We are Liverpool Team

sheet

Front Cover Design:

RoboKop @_RoboKop

Shankly Gates Photography:

Alan Dow

Writers:

Conor Slater @TheFalseWinger7

Jagdesh Singh @jagdesh

Jenny Lyon @andshesoff

Jim Fishlock @JimFish286

Johnny Milburn @JohnnyMilburn

John Ritchie @JohnRitchie84

Marco Lopes @Footy_MarcoL

Matt Ladson @mattladson

Neil Collins @NeilCollins86

Neil Poole (Editor) @PooleNeil

Phil Casey @Phil_LFCDT

Sam Drury @SamDrury11

Simon Steers @sisteers

Ste Hoare @stehoare @thebibtheorists

The Secret Evertonian

Trevor Downey @downeytrev

Will Speed-Evans @willspeedevans

Order ‘We Are Liverpool’ online at:

www.weareliverpoolfanzine.com

Email: info@weareliverpool.com

Twitter: @WeAre_Liverpool

Finally, thanks to Dave Usher at The

Liverpool Way (TLW) for the tips! You

can pick up a copy of TLW at the ground

or via www.theliverpoolway.com

We Are… Liverpool

The walls of Melwood are adorned with the

famous words of Bill Shankly:

“Above all I would like to be remembered as a

man who was selfless, who strove and worried

so that others could share the glory, and who

built up a family of people who could hold their

heads up high and say…We are Liverpool.’

In the Spring of 2014 we can safely say that the

‘creating a legacy to connect millions of people

across the globe’ box has been ticked. Let’s tick

off the ‘instilling generation after generation of

Liverpool supporters with pride’ box too while

we’re at it. Piece of piss this inspiration stuff.

Shankly then went on to say…

“See that last bit? The We are Liverpool bit. I want

that turned into a song. Not too arsed melody wise,

but something by Earth Wind and Fire or Boney M

would be nice. Defo disco though. It can do the

rounds for a bit in the late 70s but then I want it

locked away in a vacuous space where nothing

ever happens: Everton’s trophy room, David Mo-

yes’ mind when he’s a goal behind, wherever! It

should then be unleashed again as the soundtrack

to a season far in the future, but only when we’re

managed by a man with amazing teeth who pre-

tends to drive a little car when we score.”

“Then I want someone to jump on the bandwagon

and name a new fanzine after it. As an armchair

socialist they can then retrospectively dig up this

quote and attempt to pass off the collective efforts

of a group of eager local and worldwide Liverpool

fans as somehow embodying my principles. In

truth though, and with the demise of fanzines, they

will be 30 years too late; selling a hardcopy fan-

zine will be the equivalent to turning up at a tech-

nology convention where they are giving away

IPads and trying to sell a VHS video recorder.

Nonetheless football’s traditions will be sadly on

the wane in the modern game so sack it, where’s

the harm in piling in and trying to contribute in a

small way? And anyway, it not their fanzine it’s

Liverpool’s fanzine.”

Welcome to issue 1 of We Are Liverpool!

EDITORIAL

(He didn’t say that)

We Are…quietly respecting the 96

The ongoing inquiry means we need to tread very

carefully in regards to anything we print about

Hillsborough. However, we did not want to avoid

marking the significance of the 25th anniversary or

paying tribute to the 96 people who lost their lives.

Thank you to Alan Dow for providing the photo-

graph of the scarves on the Shankly Gates for our

tribute on the inside cover.

In memory of the 96. Never forgotten.

We Are… going to win the league

“Don’t say that dickhead!” Don’t worry, it’s not

the 8th Century. Words aren’t witchcraft, and the

outcome of the league won’t be swayed by fans

daring to say out loud that they have total faith in

this team to win our first league in 24 years. I do.

Ooh wedding flashback!

I write these words after the 90 minute laxative

known as Norwich 2, Liverpool 3, and not after the

4 nil drubbing of Tottenham Hotspurs so I’m under

no illusion that the next 3 games are going to be

nothing if excruciating agony.

As a folically challenged man, with the remaining

wisps already going grey I seriously worry about

exactly how the anxiety is going to physically

manifest itself over the next few weeks; probably

some spontaneous grafting of my palms to my face

and permanent Moyes-esque terror in my eyes; this

seems to be my position of choice when watching

the footy lately.

