DEATH OF THE ZINE SCENE - Statement from Red All Over The Land

As you know here at The Anfield Shrine we are regular contributors to the Liverpool fanzine Red All Over The Land and in general a supporter and advocate for independent fanzines and their importance in the support of our club and keeping football ours as opposed to the prompted of the corporate money men. However, fanzines and RAOTL specifically have been finding it harder and harder to survive... the recent death of a Utd fanzine no less, promoted this statement from Red All Over The Land...

The Manchester United Fanzine ‘RED ISSUE’ has decided to call it a day after 26-years and 295 Issues.  They’re not citing declining sales but simply, because it ‘can’t stand the stench’ of football any longer.  In their final issue that went on sale outside Old Trafford at the game against Southampton they said: “The game we’ve been clinging onto is gone.  Football now is happy-clappy families, half-and-half scarves, tourists and selfie sticks; there’s no point trying to fight that.”

‘RED ISSUE’ didn’t give Liverpool, Liverpool players or Liverpool supporters an easy time; just the opposite but even so, ‘RED ISSUE’ stood against the tidal wave of modernism in football especially amongst their own.  They didn’t care who they upset and a lot of the time they said what many of us were thinking when it came to modern football.  I never really took offence at what they said or did because they said what they wanted to say.  They were a Fanzine.

If we’ve had anything in common it’s the contempt we feel for the modern game but whereas they apparently still sold enough copies to make the effort of producing a Fanzine a viable venture I’m afraid that’s not really the case for Liverpool Fanzines.  I can’t speak for Dave from ‘The Liverpool Way' nor Neil from ‘We Are Liverpool’ but I’m sure they’d agree that this season has been more toil than pleasure and not just because of the lousy weather we’ve often encountered.  A couple of seasons ago this Fanzine encountered a lot of problems that were beyond anybody’s such as flooding and damage to a PC causing data to be lost and problems aplenty.  However, we still got the Fanzine out and because sales were pretty good we stayed afloat.  This season we’re sinking fast.

I’ve received well meaning comments about the clubs poor form this time around affecting sales; well that’s not necessarily the case.  During Rafa’s final season and the few months of Hodgson’s reign sales weren’t too bad at all and after Kenny came home they picked up further.  In fact during times of trouble [if you like] supporters would take a Fanzine to read the real thoughts rather than the ones that were in the official publications and although the local press would voice critical opinions they had to draw the line at some of what they printed.  Fanzines didn’t have that problem.

Over the last season or two we’ve seen growing numbers of overseas visitors to Anfield and I’ve nothing against them but they’re not going to buy something that’s obviously unofficial and printed in English.  Add to this the huge number of others that now arrive and who definitely fit into the ‘happy-clappy families, half-and-half scarves, tourists and selfie sticks’ group.  They are happy to pay an extortionate amount of money for their ticket and all the trashy tack that gets sold in the club shop, pay well over the odds for food and drink inside the ground but don’t give Fanzines a second glance.  To them football is the circus.  They are what the clubs want and win, lose or draw they go home happy with their bag of goodies and selfie pics.  They feel that being part of the famous Anfield atmosphere is to stand up and shout, “Who R Ya” at the noisier away support.

We've tried hard to work with the club but the club rarely, if ever, now respond to an email, that in itself is disappointing.

I’d ask you all to rally round and help spread the word about Fanzines but is there any real point; you are the converted or whatever.  Since August this Fanzine has lost between 25 and 30 subscribers.  Match day sales on the first day of sale have dropped by around a third.  The time spent putting it together is hardly worth the effort if I’m honest but I actually love doing a Fanzine.  We’ve never had a huge audience if that’s the right way of putting it and even in what I’d call our better era we’d sell only to around 3% of the Anfield crowd.  However, that was good enough.  Now it’s less than .5% so it’s hard to justify carrying on.  I can join the exodus of the old time supporters and maybe go to a non-league game or stay at home and watch telly.  Or I can trundle on hoping that there’s a light somewhere in the tunnel.

We've tried special offers, special deals competitions and everything.   At a loss now as to what to do next.  

Its toss a coin time.  My first thought on hearing Red Issue had thrown in the towel was to think, well if they can’t beat the apathy how the hell can we?  The next few weeks will determine that.

    

Regards

JJP (RAOTL Editor)

Visit RedAllOverTheLand.com to subscribe or pick up Issue 209 at the Bolton game. 

