubs in English football. Red Voices is an oral history of fans at
Manchester United and as such is a wider examination of the social history of the club’s
fans and the culture of fandom at Old Trafford since the 1930s. The two other books are
about Liverpool Football Club and focus on different communities. The Kop focuses on a
particular area of the ground known as the Spion Kop, where the most fervent of
Liverpool fans used to stand but now sit. The other book, The Boot Room Boys, focuses
on a community that is centred on the club’s coaching staff who took up residence in the
club’s boot room beneath the Main stand. This room took on mythical proportions during
the 1960s, 70s and 80s when the club’s successes seemed to have emanated from the
discussions, tactics and approach of its occupants.

Across these three publications interviews have been conducted with more than 250
people ranging from ordinary fans to owners, directors, players, administrators and
managers. By drawing on this wide range of personal experiences, many going back to
before the Second World War, it is possible to gauge the importance of the various
communities to the footballing map and to ascertain the various changes that have taken
place in the culture of football.

Backed by extensive research, the reader is able to reconsider the history of football
spectatorship in the twentieth century through the experiences of pre-generational fans.
My findings suggest that spectatorship divides into three distinct: the pre-1960s; the
period 1962 to 1989; and the post Hillsborough period, 1989 to the present. The
interviews detail the social, ethnic and gender makeup of spectators throughout the years
and also reveal important findings on rites of passage and the role played by fathers and
elder siblings in the initiation of younger people into spectatorship. Ritual also emerges
as a crucial element in spectatorship. In the case of Liverpool Football Club the
interviews suggest that being a ‘Kopite’ is a crucial statement in terms of social identity.
Anfield, the home of Liverpool is also identified as the focal point for the emergence of
chanting and singing by fans on the terraces in the 1960s. Fashion at Liverpool and
hooliganism at Manchester United are shown to have been important in the later period
identified as ‘fanatical fandom’. And finally there is evidence from the interviews to
suggest that significant cultural changes in fandom have taken place with the introduction
of all-seater stadia.

Not only does this testimony highlight the social history of spectatorship but it also
encourages a new perspective, based on the individual experience which can also include
emotional responses to spectatorship. In doing so this has had the effect of fleshing out
 4

the history of football, enabling it to break free from the traditional perspective of events
on the pitch towards the inter-relationship between sport and everyday life.
 5

Introduction
In the last five years the study of sport as history and as a sociological phenomenon has
become an accepted academic discipline within British universities. Indeed, sport has
long been an accepted area of study in American universities. The emergence of sports
history, sports journalism, and sports studies as respected degree pathways has provided a
further impetus for the study of sport. 1

Similarly oral history has been regarded as an imperative and empirical method of
recording people’s experiences. In the discipline of labour history and social history, the
use of oral interviews has proved to be a rich and valid means for investigating the daily
working activities, conflicts, protests, and family relationships of ordinary people. But
until recently an examination of leisure time, leisure activities and sport, through oral
testimony was not considered a rich area for the oral historian. 2

Since then an increasing number of sports historians, in exploring the social development
of sport, have turned to oral interviews as a means of exploring the concept of sport and
its development.

These three books (The Kop, Red Voices and The Boot Room Boys) were among the first
attempts at exploring the use of oral history in a sporting context. Cricket Voices (Bose,
1990) was possibly the first commercially published oral history to look at some aspect of
sport; in this case cricket. The Kop was the first oral history of its kind to cover football.
Below is a brief summary of each of the publications.

a) Kelly, S. F. (2005) The Kop: Liverpool’s Twelfth Man. London, Virgin.

This book was the first oral history publication to focus on football fandom as a
legitimate area of study. It was first published in 1993 as an original paperback by
Mandarin to coincide with the closure of the Kop, the terracing behind one of the goals at
the Anfield Road stadium, home of Liverpool Football Club. It was titled The Kop: The
End of an Era. The closure of the Kop in 1993 made it an ideal time to conduct such an
oral history.

1
Mason, T. (1988) Sport in Britain. London, Faber & Faber p. 69, noted the growing acceptance of sport
as a serious academic study when he wrote that ‘the sociology of sport…has become a vigorous sub-
discipline in universities and colleges.’ Since then the number and range of academic journals and
academic societies devoted to sport also lends credence to this point. De Monfort University has a long
tradition involving the study of sport.
In 2003, the University of Huddersfield introduced a degree in Sports Journalism, the first of its kind in
Europe.
2
In the spring of 1997, Oral History, the journal of the Oral History Society, devoted an entire issue to
sport. An editorial commented that ‘this is the first issue of Oral History devoted to the theme of sport,
which reflects the fact that until recently little attention has been directed to oral accounts of ‘ordinary’
people’s sporting activities. Whilst there have been hagiographies and biographies of sporting stars, few
have used oral evidence and where they have done, precious few tapes have found their way to public
archives or libraries.’
 6

The Kop was subsequently reprinted seven times over the next ten years. In 2005 it was
republished by a new publisher, Virgin, with a new cover and an additional chapter which
took into account the experiences of the new seated Kop. No text from the previous
publication was omitted. It was however retitled as The Kop: Liverpool’s Twelfth Man. It
is this later edition that I have used in referencing.

Through a series of interviews with fans, employees of the club, players, opposition fans
and journalists, the book explores the social history of support, the culture, and the
communalisation of fandom. It examines, through personal accounts, such phenomena as
identity, loyalty, away support, hooliganism, communal chanting and singing, and the
importance of location to the fan. The book also contains some published extracts, either
from other books or newspapers, appertaining to the Kop.

The book inevitably concentrates on the post-war era (1946-1993). Potential interviewees
for the pre-war period were, by then, approaching their eighties and more difficult to find
as well as being less reliable as eye-witnesses. Nevertheless there are a number of
interviews with individuals going back to the pre-war period. One interview even goes
back as far as 1907. Since the book’s publication in 1993 a number of those interviewed
have died, making the book even more valuable as a source of material as it is now
impossible to get interviews stretching as far back as was possible fifteen years ago.

In all, approximately 110 individuals were interviewed with 104 of these providing
appropriate recordings for use. Interviews were carried out in a variety of places. Many of
these participants provided lengthy interviews though others gave briefer accounts. Most
of the interviews were recorded and some of the tapes for these interviews are now held
in the archive of the FIFA National Football Museum at Preston (see later note on
Methodology).

Some of the interviews were subsequently rejected because they either proved to be
unreliable, were superfluous to the structure, repeated what had been more eloquently
articulated by others or interviewees were simply incapable of articulating their memories
in a manner that would not have necessitated major editing.

All of the interviews were carefully structured and chosen with some individuals more
able to describe specific aspects than others. Originally published more than fourteen
years ago, the book has now emerged as an even more important publication and piece of
research as it deals with a period when standing at football grounds was both ‘the norm’
and permitted. That experience has now gone and there is little oral evidence remaining
which recounts the experience. Subsequent oral history publications on football have
dealt largely with the post-Taylor period. 3

3
The Report of Lord Justice Taylor, following the Hillsborough Disaster of 1989 when 96 Liverpool fans
were crushed at an FA Cup semi-final, made a number of recommendations that were to have a significant
effect of spectatorship. In particular Lord Taylor recommended the introduction of all-seater stadia and also
recommended changes in ticketing processes which meant that fans could no longer be admitted to games
by paying at the turnstile, on the day, as they had in the past. This was to have a dramatic effect on fan
 7

b) Kelly, S.F. (1999) Red Voices: An Oral History of Manchester United. London
Headline.

This book is an oral history of fandom support for a particular football club, in this
instance, Manchester United. Whereas The Kop concentrates on a specific area of
terracing, this book tackles a wider perspective by exploring the general nature of fandom
at a specific club. Through a series of interviews it examines the changing nature of
fandom between 1920 and 1998.

The book was published as a hardback in February 1999 by the commercial publisher
Headline. It was subsequently published as a paperback by the same publisher in 2000
with an updating chapter that included Manchester United’s European Cup triumph of the
1998/99 season year and the winning of three trophies. Much of the new chapter was
focused on the experiences of fans during the club’s European triumph. Interviews for the
original publication were conducted between 1996 and 1998. Interviews for the updated
paperback version were carried out in 1999. A total of 70 individuals were interviewed
for the original publication with 61 of the interviews retained. As with The Kop some
interviewees were rejected for the same reasons.

All of the participants provided lengthy interviews. The interviews were carried out in the
homes or offices of individuals and were recorded on minidiscs and were subsequently
transcribed. A handful of interviews were conducted via the telephone. The tapes for
these interviews are now held in the archive of the FIFA National Football Museum at
Preston. The interviewees ranged from the club chairman and directors, to players, fans
and employees of the club. The interviews focused largely on the experience of
individuals as fans.

Through these interviews the book highlights the cultural and social changes which have
taken place in fandom since the 1920s. In particular it analyses such issues as the nature
and meaning of fandom, the physical experience of fandom, and the social and
technological influences on fandom between 1920 and 1990. It also examines in detail
the emotional impact on fans of the Munich air disaster in 1958. Because it was published
some years later than The Kop, it was able to assess some of the major changes that were
taking place in fandom since the Taylor Report and the adoption of all-seater stadia.

Kelly, S.F. (1999) The Boot Room Boys. London, Collins Willow.

This is an oral history of a footballing community different to the ones previously listed.
In this instance the community is not the public face of the club as seen through its
supporters but the private face of the club, that is the backroom coaching staff. The study
attempts to look at a different aspect of football culture by examining the contribution

culture and is dealt with in more detail later. See Taylor (1990). Taylor, Rt Hon Lord Justice (1990) The
Hillsborough Stadium Disaster 15 April 1989. Final Report Home Office, Cmnd 962. London, HMSO.
 8

made to Liverpool Football Club by the coaching staff and management of the club. It
also examines in detail the importance of their particular environment, widely and fondly
known as the boot room. This was the venue, the workplace and the office for certain
members of the coaching staff of the club. In essence it was simply a room where the
players’ boots were stored but over a period of time it also became the room where the
coaching staff would gather to relax and where meetings would be held. With time it took
on a mystical aura as much of the club’s success was attributed to its personnel and
operations. The study examines the mythology of this venue and considers whether there
were any defining factors which helped influence the success of the club during the
period or whether a simple myth has developed. It also examines this mythology through
interview with many of those most closely engaged with the Boot Room to access their
perception of the mythology against the reality.

The book also explores the relationship between those employed by the club – players,
directors, coaches, managers – and the supporters. It examines a series of relationships,
including those between the coaching staff, the relationship of the coaching staff to the
fans, the relationship of the coaching staff to journalists, the relationship of the coaching
staff to management and the relationship of players to the coaching staff.

Interviews for this book were carried out in 1998 and 1999. Like the other books this too
was published by a commercial publisher, Collins Willow, in 1999. It was not
subsequently published in paperback and has not since been republished in any other
form.

Through an extensive series of interviews with spectators, players, coaches and others
engaged with the game these three publications have drawn on memories which are now
no longer a part of the general experience of today’s spectators. As such we can begin to
develop a flavour of the nature of fandom for previous generations. We can also detect
factors which have evolved to change the subsequent profile of football fandom. Andy
Ward and Rogan Taylor (Oral History, Spring 1997) urged historians not to forget the
role of spectators in their analysis and argued that sport must be understood through a
variety of relationships: player and player, spectator and player, father and son/daughter,
spectator and rival spectator, player and coach, etc. In addition to these relationships, the
relationship between manager/coaches and spectator is also important and was considered
in one of the publications (The Boot Room Boys).

The three books also attempted to explain the importance of football to the makeup of a
community through the constituent parts of its members. In the case of The Kop it was
possible to examine, through interviews, the impact and relationship of a particular
terracing to the larger community. By examining football fandom from three different
perspectives – Liverpool fans, Manchester United fans and players and coaches – I have
been able to assess whether the conditions at one locality have any commonality. In
particular I asked whether fans at the two clubs had similar experiences and traditions or
were their experiences unique to either of the clubs.
 9

Finally, the books have explored the very nature of fandom and the importance of
identity in the culture of the football fan. They have also examined whether this culture
has changed and what factors prevail today that were absent generations ago.

Through these studies I have been able to address the concept of loyalty to a particular
location and shown that individuals who meet regularly in a specific locality on terraces
adopt a community identity and common rules. And that this applies to both Liverpool
and Manchester United. I have also assessed how this identity expresses itself, and shown
that it is done so through the use of wit and songs. I have also looked at whether this use
of wit and song is spontaneous or pre-planned. My study detailed some of these songs for
the first time, particularly at Anfield, to show how lyrics were adapted to express a mood
or feeling in the common language of the community. I have also demonstrated the
importance of local music, both popular and traditional, and its adaptation for specific
purposes, particularly during the 1960s.

The publications also explore the ways in which individuals have been introduced to the
terraces, at what age, and under what conditions and if attendance on this particular
terracing acted as a rite of passage for young people into adult life. In addition, I have
considered whether this facilitated the bonding processes within the family, particular
between fathers and sons/daughters as well as between siblings.

I have also analysed the changing character of support and the effects that this has
engendered, looking specifically at such things as crowd violence and have examined
whether one particular terracing (the Kop) has any features common to other terracings in
other stadia or whether it has characteristics peculiar to Liverpool.
 10

Literature Review
The makeup of the footballing library falls into a number of categories. Prior to the 1980s
the vast majority of book publications in Britain that focused on football were of a
limited nature. Most publications were designed for a popular audience with few
publications designed to challenge the reader or to provide any insights into the history
and organization of the game.

Seddon (1999) detailed, for the first time, the literature devoted to the game and in
particular detailed some of the earlier and rarer publications. 4 The earliest known football
publication is believed to be Beeton’s Football (Wood, 1867) which was published just
four years after the formation of the Football Association. This, now scarce text, had just
96 pages with numerous illustrations but offered few insights into the development of the
game. Seven years later Football: Our Winter Game (Alcock, 1874) was the first truly
comprehensive account of the growth of football, coming eleven years after the formation
of the Football Association and some 14 years before the founding of the Football
League. Its author Charles Alcock was to become an important administrator in the game,
even suggesting the FA Cup competition, thereby lending his literary contribution some
value to historians.

Although a number of other ‘minor’ publications on the game appeared during the latter
years of the 19th century, it was not until 1906 that any volume of significance was
published with the four-volumed Association Football and the Men Who Made It (Gibson
& Pickford, 1906). This publication not only detailed the history of the game to date but
also offered biographies of players and administrators that have proved of invaluable use
to historians of the game. A handful of club histories followed during the 1920s and
1930s with Arsenal Football Club particularly active in producing annual handbooks.
Most publications however tended to be short in content and certainly short on accurate
information. Many popular newspapers also published soft-cover, season statistical
books.

After the Second World War and with the growing popularity of football, a second and
distinct genre was born with the advent of the book clubs. The Soccer Book Club was
founded as an imprint of publishers Stanley Paul in order to provide popular publications
to a growing market of more affluent and educated readers. Indeed it was part of an
overall trend that saw numerous general book clubs entering the market, such as the
Good Companions. Over the next decade the Soccer Book Club supplied cheap, hardback
football books to a growing market. Most titles were generally player autobiographies but
there were also a few coaching manuals, World Cup summaries, and the occasional, more
serious history. Among the autobiographies were ones on Nat Lofthouse, Tom Finney,
Stanley Matthews and Billy Wright. All of these ‘autobiographies’ were written by, or
had substantial help, from practicing journalists and were to become known as ‘ghosted’

4
For a detailed and thorough examination of the literature of football see Seddon, P. (1999) A Football
Compendium. London, British Library.
 11

autobiographies. This is a practice that continues to this day and has become a genre
within its own right.

One of the most notable of the brief histories was Football on Merseyside (Young, 1963)
which tackled the early history of Liverpool, Everton and Tranmere Rovers Football
Clubs. Young also produced Football: Facts and Fancies or the Art of Spectatorship
(1950) as well as The Appreciation of Football (1951). Though short in length, both
books offer some serious reflections on the nature of supporting a football club.

In contrast to the scarcity of serious football books at this time, there was a far richer
library of quality cricketing titles, explained possibly by the educational background of
players, readers and writers. These books tended to be detailed accounts of cricketing
tours, Test Matches, and of course player autobiographies, again usually ghosted by a
journalist. Genuine biographies did not appear on the market until the 1990s. No other
sport offered any volume of publications of any note although boxing was often written
about by respected writers, such as Norman Mailer, Bernard Shaw and Ernest
Hemingway. 5

This trend of ‘popular’ autobiographies and club histories continued until 1972 when the
first genuinely ‘serious’ football publication The Glory Game (Davies, 1972) was
published. This was an ‘inside’ account of the 1971/72 season at Tottenham Hotspur and
proved highly successful. It has been reprinted on a number of occasions and remains a
‘classic’ in the genre. Only a Game (Dunphy, 1976) followed and provided a season’s
diary from the player’s perspective, and was well regarded by the publishing and sporting
communities. The ‘insider’ genre was to be short-lived as clubs and players soon realised
the dangers of exposing themselves as the tabloid press headlined some of the more
outrageous antics of footballers that had been detailed in the books.

The Soccer Tribe (Morris, 1981) was an early and innovative publication attempting to
develop an anthropological analysis to football and to this day remains an important,
though popular publication, into the serious nature of fandom. The book depicted football
as a conflict between opposing tribes and many of the books assertions on ritual, fashion,
colour and support, remain relevant to this day.

These publications broke with tradition and in doing so opened the way for an academic
approach to examining the cultural phenomena of football. The People’s Game
(Walvin,1975), for the first time, seriously examined the social history of football in
some detail. Tony Mason’s Association Football and English Society, 1863-1915 (1980)
and Sport in Britain (1988) continued the trend of giving academic consideration to the
role of sport and football in society. The term ‘fandom’ which had previously been
applied to describe fans of science fiction, quickly became common currency for
describing the unique activities of football fans. Although new ground had been broken
by this more serious approach to examining football, it appealed only to a minority
academic audience mainly of sociologists. Football books still remained a minority part
of publishing.
5
See Mailer (1975) The Fight. Also Shaw (1979) Cashel Byron’s Profession.
 12

The boom in football book publications did not however generally begin until the mid
1980s. My own book, You’ll Never Walk Alone (Kelly, 1987), offered a popular approach
to club history with a highly illustrated volume and 70,000 words of text. This was a
hugely successful publishing venture that would sell more than 100,000 copies over the
next ten years. My history of Liverpool was followed by a similar illustrated history of
Everton Football, Forever Everton (1988). These two publications led to a plethora of
similar studies on individual clubs that saw a boom in sports publishing.

But it was the phenomenal success of Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch (1992) 6 which is
sometimes classified as fiction rather than non-fiction, accompanied by the
‘bourgeoisification’ of football with its new audience during the 1990s, that was to lead
to a growing market for serious football publications. Since then publications examining
all aspects of football have been published as academics, serious journalists, and other
writers of both non-fiction and fiction, have added significantly to the library of football
publications. Fever Pitch would in itself initiate a new genre of football-supporting,
fictional autobiographies.

