Liverpool have been left in an invidious position by the Premier League. The English top flight contacted clubs holding a home fixture this weekend to “strongly suggest” that they play the national anthem and display a picture of the King and Queen Consort on big screens before their matches.
At most stadiums it will be a unifying spectacle, with rival sets of fans experiencing a rare moment when the tribal barriers are lowered. At Anfield, where Brentford are the visiting team, the fury of the Kop will be unleashed. “God Save The King” is anathema for a large section of the Liverpool fanbase.
The club have two options. They can ignore the coronation or go ahead with the tribute to monarchy. Either route brings a tsunami of criticism. The likelihood is that they will acquiesce to the Premier League’s “suggestion” later today. Booing will rain down from the stands tomorrow and the recriminations will begin.
There is a long history of Liverpool supporters disrupting the national anthem. The roots of this protest run deep. They go back to the 1840s, when the Great Famine brought millions of refugees from Ireland to the banks of the Mersey.
Liverpool had been previously nicknamed “Torytown”. It was the second city of the Empire. Things changed almost overnight. It began to be sneeringly referred to as “the capital of Ireland.”
The image of a rogue city developed quickly. The poorest docklands area, where refugees lived in squalor, was represented by an Irish Nationalist MP until 1929.
The term “Scouse” originated as an insult aimed by wealthier English citizens at starving immigrants who were provided with the eponymous cheap stew at food kitchens. The stereotypes of Irishness — a tendency to violence, theft, laziness, drunkenness, sentimentality and irrationality — were projected onto Merseyside’s populace.
Scousers, who began to reclaim the pejorative term less than a century ago, became the original “enemy within.” It was reflected in the media and in popular culture.
Johnny Speight, the author of “Till Death Us Do Part”, the iconic 1960s sitcom, understood the dynamic. Alf Garnett, the bigoted Cockney character, sneered that his Liverpudlian son-in-law was a “traitorous Scouse git.”
Speight’s sympathy was with the Merseysider but his incisive comedy was informed by reality. One of the defining moments in Liverpool’s history was when Bill Shankly’s side won the FA Cup for the first time in 1965. Before the match against Leeds United and in front of the late Queen, Scouse fans belted out “God Save Our Team”. They had done the same at Wembley in 1950 when they lost to Arsenal.
Relations between the city and the establishment grew worse in the 1980s. Margaret Thatcher’s government considered a “managed decline” of the region — effectively starving people out of the area.
To even discuss that at cabinet level is mind boggling. Those of us who have campaigned for 34 years in an attempt to get justice and accountability for the 97 unlawful killings at Hillsborough firmly believe that the cover-up and the false accusations against supporters would not have happened if the team involved had originated in any other city in England.
A negative response to “God Save The King” is inevitable. As is the round of Hillsborough abuse and denial that accompanies every show of disrespect for the anthem.
Not every Liverpool fan will boo. Anfield attracts royalists, Tories and people who are ambivalent about the monarchy. Yet the Premier League know that the majority inside the ground will make their voices heard in protest. Nothing the club can do will stop it.
Except for one thing. Ignoring the coronation. Liverpool cannot do that. They are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. The Premier League has made a right royal mess of this.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/PkcGipv
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