We have to keep the faith

This is a snippet from a full article that will be appearing in Issue 206 of Red All Over The Land which will be on sale at the Chelsea game...

My immediate thought is that we HAVE to keep the faith. With Brendan Rodgers, with Balotelli, with everything. I wasn’t able to get to the Hull game, and a mate of mine went in my place. We exchanged a few texts after the game and he said one of the most frustrating things was how quickly fans got on the back of the players. We know there has always been the moaning contingent, for as far back as you want to go. But the horrible immediacy of modern football peddled by Sky Sports, social media and online gambling; breeds short sightedness, idiotic knee jerk reactions and uneducated bile of a level that I don’t think we have had to endure before. With ticket prices increasing and the modern game being gentrified more and more, Anfield is becoming a diluted theme park of itself.

 To read the full article, pick up a copy of RAOTL at Chelsea or subscribe for only £28 for 13 issues.

It was beautiful, exhilarating and dangerous… but it’s over.

We’ve all had those relationships. Perhaps when we were younger, first loves… whirlwinds of romance with a stunningly beautiful girl, who many say is too good for us. It’s something which we can concede to a point, but we also back ourselves and know that they’re the lucky ones too. We’re a catch. The sort of girls who are so beautiful and exciting and good in bed that they are; by definition; also a bit mental. But who cares about a bit of crazy when you’re having the time of your life?

Mad all night benders… hours within the throws of passion, she does things to you that you’ve never known before. Your mum hates her. She is beautiful to watch, you can’t take your eyes off her. No one can take their eyes off her… everyone wants her, but they don’t see the crazy. The crazy doesn’t affect them. It gets to the point where the crazy starts to outweigh the fun… the mental ‘episodes’ are getting to you… you begin to wonder whether it’s worth it?

Well Luis… it’s been amazing… it’s been beautiful, exhilarating, passionate and dangerous… but I fear it’s over. I think we need to go our separate ways.

The moment our Luis had a little nibble on the shoulder of Chiellini I pretty much shrugged my shoulders. The media, twitter and of course Evertonians pretty much combusted… but I just felt weary. I had a feeling of ‘oh here we go again.’ I was defensive of Suarez, but I was also not massively sympathetic. My feelings of support towards him didn’t exactly strengthen on the announcement of his punishment. Again I felt sorry for him… in my biased view I felt that the ban was overly harsh and particularly unfair to his club, MY club. When he bit a player in a Liverpool shirt, Uruguay didn’t suffer, but when he does it in a Uruguay shirt, Liverpool suffer? It doesn’t seem fair.

Then the transfer rumours re-surfaced… will Liverpool cut their losses? Barcelona begin to court him and Suarez suddenly turns on his heels and releases an apology with no mention of his club or the supporters he apparently feels so attached to. Our beautiful, crazy, fucked up girl is flirting. But fuck it… do we care? Have we had enough… is it time to move on?

I’m starting to think that when it comes to Luis Suarez, we remember the incredible whirlwind relationship that we’ve had, but be content that it’s coming to an end and look forward to a new dawn… one which is more stable, with just as many beautiful girls and incredible times. Just without the drama. 

RAOTL at 200 - Why we need fazines

(First published in issue 200 of Red All Over The Land. - May 2014)

Without wanting to be too sycophantic, I wanted to mark RAOTL’s 200th issue by talking about the fanzine itself. Reaching the milestone of 200 issues is such a wonderful achievement and something to be really celebrated.

I can’t remember exactly how my relationship with RAOTL first began, but it was about 17 years ago that as a young (and for some reason besotted Liverpool fan) my Dad decided to take me to my first game all the way from our home in Wiltshire. He had no affinity with the club, and we had no ties with the area, but for some reason I had chosen Liverpool as my club. Being an out of towner has always played on my mind, but a lot of my future life choices were consciously or subconsciously driven by the men in red. I ended up attending Liverpool University, and living in the city for 10 years.

Anyway, in those early days I began to get involved in the fledgling online community of Liverpool fans, creating my own fan site ‘The Anfield Shrine’ and writing articles for other fan sites. I assume that one of my early games I must also have picked up a copy of this very fanzine. My enjoyment of that first copy is for me why fanzines are so important. As a young lad not local to the city, Red All Over The Land as a fanzine was one of the first ‘unofficial’ sources Liverpool content that I consumed.