Of the two clubs highlighted in my oral histories neither had a wealth of publications
devoted to them prior to my own. The first recognised Liverpool publications did not
come about until after the Second World War and were so limited as to be of little value.
Young (1963, op cit) and Prole (1967) offered the first histories of the club although
again, whilst interesting, merely sketched an outline of the club’s formal history. There
was nothing on fans or fan culture and the club did not even have a handbook until 1950.
The same was largely true of Manchester United with the first written history of the club
not appearing until 1926. 7 Again there was nothing else until after the Second World War
when the success of the club, particularly in the 1950s with the Busby Babes and the
subsequent Munich Disaster, led to any textual interest. Even then it was sparse.

Another textual development came in the form of fanzines. The publication of informal
and unofficial fan publications, which began in 1986 with When Saturday Comes, led
quickly to a glut of such publications, attached to specific clubs 8 . This began a process
where the fans’ opinions became of increasing importance and opened up a new potential
area of study. This democratisation of football, for the first time, gave a voice to fans.
These publications became known as ‘fanzines’. 9

Apart from The Soccer Tribe (op. cit.) fandom was a generally neglected area of study
prior to 1993. No other sport offered any such approach either. Once a more serious
approach had become accepted, fandom became defined by academics as the cultural

6
Hornby’s Fever Pitch sold over one million copies to make it the highest selling football book of all time.
A highly successful full length feature film was also produced.
7
This publication was Souvenir of the International Match Played at Old Trafford, April 17th 1926 and
History of Manchester United Football Club. Manchester, The Club. The author is unknown.
8
The first Liverpool fanzine, Through the Wind and Rain, was published in the spring of 1988. The first
Manchester United fanzine, United We Stand began in 1989.
9
Fanzines were not however unique to football. The first fanzines appeared in the music industry. Among
the first was Merseybeat, founded in July 1961.
 13

characteristics of support, involving the experiences, traditions and activities of fans.

Academics soon began to examine a range of features associated with support. Much of
this however was carried out without reference or consultation with the fans themselves.
My studies however, by employing oral interviews, have attempted to see fandom
through the eyes of the fans themselves. As a consequence my studies have provided a
new approach and in doing so have given fresh value to the growing volume of academic
work as well as providing a different perspective.

Labour historians in the 1960s had seized up labour and trade unions as a rich area of
unexploited study. In particular E. P. Thompson, Raphael Samuel, Christopher Hill and
Eric Hobsbawm began to approach history from a new angle. Their approach became
known as ‘history from below’ and focused on the lives of ‘ordinary’ people, rather than
decision-makers. Raphael Samuel, with his History Workshops, encouraged working
class students at Ruskin College to examine their own pasts and to draw upon their own
rich experiences. Samuel was also one of the first historians in Britain to invoke the
potential of recorded oral testimony in this arena. 10

Oral history had first been adopted by George Ewart Evans in the early 1960s as well as
by Raphael Samuel. 11 As interest grew in this approach over the next twenty years oral
historians tended to concentrate on more traditional areas of exploration, such as work,
war and communities. Leisure was, however, to become an increasing interest but sport
was still largely ignored as a valuable area of oral research. The publication of my books,
though, led to the development of a further genre with oral history examining various
aspects of the game and its communities. In effect my publications have fused the study
of sport with this fresh oral approach.

An editorial in Oral History, the journal of the Oral History Society, in 1997 commented
that ‘this dearth of oral historical research is in part a reflection of the preoccupation of
oral historians with radical protest, with working lives and family experience. Where
memories of sport and leisure have cropped up in interviews, they have not been
forefronted. Few major life stories have included sport as a topic worthy of much
interest.’(Oral History, Spring 1997).

The three publications dealt with here (The Kop, Red Voices and The Boot Room Boys)
have been at the forefront of demonstrating that sport, and particularly through the use of
oral testimony, is a potentially rich area for research. Each of the books, which use oral
testimony as their basis, takes a different angle by exploring different footballing
communities, thereby allowing us to acknowledge that sport can be best understood
through a variety of relationships and perspectives. By compiling a series of lengthy
interviews with more than 220 individuals of various ages, professions, backgrounds and
10
The History Workshops began at Ruskin College, Oxford under the tutelage of Raphael Samuel in 1968
and continued for many years.
11
For examples of George Ewart Evans’ early work see Evans (1956) Ask the Fellow Who Cuts The Hay
and George Ewart Evans (1970) Where Beards Wag All. Much of Evans’ work was focused on the
declining agricultural industry and its accompanying way of life. The introduction of portable recording
equipment in the early 1960s also opened the way for historians to conduct ‘field’ interviews and was to
significantly lead to the development of oral history.
 14

alignments, these publications offered a fresh and innovative approach to the increasing
volume of football histories. In particular they have allowed us to witness sporting
experience through immediate observations.

The editorial in Oral History argued that ‘sporting oral history is a new field…it has been
argued that sports writing developed as a genre of its own, appropriate for its own
audience. Perhaps oral history sports writing will be a similar departure. For now, surely
more attention needs to be devoted to investigating why people participated in sport. How
did sport relate to friendship and kinship networks, and to the relationship in the
workplace?’ (Oral History, Spring 1997).

I believe that these texts do precisely that. In particular they detail a range of
relationships, looking at how class, ethnicity and gender have played a role in football
fandom. In doing so they suggest that football remained a largely male, working class,
preoccupation until the 1990s when the compulsory introduction of the all-seater stadia
encouraged the influx of the ‘new’, bourgeois fan. My interviews show that in many
cases these new fans were middle class, female and from ethnic minorities. My work also
examines the geographical and demographic nature of support, and whether the question
of ‘identity’ is regarded as important by the fan, and if so, whether this importance
transcends itself to inside the football stadium. In particular the texts trace how
parliamentary legislation has impacted on the experience of football fandom, especially
since the 1990s and how this has changed the experience of football spectating. The
books also trace how transport developments have changed the nature and experience of
attendance at games and whether any other significant technological developments have
added to the game’s attraction. In addition the books question the impact of success on a
local community and whether it increases the status of the city community within the
wider nation.

The first edition of The Kop:The End of an Era (Kelly, 1993) was the first such
publication to study a specific community of fans by using the technique of oral
testimony to explore aspects of football history and culture. Since then others have
explored football fandom through this method. 12 A variety of sports have also begun to
adopt this technique, most notably cricket. A second football oral history, Red Voices
(Kelly,1999), took a wider view of a club’s fans, this time focusing on Manchester
United, the most popular and most supported club in the land, and looking at fandom
across all stadia localities, rather than one locality. A third oral history, The Boot Room
Boys (Kelly, 1999), tackled a further perspective by concentrating on another community
with the experiences of players, coaches, managers and administrators at Liverpool
Football Club.

These three oral history books between them offer a thematic body of research into the
historical and sociological experience of fandom, both as an innovative approach to the
subject but also by providing a wide range of experience from a variety of perspectives.
Together they offer a genuinely different insight into the social history of fandom, in this

12
These include Taylor & Ward (1998) Three Sides of the Mersey; Watt (1993) The End and Taylor and
Ward (1995) Kicking and Screaming.
 15

case, from the fans’ perspective. Many of the interviews reflect on experiences as far
back as the pre-war years and offer a rare and now almost impossible to re-create record
of football fandom in the period. There are few if any, other recorded experiences by fans
dating back as far as the 1920s or 1930s and there is little possibility of ever making such
recording as fans grow older or die. Even a football fan in the 1930s will today be in his
nineties.

In the time since their publication the books have been referred to by numerous
academics and journalists. Indeed, a number of academics were interviewed for the
books, including Dr John Williams, Director of the Centre for the Sociology of Sport at
Leicester University, Dr Rogan Taylor of Liverpool University, Professor Roger Webster
of Liverpool John Moores University, Dr John Doyle of Brighton University and the late
Dr Derek Wynne, Director of the Institute for Popular Culture at Manchester
Metropolitan University. Other notable interviewees include the late Lord Stan Orme,
Graham Stringer MP, Steve Morgan, former chairman of Redrow Homes and chairman
of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club and, Martin Edwards, former chairman of
Manchester United FC. Numerous well-known players and officials of both clubs were
also interviewed.

All three books have been commented upon and used as evidence in a number of
publications. Jeff Hill, Director of the International Centre for Sports History and
Culture, writing in Sport, Leisure and Culture in 20th Century Britain (2002) makes
mention of The Kop. Passing Rhythms, Liverpool F.C. and the Transformation of
Football (Williams, Hopkins & Long, 2001) contains frequent references to The Kop and
to The Boot Room Boys. Simon Inglis (1996) also makes reference to The Kop in his
highly acclaimed study of English football grounds as does Professor Dave Russell
(1997). Professor Steve Redhead (1997) also makes reference to the book and its
important use of oral history as a means of illustrating changes in the social history and
fabric of the national game. The Boot Room Boys is referenced in Ghost on the Wall
(Dohren, 2004). Red Voices is referenced in Jack and Bobby (McKinstry, 2002) and
frequent references are made to the same book by the distinguished writer Jimmy Burns
in When Beckham Went to Spain (2004).

A number of journalists writing in the national press have also heaped praise on the
publications. On its publication The Kop was described by the doyen of sports writers
Frank Keating in The Guardian (30.4.94) as ‘a touching labour of love to preserve
forever the legend.’ A reviewer in The Independent (30.4.94) also called it
‘commendable’, while the Liverpool Daily Post (24.12.94) described it as ‘a lament for
an age that is about to pass into history’. The Kop is also acknowledged in Lives of the
Great Songs (de Lisle, 1995).

Henry Winter, chief football correspondent of the Daily Telegraph and one of the
country’s most esteemed football writers, recently writing about The Kop, observed that
these ‘anecdotes of Anfield life have been brilliantly compiled.’ He added that it was a
‘fascinating tribute’ (Daily Telegraph, 12.5.2005).
 16

The author has been interviewed on BBC Radio, BBC Television, Granada Television,
SKY Television and MUTV about the books as well as being interviewed by numerous
newspapers and magazines. The author has also been interviewed on a number of
occasions by researchers completing PhDs on the subject of fandom. In addition
academic papers have been given to various conferences. 13 The books have also proved
to be of value in the writing of a number of other books by myself, in particular Bill
Shankly: It’s Much More Important Than That (1996), Dalglish (1992) and Fergie
(1997).

The traditional attitude towards sporting history has changed in recent years as historians,
and in particular oral historians, have widened their field of research and taken onboard
the importance of leisure and sport in people’s lives. The increasing popularity and the
bourgeoisification or gentrification of football fandom since 1990 have also led to a
growing interest in the history of the game and consequently a re-examination of sport as
a cultural activity. The publication of The Kop and Red Voices have played some part in
this change of attitude.

The theme of oral histories, focusing on football clubs, has since been added to by R.
Taylor and A. Ward, Three Sides of the Mersey (1993), whose oral history of football on
Merseyside interviewed fans and players of the three Merseyside clubs, Liverpool,
Everton and Tranmere Rovers. It contained additional interviews with some of the
individuals who I had interviewed and further explored a variety of issues, such as
identity and rites of passage, which The Kop had initially raised. David Paul (1998) also
produced an oral history of Liverpool Football Club some years later further examing
some of these issues. In a subsequent publication Taylor and Ward, Kicking and
Screaming (1995), produced a more general oral history covering English football, again
developing many of the themes, such as rites of passage and ritual, that had emerged in
my publications and which were now becoming rich territory for academics. In 1993
Taylor produced a deeply-moving oral history devoted to the Hillsborough disaster.

A further exponent of the oral history genre at this time was Tom Watt (1993) whose first
work focused on Arsenal Football Club. Like Taylor and Ward, Watt mirrored many of
the areas that I had initially explored in The Kop. Another publication by Watt (1995)
was a more general study dealing with a variety of people active in the game, examining
their occupations and functions within the game. The theme of oral history with fans
voicing their own experiences of the nature of support focused around specific football
clubs have since been published.

13
A summary of the work in this area was presented by the author as a paper to The Institute of Popular
Culture at Manchester Metropolitan University in 1994. A further paper was given to the Representing
Sport Conference at Liverpool John Moores University in May 2006 as well as at a research seminar at the
University of Huddersfield in 2007. Papers have also been presented at the 5th annual conference of the
Centre for Liverpool and Merseyside Studies in November 2008 and at the Sport and Oral History
conference at the University of Huddersfield in April 2009. A further paper will be presented at the Oral
History Society’s annual conference in July 2009.
 17

A published oral history of rugby league also appeared recently as well as one on
professional golf. 14 The University of Huddersfield’s Centre for Oral History Research,
under my own leadership, has been involved in a three-year research project collecting
the oral memories of fans, administrators and players involved in rugby league. 15 Again
this project has used all three of my cited oral history publications as a template. Some of
the themes that emerged in my football publications have similarly emerged in this study
of rugby league and much concentration has been on the social history of spectatorship.

In the United States, a number of baseball and American Football teams have become the
subject of oral histories 16 . Indeed American universities have pioneered much work
connecting oral history and sport. The Oral History Society in Britain has also recognized
this increasing area of study by devoting an entire issue of its quarterly publication Oral
History 17 to the subject of sport. Although the genre of sporting oral history has now
become more commonplace, there still remains considerable scope for the study of sports
other than football.

14
See McMillan (2004) and Barkow (2000)
15
Up and Under: An Oral History of Rugby League in West Yorkshire. See website
www.rugbyleagueoralhistory.co.uk
16
For example, see Loverro (2007) and Royal & Wheat (2005)
17
See Oral History, Volume 25, no.1, Spring 1997, pages 40-74. The edition also contained articles on
golf, athletics and rounders.
 18

Thematic Review of the Current Academic Debates

As a result of a recent increased interest by academics in football as a serious area for
study, various schools of thought have developed. In particular some of these focus on
fandom. A number of distinct schools have emerged around social history, sociology,
social anthropology, business and media.

Social historians have explored the birth and development of the game, relating it to other
social developments in society, including legislation, the uniformity of rules, travel
infrastructures, professionalism, gambling and so forth.18 This has also allowed historians
to further examine other sports, such as cricket and rugby and to compare developments
in those sports with football. 19

Sociologists have examined a variety of inter-personal relationships within the game,

many focused on fans and fandom. These include among others, crowd behaviour,
alienation, hooliganism, social identity, gender, ethnicity, class, fashion and the
consequences of the shift to all-seater stadia. In more recent years there has been
considerable interest shown by business academics who have explored the influx of
money into the game and its impact on the sport. 20 They have examined football as a
business, looking particularly at such aspects as foreign ownership, business structures,
the impact of ticket pricing, advertising and sponsorship. They have also looked at the
mechanics of football as a business. More recently media influences on the game have
attracted interest from media academics who have explored the relationship between
football and its fans, and media organizations such as SKY Television 21 . They have also
examined the celebrity cult of the football player in the tabloid press and the emergence
‘new’ writing.

My three oral history books have highlighted and initiated many of these themes for
subsequent academic exploration. These include the social history of fandom, the nature
of fandom, the make-up of fans, rituals, the use of song and chanting, fashion, identity
and rites of passage. These books have provided some of the first oral evidence in these
fields and have been taken up by social historians, sociologists and social anthropologists
alike. And even where it has not been the first oral evidence it nevertheless has been
valuable oral evidence that has added to the fabric and development of scholarly work.

For example, the issue of gender was raised by a number of respondents in both The Kop
and Red Voices and this is a particularly important and relevant aspect of fandom.
Liverpool fan Sheila Spiers talked about going on the Kop in the years immediately after
the Second World War but admits that it was ‘a totally male dominated area in those

18
See Taylor, M. (2008) The Association Game, A History of British Football and Walvin, J. (1975) The
People’s Game.
19
In particular see Hill, J. (2002) Sport, Leisure and Culture in 20th Century Britain; Birley, D. (1995)
Land of Sport and Glory; and Mason, T. (1988) Sport In Britain.
20
For examples see Conn, D. (1998) The Football Business; Garland, J. Malcolm, D. & Rowe, M. (2003)
The Future of Football.
21
See Boyle, R. & Haynes, R. (2004) Football in the New Media Age.
 19

days’ and that when she was in the boys’ pen she was ‘the only girl there’. She does
however admit that nonetheless ‘all the other boys accepted her’ (The Kop, p.23).

This response was echoed by a number of other women and men in the books,
particularly about female attendance prior to the Second World War. Liz Crolley and
Cathy Long in Williams, Hopkins and Long (2001) however, suggest that contrary to
speculation it was not uncommon for women to attend football matches in the 1940s and
1950s and the authors cite evidence from a number of women who attended matches at
this time. Fishwick (1989) also claims that ‘contingents…of women and middle class
supporters’ existed during the inter-war period.

Although there may be some oral and photographic evidence to support these claims
about the late 1940s and 1950s, it is dangerous to make too substantive a judgment from
the evidence available. There does however seem to be even less evidence to support any
claim about female football attendance prior to the Second World War. The likelihood is
that while there may be examples of women attending football matches before the 1960s,
oral histories have not examined this proposition in any detail. Only further photographic
evidence from newspaper archives and a far more detailed study focused on this issue
would be able to deal more adequately with the question of gender attendance at football.
Given that no attendance surveys were conducted in earlier years, we may never know
the full extent of female attendance at Anfield or Old Trafford prior to the Second World
War.

The same is true when it comes to examining the general makeup of the football
audience. Some of those interviewed talked about the changing makeup of fans in more
recent years as football has become more bourgeoisified. The assumption is that higher
prices, new ticketing arrangements, executive boxes, family stands, banqueting suites and
so forth have attracted a new clientele into football and that it is more affluent than it was
ten years and more ago. Others though, such as Derek Wynne 22 in Red Voices (p.252),
deny this and reflect that the make-up of those supporters sitting near them has not
changed and is remains largely working class. This view was echoed in the late 1990s.
Much subsequent analysis and evidence has been produced and ten years later this is an
issue which still causes some debate among academics 23 . Surveys conducted at numerous
clubs have identified the changing make-up of fans although many clubs, particularly in
the lower leagues and in certain regional areas, still attract a substantial working class
audience.

Mellor (1999) in his study of the make-up of fans during the 1950s and 60s suggests that
the building of car parks in the vicinity of, and alongside football grounds, with
subsequent photographic evidence of them being crammed with vehicles prior to the
games, offers some evidence of a sizable middle-class audience. This view is also echoed
by a number of testimonies in The Kop with respondents, such as Harry Wilson talking

22
The late Derek Wynne was himself a writer on football and Director of the Institute for Popular Culture
at Manchester Metropolitan University
23
See Mellor, G. (1998) The Social and Geographic Make-up of Football Fans in the North West of
England, in The Sports Historian, Vol 19, No 2.
 20

about the ‘toffs’ who sit in the stands (p.16). Given the price of admission to the stands it
is likely that only the better paid, more professional workers could afford entry. Taylor
(2008) also examines the changing nature of football fandom, citing such things as the
influx of money into the game through television deals, the emergence of a literature
surrounding the game, seating and a heightened media interest, as factors which have
encouraged the growth of a middle class audience.

