72 INSIGHT SUNDAY MARCH 8 2015 ADVERTISER.COM.AU

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LIVERPOOL FootballClub will long remem-ber 2014, if perhapswith little fondness. It

was in pole position for much ofthe last English Premier Leagueseason, but a late stumble cededthe title to Manchester City andLiverpool failed to add to its 18league championships to date.

Yet even a challenge for thetitle over the past quarter of acentury has been a rarity.

Liverpool remains a greatclub, but by virtue of anotherquarter century, from themid-1960s until 1990, a periodof remorseless winning andmyths and characters that en-sures the red legend blossomseven today.

The rosy picture familiar toits international audience,though, does not always syncwith the domestic image.

State minister Tom Kout-santonis welcomed Liverpoolto Adelaide by calling them the“greatest team in the world”,later the “greatest club”.

That he was behind thetimes on the first count is be-yond question, and only theone-eyed or misinformedwould concur with the re-phrasing.

He was speaking, he said, asa lifelong Liverpool supporter.And therein lies the rub andthe Liverpool story.

We will assume Tom canpoint to Liverpool, the city, ona map but it is possible the bulkof its Australian supporters –600,000 we’re told – cannot.

For the unsure, Liverpoolsits alone, bordering Wales tothe west, facing straight out toDublin with a free run to Scot-land looking north.

The immediate recruitinggrounds are small indeed. LikeManchester United, it drawsits support from a worldwidebase forged through tragedyand the sense of longing andbelonging that hones.

Liverpool the city has alwaysleaned heavily on emotion, thetradition of familysing-a-longs – a baseingredient in its musi-cal heritage – while theunparalleled wealth itamassed from theslave and cottontrades came with atearing of the soul.

It has a resilience, aclosing of the gatescynics interpret as alove of taking offence.“Self-pity city” haslong been an outsidemoniker and paro-dies of Scousers –Liverpudlians – withmissing hub capsand crass clothessense are immense.

That so many Australiansshould boast such a sport al-legiance is likely utter rot but,regardless, the Liverpool foot-ball story is a belter.

For many locals, Liverpoolis not the biggest club in Liver-pool. The Reds began life bybreaking away from footballleague founder member Ever-ton and setting up home 400maway at Anfield in 1892.

Everton had the more fa-mous players, Dixie Dean andTommy Lawton in the 1920sand ’30s, and, until 1971, biggercrowds and more trophies too.

The genesis of Liverpool FCreally dates to 11 days beforeChristmas 1959 when a hith-

erto failed manager arrived asthe new boss.

Bill Shankly came sportinga severe crew cut that neverleft, a dour postwar wardrobeand a vision beyond anythingEnglish football had known.

Anfield was a dump in anarea of Liverpool of similar eq-uity. It is still abutted by rowsof failing, tiny and damp-stained Victorian terracing, buthistorically fits as the club atthe heart of its community.

Shankly pulled up theweeds that ran through thethreadbare stands, rooted outthe players of poor and me-dium character and set aboutbuilding a dynasty.

Liverpool, a second divisionside, was soon promoted and inspring 1964 succeeded Evertonas England’s champions. A firstFA Cup came 12 months onand a year later the leaguechampionship again.

A trophy slide for sevenyears followed, Everton takingthe league and FA Cup in thistime, but the red noise grewand grew.

The obsessive Shankly be-lied an outstanding communi-cator, his best player KevinKeegan and long-term captainEmlyn Hughes unremittingShankly acolytes.

The fans were convertedtoo. Shankly’s saying that“football isn’t a matter of life

and death, it’s muchmore important thanthat” resonated, sig-nificantly, far beyondLiverpool.

Another dictum,“there are two teamsin Liverpool, Liver-pool and Liverpool re-serves”, cemented thecity divide he intended.

Shankly left in 1974,a decision he regrettedand arguably hastenedan early death, at 68,seven years later.

Remarkably, hissuccessor, his 55-year-old No.2, proved infi-

nitely more capable andsuccessful.

Bob Paisley embarked on aserial winning romp unknownbefore or since – six leaguechampionships and four majorEuropean trophies in just eightyears the headline only.

Paisley, a humble man, un-schooled and from an insularnortheast mining village, quitesimply saw the bigger picture.

Shankly had succeeded inbuilding Liverpool as a greatinstitution but it was UK-centric. His time was the fa-bling of “The Kop”, an openstanding hill at Anfield, scarvesraised above heads with theanthemic “you’ll never walkalone” taken as the club’s ownforever. Which it’s not.

Scouse haters – and thereare many – will point out thatalthough Liverpool’s Gerryand the Pacemakers popular-ised the song, it in fact sprangfrom the Rodgers and Ham-merstein musical Carousel andis a maudlin ode indeed, death,sorrow and ghosts the essence.

Today the singing appearsorchestrated and forced, “forthe tourists” the haters will say.Celtic FC, in Scotland, alsoclaims the ditty as its own.

Paisley, meanwhile, focusedon the prosaic, conquering Eu-rope as a team and the world asa brand, his timing ideal, tele-

The picture of Liverpool FC outside the UK doesn’t chime at all with its image in the UK. Ahead of the EPL giant’s visit to Adelaide in July, RICHARD EVANS looks at Liverpool the team and city, its history and why the club has a presence that outweighs its achievements.

MAKING OF THE RED LEGEND

VISIONARY: A statue of Liverpool icon Bill Shankly has pride of place at Anfield.VICTORY: Proud winners of the UEFA Champions League Final in 2005.

Pictures: GETTY