I think I've always had a slightly subversive side with a love of all things underground and non-corporate and that is exactly what attracted me to the concept of a fanzine. I love the fact that fanzines aren’t necessarily glossy, well art worked, slick productions - that is the beauty of them. In the world of modern, corporate football, they are one of the last bastions of individuality, humour and independent thinking. These days of course, the development of the internet has meant that there are countless independent fan blogs, websites and forums… and as much as I can enjoy those too, for me they are not enough. I would never want to see the death of the physical fanzine. Fanzines, and specifically RAOTL, are part of the match day experience for me. I don’t buy programmes, but a physical copy of a fanzine is something ingrained in and older school match day experience that true football fans still crave. Match days are all about flat lager in packed pubs, weaving through the crowd as you walk up to the ground… dodging discarded chip trays to keep a new pair of Adidas pristine, hearing the shout of ‘hat, scarf or a badge.’ That is a real match day experience, not the Sky Sports Ford Focus experience that we are fed on TV. Fanzines are very much part of that real, grassroots, honest experience that we are coming closer and closer to losing.

So I raise a glass to RAOTL on its 200th birthday, and especially the long suffering but fantastic and eternally committed editor JJP (Who was on the front cover of issue 1 Ed? Billy Liddell?) Praise has to also go to the likes of Andy Knott, John Mackin, all the match day sellers and everyone else who has contributed along the way. I urge us all… don’t let the fanzine die. Here’s to the next 200 issues.

You can subscribe to Red All Over The Land for next season on the website.

AnfieldShrine Awayday – St. Bloody Mary’s

I hadn’t been to an away game for years, I think my last being a glorious FA Cup trip to St. Andrews to see us hammer Birmingham City 7 nil. My away record overall doesn’t read quite so well, having witnessed, among others, a drab nil nil draw at Leicester City and losses to Bolton, Portsmouth and Southampton. The scene of that last embarrassment was our destination today. Having recently moved back south to Wiltshire, Southampton is now my closest premier league ground and with my Dad’s connections to Southampton and some Saturdays in the 70s spent at the old Dell, we had earmarked this away game as a potential one to get to. A speculative enquiry to the editor of this fine fanzine about any potential spare tickers bore fruit in the week leading up to the game.

As it turned out my Dad couldn’t make it, so I turned to one of my previous away day cohorts and fellow southerner, Joff. We all knew before this game that our record at St. Mary’s was not brilliant, add to that the fact Southampton are the only side to have beaten us at Anfield this season and a very capable team and it was clear that this was a huge game for us. As you may have noted from some of my previous columns, I am very much a reluctant pessimist and I’m still in a constant state of anticipation that our season will come crashing down around us at any moment. Given that mine and Joff’s away record is not the best, we set off with much excitement, but prepared for the worst. Our aim was to enjoy the away day experience that we’ve missed so much and the experience that makes for such a refreshing change compared to the sometimes clinical and staid modern football roadshow of a home game.

It was a beautiful morning and really felt like the start of spring. A cheap and relatively swift train journey from Salisbury found us in Southampton for around 2:30pm, by which point we had already consumed a relatively large amount of Jager, helped down with Red Rhino or some other Red Bull imitation and some accompanying Birra Moreti, just to add a touch of class to proceedings. Joff had cunningly smuggled said Jager in mini bottles of Vimto, in case any overly enthusiastic southern constabulary took affront to our public drinking. The plan would only fall down if for any reason a desperate mother asked for a refreshing swig of our Vimto for their thirsty child.

More glorious sunshine greeted us in Southampton and having gleaned from a few away guides and fellow travelling reds that Yates of all places was the ‘designated away pub’ we started walking up the hill in that direction. Knowing that the giant doormen on the Yates doors were unlikely to let us in with 2 or 3 glass bottles of premium lager and some ‘Vimto’ we decided to finish off the rest of our liquid picnic in the nearby park. It’s funny what an away day does to you, or allows you to do. If I found myself sat in a park downing makeshift Jagerbombs from plastic glasses acquired from a ‘Pumpkin’ train café, I’d start to have serious concerns around where my life was going, on an awayday however, it’s all part of the day and perfectly acceptable. Just don’t tell Thatcherites.