Another aspect of fandom taken up in my books is that of local identity. There are many
interviewees who talk about supporting Liverpool one week and Everton the next week
prior to the 1960s. This is however not just common to Merseyside. Manchester United
fans talked also of supporting United one week and Manchester City the following week,
particularly when Manchester United were playing at Maine Road immediately after the
war following bomb damage at Old Trafford 24 . This argument also does not appear to be
confined to the locked localities of Liverpool and Manchester. In developing this theme
Mellor (1999) suggests that it was not uncommon in other localities for football fans to
support two clubs. His study argues that in the north west of England where there was a
preponderance of professional football clubs, it was not uncommon, during the 1940s and
1950s for fans to travel the short distances around Lancashire to attend football matches.

In his study of the changing pattern of support and the transformation of English football
in the 1990s, King (2002), has examined in particular this changing culture of fandom.
He has relied upon a similar interviewing pattern as I have in my books with the
difference that he has taken a much smaller group of supporters (about 20) and regularly
interviewed them in order to ascertain changes in their attitude, style and approach to
supporting. Indeed three of the 20 people he has focused on were initially interviewed by
myself for Red Voices.

King describes the transformed model fan that he finds as the ‘new consumer fan’ and
argues that the emergence of this signifies an end to many of the traditions and rites of
passage that were associated with the past. The new fan is more demanding, more of a
consumer than a blind follower. The traditional fan still exists among the ‘lad’ culture but
it is the new fan – more wealthy, more consumerist and more professional - who has
become the more attractive fan for the clubs themselves in the new financial climate of
football administration. And it is to these fans that the clubs have made most overtures
and concessions. This has led to a division among fans at some clubs with one set of fans
(‘the lads’) claiming to be the true heirs of the club whilst the consumerist fans provide
the financial being of the club. The roots of this debate can be detected in both The Kop
and Red Voices.

The issue of all-seater stadia and its impact on spectatorship and fan culture is of crucial
importance and is raised on numerous occasions in The Kop and Red Voices. Indeed the
updating of both books deliberately focused on this aspect. Many fans in The Kop and
Red Voices argued that whilst they could fully understand the inevitability of all-seater

24
Old Trafford was bombed on 11th March 1941 with the grandstand and part of the pitch suffering heavy
damage. As a result United played at Maine Road for a number of seasons until the damage had been
repaired.
 21

stadia following the disaster at Hillsborough, it unfortunately had instigated a marked

change in fandom. Fans felt that seating muted the passion of the crowd with less singing
and chanting. There were also concerns that the makeup of the crowd was shifting with
its traditional working class make-up less in evidence and that football was becoming
more ‘middle class’. Ticket prices, and the complexities in buying tickets beforehand,
have also alienated the traditional fan who liked to make a spontaneous decision about
attendance.

All these issues, which are expressed in my oral histories, are taken up by King (2002)
who analyses the transformation of football in the 1990s and the end of terrace culture.
King argues also that it reflects similar transformations taking place across British
society.

King also points out that the emergence of new football writing, spearheaded by Nick
Hornby and myself, has provided football with a new audience; middle class,
professional and educated. Taylor (2008) also lends considerable credence to this
discussion. The emergence of fanzines has also indicated a more demanding audience,
not prepared to accept what they regard as club propaganda or national and local
newspaper epiphets. Indeed, football has now become ‘above ground’; accepted,
academic and a popular talking point within society that transcends gender and class.
Compared to 15 years ago, following the Heysel disaster when it went ‘underground’,
this has been a seismic shift.

Football has changed however not just in the make-up of fans but also in its on-field
management. The changing role of the football manager is highlighted in The Boot Room
Boys and this theme is taken up by Neil Carter (2006). The Boot Room Boys details the
operations of another footballing community, in this case the back room staff at Anfield
with the role of the Boot Room and Bill Shankly being seen as crucial not only in the
success of Liverpool Football Club but also in the development of the modern manager
and the infrastructure now surrounding the position. Carter explores the historical context
of these changes from the anonymous, amateurish manager of Nineteenth century
football to the well-paid, motivational, television manager of recent years and finally to
what he describes as the postmodern manager of today. This he describes as a manager
versed as much in business techniques, psychological skills and a knowledge of the world
game as in the traditional portfolio of management skills. Shankly is seen as one of the
first motivational managers whose successes helped spearhead many changes in football
management, particularly in modernising the role and giving the manager a ‘public’
voice. Shankly’s style of management and the techniques he used are detailed in The
Room Boys through a range of interviews with those who were most closely associated
with him.

In particular we can discern from the oral testimony the importance and increasing
influence of the boot room community in running the affairs of the club on the pitch.
Shankly also helped, perhaps unconsciously, to develop the role of the football manager
into that of media manager, even at times manipulating the press to his own ends.
Shankly also became heavily involved in choosing which players were to be signed,
 22

something which has not been common place with previous managers. Shankly also
deliberately fostered a relationship with the fans and crowd thereby unwittingly ensuring
his own security.

Nevertheless, it was to be Shankly’s work with the boot room staff that was to be his
principal legacy. Each member of the staff had a particular role to play; Shankly was the
leader and motivator, Bob Paisley was the tactical expert, Ronnie Moran was the
disciplinarian while Joe Fagan acted as the link with the players. Subsequently, as one
manager retired, each member of the boot room stepped up the promotional ladder with a
new person usually being added to the staff at the lowest rung. This familiar style was to
suit Liverpool well up until 1985 when they broke with tradition by appointing a manager
outside of the boot room.

The Boot Room Boys covers the period 1960 to 1999 and thereby examines not only this
ongoing system but also maps the crucial years of change. In particular it identifies the
importance of Shankly and his period at Liverpool when, under his leadership, a second
division side was transformed into the championship-winning side of later years. Indeed,
it underlines the crucial role played by Shankly in the subsequent success of Liverpool
Football Club in the modern era. The Shankly legacy was to establish a structure that
would serve the club successfully for the next 25 years until 1985 when player Kenny
Dalglish was appointed player manager. The appointment of Dalglish broke with this
lineage and came as something of a surprise to many Liverpool followers. Dalglish
however would merely tinker with the Liverpool style of management although when he
did make changes, such as the sacking of chief scout Geoff Twentyman and trainer Chris
Lawler, it caused considerable comment within the wider community of Liverpool
Football Club. Dalglish’s continuing successes on the pitch, though. eclipsed any
criticisms. 25

It was not until Dalglish retired through ill-health in 1991 and another former Liverpool
captain, Graeme Souness, was appointed manager that any significant changes were to be
made to the systems and structures that were in place. Again the appointment of Souness
did not follow in the traditions of boot room promotion. Souness, who had initiated
revolutionary changes in his previous position as manager of Glasgow Rangers, took
further radical measures at Liverpool, including changes in training, diet, staffing and
structures at the club. New appointments were made in staff to the boot room when he
appointed his assistant at Rangers Phil Boersma as trainer. The boot room was also to be
demolished as too was the Kop although both these measures were taken as a result of
external factors. The appointment of Souness also underlined the shift to a new era of the
‘television’ manager. 26

Following the departure of Souness in 1998 a further shift took place with the
appointment of the Frenchman Gerard Houllier as joint manager with Roy Evans. This
was considered extraordinary in the Liverpool tradition, the club never having had joint

25
For more details on Dalglish’s role with Liverpool Football Club see Kelly (1992)
26
Information on Graeme Souness’ period as manager at Glasgow Rangers and Liverpool is detailed in
Kelly (1994).
 23

managers in its long history and nor a foreign manager. The joint management structure
was not however a situation that was to last very long and by November 1998 Houllier
had been appointed as sole manager. 27 This shift is described by Carter (2006) as the
move to the ‘postmodern manager’. Again this development is identified in The Boot
Room Boys including oral testimony from Houllier himself, as well as Roy Evans,
outlining the changes that he implemented. The move towards a European manager was
mirrored at other clubs as well, including Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

This changing shift in the modern game is examined in detail by Morrow (2003) when he
asks whether football clubs are businesses or social institutions. The Liverpool model had
always been that the club was a social institution with its roots deeply embedded in the
local community. Nonetheless, the club’s success in the 1980s widened its appeal not
only throughout the length and breadth of Britain but in Europe and the Far East so that
the club is now a global enterprise operating in an international sports commercial
market.

Manchester United similarly have widened their base support in more recent years due to
their ongoing success so that today they too are a global brand. Inevitably the influx of
money into football, via a stream of television and sponsorship deals, has changed the
relationship between fan and club. Other increasing revenues, through larger stadia and
attendance, sales of merchandise and sponsorship have also sustained the challenge for
success. But perhaps more importantly in recent years is that the influx of foreign
managers has been followed by an influx of foreign owners. Both Manchester United and
Liverpool are currently owned by American businessmen. The postmodernist manager
has been superseded by the postmodernist global club. Inevitably this has led to the
alienation of fans, particularly those who attend matches. The new culture of the TV fan
has grown with fans owning and wearing the kit of their favourite club but never actually
attending games. Whilst this might be developing phenomena in the UK it is a common
occurrence in the United States where many NFL fans are unable to support their team
due to the unavailability of tickets, travel costs and ticket costs themselves, plus the fact
that there are so few NFL teams operating in the major leagues.

Williams, Hopkins and Long (2001) also rely heavily on my research and oral testimony
as their study develops an overall examination of the history and other relevant aspects of
Liverpool Football Club. Their study uses much of the oral testimony from The Boot
Room Boys, placing it in context and comparing it with wider developments in the
English game. In doing so, they provide a framework that uses Liverpool Football Club
as a means of understanding enhancements elsewhere. In particular they see the boot
room as a developed structure being copied and implemented at other clubs though rarely
with much success. Indeed it was often the case that former Liverpool players moving
into management attempted to transfer the structures, ideology and techniques of the boot
room to their new abodes. Again however it resulted in little or no success.

Williams, Hopkins and Long (2001) also examine fan culture at Liverpool, and in
particular the Kop, which they perceive as a dynamic force in the success of the club, and
27
For further information on Gerard Houllier, see Kelly (2003)
 24

note the changes in fan culture that have taken place since the Second World War. In
particular they highlight Hillsborough as having a major impact on fan culture with its
emotional responses as well as the architectural changes forced on it through the Taylor
Report. Citing my various studies they also examine racism, gender, fashion and
hooliganism at Liverpool as well as the impact of the club’s modern global appeal on
fandom.

Like King (2002), Professor Steve Redhead (1997) has also highlighted the development
of football writing and the new media and its importance to the bourgeoisification of
spectatorship. He cites my own contributions towards this development of the study of
bourgeoisification. Redhead describes this as a connective culture between music,
writing, fashion and media and refers to it as post-fandom. Redhead has previously
argued that there was a crossover between popular music, youth culture and football.

The link between football and music can be traced back to the early 1960s and the
singing culture that emerged on the Kop which is detailed in The Kop. Redhead
acknowledges this link and makes the point that many subsequent Liverpool-based bands,
such as The Farm, and later the Zutons, have established their credibility by being linked
with Liverpool Football Club and its culture. As a consequence there has long been a link
between football fandom and music in the city of Liverpool and extending from this
culture is a further wider link to ‘laddishness’ and hooliganism. Connected into this also
is fashion which is outlined in the oral testimony contained in The Kop.

Redhead takes as his starting point the notion that football prior to the Millennium was an
identity-forming aspect of adolescence. Young men, and he stresses that it was
predominantly male, adopted the culture of their fathers/brothers/uncles/ grandfathers as
they pursued a rites of passage in football attendance. Much of this was trumpeted in my
own studies of The Kop and Red Voices. Redhead however believes that this youth
culture is being reshaped and argues that the disappearance of terraces does not
necessarily indicate an end to the terrace culture. Rather, he says, the post-fan soccer
culture is simply changing and adapting, not disappearing and has now been reshaped by
a youth culture heavily influenced by globalization and mediatisation.

Both Red Voices and The Boot Room Boys, however, examine footballing communities
other than fans or backroom staff. In the case of both these books interviews have been
recorded with administrators and officials of Manchester United and Liverpool. In the
case of Liverpool interviews were carried out with Rick Parry, the current Chief
Executive; Peter Robinson, the former Chief Executive; and Tom Saunders, a former
director. At Manchester United interviews were conducted with Martin Edwards, the
former owner and Chief Executive Officer; Danny McGregor, the Commercial Director;
Les Olive the former Club Secretary; and Sir Bobby Charlton, the former player and now
club director. These interviews provided a different perspective from that of the ordinary
fan, allowing for an examination of the way both clubs operate on a business level, rather
than a footballing level. Bose (2007) and Andrews (2004) have also examined the
commercial development of United and subsequent business model.
 25

The phenomenal success of Manchester United, both on and off the pitch, is examined in
detail in Red Voices. In particular the interview with Martin Edwards reveals the
importance of the club’s decision to become a publicly quoted company on the stock
exchange. His evidence is also supported by other important personnel at Old Trafford.

The decision to float on the stock exchange was part of a business plan to raise capital. It
allowed fans and investor institutions to purchase shares in the club, thereby extending its
capitalization base. The money raised from the flotation was used primarily for the
reconstruction of Old Trafford as it was transformed into an all-seater stadia to comply
with the recommendations of the Taylor Report. Further ground developments at a later
stage brought about rapid increases in capacity and thus ensured more revenue through
the turnstiles. As part of the continuing commercial plan the number of executive boxes
and executive areas were also increased and guaranteed further revenue earning. In turn
the increases in revenue allowed for the purchase of top quality, expensive players in the
transfer market.

While the business plan brought in significant revenues, it was equally important to
ensure that there was success on the pitch. This was achieved by allocating a substantial
proportion of the budget to signing top quality players. In turn success on the pitch would
lead to continuing commercial successes off the pitch and guaranteed a demand for
tickets. Of course, failure on the pitch might well have endangered this plan but the
ability to compete for players at the highest level and to be able to outbid other clubs in
the transfer market at least meant that there was a strong possibility of success on the
pitch. All these factors were to prove crucial, as is recognized in Mellor (Summer 2002)
as well as Andrews (2004).

Mellor (2000) has examined the reasons behind United’s emergence as a national and
international super-club, looking particularly at the legendary status that was afforded
United following the Munich disaster. Mellor concludes however that the club’s success
and popularity is due more to careful economic and business planning than to the
mythical status afforded by the Munich disaster. He argues that this coupled with the
growing popularity of the club in the 1960s, when it became the first English club to win
the European Cup, boasting exciting players such as Denis Law, George Best and Bobby
Charlton, has underpinned its rise to become one of the most important clubs in world
football. In Red Voices numerous interviewees also talk of the club’s rising popularity in
the 1960s and its importance. For many fans this was their initiation into supporting
United. With the club’s current status founded on the ‘romance’ associated with the club
during this period, Manchester United have been able to go from strength to strength.

It is clear however from the interviews with Rick Parry and Peter Robinson in The Boot
Room Boys that Liverpool have shied from adopting a similar model. Whilst Liverpool
enjoyed phenomenal success in the 1970s and 1980s there was a reluctance to exploit this
success commercially, preferring instead to be seen as doing things the ‘Liverpool way’
rather than as a major commercial enterprise. This decision would have later
repercussions.
 26

Both The Kop and Red Voices raise a number of complex societal issues that have faced
football fans, administrators and authorities. One of these is hooliganism. The books
however do not try to analyse or moralise about this problem but rather prefer to allow
the fans to voice their own experiences in an open manner. In some cases this does not
make for comfortable reading. Hooliganism is an issue which has since become a major
preoccupation with sociologists and criminologists, producing a plethora of publications
and analyses. Taylor (2002) for instance argues that it is a societal problem as much as it
is a ‘football’ problem. The onus therefore is on society to resolve some of the issues
rather than to place the burden on footballing authorities, police, clubs and fans. Others
such as Redhead (1991) pinpoint a contradiction for fans between a need for greater
identification with an increase in alienation resulting from unemployment and other
social problems during the 1970s and 1980s. King (2002) points to the commoditisation
and commercialisation of football alienating the conventional fan from the terraces and
working class communities where football traditionally operated and thrived. Stephen
Wagg (2004) also raises this concern.

Another issue dealt with in my books which has since been at the forefront of concerns
facing football administrators and authorities, is the problem of racism. Again this is an
issue which has been taken up and examined by sociologists and historians alike with
Guilianotti (2005), for instance, arguing that racism in sport cannot be viewed as peculiar
to any singular sport or group of individuals but instead has to be analysed through wider
social structures and cultural practices. It is, he points out, fundamentally a societal and
cultural problem. A series of interviews in both The Kop and Red Voices attempted to
examine the issue through interviews with black football fans who related their terrace
experiences when confronted with racists chanting and abuse. In particular one black fan
of Manchester United talks of how he and his friends reacted to continued abuse by
meeting it with violence. Others studies, such as King (2004) and Moran (in Garland,
2003), have also examined race from a black perspective and have concluded that racism
is broader than unwitting prejudice but is inherent and institutionalized as much in
society as it is in sport.

My own biography of Kenny Dalglish (1992) also examines the signing of the black
player John Barnes and the controversy that followed. Barnes, was only the second black
player to have played for Liverpool but, unlike his predecessor, he was a high-profile
signing, joining the club for a record fee. His arrival was greeted by racist daubing on the
walls at Anfield and a significant amount of racist abuse from the crowd during his early
games. These incidents are also detailed in Hill (1989).

Many of these themes have also been developed in my other publications, most notably
my biographies. In Fergie: the Biography of Alex Ferguson (1997), there is considerable
reference given to the changing nature of Manchester United Football Club and its
development as a global commercial enterprise. Two of my other publications, Dalglish
(1992) and Souness: A Soccer Revolutionary (1994) deal with the changing nature of
management at Liverpool Football Club as well as detailing the history of the club during
the period 1977-1992. My history of Liverpool Football Club, You’ll Never Walk Alone
(1987) also examines in more detail the history of the club since its inception in 1892.
 27

The question of authenticity and the reliability of memory is one which constantly
exercises the minds of all historians but none more so than oral historians, all of whose
work is associated with memory and the articulation of recall. It is certainly reasonable to
claim that memory sometimes mythologizes vagueness into accuracy and reality. The
oral historian must always be aware of this. Nonetheless, it should not impede the efforts
of the oral historian, nor denigrate their work and its value.
At a recent conference (Remembering War, Wellcome Collection, London, 31.1.2009) Dr
Martin Conway, Director of the Institute of Psychological Sciences at the University of
Leeds and a leading authority on autobiographical memory argued that what was
important with memory was the overall impression. He believed that while there may be
elements within the particular memory which may not be accurate, it was the overall
impression or emotion that was of utmost importance, thereby making the recollection
credible. He further argued that it was no less plausible as evidence as many other aspects
of historical research, including textual and visual material. It may not be an accurate
reflection but it is a representation of experience. Analyses carried out by Dr Conway
have shown that while memory may not always be accurate it can nonetheless be a true
reflection of experience. And this is primarily what oral historians are attempting to
achieve.