Name one momentous capture of silverware in the

last twenty years and you can pretty much guaran-

tee we made hard work of it. I don’t believe any-

one seriously does think the run in will be easy, but

if they do, they clearly haven’t being paying atten-

tion.

At some point in the next three games we will

blow it.

At some point in the next three games we then will

resurrect our title challenge and march to glory.

The entire team will roll back a massive rock, stroll

out of a cave all bearded and holy, formulating the

cornerstone of a worldwide religion and a couple

of old girls will stand agasp... Oh no, wrong story.

Note to self: Writing on Easter Sunday may lead to

causing offence.

The tactical experts, the studious observers of the

game and the joyless freaks will be given palpa-

tions by the my next line, but we’ll win it because

it just ‘feels’ like it’s going to happen.

This season is a story waiting to be told. The Mi-

gnolet save on the first day; the ostentatious oblite-

rations of Everton, Arsenal and Spurs; the Suarez

performance and goals against Norwich at Anfield;

three nil at Old Trafford; the Gerrard penalties,

the Gerrard celebration at Fulham; the Man City

huddle; the goals, the billions of goals; Victor Mo-

ses...maybe not Victor Moses. There’s countless

highlights to the season. There are Reds under the

age of 30 who have listened to their dads talk wist-

fully of when we won league after league, and

heard the stories. They are tantalisingly close to

having their own folklore to retell. I believe there’s

a song about this doing the rounds at the moment.

But it’s so true. It’s so important.

There’s no caveat to this. No ifs, no buts. No

‘regardless of what happens…’ Seven

points...seven stinking points! C’mon Red men!

We Are…too slow at providing betting tips

I’d intended to give a top notch betting tip. We

could have all shared in the spoils and binned our

jobs off. A couple of weeks ago, a mate’s brother

recommended we all pile in early on Steven Ger-

rard to win Sports Personality of the Year 2014.

He’d got odds of 20-1. A few weeks later Stevie’s

tears and the British’s macabre love of crying men

has wrecked everything. In less time than it took

the Wimbledon elite to shout at Andy Murray,

“Cry you bastard! Cry and we will forgive your

impudent Scottish-ness” the odds have tumbled to

13-8. Gerrard is now outright favourite. Probably

wouldn’t bother now. Soz.

Neil

SHORTS IN THE 80S...

SNUG & UNFORGIVING MATCH REPORTS IN 80(ISH) WORDS

26th March 2014: Liverpool 2 Sunderland 1

2-1 up with minutes to go. Fans shaking like shit-

ting dogs. Ball flashes across our goal from a free

kick. John o’ Shea gets a weak head to it. Edward

Woodward, Wickerman impressions ensue:

“Christ, Jesus Christ no!” Luckily it’s John O’Shea

and goes wide. Gerrard put us ahead earlier with a

2005 ‘peak of his powers’ free-kick. Hugging man-

love with jilted freekicker, Suarez occurs. Stur-

ridge makes it two. Sunderland corner. Inevitable

goal. Glen Johnson returns to shit form. Snake hips

Coutinho is Man of Match.

30th March2014: Liverpool 4 Tottenham Hot-

spurs 0

Tim Sherwood’s team sheet reads more like a sui-

cide note. Seems like there’s more than one foot-

ball genius in town. Johnson puts in good ball lead-

ing to Kaboul own-goal. Suarez’s goal brings

flashbacks of Owen’s FA Cup winner in 2001.

Flanagan’s Cruyff turn (of sorts) sparks the charge

forward for Coutinho’s goal in front of the Kop.

Henderson free kick makes it four. Never tire of

seeing how made up he is when he scores. The

Kop roar when applauded by players after final

whistle is a bit special.

6th April 2014: West Ham 1 Liverpool 2

6ft 4 Geordie pushes angelic Belgian keeper in the

face forcing him to drop ball. West Ham score.

Rational linesman disallows goal. Irrational referee

overrules logical decision. West Ham draw level.

Either side of the goal that “could cost us the

league”, Gerrard steps up and slots away two pen-

alties. Theories abound that our 2nd pen is ref try-

ing to even up earlier mistake. Does giving one

team a goal equate to giving another team an op-

portunity to score under tremendous pressure? No.

We win anyway. Jog on Allardyce.