Yates hadn’t really started to liven up when we first arrived, and I completely understand the irony behind my declaration that it was ‘full of wools’ considering we were about as wool as it comes, but there was a definite feel that it was very much heavy with Southampton based Liverpool fans with no real sense of ‘atmosphere.’ There were even some normal Saturday afternoon shoppers / drinkers trying their best to enjoy their beloved Yates experienced and rubbery Hunters Chicken.

A highlight was probably one of the oldest DJs I’ve ever seen trying to make us feel at home by playing any remotely Liverpool related song, extremely loud, and drowning out any attempt at a song from Liverpool fans themselves. We were treated to everything from The Beatles, to The Zutons with some slightly odd versions of our terrace favourites thrown in.

As more and more reds piled in and more and more shit lager flowed the ‘atmosphere’ did begin to pick up and the songs soon got going. By about 4pm we were in full flow and bouncing around spilling our shit lager all over the place.

It was around this time that we realised we’d better think about heading up to the ground to meet JJP and get our tickets. It wasn’t much of a walk up to St. Mary’s, and to be honest, it was a bit of a blur.

We spotted JJP and his compatriots outside the away end, and shared introductions before heading in. It was great to see the Ed. after such a long time and I must thank him again for sorting out the tickets.

The atmosphere inside the ground was already building nicely, as you’d expect with thousands of scousers having a long trip down for a 5.30pm kick off and plenty of ‘ale time.’ By this stage my pessimism and nervousness had pretty much evaporated in vapour of Jager and Carlsberg.

Quarter of an hour in and that pessimism evaporated further as Suarez finished brilliantly from what initially looked like a lovely through ball from Sturidge, but in fact turned out to be quite a fortunate deflection off Fonte into Luis’ path. It’s bit of luck like that which you need to be successful, especially at places like St. Mary’s.  I know it’s a cliché but I think if you’re positive, luck does come your way.

The travelling Kop were rapturous and bounced to the stalwart Suarez song, but on the pitch Southampton weren’t going to just roll over as they spent the remainder of the half playing some nice stuff and knocking on our door. Lallana was unlucky not to draw them level as his clever shot rebounded off the post and Mignolet pulled off a brilliant diving save to deny Rodriguez.

Half-time was spent on a raucous concourse as ‘We are Liverpool…’ didn’t let up and nor did the flagrant disregard for the smoking ban… which even as a non-smoker I can’t help admire.

Sterling replaced Coutinho 10 minutes into the 2^nd half and made an immediate impact to slot in yet another Suarez assist. Then we felt we could relax a little and really enjoy ourselves and the scouse presence in St. Mary’s didn’t let up in terms of volume.

A great early evening was wrapped up as Gerrard dispatched his 90^th minute penalty with the sort of composure that we have become accustom to and there ended a genuinely fantastic result for Liverpool FC. 

I would agree with Rodgers that this could well have been up there with the Arsenal rout, not necessarily in performance or style but certainly in terms of importance and setting a marker.

The ‘we’re going to win the league’ chants were inevitable considering the immediate excitement, but as always I am trying to apply some restraint and realism.

As I write this, 2 weeks have passed without us playing again and we are now fast approaching the much anticipated trip to Old Trafford. I can appreciate and welcome talk from the likes of Fowler about really compounding Utd’s misery and we are in the unusual position, probably in my entire lifetime of going in to this game as favourites, which is always a danger. But we should be confident, no doubt.

I would rather we take the Mourinho approach and continue to play down our chances, and equally play up Utd’s threat… we don’t want any sort of complacency creeping in.

By the time you read this we’ll know the result… so let’s just hope my pessimism continues to be proved wrong. Whatever happens, we’re in for one hell of a ride before the end of the season and let’s just not forget how far we have come.

Tweet @AnfieldShrine

The 20 New Year Resolutions For Liverpool Fans

20. Thou shall not criticise Lucas Leiva

19. Or... Joe Allen...

18. Or Jordan Henderson...

17. Or Raheem Sterling...

16. Or any player / youngster who deserves a bit of backing.

15. Thou shall start to sing Brendan Rodgers name.

14. Thou shall not take a picture of 'Stevie G' with your iPhone when he comes over to take a corner.

13. Stand & applaud him instead.

12. Thou shall not take photographs of the Hillsborough Memorial... particularly in some kind of 'selfie' pose. It's a memorial, not a tourist attraction.

11. Thou shall applaud the opposition keeper as he approaches the Kop for the 2nd half (always.)

10. Thou shall not leave on 40 minutes to go and get a piss flat plastic bottle of Carlsberg and regurgitated pork cock in bun for £9.99.