Oral historians would add that much of their work anyhow is focused on impression and
emotion rather than dealing with ‘defined’ factual evidence. And this is especially so in
the case of my own work. My books are not so much focused on the historical facts
surrounding football fandom but rather on the ‘experience’ and the emotion attached to it.
In my work I have corrected factual inaccuracies where they have been relevant (see later
note) but my work is not essentially about historical facts but rather about the impressions
and emotions attached to the activity of football supporting.
 28

The Submission
The clubs, Liverpool Football Club and Manchester United Football Club, were
deliberately chosen because they rank as the most successful and best supported clubs in
English football. Whilst the study of Manchester United, Red Voices, is a wider
examination of the social history and culture of football at Old Trafford, the two books on
Liverpool focus on two separate communities. One is the Kop which is the area occupied
by the most fervent of Liverpool fans and as such is a history of fandom on this particular
terracing. The other book, The Boot Room Boys, focuses on the coaching staff at
Liverpool who took up residence in the club’s boot room. Following the phenomenal
success of the club during the period 1960-1985, this room became something of a myth
in footballing circles as it was regarded as the operational headquarters for this success.

This standing terrace, known as the Spion Kop, was constructed in 1906 and demolished
in 1994. It was originally built as a reward to Liverpool fans for their support during the
1905/06 season when Liverpool had won their second league championship. At the time
of construction it was the largest single terracing in British football and remained so until
its demolition in the summer of 1994. The terracing stood behind the goal, adjacent to the
Walton Breck Road. When it was first built it was capable of holding around 20,000
people. The book’s introduction details the design and construction of the Kop. It was
called Spion Kop after a hill in Natal in South Africa which had been the centre of a
particularly bloody conflict during the Boer War. In January 1902 the battle of Spion Kop
resulted in the loss of life of hundreds of British soldiers. Many of these soldiers
belonged to Liverpool and Lancashire regiments. It was suggested by the then Sports
Editor of the Liverpool Echo, Edward Edwards, that Spion Kop would be an appropriate
name for the newly constructed terracing and would be a fitting memorial to the many
Liverpool soldiers who had died and who might have been supporters of Liverpool
Football Club (The Kop, p. 9). In 1928 the Kop was enlarged with a roof erected on it so
that it could hold around 27,000 fans. Again, its design and construction are detailed in
the Introduction to The Kop.

By drawing on a wide range of personal experiences, many going back to before the First
World War, it is possible to gauge the importance of the Kop as a status symbol for
Liverpool fans throughout a lengthy period of time. The Kop became of increasing
importance during the 1960s with the emergence of a popular music culture in Liverpool.
This was reflected on the Kop by the fans’ own practice of singing songs of particular
popularity at that given time. Mostly these songs reflected the fame and popularity which
Liverpool music groups had assumed.

The closure of the Kop at the conclusion of the 1993/94 season provided a fitting moment
for reflection on its significance within the community. Given that the experience of
standing on terraces is no longer permitted in Premiership football, the study has taken on
even more importance as the comments and observations by fans are now unique and
gradually becoming unobtainable. Likewise, the experiences recorded in Red Voices,
provide a cross reference of accumulated memories which provide a unique insight into
football fandom at two of the largest football clubs in Britain.
 29

Through a series of interviews with managers, coaches, directors and administrators of

Liverpool Football Club, detailed in The Boot Room Boys, we are able to track some of
the off- field changes which have taken place in English football over the years. Many of
these interviews have now become unique as the interviewees have since died. As such
their memories have become of increasing importance in the study of spectatorship and
footballing history.

The gathering of a wealth of oral testimony, backed by extensive research in more

traditional written sources, has allowed the reader to reconsider the history of football
spectatorship and management in the twentieth century. Not only does it highlight the
social history of spectatorship but it also encourages a new perspective, based on of the
individual experience. This can also include emotional responses to spectatorship. In
doing so this has had the effect of fleshing out the history of football, enabling it to break
free from the traditional perspective of events on the pitch towards the inter-relationship
between sport and everyday life.
 30

The Pre-1960s Experience of Fandom: People’s Fandom

The experience of football fandom before the Second World War was a far different
experience to the one of today. Before the war it was a case of standing for most fans,
often on packed and uncomfortable terraces. Only the wealthy could afford the few seats
that were available in the grandstands. Although both Liverpool and Manchester United
had covered terraces, most football clubs did not, thereby subjecting their occupants to
the vagaries of the weather.

Admission was cheap but this tended to be reflected in the facilities and conditions.
Toilet facilities were usually non-existent, inadequate or difficult to reach, especially if it
meant squeezing one’s way past tens of thousands of spectators. At Liverpool this led to
fans resorting to urinating where they stood (The Kop p. 11). Food was restricted to tea,
hot Bovril and little else. And there were inherent dangers in the swaying masses on the
Kop or Stretford End.

Transport was also a problem, often too costly for the average man, who ended up having
to resort to either walking or cycling. Transport improvements have always played a
major function in encouraging the development of the game. An improved railways
structure between 1860 and 1890 made travel easier and helped encourage the
development of local, then regional and later national league systems. Not only did travel
become easier for teams to travel further distances but fans also were able to take
advantage and follow their teams, albeit in small numbers initially.

Before the Second World War, it was not uncommon for fans to walk vast distances to
follow their teams (Red Voices, p. 22). One interviewee records how he once walked
from Salford to Bolton to see Manchester United and then walked back to Salford after
the game (ibid.). Another recalls how he would regularly walk from Bootle to Anfield, a
distance of five miles or so, most Saturdays, and then walk the same distance back (The
Kop, p. 16). Many also travelled by bicycle and offering lockup sheds was a popular way
for those who lived close to the ground to earn some extra money (The Kop, p. 19).

The cost and difficulty of travelling to away matches generally meant that few fans
travelled in support of their team to away grounds, making the home ground an even
more important focus for support. Many fans also worked a half day on a Saturday so that
travelling to away grounds was out of the question. Nevertheless, it was not totally
unknown prior to the Second World War. For some it offered their first ever experience
of travel. Stan Orme (Red Voices, p. 12) saw miners for the first time when he followed
Manchester United to Barnsley. This was to have a profound effect on him and his future
career. 28

Another notable point to emerge from the oral evidence is that in both the cases of
Manchester and Liverpool football it was not uncommon for fans to support both clubs
within their city. After the war and well into the 1950s, Manchester United fans would

28
Stan Orme, later became the Labour MP for Salford West and a distinguished Cabinet Minister.
 31

support their team at Old Trafford one week, and then Manchester City at Maine Road
the following week 29 (Red Voices, p. 32). This would suggest that there was a less
formalised system of fandom. This practice however was to die out in the later 1960s as
football became more competitive and especially when violence at football grounds
began to emerge. And with it fandom would become more formalized. Increasing social
and geographical mobility would also in time change the nature of fandom.

Although football spectating may have been an uncomfortable business there were
unforeseen benefits. Prior to 1960, and the reconstruction of many stadia, it was possible
to walk from one part of the ground to another (The Kop, p. 18). Safety measures and
ground rebuilding would later make this opportunity impossible. As a result it was
common for fans to move from behind one goal to the other end of the ground at half
time. This practice led to greater overcrowding on the Kop when the team were playing
towards the Kop, usually in the second half (ibid.). This was a practice experienced at
other grounds although the architecture of some grounds did not always allow for this
movement of fans.

Prior to the Second World War, and indeed at some grounds even well into the 1950s, it
was common practice to open the gates at three-quarter time. This was in order to let
people out of the ground early but it always led to a rush of spectators coming into the
ground, usually youngsters who could not afford to pay an entrance fee (Red Voices,
p.20). During the 1930s, many fans would walk to the ground, wait until three-quarter
time and then go in to see the final 20 minutes or so. That way they went to see a football
match without having to pay.

The vast majority of fans at both Liverpool and Manchester United were working class
(The Kop, p. 16). It was also the case that many players often lived in the same
communities as the fans and it was not uncommon to spot players travelling via public
transport, usually a bus, going to the same game (Red Voices, p. 62). This was primarily
because players were paid little more than the average wage in the community and as
consequence they lived in properties and areas similar to those of the fans. This led to a
more direct relationship with players. Likewise, for the players their experience of the
game was not dissimilar from that of the fans (The Boot Room Boys, p. 52). Many players
had also supported their team from the same vantage point as the fans when they had
been younger and as a consequence they understood the passion, identity, loyalty and
dedication of those fans (The Kop, p. 33). Players also tended to play for their own local
side and there were certainly no foreign players in the team, apart from the occasional
Scot, Irish or Welshman.

Apart from Cup finals, semi-finals and some internationals, it was not until after 1945
that fans began to travel to away games in significant numbers. During the 1950s
transport improvements, and the introduction of the five-day week in many occupations,
offered greater opportunities for travelling support. British Rail football specials became
a common feature along with cheap coach trips to away games (Red Voices, p. 114). Car

29
It was the same situation in Liverpool where many Liverpool fans supported Everton one week and
Liverpool the next.
 32

ownership later encouraged further possibilities for travel, especially as travel costs could
be shared between the four or five occupants. This was especially the case with
Manchester United fans as their team was enjoying an unprecedented run of success.
Liverpool’s failure to reach the top division until 1962 stunted opportunities for away
travel with fans reluctant to make long journeys in support of a team that was struggling
to escape the second division or to see less attractive opposition. 30 One of the few
occasions when Liverpool fans did travel to see their side was for the 1950 FA Cup semi-
final and later final when they faced Arsenal at Wembley (The Kop, p.135).

Travelling to away games would eventually have a major impact on fandom, leading to
increases in fanaticism, hooliganism and segregation in grounds. This is detailed at a later
point.

Large terracings, such as the Kop and the Stretford End, nevertheless remained,
throughout their existence, the preserve of less affluent supporters; the cost of entry being
far lower for these areas than for any other part of the ground, particularly the seating
areas. Prices for the stands were three or four times the cost of standing, and much of the
seated area was preserved for season ticket holders who had to pay in advance for their
season ticket. Costs therefore played a significant part in preserving these localities for
the working man. 31 Similarly the stands with seating remained the preserve of the more
wealthy.

Within these large localities, many smaller sub-localities existed. The emergence of such
sub-localities or communities on the Kop led to a number of peripheral footballing
activities. During the 1950s, before the introduction of legalised gambling, informal
betting was a major communal activity. Before kick-off fans would pay a small wager
and would draw 20 numbers from a hat which was passed around the community. The
winning ticket was the shirt number of the first goalscorer (The Kop, pp. 11, 12). It was
also the same at Old Trafford (Red Voices, p. 16). Interestingly, this activity is today a
legalised and highly popular form of betting at football matches.

The Boys’ Pen which was an area on the Kop, designated for the sole use of youngsters,
was another significant community. The area was penned off from the rest of the Kop and
was for the restricted use of those under sixteen. It was also cheaper. Similar exclusive
areas existed at most football clubs. Prior to the 1950s it had been located in the Kemlyn
Road terracing (The Kop, p. 17). It was regarded as a ‘safe’ area and locating in this
locality was seen as part of the ritual of the football fandom apprenticeship. Older fans
standing on the fringes of the Boys’ Pen would maintain a watchful eye on the locality
and intervene if problems emerged. Equally however, it was seen as distinctly non-adult

30
Liverpool had been League champions in the first season after the war, 1946/47 but were then relegated
in 1954 after a number of dispiriting seasons.
31
In September 1932 unemployment in Liverpool stood at 31 per cent (Ministry of Labour Gazette, 1932
HMSO). In some areas of the city and in certain trades the level of unemployment was considerably higher,
making the cost of watching football particularly high for many of the club’s traditional supporters. When
unemployment again reached new heights in the 1980s, the club had to be mindful of their constituent’s
financial status. As a result the unemployed were admitted to matches at a cheaper rate while season tickets
were held at an affordable price.
 33

to continue locating in this area as one grew older. And within this community activities
such as the swapping of football programmes, autographs, comics and so forth was a
common activity.

An aspect of football fandom, often ignored by social historians, is that mid-week

matches were always played during the afternoon, and in winter kicked off earlier than in
the summer. It was not until the late 1950s that floodlights became commonplace and
subsequently allowed for every match to kick-off at a later time. 32 The consequence of
mid-week afternoon football was that it led to mass absenteeism from work and school
(The Kop, p. 24). The principal employment in Liverpool at this time was on the docks
and most of this was casual labour. This meant that missing work was of little
consequence, apart from the loss of a day’s wage. But it did necessitate a certain amount
of deceit and discovery of attendance at a football match could lead to family difficulties
(ibid.) and even employment problems.

The principal event which impacted on football fans during this period, and in particular
on Manchester United fans, was the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958 when a BEA
Elizabethan airline crashed on take-off from Munich airport. This proved to be a turning
point in the history of Manchester United Football Club and its fans. A total of 23
passengers were killed, including eight players. A number of backroom staff, journalists,
and flight crew also died. The disaster was to have a dramatic effect on fans and was to
change the course of Manchester United’s history. 33

The transcripts of interviews can never fully convey the emotion and the depth of sadness
with which fans remembered both the Munich and the Hillsborough disasters but even so
there is a genuine sense of its drama and overwhelming impact. On a number of
occasions interviews had to be halted so that interviewees could compose themselves.
Even though the Munich disaster had been 40 years earlier, its impact on a generation
was still felt very deeply. Many testified that the disaster cemented their relationship to
the club and made them identify even more with Manchester United (Red Voices, pp. 81-
107).

32
Liverpool switched on their floodlights in 1957, the same year as Manchester United who inaugurated
their lights in March 1957, shortly before their European Cup semi-final against Real Madrid..
33
For a full account of the Munich air disaster, see Taylor (1983). Three of the players killed were regular
England internationals while two more at least might have been expected to play with England in the World
Cup finals due to take place later that year. England reached the quarter finals but might well have
succeeded further had their squad not been decimated by the disaster.
 34

The 1960s and 70s: The Emergence of Fanatical Fandom.

During the 1960s the Kop became famed as the first terracing where the then
phenomenon of singing and chanting emerged. It had always been regarded as one of the
noisiest terraces in Britain and the success of Liverpool in European competition during
the 1960s and over the next twenty years would help promote the Kop as one of the most
celebrated football terracings in Europe.

The Kop became the area where the most fervent Liverpool fans gathered to support their
team. The term ‘Kopite’ 34 , to describe the fans who stood on the Kop, was seen as a term
of endearment and helped codify their identity and identification with each other and with
their team (The Kop, p. 41). The mass publicity which the Kop attracted during the
1960s, in newspapers and on television, also cemented this identity and relationship. Fans
were ‘proud’ to be known as Kopites.

What also emerges from many of the interviews is the importance of the rite of passage,
especially on the Kop. At the core of fandom lies the importance of an initiator, usually
the father. The child is introduced to the notion of support or fandom by the initiator,
though initially this does not necessarily involve active fandom at a football ground. Only
when the child (usually male rather than female) has reached a certain age will they be
introduced to active fandom. This involves attendance at a football match with the child
being introduced to the Kop or wherever by perhaps initially serving an ‘apprenticeship’
in the Boy’s Pen. (The Kop, p. 56 and p. 46). Once an apprenticeship had been served in
the Boys’ Pen, and as they grew older, (and in particular taller) they would then be
introduced to the Kop itself (The Boot Room Boys, p. 16). This process normally involved
being accompanied on the Kop by a father or an elder family member, often a brother,
acting as the initiator. It is also clear from the evidence that this process is not a recent
phenomenon but that generations have followed a similar pattern. Even Stanley Doig
(The Kop, p. 7) testifies to having been taken to football matches by family elders as a
youngster as far back as 1907.

The principal communal activity to emerge during the 1960s and 1970s was initially
chanting and then singing. The roots of this phenomenon have never been adequately
explained. Harry Wilson (The Kop, p. 15) is adamant that the chanting of the players’
names was commonplace as long ago as the 1920s and Joe Martin points out that there
was singing in the 1950s (The Kop, p. 25). Lack of recordings of football matches
however make it difficult to verify when chanting began precisely. 35 The author’s own
experience is that chanting began in the 1962/63 season and in particular began at
Liverpool and Everton.

34
No evidence has ever been put forward to show where or when the term ‘Kopite’ was first used but it
appears to have been in common currency, certainly within the Liverpool area, since the 1950s and it is not
unreasonable therefore to suppose that its origins come from the local press.
35
In the Leni Riefenstal film of the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, Olympiad, (Germany, 1936) it is possible
to hear the distinct chant of ‘USA, USA, USA’ from the crowd during some of the athletic events.
Chanting can also be heard in support of Italian athletes. This is possibly the first audio recording of any
chanting at a sports event.
 35

Andi Thomas (The Kop, p. 59) argues that it was the release of the record Let’s Go in
1962 by The Routers, with a particularly rhythmic handclap which inspired the use of
similar rhythmic handclapping by fans. The chanting of the team’s name was soon added
to this. The name of the Liverpool forward Ian St John was the first individual to be
promoted in this way through rhythmic handclapping. What we can say with certainty is
that chanting at Liverpool and at neighbouring Goodison Park, the home of Everton
Football Club, had become prevalent by 1962.

It is important to make especial reference to the rise of Liverpool at the time as a city of
music. In October 1962 the Beatles released their first record Love Me Do (Coleman,
2000) and in January 1963 they released She Loves You (op cit), which was to become
their first major hit record. The subsequent frenzy which surrounded the record and
‘Beatlemania’ led to the national rise of Merseybeat music which was to spread across
the nation and beyond. This coincided with the success of the football club which in 1962
had been promoted to the first division, followed two years later by their winning the
league championship. In between, their neighbours Everton had also won the First
Division championship, making Liverpool not just a prominent national focus for comedy
and music but also for football. Social historians have talked of this period in Liverpool
as a social revolution. 36 Even the new Labour Government, was led by a Prime Minister
representing a Liverpool constituency. 37

The growing national popularity of Liverpool bands during the 1960s led to a
reinforcement of identity with Liverpool culture. Surprisingly, some interviewees report
that there had been singing at Anfield prior to the 1960s (The Kop, p. 25) although they
stress that generally it tended to be organised and was usually a brass band with a
conductor playing at half time or before kick off. It was not however until the emergence
of what was to become known as ‘Merseybeat’ in the early 1960s that singing really
surfaced on the Kop although importantly, it was now informal and spontaneous.

Because of the success of Liverpool at this time large crowds were in attendance and it
was often the case that the Kop would be filled with the gates closed an hour beforehand.
From the oral evidence produced by these books it seems that there was little to occupy
them in the vast crowd as they waited for kick off. Consequently, fans would amuse
themselves by singing along with the records that were usually being played over the
tannoy system (The Kop, p.59). Often these were recordings by one of the many pop
groups emerging out of Liverpool at that time. This singing soon developed along its own
lines with the lyrics usually changed to reflect the ‘glories’ of Liverpool Football Club
and their players.