13th April 2014 Liverpool 3 Manchester City 2

Hart and Kompany do their best Leaning Tower of

Pisa impressions as Sterling feints, creates space

from nothing and passes the ball into a suddenly

gaping goal. Scapegoat Skrtel gets his 5th goal in

10 games. Two nil. Maybe one day he’ll get some

recognition. City crank it up a gear, we see our

arses, 2 all. Chest pains have come back. Not

helped by Suarez mouthing off all game. He’s

going to get sent off. He doesn’t. Coutinho can’t

finish. Coutinho finishes. Three two. Feel a bit

emotional.

20th April 2014: Norwich 2 Liverpool 3

He may run like he’s in heels but how good is

Raheem Sterling these days! Two goals, one assist,

one Brendan hug, one point to the sky, one twisty

middle fingers celebration thing and one stand out

man of the match. Suarez gets obligatory Norwich

goal. Mignolet’s limp wrist and poor defending of

airborne balls leads to two goals conceded. Suarez

definitely fouled, but I was in hoots of laughter

when he sprang to his feet when he realised the

break was on. Love that Urua-guy!

TH

E R

ED

CO

LO

SS

US

STEVEN GERRARD

Listen! THIS IS YOUR

CAPTAIN SPEAKING

Trevor Downey thinks Steven Gerrard is a

little bit good...

Listen! Listen! This is probably Steven Gerrard’s

finest hour. Think of that. Think of the gravitas of

that. Banish from your mind the spectacular highs

of the Millennium and the Ataturk stadiums and

ponder what is occurring right now, as this most

remarkable of seasons draws to a close. Written off

as unadaptable, past-it and tactically naive, the

Huyton man has produced his most heroic and

complete performances of all across a string of

games which may secure the Premier League title

for Liverpool Football Club.

Anchoring the midfield these last few months,

Gerrard has been imperious and inspirational, ex-

celling as both a supplementary centre-half and a

deep-lying playmaker. His aerial prowess, often

underrated, has been a hugely significant defensive

weapon and the ferocity and timing of his tackling

has been an absolutely essential base platform

from which Brendan Rodgers’ inventive fluid side

can launch yet another attack. Yes, I can see the

validity of the quarterback comparisons but I’m a

grumpy old curmudgeon so don’t expect me to

embrace that kind of metaphor. He’s the hub, he’s

the pivot, he’s the fucking man.

However, beyond all of his technical élan and re-

energised on-field brio, beyond the laser-guided

raking passes and lung-bursting covering runs,

there is something else about Gerrard that has ele-

vated him onto another level; something new;

something wonderful. He has become the kind of

leader that all of us hoped he would one day be. A

beguiling amalgam of crazy-eyed insistence and

calm cajoling, Gerrard has learned how to get in-

side the heads of teammates, opposition and referee

alike. He manages games in a way that is truly

gratifying to those of us who had yearned to see

this side of him emerge. He now leads comprehen-

sively, utterly, upliftingly. He leads. Which of you

would not follow that man into hell? I’ve never

been particularly good at taking orders but if Stevie

said, “Eeeeeeehhhhhmmmmm...jump!” I’d bloody

jump. As high as the grumpy bastard wanted.

Beautifully in sync with the philosophy of his man-

ager, Gerrard has forged a partnership with Rodg-

ers that threatens to carry all before it. In the young

coach, the captain can see an articulate and canny

student of the game, a man with a plan and the easy

authority and ability to adapt should that plan go

awry. In Gerrard, the Carnlough man has found the

ultimate avatar -- a walking legend whose very

presence commands respect and whose abundant

talents and reassuring sang froid can make all the

difference in the pursuit of success. Witness, as

evidence, the string of vital penalties the captain

has scored on this run-in.

The shining exemplar of this alliance has been

Gerrard’s commanding presence on the field of

play, but his newly zen demeanour in front of the

cameras is another real boon. He has, thus far,

played the media like a cheap violin, silencing the

shrill inquisitions of the oleaginous Geoff Shreeves

and straight batting all questions in the way that

some of us older Redmen remember from days of

yore. Polite, but unhelpful. Courteous but not

courting controversy. Assured but not arrogant. In

a nutshell Geoff, it’s none of your business.