9. Or leave early to 'beat the traffic' for that matter.

8. If you are an out of towner, like I once once... you sit in a queue for fucking hours and pay your dues.

7. Thou shall not ever visit 'The Boot Room' Sports Cafe.

6. Thou shall not care more about the bet idiotic bet you put on. You lad.

5. Thou shall never, ever, ever buy a split scarf for a Premier League game.

4. Thou shall not start moaning again as soon as we lose a game or get a bad result.

3. Thou shall not fail to recognise who our substitutes are when they are warming up. "Ilori? Who's he?"

2. Thou shall never, ever sing 'Who are ya?' You're not singing anymore?' or 'Easy! Easy!'

1. Thou SHALL buy Red All Over The Land next year & support other independent fanzines, websites & merchandise sellers...

The Anfield Shrine Column - Issue 194 RAOTL - Sterling Support

Originally published in print. Issue 193 of Red All Over The Land Fanzine

Sterling Support

I wanted to write an article in support of Raheem Sterling. To be honest, I’ve found it hard to motivate myself to do so… but I am determined, so here we go…

Image Courtesy of The Guardian

I should imagine like a lot of Liverpool fans at the moment, I currently see Sterling as a little bit of a frustration. He burst on to the scene as an extremely exciting and talented young player, only to be over-hyped and perhaps over-played before retreating to the doldrums of reserve team and U21 football – which in fairness, is where you’d expect most players of his age to be!

We are a strange bunch at times, us Liverpool fans. We pride ourselves on being different… being a supportive crowd, patient, with the ability to support a player in a red shirt whatever their age, nationality or path in football. Yet sometimes, we seem to let ourselves down and throw all of that out of the window. It seems that every now and then, a player comes along that Liverpool fans just don’t ‘take to.’ Deep down, we just don’t seem to LIKE them. Moses is another one of our current crop currently experiencing that very malaise. Although in Victor’s case, I'm inclined to say it’s justified.

Sterling’s rise to prominence and indeed promise was so fast that now we seem to be blaming him for not living up to his own hype. In reality, the position he finds himself in now, is a completely natural one. Having just turned 19 he is getting some valuable first team action, showing some promise and developing.

However, most of the Anfield crowd currently don’t seem to see it like that. We are expecting him to come out and score wonder goals, terrorise defences and beat 2 or 3 players every time he has the ball. It is no wonder that he is looking a bit hesitant.

But I think that there is something that lies deeper in our current frustration with him… I’m just not sure that we like him. Is it perhaps because after showing such initial promise we heard rumours of him falling into the trap of being an overpaid, over-hyped and not highly intelligent young footballer… getting himself into scrapes with the police and the odd scouse hood rat? It’s not the sort of behaviour we like to see from our young players – we’re much more forgiving of a hard-working and seemingly ‘nice’ lad like Henderson. Is it also perhaps that he’s a Londoner? And there’s just something about that which we can’t take to. Is it also perhaps because he runs a little bit like a camp duck… and deep down we just suspect that he doesn’t fancy it in a 50/50? We assume he’s lightweight and easy to shove off the ball. We’re not convinced he tracks back… we’re not sure how much he REALLY cares.

Who knows, maybe we’re right? You can’t escape he does run strangely... and he hasn’t yet got the bullish strength and centre of gravity of Coutinho. But let’s not forget, Coutinho is a good 2 or 3 years older and with much more experience.

Sterling is showing some promising signs again; let’s not crush the poor lad through our slightly lazy prejudices and wild assumptions. They may well all be right… but as Liverpool fans, it’s not in our nature not to give a player a chance and one thing is for certain, if we don’t get off his back a bit… he certainly won’t turn into the player we all hope he can be. 

Red All Over The Land - Issue 194

Issue 194 of Red All Over The Land will be out for the Cardiff game at Anfield next week (the 21st) - featuring a piece from me on the support of a certain Raheem Sterling. 

Pick up a copy for only £2!

To subscribe or contribute to RAOTL contact redallovertheland@gmail.com

The Anfield Shrine Column - Issue 193 of RAOTL

Originally published in print. Issue 193 of Red All Over The Land Fanzine

A last minute deadline day effort again this issue… after missing the last one, I was determined to pen a few words. The Ed’s new policy of shorter runs of more frequent issues is a good one in my book, but it certainly pushes an over worked, lazy bastard like myself.