36
See Lane, T., Liverpool, City of the Sea, Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 1997.
37
Harold Wilson, although born in Huddersfield, had been raised on the Wirral and was the Member of
Parliament for the Huyton constituency in Liverpool. As much as anybody (apart from the Beatles), Wilson
helped raise the profile of the city of Liverpool both nationally and internationally. Wilson was elected
Prime Minister in October 1964 and held office until June 1970. He would enjoy a second period of office
between 1974 and 1976. For further details on Wilson see Pimlott, B., Harold Wilson, London, Harper
Collins, 1992.
 36

In particular there has long been debate over when and why Liverpool fans began singing
You’ll Never Walk Alone. Some of these questions are answered by Gerry Marsden (The
Kop, p. 62) who recalls that his record of the song was released in October 1963 and that
it was first sung on the Kop six weeks later.

Within weeks of its release the record became a major hit, topping the record charts in
Britain. The song had originally been composed in 1945 by Richard Rodgers and Oscar
Hammerstein for their musical Carousel. The song was soon to become associated with
Liverpool Football Club and taken up as their ‘anthem’. Again the adoption of their own
‘anthem’ reinforces the concept of identity for the Liverpool fan. Even to this day it
remains a puzzle as to why it should have been adopted by Liverpool fans as their
particular song although the lyrics clearly speak of success through adversity. It has since
been taken up by many football clubs throughout the world, including Glasgow Celtic
and Internazionale Milan

There is evidence, nonetheless, to suggest that the singing at matches was not always as
spontaneous as imagined (The Kop, p. 64). Groups of supporters regularly met informally
prior to games to compose, learn and sing songs, usually in the pub during the week or
even prior to the match. (The Kop, p. 58). These songs would then be replicated on the
Kop, stemming from the composing community. They would very quickly be taken up by
others within the dominant locality. Often fans would put their own words to the music to
make them more apposite to their team or to individual players. Astonishingly, these
songs, on occasion, could even be produced to order (The Kop, p. 221). A list of many of
the songs and their lyrics were compiled and reproduced, for the first time, in The Kop.
From these songs it is possible to see how they were adapted to suit the team, events and
players

Humour also began to play a role. The city of Liverpool has long been associated with
humour and numerous well known comedians have emerged from the city over the
years. 38 During the 1960s, two comedians, Ken Dodd and Jimmy Tarbuck, were regarded
as paramount in their trade with both of them laying great emphasis on the city’s culture
and its football in their stage acts and public comments. Liverpool humour was
consequently prominent in the media and matched the national attitude towards
Liverpool.

The three strands of music, humour and footballing successes were to converge on the
Kop as supporters sang Beatles songs and tried to outwit opposition fans by creating
chants and songs which demonstrated their depth of humour. And as the media and
public picked up on this wit, so it perpetuated its own myth.
The Liverpool manager Bill Shankly 39 also pinpointed the vital role that the Kop and its
spectators played when he talked about their part in the success of the club and how they

38
These have included Tommy Handley, Rob Wilton, Arthur Askey, Ted Ray, Ken Dodd and Jimmy
Tarbuck.
39
Bill Shankly was the manager of Liverpool from December 1959 to July 1974 and is generally regarded
as the person who changed the club’s fortunes and created the club as it is today. For further details see
Kelly, S. Shankly: It’s Much More Important Than That, London, Virgin, 1996.
 37

were worth a goal start and could ‘frighten the ball’ into the back of the net (The Kop pp.
67, 68). His comments reinforced the link between spectators and players with the
spectators convinced that they could play a role in the outcome of a game by making as
much noise as possible.

This need to identify with the Kop was as much synonymous with the players and the
coaching staff as it was with the fans. Within the city the Kop had become a cultural icon.
The importance of the Kop to the coaching staff of Liverpool is well documented in the
The Boot Room Boys. Various Liverpool managers throughout the past 40 years,
including Frenchman Gerard Houllier (The Boot Room Boys, pp. 270-1), have spoken in
awe of the Kop and in particular have articulated its importance to the team. Players (The
Boot Room Boys, p. 42) have also voiced this importance and speak of being inspired by
it.

Prior to the 1970s, it had not been uncommon for away supporters of any club to
congregate on the Kop or the Stretford End. There was no expectation of danger or
violence, and indeed it was rare for any section of the ground to be sectioned-off for the
exclusive use of visiting fans. The later emergence of violence at football grounds and the
subsequent segregation of fans however brought an end to this practice.

Entrance to areas like the Kop and the Stretford End were by payment, at the turnstiles,
on the day. This practice used to result in lengthy queues outside some football stadia,
particularly at Anfield and Old Trafford with their large fan base. The advantage of this
system however was its informality which allowed fans to make decisions about
attending matches at the last minute. The queuing which was accepted as a part of
spectatorship could be an exhausting, lengthy and occasionally dangerous process, and at
times a frustrating one as the turnstiles were closed just as you were about to reach them.
(The Kop, p. 39). For some matches it meant that fans had to be at the ground early in
order to guarantee entrance. However, it was also a common practice for tickets to be
sold a few days in advance for major games on the basis of first come, first served. This
usually related to FA Cup ties or major European games. This practice led to further
queuing and in some cases overnight queuing to purchase tickets in advance. This
provided rich experiences for some fans and on one occasion proved to be chaotic for
both police and fans (The Kop, pp. 144-5).

Other technical developments which encouraged the growth and development of the
game include the introduction of floodlights in the late 1950s. Not only did this vitalise
the growth of European football competition but provided a theatrical backdrop to the
drama of the evening’s entertainment.

The entry of Liverpool and Manchester United into European competition offered even
greater opportunities for travel and, for many, the first opportunity to travel abroad. (Red
Voices, p. 127). This experience may have broadened some horizons but judging by the
tales told by many fans in The Kop, foreign culture barely penetrated the Liverpool skin!
 38

Identity is clearly evidenced as an increasingly important aspect of football fandom. 40

At Liverpool the Kop was regarded as the locality within the ground where the most
fervent of fans wanted to congregate. At Manchester United, the Stretford End was
similarly regarded as the most popular terracing for such fans. For those fans locating on
the Kop, it was of paramount importance to be identified as such. As a consequence, fans
wishing to be identified as the most fervent and committed, automatically gathered there.
This need to identify had not been so strong during before1960 but its importance grew
as the team’s fortunes also grew and the competitiveness of English football increased
throughout the period. In the media and throughout football the Kop was perceived as a
vital component in the club’s success on the field and as a consequence its importance to
fans also increased. As the city of Liverpool’s image and status around the world grew on
the back of the Beatles’ success, so more and more Liverpudlians wanted to identify with
the city. This could best be demonstrated through their support of either Liverpool or
Everton football clubs. The combination of Merseybeat, a Liverpool based Prime
Minister, Liverpool comedians and a thriving new car plant at Halewood as well as the
football teams’ successes, brought a new degree of optimism and pride that had been
absent during the grey years of the 1950s and Depression of the 1930s.

It is apparent from interviews that there is also a sub-division of locality (The Kop, p. 31).
Even within the locality of the Kop itself fans would congregate in a sub-locality and
would settle in this locality for each game. In Liverpool terminology this was known as
their ‘spec’. As a result of this continuity of locality, it became possible for fans to attend
matches alone and still be able to inter-act within their local community (ibid.). Fans
would even keep places for each other (The Kop, p. 33). But this was not a phenomenon
associated only with Liverpool. At Manchester United similar experiences are recorded
and there is no reason to believe that it was not prevalent at many other football grounds.

Equally, standing at football matches allowed fans to go to matches with friends and to
stand alongside them at the match. Everyone discovered their own locality and could talk
articulately about precisely where it was and its importance to them. This phenomenon
however was to change with the introduction of the all-seater stadia in 1993.

The sight of 25,000 fans on the Kop, crushed, swaying and singing was also a visual gift
to television directors and photographers alike. A noted BBC Television Panorama
programme (transmitted 20.4.64) of the period featured the Kop in full voice with a
reporter, standing in front of the swaying, singing Kop, commenting that ‘as Napoleon
said of his troops, I don’t know what they do to the enemy but they sure frighten the hell
out of me!’ 41

As television pictures of the Kop were transmitted across the country and Europe, so too
did the need of many more in Liverpool to identify with the club’s success and the Kop’s
growing fame. The Kop soon became the place to be, the place where you could most

40
For a general overview of identity as football phenomena see Brown, A., (ed) Fanatics, Power, Identity
& Fandom in Football, London, Routledge, 1998.
41
That Panorama, a noted BBC current affairs programme should devote an entire hour long production to
the emergence of singing on the Kop highlights the importance attached to this cultural phenomenon.
 39

identify with being a Liverpudlian. And nor was it uncommon for fans of other clubs to
want to stand on the Kop simply to experience its drama. (The Kop, p. 47).

True fandom, at the time, therefore became identified by a number of factors. These
were: first, standing, rather than sitting at a game; second, locating oneself behind the
goal; third, locating in the cheapest area of the ground; fourth, expressing and identifying
communally though singing and chanting; and fifth, the wearing of appropriate team
colours (this will be discussed later).

Prior to Parliamentary legislation being introduced in 1975 to control crowds 42 and to

ease overcrowding at football grounds, there had been considerable swaying on the Kop
as fans pushed and moved in one direction and another. Although there were dangers
inherent in this, no major accidents ever occurred (The Kop, pp. 99-100). Nevertheless it
led to difficult logistical problems for the St John Ambulance and the police (The Kop, p.
94). Given the difficulties for these services to operate on the Kop, particularly when it
was full, it was common practice for bodies to be passed down the Kop and over the
heads of spectators (The Kop, p. 34). Usually it was people who had simply fainted in the
heat.

At Manchester United’s ground, Old Trafford, the area most similar to the Kop was
known as the Stretford End. Although it was not as large and did not hold as many
spectators as the Kop, it was nevertheless a substantial terracing that attracted the most
fervent supporters. It is apparent from the interviews that the Kop and the Stretford End
tended to be the preserve of younger men. The considerable swaying that was
experienced on the Kop, although it never resulted in any major accidents, was not
favourable to the elderly. Youthfulness and fitness became a necessary prerequisite in
order to survive the rigours of these terracings. (The Kop, pp. 99-102).

Some interviewees record how it was possible to begin spectating in one locality but to
end up more than twenty yards away in an entirely different area. Sometimes this could
result in the loss of clothing, particularly shoes though items such as wedding rings and
watches were regularly discovered when the Kop was swept and cleaned (The Kop, p.
98). As a consequence, older fans, for reasons of safety and comfort, tended to end their
active association with the Kop by the age of forty and either moved to another safer,
more comfortable standing area in the ground or, if their social status in life had
improved, pay higher prices for a seat (The Kop, p. 262).

Identity was not shaped by location alone. It was (and still is) also shaped by the wearing
of team colours. In the 1950s, and before, this amounted to little more than a red and
white scarf, a rosette or coloured bobble hat, most of which were home produced. (The
Kop, p. 41). During the 1970s however, new specially manufactured merchandise
appeared on the commercial market for the first time, leading to the production and
wearing of official team shirts. By the 1980s, as clubs realised the financial potential of
such merchandise, it had increased to any number of items from jerseys, scarves,

42
The Safety of Sports Grounds Act, 1975
 40

headwear, keyrings and training tops to a wide range of team shirts. The wearing of some
form of identity was regarded as almost obligatory on the Kop and the Stretford End.

Although the culture of the Kop continued much the same in the 1970s, a more sinister
and zealous culture was beginning to emerge in the shape of hooliganism. 43 This would
continue into the 1980s eventually bringing shame to the club with the disaster at the
Heysel stadium in Brussels. The emergence of this new culture may have had its roots
elsewhere but inevitably it was taken up by other clubs, including both Liverpool and
Manchester United.

The ability to travel to away games was a major factor in the emergence of violence.
Prior to the 1960s any travel to away matches would be by organized coaches or British
Rail football specials. This could be costly and needed organization. Hence, it tended to
be older fans who travelled. However, the availability of cars to a younger generation in
the 1970s meant that fans could travel to games far cheaper and consequently led to far
more fans travelling and to younger fans.

Contrary to popular belief violence and misbehaviour at football matches has always
existed and evidence of this is recorded in The Kop (p. 118) with a fan invading the pitch
and assaulting an opposition player during the 1930s. Violence however tended to be
sporadic, isolated and unorganised. Nonetheless, during the 1970s as Redhead (1991) has
argued, the nature of football violence changed. It became more formal, more violent,
involved more people and also became a means of strengthening fan identity with the
team. A gang culture among football hooligans also emerged with gangs intent on
reflecting the glories of their team in the streets and on the terraces through violence
against opposition fans. 44 In some cases however the gangs had few links with traditional
fandom with football simply being a means to organised violence.

Although there is plenty of evidence, through court records, to show that Liverpool fans
contributed more than their fair share to the growing social problem of football
hooliganism, the general view has always been that Liverpool fans were rarely the
perpetrators of the violence (Mason, 1985). As Harry Leather suggests however (The
Kop, p. 43), they were ready to meet the challenge if it occurred. Liverpool fans tended to
be more associated with stealing, and particularly the taking of clothes from High Street
shops, especially across Western Europe on European trips where designer label clothes
proved far too tempting and far too easy to steal. They would then be worn at home as a
‘badge’ to promote the team’s European successes and their own commitment to the club.

Although Liverpool fans were rarely classified as among the most violent in the country
there is little doubt from the oral evidence that they nevertheless participated in various

43
For a more detailed account of the rise of hooliganism, see Redhead (1991).
44
There is a considerable library of publications on hooliganism, ranging from personal experience
accounts to sociological analyses. Some are listed in the bibliography. For a full account of the literature,
see Redhead, S., Hit and Tell, A Review Essay on the Soccer Hooligan Memoir, Soccer and Society, 5 (3).
pp. 391-402. November 2004.
 41

forms of illegal and anti-social behaviour. Most of this occurred on away trips with little
violence at Anfield itself. Indeed, many observe that the Kop, for all its overcrowding,
was a ‘safe’ area, free from any violence (The Kop, pp. 44-5). It was also considered by
visiting fans to be a difficult area to penetrate.

Hooliganism connected with Manchester United was however, more pronounced. United
were not always a popular club and being a United fan brought with it a degree of
unpopularity. A hooligan culture soon became closely associated with the club (Red
Voices, p. 154). During the early 1970s Manchester United also struggled and in 1974
they were relegated to the Second Division. The impact of United’s relegation however
was ironically to strengthen the fan base. A number of interviewees testify that this was
the time when they decided that the club most needed their support (Red Voices, p. 148).
In particular United’s away support increased as the team travelled to grounds they had
not played on before and the supporters had never seen. There was a novelty element as
well as a determination to flaunt their support and authority (Red Voices, p. 150). 45

The success of Liverpool Football Club and its growing reputation as one of the strongest
teams in Europe during the 1970s and 1980s, led to regular travel across the continent in
support of the their team. Indeed, Manchester United fans had become well versed in
European travel during the 1950s and 1960s when their club was challenging for
European honours.

Growing affluence in the 1960s and the emergence of cheap charter flights as well as car
travel, widened the possibility of foreign travel to fans. Although not all fans could afford
the luxury of air travel, many fans by ‘clubbing’ together could afford to take a car on a
short hop across the channel. It soon became common not just for four or five fans to
share a car to an away venue but also to travel to European matches.

Partly as a result of this, during the 1980s, identity took on a further twist in the shape of
fashion. For a number of decades the usual form of identity had been maintained through
the wearing of team colours, team shirts, scarves or hats. These aspects immediately
identified the ‘true’ fan and it was indeed rare to see anyone on the Kop, or in the case of
Manchester United, the Stretford End, without at least one of these identifying factors.

But in the 1980s some fans began to dress more formally and in High Street fashions.
Quite where this trend began has never been accurately pinpointed as many groups of
fans boast that they initiated the trend. However it was, as interviews suggest, an
important aspect of support for Liverpool. (The Kop, pp. 44-5). Liverpool fans were
undoubtedly among the earliest to adopt these fashions and indeed may have been the
first. Folklore has it, and this is borne out in interviews, that Liverpool fans supporting
their side across Europe stole quality fashionable clothing from leading retail shops on
the continent. The wearing of fashionable clothes was partly a means of displaying that
the club was successful and playing in Europe, in contrast to those teams who enjoyed
only domestic football. Consequently fashion became associated with hooliganism as

45
United spent just one season in division two (1974/75) and were promoted as champions at the end of the
season.
 42

fans chose to take on the identity of fashion rather than team colours in order to make
themselves more anonymous for away trips to opposition grounds. This provided fans
with a ‘surprise’ tactic.

Travelling to European games became a highlight of the period, offering opportunities for
foreign travel that many fans had never previously experienced and would have found
difficulties in experiencing through the course of their normal life styles (Red Voices, p.
127). But under the auspices of travelling with either Liverpool or Manchester United
football clubs they could travel cheaper and safer. There was undoubtedly an adventure
aspect to this. Travelling with friends also made travel not only more ‘fun’ but secure and
comfortable. Problems could be shared. If difficulties arose then there were friends to
help resolve those difficulties. Lack of a language skill, cultural unawareness, getting
lost, could all be treated as ‘fun’ if there was more than one person sharing the problem.
It also tested the ingenuity of some fans, many of whom could not afford transport costs
to foreign games (Red Voices, p. 116). In particular Liverpool’s first appearance in the
European Cup Final in 1977 in Rome was for many their first experience of foreign
travel. 46

European competition with its increasing fan travel inevitably meant that the worsening
English football culture of violence was also exported. 47 For Manchester United fans it
was in many ways to be a similar experience although again they were not always the
perpetrators of violence. (Red Voices, p. 200).

Inside Anfield there were few reported violent incidents (The Kop, p. 84). Police
measures including crowd control, segregation and the ‘fortress’ reputation of the ground
itself, and the Kop in particular, kept violence to a low level. Rarely did opposition fans
as a group, intent on violence, ever attempt to enter the Kop. When violence did occur it
was outside the ground, in streets surrounding the stadium or on the route to the railway
station. It was in such vicinities that violence was easier to organize and escape from
(Red Voices. p. 154). Closed circuit television, introduced towards the end of the period
was to have a marked effect in cutting down violence.