However, it has not always been thus. There were

long years in which the leader cut a tortured and

solitary figure. A naturally anxious soul, Gerrard

wore the armband heavily, taking onto himself the

tremendous burden of expectation that comes with

the territory of being Liverpool captain. It took its

toll, especially in those pre-Steve Peters days when

the comparatively golden era of Rafa Benitez was

falling away and the club fell to a low enough ebb

that noted face botherer and hoofball merchant,

Roy Hodgson, sat in the hallowed Anfield dugout.

No wonder Stevie was troubled. Some of us are

only now recovering from the trauma of The

Hodgepocalypse.

Ridiculously small brow furrowed and hands on

hips, the number eight was often the very embodi-

ment of frustration, betraying to his colleagues via

some less-than-subtle body language that they were

a disappointment to him. This was not necessarily

any kind of solipsistic arrogance, for the captain’s

shoulders would usually only slump when he felt

his own form was poor. Gerrard has always been

his own biggest critic and yet, over 15 years, so

many have taken on the role, pontificating with

haughty certainty about what was wrong with Ste-

ven Gerrard. Before you sniff derisively, you’ve

done it too.

From your drunken garrulous mate in the pub to

the detestable Dark Lord of Mancunia, everybody’s

got theories about Steven Gerrard and they simply

love to articulate them. Whether it is purely for

social capital in an informal gathering or to cyni-

cally shift units of a lamentably bitchy and be-

nighted ‘book,’ the world is full of half-baked, one

-eyed and ill-informed assessments of the Liver-

pool captain.

You see, Gerrard almost transcends normal foot-

ball discourse because he is that rarest of creatures

-- a living legend. Such specimens make folk un-

easy. How does one even speak rationally about a

footballer that is clearly on a different plane to

mere star players? Even Jamie Carragher, while

they played together, always talked about his mate

in reverential tones, implying with the deferential

nature of his words that Gerrard was a special case

and never missing a chance to push him ahead of

Kenny Dalglish in the perennial Who’s The Great-

est? debate. One felt that the older man simply felt

privileged to be sharing a dressing room with such

a giant of the game.

I’ll admit that I’ve wondered about that dynamic

over the years, as there seemed to be an imbalance

in the relationship. For many seasons, in the eyes

of this scribbler, the Bootle man was a real leader

on the park -- his yawping clamorous voice con-

stantly exhorting more effort, his temper perpetual-

ly fraying with teammates when they slackened

off. Carra was the archetypal British captain, com-

pensating for any rare shortcomings in his own

performance with his persistent motivation of oth-

ers.

Steven Gerrard, until recently, has been an alto-

gether different kind of leader. Whilst the lazy and

erroneous media narrative would have it that he

carried the club alone for years, the regularity of

his frankly prodigious Roy of the Rovers heroics

made such a theory eminently plausible. Plausible,

but inaccurate. Gerrard was a leader by example

and on his day few players in world football could

provide example like it.

When pundits and fans speak of how Liverpool

were a one-man team they are referring to the ab-

surdly systematic man-of-the-match displays by a

Liverpool great at the peak of his physical powers.

In his mid twenties Gerrard was a shoo-in to most

World XIs. A man of remarkable athletic capacity,

he could pass, tackle and shoot like a dream. Simp-

ly put, he was the definition of the box-to-box

midfielder, putting out fires with sliding tackles

one moment and popping up to volley home outra-

geously the next. There was nobody better. Zinedi-

ne Zidane, a man routinely referred to as the

world’s best in his day, ought to know something

about what makes a true great. His recent words on

our captain speak volumes.

“He has had a great career winning many things -

but it would be a big shame for him if he was never

to win the league with Liverpool” insisted the

Frenchman. “For everything that he has given he

deserves a league title. He could have played for

any team in Europe but he turned them down. That

sort of loyalty should be rewarded with a title.

There was a point when Gerrard was the best mid-

field player in the world. It is unusual to get com-

plete midfield players who can do everything, but

that is what he was."

Interestingly, the current incarnation of Gerrard is

my favourite by some distance. Sitting deep, he

can use his still considerable physicality to boss

challenges and dig out the centre halves or errant

full backs. Tactically, this position works a treat as

it takes advantage of the England captain’s calm

authority in possession. Rodgers love his side to

play from the back and Gerrard’s position allows

him to be the fulcrum of the play from deep, link-

ing, springing the likes of Philippe Coutinho and

Raheem Sterling and hitting those outrageous long

passes to the feet of Luis Suarez and Daniel Stur-

ridge.

