We have covered a lot of ground on this site in just a short amount of time. From game recaps to tributes to broadcasters, I have enjoyed all of this work immensely. This piece is one that I was unsure about doing but ultimately decided was worth sharing with this audience. I promise there is a connection to our fair city, one that we will get to at the end after a journey across the pond. I bring a wide range of emotions to this particular entry, from sadness to thankfulness, and I hope that my writing this accomplishes the monumental task of celebrating the man in the featured image as he leaves the team I love.
Since 2012, I have come to love the game of soccer, or football to the rest of the world. My interest was first captured by the goal you just watched above, scored by Sergio Aguero on the season’s final day to win Manchester City the Premier League Title. Now with that in mind you would think I would go on to support Man City, however I decided to go against what you might call the conventional wisdom and began supporting Liverpool Football Club in 2014. The home of The Beatles most well-known club, coincidentally owned by Fenway Sports Group who own the hated rival of my Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, drew me in with their fan’s intense passion. Their sing song chants at home games and sense of culture was exciting but the club’s anthem, which is sung by the crowd before every home game had me hooked.
You’ll Never Walk Alone was originally popularized after appearing in Rogers and Hammerstein’s 1945 musical, Carousel, but found new life when it was covered by Liverpool band, Gerry and the Pacemakers in 1963. The chart-topping UK hit started to be sung at Anfield, Liverpool’s grand old stadium, and it caught the attention of the clubs now legendary manager Bill Shankly. Shankly later told Gerry Marsden, lead singer of the band, “Gerry my son, I have given you a football team and you have given us a song.” This may sound a bit silly, but I couldn’t help but sing along every morning when I would get up to watch a match on NBC Sports. So, I had the song and the atmosphere to look forward to every weekend, but there was just one problem, the team wasn’t very good. After nearly winning the league title in 2014, the mighty “reds” weren’t so mighty anymore as they had fallen to the middle of the pack in the league and out of other major European competitions. The struggles led to the eventual firing of manager Brendan Rodgers and an expansive coaching search began that was hopefully going to get the club back to the big time. The search yielded the exact “savior” they needed.
Enter Jurgen Klopp, the newest manager tasked with turning around the once great club. When he arrived in 2015, it felt like there was no real hope of a quick fix, no matter how skilled the new boss was. Klopp was a decent player in the German lower leagues but became a top-class manager at Mainz FC and then Borussia Dortmund FC, where his list of achievements was wildly impressive. While he could clearly manage within a game and identify talented to players to sign in the marketplace, it was going to take a man who could build a new culture for the team and fans to thrive in together. Klopp was fortunately just the man for the job in that regard as well, and he hit the ground running on day one.
“From doubters to believers.” For my money no better phrase defines what sports should be all about and frankly life as well. They eventually became words I chose to live by in both my approach to being a sports fan and living each day. It takes a leap of faith to place your belief in things you have no control over in this world. I can’t go out there and shoot the puck, hit the ball, or make my job deliver the promotion I want. The only option we have, in both mine and Klopp’s estimation, is to put our best effort into what we do and attack everything with passion and hopefully you get rewarded for your belief and faith. I feel we are naturally inclined as people to be cynical and doubt that good can happen for us and that is perhaps most prevalent in sports, where only one team can be crowned the champion at the end of the season. Klopp sought to fight that basic inclination, to get the fans to enjoy the ride, on the way to the top (hopefully). Of course, the wonderful message could only succeed if the results on the field matched the story off it.
Klopp’s first few weeks in charge saw the team start to improve and work on building a connection to the fans. Their new custom of walking over hand in hand to the “Kop End” (main stand at Anfield) and thanking the crowd for coming out and being rowdy was charming, no matter the result. But as the calendar turned to 2016 the first of what became known as “football miracles” occurred when the Reds rallied from down three goals to eliminate Klopp’s former club, Borussia Dortmund, from European competition. The wild scenes at Anfield, complete with Klopp’s wild celebrations became a regular feature of the team’s home matches.
As the team got better and better, the miracle moments became more and more frequent. Anfield turned into a fortress and Liverpool was clearly moving back into Europe’s elite while leading the Premier League table (or standings) for most of the 2018-19 season. The magical campaign came in the wake of heartbreaking losses in the finals of European competitions in 15-16 and 17-18 so the hope of winning the clubs first Premier League was at an all-time high. The fan base was crying out for something to celebrate, to have their faith and love rewarded. Of course, there was the element of this that could not be controlled, which was Manchester City doing just enough in dramatic fashion to steal the league title from the Reds in the final week of the season. It seemed they would get nothing to show for their brilliant season…until another fateful night at Anfield brought another miracle.
I have no shame in saying the comeback above moved me to tears while watching at my previous job. For context this epic victory came without several of Liverpool’s best players being healthy enough to contribute or even play and it was against Barcelona and all-time great Lionel Messi. The players and their manager said afterward and have continued to do so in the years since that the crowd that night and the atmosphere they created helped carry them to the win. The events of the last several seasons came full circle as the team once again celebrated the victory with the fans, arms locked, singing You’ll Never Walk Alone as one with the fans.
Liverpool went on from there to win the Champions League and then the Premier League Title the following season, after putting up a near record-breaking point total. Faith had been repaid and it felt like the good times would never come to an end. Of course, as in life, the other shoe tends to drop-in sports and the party stops which is exactly what seemed to be happening in the 2020-2021 campaign. The Reds had to play the whole season without their world-famous support inside Anfield due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which seemingly held the team back from getting better results as the season went on. While the lack of atmosphere and injuries hampered them, the Reds still battled their way into position to qualify for the next seasons Champions League, they just needed to win all their remaining games. Tied at 1-1 in the final seconds away to abysmal West Bromwich Albion, it was time for another miracle.
Against all odds, on the final kick of the game, Liverpool snatched victory from the jaws of a tie thanks to the headed goal from keeper Allison Becker who came into the corner kick sequence as the extra attacker. Becker’s father had passed in the weeks prior to the goal and Klopp had taken on the responsibility helping him through the difficult time while guiding the team to the finish line. The goal was clearly a release for the keeper, his teammates, the manager and fans all over the world. That is where I, and New York City, come in.
The Allison goal set off wild celebrations for Liverpool supporters around the world as it seemed like we all felt joy for the first time since the pandemic started. That feeling of joy extended to my local supporter’s chapter here in New York City at Carragher’s Pub, owned by former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher. I’ve spent several weekends at Carragher’s during the Klopp years, weekends I am eternally grateful for having experienced. I never thought in my life I would be a hooligan cheering on a team 3,351 miles away from me, but life can be funny that way sometimes. The experiences I had with my friends (shout out Anthony and Mike) and the acquittances we met along the way while supporting this team are what in my opinion sports are all about. Sharing in the fun with your friends and fellow fans is what makes the games worth watching and the tough moments worth suffering through.
So, with a successful 2023-24 season in the books, Liverpool Football Club and its fans must now say goodbye to the best manager it has had in modern times. A man who came in and accomplished exactly what he said he would. In his time the Reds won eight trophies, including the Champions League and the Premier League. He developed countless young players and brought in several high caliber stars from across the globe to help the Reds succeed on the field. Above all he turned doubters to believers and taught us all thing or two about life along the way. So, hold your head up high Jurgen and walk on, walk on with hope in your heart, because you’ll never walk alone. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for moving me to tears, making me jump for joy and memorize bizarre song lyrics about “Poor Scouser Tommy,” it was all magical!
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