But despite Liverpool’s generally acknowledged avoidance of violence the club was to
become tainted as a result of the Heysel Disaster on 25th May 1985 when 39 fans of
Juventus Football Club were killed prior to the European Cup final between Liverpool
and Juventus. 48

The consequences of the Heysel disaster were that Liverpool fans were blamed for the
events and English football clubs were banned from competing in Europe for a period of
five years with the ban on Liverpool specifically extended for a further year. This would

46
It was estimated that as many as 20,000 fans travelled to the game (Liverpool Echo, 26.5.77).
47
For a more detailed discussion of this see Chapter by John Williams, Kopites, Scallies and Liverpool Fan
Cultures: Tales of Triumph and Disaste .in Williams, J. Hopkins, S. & Long, C., eds, ( 2001).
48
Surprisingly little has been written about the Heysel disaster but for an overall fans’ view of the disaster,
see Kelly, S., ed (1992) A Game of Two Halves, Eyewitness At Heysel, p. 429. See also Laclemence, P.,
(1998) Plus Jamais: De Heysel à Sheffield. Paris.
 43

have a dramatic effect on the international fortunes of Liverpool and at a time when it
was at its height in European competition. More positively however the ban resulted in
more dramatic and effective measures being taken domestically to deal with the problem
of football hooliganism and violence. 49

The process of needing to identify as a Liverpudlian as well as a fan of the football club
is cited as an important aspect of standing on the Kop for many exiled Liverpudlians at
this time. It also appears to have been far more crucial in Liverpool than in Manchester.
This can be explained, in part, by the decline in population of Liverpool, particularly
during this period. Significant numbers had moved out of the city centre as older
properties were knocked down and renovation took place. During the 1970s and 1980s
many moved to new towns on the fringes of Liverpool, such as Skelmersdale and Kirby,
while others moved to outlying areas such as the Wirral, St Helens, Warrington, Chester
and even Manchester, where employment was more available. 50 As a result it was
important for some exiles to reinforce their identity with Liverpool by returning to the
city whenever they could and standing on the Kop for each match and partaking of the
forceful culture that emanated from that locality. By standing on the Kop they could re-
identify with their roots (The Kop, p. 29).

As the oral evidence suggests, for many decades football stadia were the preserve of
white, working-class males. Prior to the introduction of all-seater stadia in the 1990s it
was unusual to see women at football grounds, and in particular to see them on the Kop
(The Kop, pp. 22-3) where safety conditions also tended to discourage female support.
Again this was generally the case at most football grounds (Red Voices, p. 208).
Nevertheless, there is evidence from interviews to suggest that daughters accompanied
their fathers to matches and went through the same rites of passages as males. 51 Prior to
the Second World War however there is little evidence of women attending football
matches. The first signs of any change appear to have begun after the war (The Kop, p.
23). The emergence of George Best at Manchester United as a superstar also helped
attract women to football matches at old Trafford. 52

It was often now more common to see women standing at football matches than to see
anyone from one of the ethnic communities. Liverpool FC was no exception and the
experience for many black supporters was a difficult one (The Kop, pp. 48-9). Similarly,
at Manchester United, the experience was fraught. (Red Voices, p. 155). And this in spite

49
The Prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher, was to introduce a number of measures aimed at eliminating violence.
50
The population of the city centre of Liverpool fell from a high of 800,000 in 1951 to 441,674 in 2002.
(Government census statistics, quoted in Liverpool Daily Post, 10.9.04).
51
For a contemporary experience further evidence is provided by Liz Crolley and Cathy Long in their
chapter Sitting Pretty? Women and Football in Liverpool (see Williams, J., Hopkins, S., and Long, C.
(2001).
52
Interestingly women were more likely to be found on the football pitch rather than on the terraces prior to
the Second World War. Dick, Kerr Ladies Football Club played many friendlies on English league grounds
and actually played in front of 53,000 fans at Goodison Park in Liverpool on Boxing Day, 1920 . A year
later women were banned from playing at League grounds by the English Football Association. This in
effect ended the women’s game in England for many years. For further details see Newsham, G., (1997)
The Dick, Kerr Ladies Football Club, London, Preston, Scarlett.
 44

of the fact that both Liverpool and Manchester boasted substantial ethnic populations. For
many black people attendance at football matches was consequently not a common
feature of their lives. Racist chanting and racist comments were also common, leading
occasionally to retaliatory violence (Red Voices, p. 156). 53

Identity took on a further twist in the 1980s when the cultural division between spectators
became exacerbated. Much of this division was caused by the introduction in many
grounds of executive boxes where fans could be entertained, fed, and watch instant video
replays of the match from the comfort of a lounge area behind glass windows. Although
executive boxes have subsequently become the standard at most football grounds, their
introduction caused a fierce debate at the time as fans in the cheaper areas called into
question the legitimacy of those fans in expensive executive boxes to call themselves fans
of the same club. (Red Voices, p. 255). It consequently became even more important for
the fan on the Kop or the Stretford End to assert their identity as the truly committed fan.
As a result fans in those localities reinforced their own identity in the form of wearing
more club-associated colours or dress in order that they would stand out from those in
executive boxes who would probably be dressed more formally. In the case of
Manchester United which boasted more executive areas than any other club, the
traditional fan became concerned at the economic direction of their club. Concern was in
particular directed at Manchester United’s decision to become a quoted stock exchange
company 54 and the financial implications involved. In particular it was feared that it
would lead to more executive boxes, a changing culture in fandom, and the possibility of
takeovers (Red Voices, p. 268). All of these fears were to be borne out with time. 55

As a consequence there existed a social division between those fans watching from the
cheaper sections of the ground and those spectators sitting in the more costly areas. The
banter however was generally light-hearted although at Liverpool there existed a strong
belief from all spectators that the Kop was very much the ‘soul of the club’ and that this
was where its impetus and dynamism lay. (The Kop, p. 17). During the 1960s and 1970s
it was not uncommon for the Kop to ask, in unison, for other parts of the ground to
respond to some vocal request. Such requests were sometimes for them to sing a song or
for information, such as who had been the goalscorer. There was rarely a response from
those who were seated.

Ritual and superstition have been well documented as phenomena with many sports
fans. 56 Again this seems to have become more pronounced in this period. Prior to each

53
Liverpool Football Club was to be the centre of a fierce racist debate in the autumn of 1987 when new
signing John Barnes, a black player, was greeted with racist daubings on the walls of Anfield. For a fuller
description of the Barnes issue, see Hill, (1989).
54
Manchester United became a public limited company in 1991 with a Stock Exchange listing. They de-
listed in June 2005.
55
In May 2005 the American millionaire Malcolm Glazer took over Manchester United football Club after
purchasing a majority stake in the club. By June 2005 his stake had risen to over 97 per cent, thus allowing
him to de-list the company from the stock exchange and take it entirely into private ownership.
56
Nick Hornby in Fever Pitch writes lyrically about his own superstitions and rituals both before going to
watch Arsenal at Highbury and during the course of the game. (Hornby, N. (1992) Fever Pitch, London,
 45

match most fans follow a set routine (or ritual). This may involve the wearing of the same
clothes, taking the same route to the game, standing in the same spot or following some
identical procedure before and during the game (The Kop, p. 55). Again there is evidence
to suggest that ritual has a long tradition in fandom, and, as would be expected, many
interviewees both at Liverpool and Manchester United readily confessed their own
rituals.

The Munich air disaster of February 1958 left 23 persons dead. Eight Manchester United
players also died in the crash. The disaster is covered in detail in Red Voices. The impact
of this disaster on fans was highly emotional and even to this day brought about highly
emotional responses during interviews (see Methodology). In particular it highlighted the
strong emotional attachment which fans had to their football club and the powerful
memories that still linger from the time of the disaster.

Just as the Munch air disaster had a devastating effect on the fans of Manchester United,
so the Hillsborough disaster of April 1989 had a similar effect on fans of Liverpool. The
disaster at Hillsborough on 15 April 1989 led to the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans.57 One of
the after-effects of the disaster was that it gave a further momentum to identification as
the Kop became a focus for grieving and memorialisation.58 On the Monday following
the disaster Liverpool Football Club allowed its gates to be opened so that fans could lay
wreaths on the Kop where the family or colleagues of those who had died in the disaster,
normally stood. Many fans also tied scarves or club shirts to the crush barriers on the
Kop. The Kop quickly became a shrine. Within days hundreds of thousands of fans,
mainly from Liverpool but also from other clubs, had visited the ground, walking
respectfully towards the Kop where they lay their wreaths and mementos. The number of
flowers and wreathes left became so numerous that a week after the disaster they had not
only filled most of the Kop but had been extended onto the pitch filling half the pitch
itself. For many the ability to be able to visit the Kop undoubtedly had a cathartic effect
and played a vital part in the healing process for the wider community. The Hillsborough
disaster has not been covered in any detail in The Kop as an excellent oral history has
already been published (Taylor, 1993). What I have been more concerned with has been
the impact of the disaster on future spectatorship.

Gollancz,). See also Morris, D. (1981) The Soccer Tribe, London, Cape, who writes in detail about rituals
from both the player and fan point of view.
57
The disaster occurred within minutes of the start of the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and
Nottingham Forest played at Hillsborough, the home of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club.
58
The disaster had occurred when a gate was opened by the police to allow queuing fans quick entry into
the stadium. Sadly, the gate led spectators into a penned area behind the goal which was already packed
with supporters. The impact of further fans into this area caused a major crush resulting in the deaths of 96
Liverpool fans. It was the worst disaster in British sporting history. See Lord Justice Taylor (1989) Interim
Report into the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster, CMND 765, HMSO.
 46

The 1990s: The ‘Bourgeoisification’ of Football Fandom

The Taylor Report, following the Hillsborough disaster in April 1989 called for the
introduction of all-seater stadia among its various recommendations. As a result of the
Taylor Report the Government brought in legislation to introduce all-seater stadia in the
higher divisions. 59

In February 1992 the first division clubs of the Football League took a decision to break
away from the Football League and set up the FA Premier League on the basis that they
could then negotiate a financially lucrative deal for the live television coverage of games.
The FA Premier League officially kicked off for the 1992/3 season. Subsequent deals for
television coverage and the major commercialisation of the game in subsequent years
also helped attract football to a new audience.

Following the Taylor Report, the Kop, which in 1994 was the only remaining
terracing/standing area at the Anfield Ground, was demolished and replaced with a new
all-seater stand which has been given the slightly modified name ‘The Kop Grandstand’.
Seating at Old Trafford had already been introduced and interviews in Red Voices
recorded the fans’ responses to the introduction of these all-seating areas. Their responses
proved to be highly revealing and significant. As a result when a new edition of The Kop
was suggested by another publishers, Virgin, in 2004, I was able to include a new chapter
to take into account the impact of all-seating on the nature and culture of fandom at
Liverpool Football Club as well. Again this was to prove illuminating and brought into
focus the importance of having conducted so many interviews prior to the demolition of
the Kop. Those interviews suddenly took on an historical importance that will be of
increasing value to future researchers. It is also probably safe to suggest that about half
those who attend matches at Manchester United and Liverpool today will never have
experienced standing on terraces at a football match.

Since the introduction of the all-seater stadium and changing ticketing arrangements,
some traditional aspects of the rite of passage have also changed. The Boy’s Pen no
longer exists either at Liverpool or Manchester United so that the traditional
‘apprenticeship’ has ended. The increase in women at football matches has also led to the
initiator often being identified as the mother as well as the father while family attendance
has become more commonplace. The demolition of the Kop has also meant that
fathers/mothers and sons’ daughters can sit together on the Kop in safety.

Until the introduction of the Premier League in 1991 and a shift towards all ticket games,
the normal culture was to pay ‘at the gate’ on the day. With the introduction of ticket only
games and membership schemes, this spontaneity has disappeared so that attendance has
become more formalised. Fans not only need to be organised in deciding which matches
to attend but also organised in acquiring tickets. (Red Voices, p. 254). Prices have
increased and in the case of Manchester United availability is so limited that fans need to

59
For further information on the Hillsborough disaster, see Taylor, R. (1990) The Day of the Hillsborough
Disaster, Liverpool, Liverpool University Press.
 47

purchase season tickets in order to guarantee attendance. Inevitably the process has
become far more expensive. This in turn has also changed the demographic makeup of
fans with younger fans now more likely to be excluded because of cost (Red Voices, p.
269). Today’s fans tend therefore to be well paid, middle aged, attending with their
family, female, and from ethnic minority backgrounds.

The 1990s have also brought demographic changes in the makeup of the fan base.
Improved transportation (particularly the introduction of cheap air flights to and from
Europe to Liverpool John Lennon airport and Manchester International Airport), the
increasing popularity of the Premiership and the globalization of the game, have meant
that the fan base has spread far beyond the normal city limits. Support may still come
predominantly from within a ten-mile radius of the city centre but supporters from
outside of that radius were arriving in greater number by the 1980s although they could
still be counted in their hundreds rather than their thousands. Once into the 1990s,
however, the success of Liverpool and also Manchester United has attracted growing
numbers of supporters from outside of the previous boundaries (Red Voices). Where once
Liverpool supporters hailed only from Merseyside or Manchester United supporters from
Manchester, the norm today is to hear accents and indeed languages from as far away as
Scandinavia, Germany, Spain, or even Asia. Some of these long-distance visitors are
interviewed in the books. Local fans also testify to the increasing number of languages
heard at Anfield and Old Trafford. The trend of fans travelling from Scandinavia to
Manchester United appears to have begun as far back as the 1960s following United’s
European Cup victory in May 1968 while Liverpool’s foreign fan base stems from their
years of success in Europe. The acquisition of well-known ‘foreign’ players also
encourages football fans from those countries to follow their ‘favourites’ to English
football. Similarly a foreign manager, in the case of Liverpool, Frenchman Gerard
Houllier and then Spanish manager Rafael Benitez, has brought a massive influx of
visiting fans from those countries.

Regular live coverage on television, following various lucrative deals with television
broadcasters, has also helped introduce a new audience to football. 60 More women and
members of ethnic communities have been attracted to the game and have subsequently
become live consumers. The massive influx of money into the game has also attracted
commercial businesses with facilities, such as executive boxes and hospitality areas,
attracting a new clientele.

All these influences on football have brought about a new audience. Fans have generally
become more middle class while more females and members of the ethnic communities
now attend games. The geographical fan base has also widened, reflecting the
globalisation of English football. And with it fandom and its many traditions has
changed. Football has become respectable, a far cry from the attitude that existed in the
1970s and 80s.

60
The first deal by Sky to televise live Premier League football in 1992/93 was £305 million. By 2009 a
consortium of television broadcasters was paying more than £1.5 billion for the rights to televise live
football.
 48

Conclusion
It can be seen from the evidence which has been produced through the oral interviews in
these books, that there is a wealth of first-hand accounts that have added to our
knowledge of fandom and the social history of the game. This approach provides an
important portfolio of evidence that can be built on although it can never be conclusive.

These books offer a substantial body of work into the history of fandom. They provide
first hand accounts, going back to the 1920s and 30s, which today are of increasing value
to academics investigating the experience of fandom, particularly as they are so
contrasting to the modern experience. Their testimony has become even more important
as they represent almost the only first-hand evidence available from the pre-war years
since many of those interviewed for these books have since died. Their intrinsic value lies
in that they are first-hand accounts rather than reported accounts or secondary accounts.

Not only has the experience for fans changed but also that of players and officials. In
1996 the boot room, for so long regarded as the ‘heart’ of Liverpool Football Club, was
torn down to make way for a new press room. This was required for the 1996 European
Football Championships as Anfield had been chosen as a major venue for games. Other
changes also took place over the next few years, particularly at the club’s training ground,
Melwood, which was revamped beyond recognition. The Boot Room Boys serves
therefore as a unique testament to the physical importance of the boot room to players
and officials whilst memories of training methods and the physical environment of
Melwood are also reminders of a bygone era. Such memories are now becoming more
difficult to recapture.

In compiling these studies I have been able to make valuable use of my own journalistic
experience where interviewing is a vital skill. The correlation between journalism and
oral history is well acknowledged. The ability to extract crucial information is a
recognized part of the journalist/interviewer technique. This was particularly appropriate
when it came to sensitive interviews about the Munich Air disaster. The interviewer also
has to put the interviewee at ease as well as be able to talk with a wide range of
personnel.

Being a journalist also meant that I was familiar with ethical issues relating to interviews
and when interviewees requested confidentiality I was fully aware of its meaning and the
need to respect that confidentiality. 61 As a journalist I was also familiar with the
importance for fact-checking and accuracy as well as the need to be impartial. When
editing I was acutely aware that all edited material should be reflective of an overall
interview and not distort the facts or the balance of what I was being told. I also had to
abide by the ethical considerations highlighted by the Oral History Society.

My extensive knowledge of football and its fans built up over more than forty years
enabled me to have detailed insights into the game and an informed standpoint from

61
Further information on ethical issues is dealt with under Methodology.
 49

which to conduct these interviews. As a supporter of Liverpool Football Club, I have

personally experienced both standing on the Kop since 1962 and the changed
environment since the introduction of seating. It meant that I was familiar with the
subject material that I was considering through interviews and allowed me to empathise
with my subjects. It also allowed me to have detailed knowledge of the most appropriate
areas of questioning and gave me credibility with interviewees. However my journalistic
training ensured that I was aware of the importance of remaining objective and to allow
my interviewees to speak, rather than to ask leading questions or direct the line of
questioning from a personal perspective. In particular my reputation as a journalist
though my various publications allowed me access to interviewees which may not have
been so readily possible to others. This was of especial importance when I was writing
The Boot Room Boys as this involved not just interviewing fans but more crucially
players and officials of Liverpool Football Club. It was similarly crucial with Red Voices
as I was able to interview the chairman of Manchester United at any early stage. This
interview subsequently facilitated interviews elsewhere with other prominent Manchester
United officials and players.

The studies however are not just a series of journalistic interviews. They are carefully
thought out and structured. Using my experience as a journalist, areas of discussion have
been formulated and structured after considerable reading of the relevant literature,
particularly historical texts. There was an ongoing review of the questions to be posed
and these reflected the areas of experience and interest of individual interviewees. An
important feature of the interview process was the period of reflection and analysis
following each interview which not only informed the subsequent interviews but my own
approach and development as an interviewer. My knowledge of the history of the relevant
clubs, through my other publications, has also been invaluable and has helped frame the
research. These other publications relating to football reinforced my credibility as
someone who was able to make informed comment on the sport. Having a national
reputation as a sports writer meant that I was respected as a commentator, again
facilitating easier access to interviewees.

The importance of this work was further re-emphasized by the updating and re-
publication of The Kop in 2005 to include an additional chapter examining cultural
changes on the Kop since it had been restructured as a seater-only area. This
demonstrated that the work is not ‘static’ but has taken account of changes within
stadium design. It illustrates an ongoing reflection, by analysing the cultural predicament
before and after the introduction of seating. This was invaluable as I was able to revisit
previous material and draw on earlier experiences and accounts to inform the revised
book.

At the request of the FIFA Football Museum in Preston, many of the taped interviews
were deposited in their archive, along with transcriptions and copies of the books for the
use of future researchers and historians. I believe that this is authentication of their
importance within academia to the study of football and in particular its fans. This
deposit and these books have now become a valuable source of material for future
 50

historians. By making use of the material they can further develop theories and insights
into the social history of football and the culture of football spectating.