More than anything else, what I am loving about

our captain is his ruthless focus and contagious

passion. I’ve rarely been more invigorated by any

sight on a football pitch than that impromptu hud-

dle. Christ, he means it. This thing can be done. He

really believes it. Christ. Look at his face. He

won’t let this slip. This does not fucking slip now.

Stevie is leading us there and I’m following. To-

day?

We go again.

Gerrard ’s words during the post Manchester City huddle: “Listen!, this is gone. We go

to Norwich, exactly the same. We go again. Come on!”s:NOTE: Some reports think he

said ‘We go together’. We are ignoring this as ‘We Go Again’ is better!

LFCLFC: THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE?: THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE? Johnny Milburn explains exactly what he thinks about Liverpool Football Club’s new found pop-

ularity.

As I type this a phone-in has just concluded on BBC Radio Five Live – “Are Liverpool the People’s

choice to win the league?”

Read that last sentence again. Now read it again.

Imagine reading that sentence 6 months ago, 12 months ago, 18 months ago, three years ago?

Somehow Brendan Rodgers, FSG and Dr Stephen Peters have not only forged a team that wins football

matches (lots of football matches) but they are now cultivating a position as media darlings, the na-

tion’s sweethearts. Those overweight journalists on Sky Sports on a Sunday Morning pretending to

have brunch in one of their apartments that overlooks Old Trafford now love Liverpool Football Club.

The same oafs, who xenophobically mocked Benitez for deploying squad rotation, zonal marking and

what other ‘foreign disease’ they could identify in our team. Much was also made of ‘Rafa’s

rant.’ (Incorrectly attributed to that season’s failure to win the league title) The same fellas, wearing

vertical striped shirts to try to mask their manly paunches are now salivating at the thought of Brendan

Rodgers’ team climbing to the summit of the Premier League.

Why the change of heart ?

Style of play – we are playing a very attractive brand of football, attacking from the off, scoring

goals, goals, goals the papers love all that don’t they?

Alliteration – Sturridge, Suarez, Sterling, Skrtel Stevie G – Headline writers love a bit of allitera-

tion – remember we never called them SAS; the papers did – if you call them that you are a

sheep and probably deserve a good hiding.

English Players- southern based press and media love English players – well especially in a

World Cup year – they can get all jingoistic and casually racist and nobody complains. Eng-

lish players in a team reassures them that we are not rubbish at a game that we invented.

Story – newspapermen unsurprisingly love a story. And this team has got stories all over the shop.

Take your pick. The ‘young manager’ story, the ‘David vs the Goliath’ story, the Man United

decline story, the Stevie Gerrard’s last roll of the dice story and quite frankly the crass ‘Doing

it for the 96’ story. They love a story and simply us winning the league is a more interesting

story than City or Chelsea winning it.

The role as the nation’s favourites may have appealed to me as a younger man. But I can say without a

moment’s hesitation. I am not interested one bit in the approval of ‘the people.’ The neutral’s favourite

– why would I be remotely interested to be the favourite team of someone who has no interest in foot-

ball or my team?

People in general (sorry people, I’m about to make a gross simplification and sweeping statement about

you no offence intended) are a bit thick. They motor along like a whale shark hoovering up whatever

plankton is in their path – no selection, no critical reasoning. The papers say I should think this so this

is what I’m going to think today.

This insidious force is one of the prime reasons why the lies of Hillsborough sustained in the public

consciousness for so long. So claiming in any way our desire to win the league this year is stimulated

by the loss of 96 lives at Hillsborough 25 years ago – is to suggest that we were somehow waiting for

this amount of time to elapse before trying to win the league. Just because the media have only just

recently woken up to the truth after the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report –

don’t think for one second that you understand our collective psyche.

By the time you read this we will have a much better idea if Liverpool Football Club are going to win

their 19th League title this year. If we do I will celebrate like a lunatic until I cannot sing another word

or consume another drop. I will also of my own free will raise a glass to the 96.

I’m a proud Liverpudlian and I’d forgotten what being this good at football was like. Being in the chase

with just 3 matches to go and in our hands has been a long time coming. I want to wring every last drop

of fun out of it. It’s harder than you would have imagined to actually enjoy this run in!