Anyway… to the job in hand. It feels like a long time since I was at Anfield, having missed Fulham for a little trip to Belfast and the good old international break cropping up again as well. After a massively thrilling derby we’re still sitting pretty in 2^nd place. I don’t think anyone predicted that as Christmas approaches did they?

Obviously I think we all know there is no point getting carried away by any means. But you can’t really fault us so far, and I think Rodgers is doing an absolutely sterling job. However, Christmas is going to be massive for us, and the 2^nd half of the season is looking a lot tougher than the first.

I’m aware that my columns seem to be consistently negative considering generally I'm not one of those relentlessly negative, moaning bastards, but here are a few reasons it might not be the season to be jolly…

The biggest tests are still ahead… having already secured all my home tickets for the rest of the season, and with a quick look at the fixtures it doesn’t take a genius to see that we have a tough time ahead of it. Still to play City, Spurs and Chelsea  home and away, with Old Trafford still to go to and Arsenal to come to Anfield we have a lot of big tests ahead. I’m positive… to a point, but we really need to show we can are deserving of that 2nd point and get some big results.

We still look a bit shaky defensively… and I’m not sure anyone quite knows what our best back 4/5/3 is… including Rodgers! We have lots of options, but the combinations and partnerships aren’t quite working yet.

We’ll have to fight to keep Suarez in January… I think it’s a fight we’ll win, but no doubt the usual bollocks will emerge again and we’ll be forced to knock back a few offers. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have some top clubs sniffing around more of our talent as well – like a Ben Sherman shirted 40 year old round your bird in MOJO (one for the locals.)

The top clubs will spend in January… as much as we are revelling in their struggles, there is no way Utd will allow a repeat of the summer, they will spend big in January I’m sure (hopefully on more average Everton players!) But they won’t be the only ones, expect Chelsea and City to do the same. Who knows with Arsenal!

We never do well at Christmas… this might not be true, and it might just be my perception (I’m shit with stats and I can barely remember last weekend, let alone last year) but it seems to me that we haven’t had a very happy festive period over the last few years.

However, with all of the above in mind… I am going to be positive. We couldn’t have done much more so far, we’re 2^nd in what is a very open league this year and we’ve only really had one or two seriously poor performances. Our squad is looking in better shape than it has for a while, and who knows hopefully we’ll strengthen in January as well.

Bring it on…

Tweet @AnfieldShrine

The Anfield Shrine Column - Issue 191 of RAOTL

Originally published in print. Issue 191 of Red All Over The Land Fanzine

Liverpool V Palace – Not a match report at all…

After what seemed like a lengthy absence from Anfield (my last game being Man Utd this season, sitting out Southampton) I returned, with my old man up, for one of his trips of the season to enjoy Crystal Palace’s visit to Anfield. It is a fixture that held quite a lot of nostalgia for me and my old man as in 1998 Crystal Palace was the first Premier League game my Dad took me to at Anfield. I’m afraid to say mine isn’t a story of scouser to scouser, but deep down Bristol Rovers fan taking his slightly strange but very strong minded Liverpool supporting son to Anfield, all the way from Wiltshire. I won’t enter into the out of towner debate, and I feel no need to justify my support to anyone… I’ve lived in Liverpool ten years now, and my Dad is a full convert. Although even I will admit to a soft spot for Rovers as I mature. But anyway… I digress, it was indeed this fixture, well over ten years ago that I got my first taste of a premier league game at Anfield (having been to a pre-season friendly a few months before.) Like most of us, I will never forget the game… despite having forgotten most of the slightly dull duels against Premier League strugglers since. The great Lombardo was player manager at Palace, and a rather rotund Thomas Brolin also featured for the ‘Eagles.’ We won 2 -1 with a little David Thompson coming off the bench to score the winner. I’ll always remember the long drive home… crawling out of a guest house car park on the Anfield Road, a site that now houses the ‘food zone’ or ‘kids zone’ or some other absolute bastion of modernity and corporate bastardry. 606 on 5 Live droned on as we slowly made our way out of Liverpool, and flicking through a matchday fanzine while someone who’s opinion is of no consequence whatsoever* spouts rubbish to Alan Green  always reminds me of that wondrous evening.