An international academic conference on Oral History and Sport at the University of

Huddersfield in April 2009 was only the second such conference to deal exclusively with
oral testimony appertaining to sport. It featured contributions from the author and helped
promote the importance of sport as an important area of research for oral historians. In his
opening address to the conference, Dr Robert Perks, Secretary of the Oral History Society
and Curator of the National Sound Archive at the British Library, paid tribute to the work
done in the area of sport by myself.

My books have been the first to present a series of interviews which took account of, and
considered, the experience of football and fandom from the perspective of the ordinary
fan, addressing the range of experiences, responses and emotions to the game and all its
aspects. It is this all rounded view that provides the greatest significance to my work.
Although there are other textual sources, they are limited to describing commentaries on
experience, whereas the oral testimony highlights the importance of football in people’s
lives as well as the relationship they have with particular clubs. This provides an essential
contribution to the understanding of leisure in 20th century Britain. This should also be
coupled with the fact that the vast amount of collected evidence is prior to 1993 when
football grounds became all-seater and the traditional standing areas were demolished. It
is now no longer possible to accrue much oral evidence on the experience of standing at
football matches and its accompanying cultural experience. The three books present a
well documented case for the importance of spectatorship within the context of social and
leisure history. For many it provides a regular and important experience that is an
essential, and in some cases an all-encompassing, activity in their social lives.

This argument was reinforced in an editorial in Oral History, the journal of the Oral
History Society, which recognized that new work is being fulfilled in this area. ‘Now,
however, an emerging group of sports historians has recognized the value of oral
techniques and is demanding a more thorough analysis of the role of sport in everyday
life.’ (Oral History, Spring 1997, Editorial, p.2).

The three texts were not only among the first such endeavours in this movement but also
form a major contribution to our understanding of the importance of football and football
fandom as a part of social history and an activity in the every day lives of many people.
Through the oral testimony I have been able to identify a number of significant findings.

To begin with, I have identified three distinct periods of fandom. The first is identified as
the period 1900 to 1960. I have called this ‘people’s fandom’ as fans were largely in
control of their own supporting activities within an informal structure highlighted by fans
being able to gain access to most areas of the ground. Fans were able to mingle openly
and socially on the same terrace as opposition fans. Many fans also had dual support of
their other city club, demonstrating less tribal instincts in their support. The second
period, 1960-1990 I have referred to as ‘fanatical fandom’. In this period fandom became
fanatical and tribal with the wearing of colours, accompanied by singing and chanting
 51

and a more aggressive attitude towards opposing fans and players. As a result football
fandom changed dramatically, becoming more intense. Trips to away grounds by large
numbers of visiting fans created opportunities, not only for new experiences but also for
violence. The media also highlighted these ‘events’ through television pictures and
headlines. As a consequence hooliganism emerged as a factor of this fanaticism with the
result that grounds became segregated and fandom became more formal. The third
period, 1990 to the present, I have identified as the ‘bourgeoisification of fandom’ and
can be explained by the introduction of the all-seater stadia and the establishment of the
Premier League in 1992 which helped make football popular to a new audience. This has
led to an even more formalised approach to fandom. Television deals with a significant
influx of money, price increases, growing media interest and an increasing popularity of
the game, have all brought about greater commercialisation and have resulted in many
changes, most noticeably in the makeup of fans.

My second significant finding has been in respect of the importance and commonality of
rites of passage. In the past young people were initiated into fandom, usually by a father
but sometimes by a mother or elder brother. They adopted a deliberate and traditional
approach to fandom. This initiation took various forms, controlled by who took them to a
match and their location within the ground or specific terrace. In recent years however
this tradition has changed, governed now by the architecture and formality of the all-
seater stadium. Whilst there are some differing approaches, rites of passage were largely
the same at both Liverpool and Manchester United.

My third finding revolves around the importance and commonality of ritual. This can
take various forms from superstition to dress code and spectator location. Although there
may be minor changes in its modes, it remains largely the same as ever and is common to
both clubs.

Fourth, I have identified that the emergence of chanting and singing during the 1960s
began on the Kop at Liverpool Football Club and was subsequently adopted at other
clubs. This was to become an important cultural aspect of fandom and continues to this
day.

Fifth, I have identified the importance of social identity to fandom through location.
Social identity takes the form not just of support for the football team but for the city as
well and all that it represents. This is particularly the case with Liverpool Football Club
and the need for fans to identify with the club and city by locating on the Kop, viewed by
many fans as the ‘heart and soul’ of the club.

Sixth, the books have identified the importance of inter-action between fans and players.
This has changed over the years, as players have become more alienated from their local
communities but nonetheless remains a key element of fandom. Players and officials
view the fans’ involvement as ‘enthusiasts’ and important to the outcome of a game.
Similarly fans believe that their support can have an impact on the result.
 52

Finally, by the specific use of oral evidence, I have demonstrated that sport, and in
particular football, like any many leisure activities, is a relevant area of study for
academics. This democraticisation of history through oral testimony is able to provide
evidence for historians and academics which otherwise might never be formalised in a
textual method. By examining fandom through oral interview we are able to gain a fresh
and relevant perspective. Academics, oral historians and leading commentators on the
game have all testified to the value of my work.

It is the establishment of these findings and their detailing through oral evidence that is
the substance of my work. Some of these findings have been identified for the first time
through the number and variety of oral interviews that are recorded in these books. As
such the books contribute to the knowledge and experience of fandom, providing an
insight into the history and trends of fandom during the 20th century.

The driving force of my work has been to re-focus the study of football history from
events and personalities on the field to an appreciation of the fans’ relationship with the
game. By taking serious consideration of their experiences, through the use of oral
testimony, I have been able to explore their passions, emotions and attitudes within an
historical timeframe. Through this fusion of football history and recordings of the
memories of ordinary supporters, the study of football is no longer solely concerned with
the activities of players and managers but no takes into account the role of fans as well.
This democratisation process is an important and innovative development in approaches
to the study of sport and leisure.
 53

General Note
Across the three publications, a total of almost 250 people were interviewed, generating
450,000 words which were recorded, transcribed and edited for publication.

With all interviews I was acutely aware of the surrounding ethical issues related to oral
history interviews. In accordance with the recommendations of the Oral History Society,
all interviewees were asked to sign a permission document. This document briefly
outlined the intent of the interviewer and the publication. All interviewees agreed to the
document. Where necessary I also respected any request for confidentiality although this
happened on only rare occasions.

Of more ethical consideration was the transcribing of interviews. Again I followed the
recommendations of the Oral History Society. Some dialect was corrected although no
correction was made where I felt that it provided an insight into the character of the
interviewee or added to the reader’s enjoyment. I did however correct grammar so that
the text was not only more readable but also comprehensible. I did attempt to show
corrected text to the interviewees but this was not always possible. This fact had been
referred to in the permission form which stated that it would not be an obligation. Where
necessary I also made factual corrections to interviews. For example, if an interviewee
referred to a specific football match but gave the wrong date to the game or the wrong
scoreline, I made the necessary correction.

All interviews were transcribed by myself. This process, although time-consuming,

allowed me to retain control, not only of the interviews, but also of the ethical issues
outlined above. It meant that I could check for inaccuracies and was able to begin the
process of editing as I went along.

My own journalistic experience, garnered over a 20 year period, proved to be invaluable.

Interviewing techniques are only refined with time and experience and a long career as a
journalist meant that I was able to ascertain with some degree of accuracy and certainty
the structure of questioning and the importance of information being received. I was also
able to remain silent and listen when I believed that it was necessary.

One of the principal reasons why I decided to use this technique of oral history was
because of my experience of interviewing individuals over many years. As a journalist I
was fully aware that it is comparatively easy to take an interview and extract whatever
material is desired in order to establish a particular argument. The use of oral history
however allows individuals to express themselves in a deliberately full and frank manner
without fear of over-editing, excessive manipulation or time constraints.
 54

Methodology

A Note on the Research and Editing of Interviews.

The Kop

As far as possible all efforts were made to abide by the advice of the Oral History Society
on interviewing techniques. Interviews for The Kop were conducted during 1992 and
1993 and further updating interviews were conducted in 2004. In all more than 100
interviews were conducted and 90 of these were included in the publication. A total of
around 150,000 words were recorded.

Interviews were recorded by three methods.

1.Taped interviews. These were face to face and taped. The earlier interviews were taped
using a small cassette player. Later interviews used a Sony Minidisc recorder. Although
taping interviews was the most desirable technique, events did not always allow for this.
For instance some of the interviews took place in surroundings that did not encourage
taping, such as at the ground itself on match days, or in public places, and so forth.
Where ideally possible, interviews were conducted at either the interviewer’s home or the
interviewee’s home or office. This encouraged the interviewee to relax and talk in a quiet
and detailed way without undue interruption.

2.Written interviews. Where it was not possible to tape an interview, they were recorded
in shorthand and longhand. There are however only a small number of these.

3.Telephone interviews. It was necessary to conduct a number of interviews over the

telephone as, on occasion, it was impossible to meet face to face with some of the more
well-known persons, particularly ex-players. These interviews were either recorded or
taken down in shorthand.

Interviewees were selected on the basis of a number of criteria. Principal among these
was their ability to discuss a particular historical period. Other criteria however involved
their relevance to certain aspects governing the functioning of the Kop, such as cleaners,
police, St John Ambulance, club directors. An early analysis of the interviews showed
that it was also necessary to conduct interviews with individuals who had a relevance to
issues being raised, such as hooliganism, fashion and song writing.

Interviewees were found through a variety of means. An advert was initially placed in the
Liverpool Echo but this brought few responses. The most fruitful sources proved to be
through the various supporters’ clubs. The management of Liverpool Football Club was
particularly helpful in identifying such sources. In particular the unofficial Liverpool
Supporters’ Club has premises (including a large bar) which functioned on match day
proved to be a most productive network. Some interviewees also recommended their own
acquaintances.
 55

Once the interviews had been conducted they were immediately transcribed and then
edited in order to extract the relevant comments. In most cases dialect was rewritten in
order to make sense. Grammatical errors were generally left intact but where it was
necessary to improve the sense of the sentence, they were corrected. In some cases
factual mistakes have also been corrected; for instance where the interviewee has
incorrectly given a score or date. These corrections followed the general policy of the
Oral History Society dealing with ethical issues. Permission forms were also signed.

All questions have been edited out of the interviews. It was often the case that interviews
covered a range of issues and historical periods. Where this happened the interviews were
separated into the most appropriate chapters.

A full list of those interviewed is detailed later.

 56

Red Voices

Interviews were conducted between1996 and 2000. A total of 73 people were interviewed
with 65 being included in the publication. More than 170,000 words were recorded.

The vast majority of interviews contained within this particular book were recorded on a
Sony Minidisc player. Each interview was then transcribed and broken into sections to be
included in the relevant chapters. As little editing as possible took place. Where editing
has taken place it was carried out in order to make the interview as coherent and readable
as possible. Hopefully the meaning has not been destroyed. Some slang and dialect words
have been kept so that the reader can feel the character of the interviewee. The interviews
however have not been included in full. Some repetitions and irrelevancies have been
dropped. The occasional factual correction has also been made (dates, games, players,
etc) in order to save any embarrassment to the interviewee and to avoid any confusion for
the reader.

This book took a more general approach to football fandom. It did not concentrate on any
particular area of the ground and nor did it attempt to interview individuals about the
functioning of the club. The principal objective was to record the memories and
experiences of fans since the 1920s. Consequently interviewees were principally selected
on the basis of age and their relevance to a particular historical period of the club.

Particular efforts were made to record interviews with individuals whose experiences
went back as far as the pre-war years. For obvious reasons it was clear that such
interviews were of paramount importance. Events have shown that a number of those
interviewed have subsequently died.

Drawing on my experiences as a journalist, the chairman on Manchester United, Mr

Martin Edwards, was deliberately chosen for the first interview as I believed that this
would help facilitate later interviews with players, fans and other club officials. I also
drew upon my experience of The Kop, by selecting interviewees through various
organisations such as fanzines, unofficial supporters’ clubs, and the club itself.

The taped interviews are now in the possession of the football archive at the FIFA
National Football Museum in Preston.

In as many cases as possible individuals were allowed to see their written interviews and
to make corrections. Some individuals however declined the opportunity. A full list of the
interviewees is detailed later.
 57

The Boot Room Boys

Some 45 interviews are included in the book although a total of 51 interviews were
recorded. These amounted to a total of 130,000 words. Interviews were conducted
between 1998 and 1999.

The range of interviewees for this book is in contrast with the other publications. In this
instance interviews have been conducted with a narrower range of personnel,
concentrating on players, former players, members of the coaching staff and club
directors. There are few interviews with fans. As a result interviewees tended to select
themselves with my own knowledge of the club and its history of vital importance. There
was clearly a limited number of coaching staff still available for interview, due to a
number of factors, including death, illness and distance. I deliberately selected the club’s
secretary, Peter Robinson, as my initial interviewee due to his importance within the
club’s hierarchical structure, knowing that his agreement to an interview would facilitate
further interviews. As a result the selection of interviewees and access to them was
enhanced by the club. This was also due not only to the fact that the club had a ‘friendly’
relationship with myself and that the club also saw the publication as an important
contribution to its history. The club was able to provide telephone numbers and was able
to arrange access to its own employees. As a result the book contains interviews with
almost everyone the author had sought.

Again, interviews were conducted along the lines recommended by the Oral History
Society. All interviews were taped on a Sony minidisc player. Face to face taped
interviews tended to be shorter in length as the author needed to be aware of the time
demands being made on certain personnel, particularly the elderly and the more well
known. A few telephone interviews took place. All of these were taped. Also included
were some comments made in other publications. Generally these comments were
restricted to those made by personnel no longer alive but who I believed added to the
overall context of the book.

The taped interviews are now in the possession of the football archive at the FIFA
National Football Museum in Preston. A full list of those interviewed is detailed later.
 58

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Paisley, B. (1983) Bob Paisley: An Autobiography. London, Arthur Barker.
Paul, D. (1998) Anfield Voices. Stround, Tempus.
Pead, B. (1986) Liverpool: A Complete Record. Derby, Breedon.
Polley, M. (1988) Moving the Goalposts. London, Routledge.
Redhead, S. (1991) Football with Attitude. Manchester, Ashgate.
Redhead, S. (1997) Post-Fandom and the Millennial Blues. London, Routledge.
Redhead, S., Hit and Tell, A Review Essay on the Soccer Hooligan Memoir, Soccer and
Society, 5 (3). pp. 391-402. November 2004.
Rollin, J. (1985) Soccer At War. London, Collins Willow.
Ross, I. & Smailes, G. (1985) Everton, A Complete Record. Derby, Breedon.
Royal, D & Wheat, J. (2005) Coach Royal , Texas, University of Texas
Russell, D. (1997) Football and the English. Preston, Carnegie.
Seddon, P. (1999) A Football Compendium. London, British Library.
Shankly, B. (1976) Shankly, London Arthur Barker,
Shaw, B. (1979) Cashel Byron’s Profession. London, Penguin.
Smailes, G. (1991) The Breedon Book of Football League Records. Derby, Breedon.
Taylor, Rt Hon Lord Justice (1990) The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster 15 April 1989.
Final Report Home Office, Cmnd 962. London, HMSO.
Taylor, F. (1983) The Day A Team Died. London, Souvenir.
Taylor, M. (2008) The Association Game, A History of British Football, London,
Pearson.
Taylor, R. (1992) Football and its Fans, Leicester, Leicester University Press.
Taylor, R. & Ward A. (1993) Three Sides of the Mersey. London, Robson.
Taylor, R. (1993) The Day of the Hillsborough Disaster. Liverpool, Liverpool University
Press.
Taylor, R. & Ward A. (1995) Kicking and Screaming: An Oral History of Football in
England. London, Robson.
Tyrrell, T. & Meek D. (1988) Manchester United the Official History. London, Guild.
Wagg, S. (2004) British Football and Social Exclusion. London, Routledge.
Waller, P. J. (1981) Democracy & Sectarianism, A Political and Social History of
Liverpool, 1868-1939. Liverpool, Liverpool University Press.
Walvin, J. (1975) The People’s Game. Edinburgh, Mainstream.
Watt, T. (1993) The End. Edinburgh, Mainstream.
Watt, T. (1995) A Passion for the Game. Edinburgh, Mainstream.
Williams, J. & Wagg, S., eds. (1991) British Football and Social Change. Leicester,
Continuum.
 61

Williams, J., Dunning, E. & Murphy, P., (1989) Hooligans Abroad. London, Routledge.
Williams, J., Hopkins, S. & Long, C. (2001) Passing Rhythms, Liverpool FC and the
Transformation of Football. Oxford, Berg.
Wood, F. (1867) Beeton’s Football. London, Frederick Warne.
Young, P. (1963) Football on Merseyside. London, Soccer Book Club.
Young, P. (1950) Football: Facts and Fancies or the Art of Spectatorship. London,
Dennis Dobson.
Young, P. (1951) The Appreciation of Football. London, Dennis Dobson.

Newspapers, Magazines and Fanzines

Athletic News
Daily Telegraph
Guardian
Independent
Liverpool Daily Post
Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Football Echo
Oral History, Journal of the Oral History Society
Manchester Evening News
Mersey Beat
Sport, Leisure and Culture in 20th Century Britain
Sporting Chronicle
The Sports Historian
Through The Wind and Rain
United We Stand
When Saturday Comes
 62

List of Interviewees

The Kop

John Aldridge, Former Liverpool player

Jeff Anderson, Fan and television producer.
Steve Anderson, Fan and former network current affairs editor ITV
Phil Aspinal, Fan
Bob Azurdia, BBC Radio Merseyside Broadcaster
Geoffrey Banfield,
Michael Banfield,
Robert Banfield,
Gordon Banks, Former Stoke, Leicester City and England goalkeeper
Eric Barnsley, Fan
Brian Bird,
Alan Bleasdale, Livepool-born Playwright
Billy Butler, BBC Radio Merseyside Broadcaster
Steve Cain,
Andrew Cashin, Businessman and secretary of the Toronto Liverpool fan club
James Catling, Cleaner, Liverpool Football Club
John Chadwick, Fan
Dave Clay, Fan.
Ray Clemence, Former Liverpool and England goalkeeper
Kenny Dalglish, Former Liverpool and Scotland player, and manager of Liverpool
Stanley Doig, Fan and son of Liverpool goalkeeper Ned Doig.
Wendy Doig. Fan.
Dr John Doyle, Academic
George Edwards
Leslie Edwards. Former Sports Editor Liverpool Daily Post and Echo
Roy Evans, Former Liverpool player and manager
David Fairclough, Former Liverpool player
Alex Finlason, Architect and fan
John Frank
Jim Gardiner, Fan.
Wayne Gordon, Fan
Harry Gough,
Mick Graham,
Bob Greaves. Former television presenter and sports reporter.
Jim Hartley,
Steve Heighway, former Liverpool player
Jim Hesketh, Former police officer
Gill Holroyd, Fan
Emlyn Hughes. Former Liverpool and England captain.
John Jeffrey
Pat Jennings, Former Tottenham, Arsenal and Northern Ireland goalkeeper.
Judith Jones, Fan.
 63

Tony Jones, Fan.

