An award-winning journalist’s book celebrating the 126th anniversary of Liverpool’s famous Anfield Kop end is reviewed by Eric Brown…
BY ERIC BROWN
Liverpool’s mighty Kop stand behind one of Anfield’s goals has inspired home players and terrified opponents in generous measure over many years.
The Kop gained worldwide recognition after a 1960s BBC TV Panorama programme featured black and white pictures of squeezed fans singing The Beatles “She Loves You” while cascading sideways and down packed terracing in rippling formations like starling murmurations.
Today’s Health and Safety zealots would have had palpitations over the dangers presented by these over-filled terraces, but back then the club thought only of the raucous backing supplied by uninhibited Kop inhabitants for their playing heroes.
Former manager Bill Shankly described The Kop as “the 12th man” for its ability to scare opponents and rescue matches which appeared lost.
To mark the 126th anniversary of The Kop, Brian Reade, an Anfield regular for 60 years, has produced a fan’s history of it.
Conditions were basic. If you wanted the toilet, it would mean a time-consuming journey elbowing through solid walls of flesh. Returning to your chosen spot to rejoin friends was impossible through ranks of packed, raincoat-clad backs.
Alternative methods were essential. If you were lucky, the bloke standing behind might produce a newspaper, roll it up and urinate into that. If the bloke behind had no newspaper, you would be introduced to the phenomenon known as “wet leg.” There’s no mention in the book of how females courageous enough to stand on the packed terrace coped with the toilet problem. One can only wonder.
Eventually safety concerns prevailed, and the swaying stopped after seats were introduced where feet once stood, and their owners strained necks for a glimpse of the green arena where their favourite gladiators strove for victory.
Reade began his journalistic career on the Reading Evening Post in 1981 before moving to the Liverpool Daily Post, then Liverpool Echo. Spells at The Daily Mirror and Sunday Times followed. A former SJA Columnist of the Year, Reade also won The Cudlipp Award for Journalistic Excellence for his decades-long fight for justice for Hillsborough disaster victims.
In fact, Reade skillfully compares horrendous mistakes made at Hillsborough with those that contributed to the British Army’s worst defeat at Spion Kop.
During research into the origins of the name ‘The Kop’ and how it was adopted at Anfield, Reade travelled to South Africa to visit the formidable hill which bore the name.
In 1901, Spion Kop was assaulted by part of a force of 20,000 men charged with relieving the town of Ladysmith, which had been captured by Boers, trapping thousands of British troops.
General Sir Redvers Buller, 60, was in charge but spent most of his time quaffing champagne in a tent miles behind the front line. As a result, communication with the baffled troops broke down, and they were annihilated by the better-positioned Boers.
A few survivors fled back down the hill. Meanwhile, another 17,000 British troops with no orders to attack waited idly at the bottom of Spion Kop after a messenger was shot dead.
In a forerunner of events after Hillsborough, the cover-up soon began. An army official casualty count of 243 killed and 1,250 wounded was way below the correct figure.
On visiting the Spion Kop British memorial, Reade counted 323 British names. Some 300 more were “missing” or captured. The top brass began blaming each other behind closed doors, and an entirely false narrative issued to British newspapers, which reported “how the summit was carried”, “splendid behaviour of troops” and “a taste of British bayonets.”
Sounds familiar to everyone at Hillsborough. I can testify to that, having had my statement about the disaster changed by a crooked officer.
Many of those who lost their lives needlessly – it was later discovered there was no need for an assault on Spion Kop, as an easier route to Ladysmith existed – came from Lancashire regiments.
When Anfield expanded to include that huge mound of terracing behind a goal, it was decided to name it after the place where so many of them died.
Even if you are not a Liverpool aficionado, Reade’s account of The Kop, the story behind its naming, its construction and subsequent spectator influence on matches plus social history makes interesting and informative reading for all football fans, especially those whose teams have their own Kop.
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