Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp supports the club’s intention to play the national anthem ‘God save the queen’ at the stadium in Anfield ahead of the game against Brentford. The occasion is the coronation of Charles III on the same day. The club’s point of view is also his point of view, Klopp said on Friday. “Besides, it’s… a subject I can’t really have an opinion on. I’m from Germany. We don’t have a king,” explained Klopp.
What the German Klopp doesn’t find difficult goes against the grain of many Liverpool fans. When players and officials line up in the center circle for the anthem just before 6:30 p.m., loud boos and whistles will most likely echo through the stadium. Looking ahead, the club wrote in their official statement: “It’s obviously a personal choice how those who are at Anfield on Saturday celebrate the occasion and we know some fans have strong opinions on it,” it said. Liverpool FC are in a bit of a quandary as playing the anthem follows the request of the league, which had pushed for it.
It’s just that the anthem is being rejected in the city as it is among a great many Liverpool fans. For a long time, she has traditionally booed at cup finals at Wembley Stadium. The followers are thus making their aversion to the conservative British elite clear. Liverpool fans even sang a taunting song against the coronation at the Fulham game last Wednesday.
The dislike of the fans has historical reasons. Since the end of the Second World War, people in the former industrial and port city have had the feeling that the government in London has often not resisted the city’s decline enough. The reign of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s in particular contributed to the deterioration of the relationship. As poverty and unemployment exploded in the city, the Thatcher government did little to nothing to prop up Liverpool. On the contrary, it cut additional public services. Files were released 30 years later that confirmed the suspicions of many Liverpoolers. Cabinet ministers had even urged Thatcher to all but abandon Liverpool.
The aversion is reinforced by a distinct, own identity. At home games, fans regularly wave a flag that reads “Scouse not english”. Scouse is the dialect spoken in Liverpool and contains many words not found in English. Liverpool once welcomed many Irish emigrants and as a port city has an international character. The city has some of the oldest African and Chinese communities in the kingdom. This promoted a certain anti-English or independent attitude.
The relationship in football was similarly disturbed. One of the reasons is the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield in April 1989. In April 1989, 97 people died in a stampede in a match between Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest. For a long time, the official statement from the authorities was that the behavior of the fans had caused the accident. Only a few years ago, this attitude was revised. A commission of inquiry came to the conclusion that the Hillsborough disaster was mainly caused by mistakes by the police. The then Prime Minister David Cameron, the responsible police and the English Football Association officially apologized.
Dislike of England even rubbed off on players. There have been “Liverpudlians” in the past who have refused to play for the national team. As recently as June 2022, Liverpool international Alexander Trent-Arnold remained silent in an international match against Hungary while his team-mates sang the national anthem. He was heavily criticized for this on social media.
Nevertheless, a lot has changed since the unfortunate eighties. Liverpool has transformed into an important sporting and cultural center in recent decades, only the dislike of the conservative party, the Tories, and the English elite have remained. And the English anthem and the royal family are seen by many as representative of this “English”. Klopp will hear it early Saturday night.
Sources: DPA, “Goal”, “Nationalworld”