So to the present day… we were unusually situated in the Main Stand… having resided for years in the Anfield Road, before becoming fed up of the hordes of incomprehensibly pissed Irish daytrippers that frequented it (no offence to our brilliant genuine Irish support by the way) and moving into the Kop. God know’s why, but the only availability for us for Palace was the main stand, so the main stand it was. In a strange way I quite enjoyed being in there again… it gives you that old football ground feel that is so hard to find these days. A feeling that leads me fairly nicely onto the whole point of this column….

I’m afraid I’m going to bemoan the atmosphere and yes, modern football in general. The site of a young lad getting carried out in the aftermath of Palace fans letting off smoke bombs was certainly distressing, and it makes it very difficult to advocate the use of ‘pyro’ at football stadiums, but you can certainly advocate noise, passion, originality and atmosphere. All of which, these days, Anfield does not possess. It isn’t so much modern football that is the problem… I’m sure we all secretly have Sky Sports News on more than most channels. Alright players get paid extortionate, ridiculous amounts of money… but there is very little we can do about that. The actually game itself hasn’t changed, a brilliant tackle is a brilliant tackle, a great goal, is a great goal. But your average matchoger… well they have changed dramatically.

I’m aware that it’s easy to moan about the atmosphere at Anfield these days, but I can’t help it… I pretty much despise most of the Anfield attendance now. If I’m honest, it looked a lot more fun in the Palace end! We all know that the match day atmosphere at the biggest grounds in the country have been on the decline for years, whatever we say… Old Trafford, Arsenal… ourselves, it’s all a similar pattern. Inflated prices and grounds full of ‘tourists’ and people who wouldn’t know ‘terrace culture’ if someone wrote it as a motif in the chocolate of their cappuccino.

I don’t expect a booming atmosphere every game… but at least have some self-respect and knowledge of what supporting a football club is all about. Not just any club indeed, Liverpool Football Club. We don’t sing… ‘who are ya’ and ‘going down, going down.’ We don’t take photos of Steven Gerrard taking a corner from 100 yards away on our iPhones. We don’t tell people to ‘sit down’ just because they have the cheek to get mildly excited or irate about something. We do take pride in what we wear to the match… and we don’t feel the need to drape ourselves in horrific and overpriced club merchandise.

I know people say, rather than moan about the atmosphere, try creating some? I hate that argument as much as anything else… my answer to that is: what is the point? For me, safe in the knowledge that I’m surrounded by vacuous identikits of modern life I’d rather sit quietly and enjoy the game than make some pathetic attempt at generating an atmosphere that I know no one else around me will appreciate of understand. For me it is more embarrassing and cringe worthy to see someone persevere through ‘Poor Scouser Tommy’ because they’ve learnt the lyrics off by heart on an internet forum.

Every now and again, very, very rarely, Anfield comes alive like we all know it can. But it is so rare these days. I appreciate the Kop seems to be more densely populated with banners and flags than it has been for a long time… but it strikes me as paying lip service to an atmosphere when after the whistle has gone, any sign of an atmosphere is packed away with the canvas and flag poles.

You’re having a scarf aren’t ya?!

Maybe I’m just in a bad mood… perhaps I’ll be proven wrong as the season progresses, but I doubt it. I was hugely heartened, if I can put it like that, by the piece by Semolina Pilchard in the last issue. They beat me to it by absolutely lambasting the modern obsession with ‘split scarves.’ The mind absolutely boggles. Now I didn’t used to mind split scarves during our European exploits, it struck me as a genuinely good ‘memento’ of some wonderful games and against obscure and fascinating opposition. I cherish my split scarves from games against the likes of Barcelona, CSKA Sofia, Juventus, Young Boys et al. However, why oh why anyone would want a split scarf of Liverpool Football Club Vs Wigan or Reading or Norwich or any other English team is beyond me. What is even worse than that are split scarves against Utd. We are Liverpool… we despise that lot more than anything else, how an earth anyone could cope with having THAT badge and THAT name draped across them at Anfield or anywhere else for that matter is beyond me. I think I may have posted a statement during the Utd game this season on some social media network or another, along the lines of… “any so called Liverpool ‘supporter’ who is currently at Andield sporting a Utd ‘split scarf’ should be strung up by it.” I stand by that.

Anyway… you’ve probably had enough of my vitriol. You wouldn’t think we were 2^nd in the league would you? There’s no pleasing some people. Pass me a plastic bottle of flat Carlsberg and I’ll try and crack a smile.