As for being the ‘people’s choice or the neutral’s favourite – I couldn’t care less. All I care about is

Liverpool Football Club, I cared when we won everything, I cared frankly when we were a bit shit, I

cared even under Hodgson. Now that the red-tops think we are interesting copy and will sell papers

they are interested again. Who wants the support of a neutral anyway? By their very nature they are

passive. Leave us alone – you are not coming to our party!

REBUILDING AN EMPIRE Si Steers gets political and charts Liverpool FC’s ideals from Shankly to Rodgers. As a staunch socialist Bill Shankly was very much a believer in the ideology of the strength of the collective. Shankly once said ‘Chairman Mao has never seen such a show of Red strength’ – a very deliberate nod to the one of the great Communist leaders of the 20th Century, and a man that Shankly shared a common view with. Both men succeeded in building empires (on differing scales) that had a single philosophy at its core – and that philosophy was about people. Liverpool Football Club has always had socialist roots at its core. That is because it is the sup-porters that have always been the heart and soul of the football club. The supporters are what makes up the club’s identity, the Spirit of Shankly is quite literally the heartbeat of the club, without it, the club is just another soulless entity. Times have changed since Shankly’s day; the political and social landscape have shifted. Shankly would likely turn in his grave at the modern day Labour Party; it is difficult to differenti-ate between the right and left of politics in today’s world. The same is true in society, and the same is true in football. Even Liverpool has changed; it is still a city with strong socialist roots, but it is now a thriving city that has reinvented itself to become a magnet for opportunity. Both the city and the foot-ball club have changed – but the one fundamental thing that has stayed the same is the im-portance of people and community. If a manager is to succeed at Liverpool, then they have to tap in to the culture of the city. The reason that Benitez remains incredibly popular at Liverpool is that when it really mattered, he stood on the side of the people. He sacrificed his own personal gain to take a stand against capitalist vultures that took the club to the brink of administration. When Roy Hodgson was appointed he spent his brief tenure stumbling his way through one disaster to another. Despite the team tumbling down the league it was perhaps his inherent lack of understanding of what the club was about, and what makes its supporters tick that was the most soul destroying thing to take. Kenny Dalglish came in to begin the rebuilding process; the role Dalglish played in helping the club rise from the ashes should never be forgotten. That is twice during his lifetime that he has been there when the club has really needed him – he carried us through the darkest moment in our history during Hillsborough – and he took on a club that was literally on its knees in the post-apocalypse era of Hicks & Gillette. Dalglish understands exactly what makes the club tick, and will forever be revered as one of the architects of what makes the club so special. A new direction Bill Shankly was a transformational manager; he came to the club with a socialist ideology and a vision to build the club into a ‘bastion of invincibility’. He built an empire on those principles.

What Shankly achieved will never be replicated; but that same fundamental principle of building a club on the collective strength of its people is something that is very much part of Brendan Rodgers’ vision. Rodgers has taken the time to understand the history and heritage of the club, what makes it unique, and what makes the supporters tick. He understands that the clubs roots are very much aligned to the culture of the city. He understands that the club’s global support feels a deep connection to the club because they feel part of something – something bigger than a football club.

The ‘Liverpool family’ is a cringe worthy phrase to describe the collectiveness of the Liverpool community. The term may raise the heckles of some locals, but it is really a compliment to Scouse culture. It is a compliment because it is Scouse culture that gives the club its identity – and it’s the club’s identity people across the world want to be part of. There are different communities within the Liverpool fan base, and that can sometimes create divisions or friction. ‘What unites us is greater than what divides us’ – and that is very much at the core of the Liverpool that Brendan Rodgers is looking to build. Rodgers wants the new Liverpool to bring together communities, to bring together people to build a new empire. He has spoken about collective contributions; from the tea lady at Melwood to Luis Suarez, everyone at the club has a role to play in succeeding. Rodgers also knows the power of the supporters. When we are at our best, we are the best in the world. And we are at our best when we are in one voice. Rodgers is looking for formula that Bill Shankly built his Liverpool empire upon, he is looking to build those same foundations. He knows that the collective Red strength will help him to build a new empire – and that it will be the catalyst for Liverpool FC to rise again.