This Day in History: 2023-02-17

Nr. 407

THE KOP’S FAMOUS ANTHEM (1965)

Between 1892 and 1965 the Reds had won six First Division titles, but the world’s greatest knockout competition, the FA Cup remained elusive. After Liverpool edged out much-fancied Chelsea in the 1965 semi-final, fans were starting to believe, but due to a miserly allocation of just 15,000 final tickets for each club, many of the Kop faithful despaired of getting to Wembley. Although requests were pouring into Anfield from all over the world, legendary manager Bill Shankly declared, «Any tickets I’ve got are going to the boys on the Kop» – an expression of solidarity with fans who, for their part, had just adopted the Gerry and the Pacemakers hit ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ as their terrace anthem. Liverpool beat Leeds United 2-1 to win the FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history which was music to the Reds supporter’s ears.

In the end Liverpool beat Leeds 2-1 after extra-time and the players celebrated lifting the FA Cup for the first time in the club’s 73 year history.