Oh and if anyone fancies sorting me out with away tickets… Tweet @AnfieldShrine

*Paranoid Android – Ok Computer - Radiohead

The Anfield Shrine Column - Issue 190 of RAOTL

Originally published in print. Issue 190 of Red All Over The Land Fanzine

Firstly I’d like to introduce what is HOPEFULLY going to be a regular column in RAOTL. Some of you may or may not remember ‘The Anfield Shrine’ a little fan site I ran during the emerging years of t’internet and LFC forums, probably well over 10 years ago now, how time flies! I was known as ‘Curly’ back then… but very few would know me by that name now.

Anyway, to cut a long story short I’m looking to reignite The Anfield Shrine as a new LFC blog, offering opinion, news and guest columnists. I’m just getting it stared again, but I’m keen for anyone who is interested in helping to get in touch… any contributors / designers / supporters are most welcome! I’m also very keen to continue to support this wonderful fanzine that I’ve enjoyed over the years, so I intend this column to be a regular and print only affair!

We’ve just opened a Twitter account, so please follow us @anfieldshrine – we’re not really tweeting much yet, but follow us and we will!

So anyway… onto some musings…

In Simple Praise of Brendan Rodgers

It is late on Red All Over The Land’s very own deadline day and I am determined to pen a piece after a final plea for contributions from the big man JJP. I was struggling to think about what to write about. Strange I know considering I’m sat here watching ‘Ingerlund’ safe in the knowledge that Liverpool FC are currently sitting pretty at the top of the Barclays Premier League © (for all you SKY fans) and with I think we would all agree a pretty successful transfer window behind us AND all without the enigma that is Luis Suarez. So I thought, considering my initial reticence and to be honest, just general ambivalence towards Rodgers as a Liverpool manager I thought it was about time I reflected and expressed my change in opinion.

It was not so much Rodgers ability as a manager that I doubted; it was more just something about him as a man that I found a little ‘cringe worthy’ for want of a better word. I don’t think that God awful ‘being Liverpool’ helped him in my eyes, but to be fair to the man that wasn’t his fault. I will fully admit to be a fully-fledged RAFA obsessive, I still am, I love the man and I wanted him back in a flash… but I’m starting to get over that. I think I’ve found closure!

And who can argue with Rodgers progress so far? Several things stand out for me…

The purchase of Sturridge – what an absolutely inspired move!

Coutinho – see above, what an absolute find… he is simply a magician and I just hope we can keep hold of him. I’m more worried about losing him than I am about Suarez now!

How he handled Suarez - the way both Rodgers and Henry handled the Suarez situation over the summer impressed me. We set our stall out that we’re not a selling club and didn’t let Suarez and his big mouth dictate things. We have ambitions worthy of keeping a player like Suarez, and so we should!

This transfer window – I think we have probably had one of the most successful windows out of any club. We haven’t lost anyone that we didn’t want rid of anyway. We have strengthened in defence which was essential, and with what looks like some real quality. Toure has looked another inspired buy and the other new lads all look to have a lot of potential.

We’re top of the league – ok no one is getting carried away, but we can’t fault that can we? And what is more, we’ve done it without Suarez and with a slight change in style. We haven’t been as obsessed about ‘knocking it about’ but have passed it well, kept possession but in a more meaningful fashion. The display against Utd was fantastic, I thought Lucas was outstanding and everyone played their part.

So I apologise Rodgers, I’m sorry for my initial coldness towards you… carry on like this and who knows where you will end up in my affections!

Finally… support RAOTL

Finally, just a little humble rallying cry to you all… to make sure you support this wonderful publication. If you’re reading this, it means you’ve bought a copy. If you’re never bought it before, I hope you’re enjoying it and if you buy it regularly: don’t stop! Buy a 2^nd copy and give it to a mate… and if you fancy putting pen to paper get in touch about contributing!

I love this fanzine and I’m so glad to be involved in it again, it was the first independent voice I came across as a young Liverpool fan and it gave me the chance to express my opinion and develop as a writer… albeit an amateur one! We all know our gripes with modern football, but fanzines like this are the absolute cornerstone of what being a football supporter is all about. Forget your replica kits, hospitality, 3^rd kits, training kits and LFC branded egg cups, just buy yourself a copy of RAOTL, put your Adidas trabs up and enjoy.