The Spion Kop at Anfield used to chant "you got your education from The Kop". A sign of our elitist supremacy over the fans of other clubs. Sadly this is no longer the case. From a position of such unique grandeur, and the pinnacle of terrace culture The Kop is now a meagre image of it's former self. Saddened by the demise and seeming plight of our support a fans group was formed in October 2006. Under the umbrella of Reclaim The Kop (RTK) a group of ardent Liverpool fans aim to promote the tradition values of The Kop, reignite the atmosphere and ensure the "new" Anfield is not a soulless bowl. RTK
http://www.reclaimthekop.co.uk/cgi-bin/main.pl
The Campaign
The RTK campaign was officially launched on the 1st January 2007. The group came together in October 2006 - formed in the aftermath of the Bordeaux home game. A match where sections of the Anfield crowd taunted 3,000 partisan Frenchmen with chants of "who are ya?", "eas-eh" and "you're not singing anymore". Seasoned heads were shook. It was embarrassing. These fans had welcomed travelling Reds for our away game, and here, at Anfield, we were ridiculing them. This is NOT the Liverpool Way.
Of course this was by no means the first demonstration of the levels our crowd had sunk to. Regular match goers will tell you the support of our club has gradually, and sadly eroded over the past few years. It's easy to sit in the ground and shake your head, asking where and how it all went wrong. No-one can deny that the demographics of your typical supporter has changed significantly since the dawn of the Premiership. From what was once the domain of the working class Scouse male, the Spion Kop's 'clientele' has transformed dramatically. The Kop now houses a vast range of people. Ages, sex, locality no longer seem relevant to the modern football crowd. For better, for worse as a group we're not here to attempt to alter who's going to watch Liverpool Football Club, our aim is to try and halt the decline of Kopite behaviour and traditions - a culture that has been built up over the past 100 years, and rekindle the match day atmosphere.
In years gone by Kopite status was earned. Youngsters would embark on a journey, progressing from the Boys Pen to the Kop proper obtaining their education on the way. This system ensured only the highest standards of terrace culture were emitted from The Kop. Nowadays the playing field has changed. Supporters no longer get their education from The Kop and it's only too evident. The atmosphere can be non-existent for many games. And often when a song does mange to bellow out it's a tedious generic chant, often of the "eas-eh, eas-eh" or "who are ya" nature, a million miles away from the original, and often totally unique cries that would once roar from the world's most famous terrace. We were once different, one of a kind in English football. And the rest of the country knew it. Now it can be argued there is little difference between us and any other league club.
It's ever so sad. No one is doubting the enthusiasm of many fans it's just that many of us feel the energy of some supporters could be better spent on reigniting some Kop values of years gone by and not spent on something they saw on Soccer AM.
Our first approach was to see if we could get some of the songs out there, along with a sense of what makes Liverpool fans different - what makes us special. Far and away the biggest of source of info for the bulk of Liverpool's support is the Official LFC Website. From the very start of the RTK we've worked with liverpoolfc.tv. As of 1st January the official liverpoolfc.tv website will be running a 10 week series, immersing fans from near and far in the culture of Liverpool fandom.
It's not just new fans that the RTK is targeting. It's probably about time that regular Kopites of all ages got more involved. If everything goes to plan we will be leaving Anfield in 2009 - whether you agree with the ground move or not (and many don't). That gives us two years left at Anfield. The eyes of the football world will soon be on us. Let's go out with a bang. We've met with chief executive Rick Parry and it seems he shares most of our ideals and concerns with the way the atmosphere has gone at home games. We are already engaging with him and the club in how we can improve things at Anfield and after the inevitable move to the new ground.
The RTK will be working in three areas. We are committed to delivering Kop education to the masses, exploring ways to improve the atmosphere in Anfield as it stands now as well as focusing on what will happen when we move.