Paul Kelly, Fan.
Alan Kennedy, Former Liverpool and England player.
Johnny Kennedy, Broadcaster Radio City.
Andrei Kissilev, Moscow Spartak fan.
Brian Labone, Former Everton and England player.
Denis Law, Former Manchester United, Manchester City and Scotland player.
Mark Lawrenson, Former Liverpool and Ireland player.
Harry Leather,Fan.
Bob Lyons, Fan
Eileen McAuley, Fan.
William McIntyre, BBC journalist and fan
Duncan McKenzie, Former Everton player.
Tommy McKinlay, Fan
Yvonne McLeod, Fan
John Mapson, Fan
Gerry Marsden, Lead singer Gerry and the Pacemakers
Neil Midgeley, Former Football League referee.
Charlie Mitten, Former Manchester United and England player
Denis Mooney, Fan and television producer
Steve Morgan, Businessman, former shareholder and fan
Sydney Moss, Former Vice Chairman, Liverpool Football Club.
Joe Murray, Local businessman and fan
Rob Noble, Fan
Billy O'Donnell, Fan.
Hugh O'Neil, St John Ambulance.
Ron Pawsey, Fan
Jack Payne, Fan.
Richard Pedder, Fan
Keith Richards, Fan
Gareth Roberts, Fan
Ted Robbins, Comedian, writer and fan
Sandy Ross, Fan and Television Producer. Managing Director Scottish Television
Ian St John, Former Liverpool and Scotland player.
Jeff Scott, Fan.
Ian Sergeant, Policed Constable, Merseyside Police
Steve Shakeshaft, Photographer Liverpool Daily Post and Echo.
George Shannon, Fan
The Rt. Rev David Sheppard, Former Bishop of Liverpool,
Sheila Spears, Fan.
John Stile, Fan
Albert Stubbins, Former Liverpool player.
Bernard Swift, Former police officer
Rogan Taylor, Fan, writer and academic
Andrew Thomas, Judge and fan.
Ian Thomson,
 64

Phil Thompson, Former Liverpool player and former Assistant manager.

Louise Tovey, Fan.
Bob Tweedale, Fan
Rev Jackie Waterman, Local vicar, Anfield.
Professor Roger Webster, Academic and fan
Barry Wilford, Fan.
Dr John Williams, Fan and academic
Billy Wilson, Fan and BBC journalist
Harry Wilson, Fan
Linda Winrow, Fan.
Dave Woods, BBC radio five commentator
Lennie Woods, Fan

Others interviewed for more general and historical information include:

Bill Gilson of architects Atherden Fuller
The editors and publishers of Kop magazine
The staff of the microfilm department of Liverpool Central Library, Norman Whibbley of
the Liverpool City Council Surveyors department
Steve Shakeshaft, photographer, the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo
Liverpool Supporters Club and in particular Ted Morris and Richard Pedder,
Manchester Central Library,
Roger Hughes of Radio Merseyside,
Merseyside Police Force and especially Inspector Bernard Swift who allowed me to
spend a Saturday watching a game from the police control room,
The St John Ambulance Brigade and Hugh O'Neill
The editor, Through The Wind And Rain
Ivor Rolands for his song collection.
 65

List Interviewees

Red Voices

It should be noted that a number of these interviewees have died since they were
interviewed.

Adam Brown,
Former, member of the Football Supporters Association and the Football Task Force. He
is also research officer at the Institute for Popular Culture at Manchester Metropolitan
University

Alan Durrans,
Born in Manchester and started supporting United in the fifties. Once had a trial with the
club.

Albert Thorpe.
Former journalist covering Manchester United. First watched United in the early 1920s.

Alf Davies
Member of the St John Ambulance Brigade since 1935. First saw United in 1928 and
regularly watched them when they were in the second division before the War

Alisson Thornton
Accountant. Born in the north east but converted to United while at university in
Manchester

Andy Mitten
Founder and editor of the United fanzine United We Stand

Barney Chilton
Former editor of the Fanzine Red News.

Barry Moorhouse
Club membership secretary who has seen membership increase from 40,000 to 140,000
in ten years.

Sir Bobby Charlotn.

Former Manchester United player. Now a club director

Bob Greaves
Former journalist with the Daily Mail at the time of the Munich disaster. He subsequently
became a television presenter with Granada Television.

Brian Kidd
Former player and assistant manager at Old Trafford.
 66

Cliff Butler.
Former editor of the United programme United Review and a lifelong United fan.
Danny McGregor
Born in Moss Side and supported the club as a young boy after the War. Was the club’s
commercial manager overseeing a massive growth in business.

David Meek
Journalist given the task of covering United when the Manchester EveningNews’
football correspondent was killed in the Munich air disaster. He retired in May 1995 after
35 years service with the paper.

David Menasche
Owns a small temporary staffing agency in San Jose, close to San Francisco but still
supports United from afar, usually via the internet but makes the occasional trip to Old
Trafford.

George Reynolds
Fifty-three year old shopkeeper in Chorlton who has rarely watched United since the
Munich disaster, a tragedy which still upsets greatly him.

Derek Wynne
Former full time professional player with Port Vale but then became an academic.

Eamon Holmes
Presenter of GMTV. Born in Belfast

Graham Stringer
Former leader of Manchester City Council, 1984-96, and has been Labour MP for
Manchester Blackley since 1997.

Hugh Jones
Founder of Jones Executive Coaches and former first team coach driver.

Ian Moss
Former policeman and now county manager of the St John Ambulance Brigade.

James Thornton
An accountant living in Bolton. Born in Colchester but began supporting United at an
early age. Came to university in Manchester solely in order to watch United. Married to
Alisson Thornton.

Joe Dillon
Retired shopkeeper who started supporting United before the War. Saw his first game in
1937.
 67

Johnny Morris.
United player born in Radcliffe. Joined United as a fifteen year old shortly before the
War. Served in the army during the war but returned to Old Trafford for the 1946/47
season. A lightly-built inside forward he was a cup winner the following season but then
left the club following a disagreement with Matt Busby in early 1949, joining derby
County for a record fee of £24,500. Capped three times by England. A total of 92
appearances for United with 35 goals.

Judith Swift
Began supporting United as a schoolgirl in the 1970s

Ken Hastings
Retired Government Education Inspector, now living in Cambridge. Although he was
born in Gainsborough, his father had become a United supporter after regularly watching
them play Gainsborough Trinity at the turn of the century. Passed his love of United on to
his son.

Kevin McAleny
Born on Merseyside but became a fan of the Busby Babes when he was young and has
remained a United fan all his life . Once had a trial with United.

Laurence Cassidy
Lifelong United fan who played for the club between 1947-52. Played mainly in the
reserves, making only four appearances in the first team. Later became a teacher, and
then headmaster at St Patrick’s school in Collyhurst and was responsible for feeding a
number of players towards Old Trafford including Brian Kidd.

Leon Swerling
Solicitor and lifelong United supporter with vivid memories of the European Cup final.

Les Olive
Appointed assistant secretary in 1942 and took over as secretary of United immediately
after the Munich disaster when Walter Crickmer was killed. Retired in 1988 and was a
director of the club. Played twice for the first team during the early fifties as a
goalkeeper.

Martin Edwards
Son of Louis Edwards the former United chairman. Martin Edwards became chairman of
the club in 1992. In September 1998 he agreed to the takeover of United by SKY
Television. Later and sold his personal stake in the club, valued at £80 million.

Matthew Reynolds
Much travelled around Europe in support of United.

Maxine Dunham
 68

Travelled extensively following United around Europe with more than a few escapades.
Was imprisoned in Turkey when she went to see United play Galatasaray

Pat MacDonald
Fan

Michael Dunham
Accountant and a United supporter since the War. Vivid memories of the 1948 FA Cup
final.

Paul Windridge
Brought up in a rugby household but was finally forced to confess his allegiance to
football and United. Is the creative director in graphic design business.

Pete Holland
Born in West Gorton but emigrated to the United States in 1977, shortly after he had
invaded the pitch, flairs and all, following Denis Law’s famous goal that plunged United
into the Second Division.

Robin Murray
Although born in Portsmouth Robin Murray became a United supporter at school. He
travelled regularly to Old Trafford on his motorbike before eventually joining the Greater
Manchester Police, a decision not wholly unconnected with his support of United.

Roger Hennell
Chartered Surveyor.

Roland Coburn
Film editor at Granada Television. Lifelong United fan who has travelled the length and
breadth of Europe in support of United.

Sally Orpin
Member of the Manchester United Supporters’ Club in Victoria, Australia. Has lived in
Australia for five years.

Simon Jones
Drives the first team coach. Also managing director of Jones Executive Coaches.

Simon Thorp
Chorlton based writer who remembers the second division days with affection and a few
far distant flung places where he watched them.

Stan Orme.
Now Lord Orme. Was Labour MP for Salford West between 1964-83 and for Salford
East between 1983-97. Held various Cabinet posts including Minister of State for
Northern Ireland 1974-76 and Secretary of State for Social Security.
 69

Teresa Hennell
Solicitor and Season ticket holder who now cycles to Old Trafford from their home in
Didsbury.

Tim Bamford
A research officer with the Shopworkers Union, USDAW.

Warren Bradley
Winger who joined the club from Bishop Auckland immediately after the Munich
disaster. Died 2007.

Wilf McGuinness
Busby Babe, born in Manchester, who missed the trip to Munich through injury. He was
also forced to retire early through injury. At the age of 31 he was appointed successor to
Matt Busby but was sacked after 18 months.

Wilf Sudlow
Seventy-six year old former deputy head of St Ambrose School in Manchester. Began
keeping a United scrap book in the fifties which today is a fascinating collection of
photos and information covering 40 years of United’s history.

Christopher Ecclestone.
Salford born actor. Starred in the films Jude the Obscure and Elizabeth I as well as the
highly regarded BBC production Our Friends in the North.

Gary Rhodes
Television Chef who became a United fan after his family moved to Cheadle.

Sean Wilson
Actor. Coronation Street’s Martin Platt.

Diane Modhal.
Olympic athlete

Rudi Kidd.
Forty-three year old black solicitor who over the years came face to face with racism on
the terraces and decided there was only way to combat it. Now a lawyer repesenting
media clients.

Denis Law
Joined Manchester United for a record fee from Torino in July 1962.

Shay Brennan
Swept to stardom following the Munich Disaster when he made his debut in the first
match after the air crash, against Sheffield Wednesday.
 70

Norman Whiteside.
Played 254 games for United either in the midfield or upfront, scoring 67 goals.
Transferred to Everton in August 1989 but retired two years later due to injury. Now a
podiatrist, working mainly with lower league football clubs.

Bill Foulkes.
United defender, 1952-70. Busby Babe who survived Munich air disaster and went on to
win a European Cup medal. Played 679 games for United, scoring nine goals.
 71

List of Interviewees

The Boot Room Boys

John Aldridge.
Former player who went on to score 50 goals in 83 league games before leaving in
September 1989 to join Real Sociedad. Capped more than 60 times by the Republic of
Ireland.

John Bennett.
Joined Liverpool as a schoolboy during the 1961/61 season. Played A team and reserve
team football but never making it to the first team.

John Bennison.
Former coach. Worked particularly with the young players. Now retired

Mike Berry.
Runs a marketing, publicity and promotions company in Liverpool and has organised the
testimonials of a number of former Liverpool players. Liverpool fan since the 1950s.

Alan Brown.
Lifelong Liverpool fan. One of his first games was the 1950 FA Cup final.

Gordon Burns.
Well known television presenter and producer who used to produce Granada Television’s
football coverage. Later became presenter of the Krypton Factor and is now presenter of
BBC Television’s Look North West.

Phil Chisnall.
The only player to have been transferred directly between Manchester United and
Liverpool since the 1930s. Has the rare distinction of having played under both Shankly
and Busby.

Ian Callaghan.
Liverpool midfielder of the 1960s. Played a record 800 plus games for the club in all
competitions with 69 goals. England international who played in the 1966 World Cup
finals.

Kenny Dalglish.
Joined the club from Celtic in August 1977 for a record £440,000. Went on to win every
honour in the game as well as 102 caps for Scotland. Became player/manager of
Liverpool in May 1985 following the Heysel disaster but shocked the football world
when he quit in February 1991, claiming that the pressures had become too great.
 72

Roy Evans.
An apprentice with Liverpool he played just a handful of games before Bob Paisley
persuaded him to join the coaching staff. Went into the bootroom to help mastermind
domestic and European successes. Appointed manager after Graeme Souness left the club
but quit in November 1998.

David Fairclough.
Fomer player who will always be remembered for the dramatic impact he made when he
came on against St Etienne in the European Cup quarter finals of 1977. Played 88 times
for Liverpool plus 62 appearances as a sub, scoring 52 goals before leaving to play his
football in Switzerland and Belgium. Now a media pundit.

Jim Gardiner.
One of Liverpool’s most dedicated fans who has seen virtually every Liverpool game
home and away throughout the world since the mid 1970s.

Bob Greaves.
Was for more than 30 years a presenter with Granada Television. He was also a regular
match reporter with the Mail on Sunday, a job which took him to Anfield on numerous
occasions.

Alan Hansen.
Joined Liverpool from Partick Thistle in 1977 and went on to win just about every
honour in the game. Now a media pundit with BBC Television’s Match of the Day.

Steve Hale.
Well known freelance Liverpool photographer. Also the author of a number of illustrated
books on Liverpool.

Brian Hall.
University educated midfielder with the successful Shankly team of the 1970s. Won FA
Cup, league and UEFA honours before leaving in 1976. Later went into teaching but is
now back at Anfield as Community Development Officer.

Ian Hargreaves.
Former sports editor of The Liverpool Daily Post and Echo. Covered Liverpool as sports
journalist for most of the years of the club’s great success and befriended a host of
Liverpool managers.

Barrie Holmes.
Liverpool supporter since the 1960s Helped set up the International Supporters club and
was secretary of the Merseyside branch for some years.

Gerard Houllier.
Former Liverpool manager.Also former manager of Lens, Paris St Germain and France.
Was technical director for France when they won the World Cup in 1998. Joined
 73

Liverpool as joint manager with Roy Evans that summer but became manager in
November 1998 when Evans left.

Emlyn Hughes.
Liverpool and England captain of the 1970s.

Roger Hunt.
The leading league goalscorer in Liverpool’s history with a total of 245 league goals
between 1959 and 1969. Also scored a record 41 league goals in the 1961-62 season.
Won League and cup honours with Liverpool plus 34 England caps and a World Cup
winners medal.

Joey Jones.
Joined Liverpool from Wrexham in July 1975 and played just three seasons, winning
European Cup and league honours before returning to Wrexham. Later played for
Chelsea. Won 72 caps for Wales. Now on the coaching staff at Wrexham.

Alan Kennedy.
The man who scored the winning penalty in the European Cup final against Roma and
the winning goal against Real Madrid. Bob Paisley paid a record fee for a fullback when
he signed Kennedy from Newcastle in 1978.

Chris Lawler.
Liverpool born fullback who joined Liverpool as a schoolboy in 1960. Played under Bill
Shankly, winning cup and league honours as well as four England caps.

Tommy Lawrence.
Liverpool goalkeeper of the 1960s.

Mark Lawrenson.
One of the finest central defenders in Liverpool’s history. A £900,000 signing from
Brighton in 1981 who went on to win European and domestic honours. Capped 31 times
by the Republic of Ireland. Had a brief spell as manager of Oxford United and now media
pundit, still partnering Alan Hansen on Match of the Day.

Sammy Lee.
Joined Liverpool as an apprentice in 1975 and made his debut in 1978. Won European,
league and cup honours before leaving to join QPR in August 1986. Capped 14 times by
England. Found his way back to Liverpool as a coach under Graeme Souness.

Alec Lindsay .
Liverpool fullback of the 1970s who joined the club from Bury. Won FA Cup, League
and UEFA honours with Liverpool as well as four England caps. Left Liverpool in 1977
to join Stoke.
 74

Lawrie McMenemy.
Former Sunderland and Southampton manager. Great admirer of all things Liverpool and
a regular visitor to the boot room during his days with Southampton.

Willie Miller.
Lifelong Liverpool fan who helped set up and now runs the Liverpool FC Former
Players’ Association.

Jan Molby.
Danish international midfielder signed form Dutch club Ajax in August 1984.

Ronnie Moran.
Joined Liverpool in 1949 as a schoolboy amateur, turning professional in 1952. Played
379 games, mainly as a fullback until 1965 when he joined the coaching staff. Had a brief
stint as acting manager, retired 1998 after 49 years service.

Steve Morgan.
Liverpool born multi-millionaire former chairman of Redrow Homes. Also life-long
Liverpool supporter and at one time one of the largest shareholders in the club.

Phil Neal.
One of the most honoured players in the game. Bob Paisley’s first signing in October
1974, went on to play more than 600 games for the club. Had subsequent spells as
manager of Bolton Wanderers, Coventry City and Manchester City and also worked with
the England squad under Graham Taylor.

Bob Paisley.
The most successful manager in the history of British football. Liverpool player 1939 to
1954 before taking up a coaching position at the club. Became manager following the
resignation of Bill Shankly in 1974. Retired 1983 and became a club director. Died 1996.

Rick Parry.
Chief Executive Liverpool Football Club. Formerly Chief Executive of the Premier
League and before that an accountant.

Peter Robinson.
Secretary of Liverpool since 1965. Later a director of the club and executive vice
chairman. Over the years one of the most important and influential people in the history
of the club. Retired.

Ian Ross.
Joined Liverpool in 1966 and went on to play just over 50 games for the club before
joining Aston Villa. Had stints as a manager with a variety of clubs including
Huddersfield Town. Now a publican at Timperely in Manchester.
 75

Ian Rush.
Former player. The club’s leading overall goalscorer.

Ian St John.
Scottish international striker signed from Motherwell in May

Tom Saunders.
Former head teacher in Liverpool who joined the coaching staff in 1970. Later a director
of the club.

Bill Shankly.
Legendary Liverpool manager and without a doubt the most important single figure in the
club’s history. Became manager in December 1959. Sensationally quit the club in the
summer of 1974 after winning the FA Cup and went into retirement. Died September
1981.

Tommy Smith.
Former Liverpool captain who scored in the 1977 European Cup final, to help Liverpool
win the trophy. Had a brief spell on the coaching staff.

Graeme Souness.
Former player signed from Middlesbrough in January 1978. Later appointed manager.

Willie Stevenson.
Former player who joined Liverpool in 1962 . Won FA Cup and league honours with
Liverpool before leaving in 1967 to join Stoke City.

Phil Thompson.
Former Liverpool and England captain. Later appointed assistant manager.