They say that the atmosphere is a thing of the past these days at Anfield. That the famous twelfth man is no more. That fans in the terraces can no longer be bothered to sing or cheer the team on when their backs are against the wall. That Anfield is a silent stadium and at times the only noise you hear is coming from the away end especially on European nights or when one of the so called minnows of English football are in Liverpool with the hopes of causing some sort of upset against the famous men of Liverpool who play with the liver bird on their chests. And who is to blame for this lack of atmosphere at Anfield, well that depends on who you ask.
Some will say it’s the fault of the players for not doing enough on the pitch to get the fans singing. Some will try and blame the manager, after all its his job to riot up the players who in turn riot up the fans, but almost all will say it’s the fault of the day trippers. You know, those fans who fly in for a match just before kick off and fly out again as close to full time as possible. Some fans who hail from Liverpool will try and tell you that these day trippers don’t get the essence of what supporting Liverpool is all about. That they’re taking tickets away from the real Liverpool fans, the ones who hail from Liverpool itself and the surrounding areas. This to me is a pile of complete horse shite.
At times its the so called day trippers who are the ones who can be heard onside and outside of Anfield singing the loudest, it’s the so called day trippers who are willing the team on when things aren’t going well on the pitch. It’s the so called day trippers who will happily put their hands in their pockets on match days and spend spend spend on everything from the Liverpool badges to the dreaded half and half scarves. It’s the so called day trippers who will defend the honour of the team almost as loudly as the fans who hail from Kirkby, Toxteth and other areas around Liverpool.
Yes the day trippers are buying up match day tickets by the dozen which in turn takes away the opportunity for the real Liverpool fans to attend games, you know those fans who live in Liverpool. Before I get grief or am told I’m Scouser bashing I’m not, one of the joys of supporting Liverpool for me is the City Of Liverpool itself. It’s like a home away from home for me. But what guiles me up is fans trying to tell me that I’m not a true Liverpool fan because I don’t hail from Liverpool itself, that as an outsider I don’t get what Liverpool is about and what it’s history means to those who are from Liverpool, that me being a day tripper I don’t deserve a ticket to attend home games or on the off chance a much sought after ticket to an away game. Look it doesn’t happen that often but it does happen from time to time. For me that’s as I said horse shite. I get what Liverpool is all about, I get what the club is all about, I get what the history of the club means to the people of Liverpool, well the red half anyways and I get how much of an honour it is to attend Anfield and cheer on the red men.
But and this is a big but, what some of these fans don’t realise is that without us day trippers attending games Liverpool would not be half the club it is today. Without the day trippers flying in on a weekly basis to attend games some of the businesses around Liverpool would survive. Without the day trippers Liverpool wouldn’t have half the global following it has today. Without the day trippers attending games Liverpool would be further behind the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal in terms of revenue into the club. Some of those day trippers who travel from Asia and India, go home, tell their friends what they experienced which in turn starts a chain reaction of new fans, new match goers and most importantly of all new revenue streaming into the club.
So the next time these fans decide to have a pop at us day trippers remember this Liverpool’s most successful managers weren’t from Liverpool and without the revenue from us day trippers Liverpool would be in the same position as say Crystal Palace or Stoke City, fighting it out for mid table mediocrity.
