RTK - Reclaim the Kop

 

Reclaim the Kop

From RAOTL

This is a call to arms... but not those in long-sleeved sweatshirts worn under the club shirt. Not those that spend the match phoning each other and saying "stand up", "wave to us", "we're in the big end opposite the Bordeaux fans..."; not those who support the team for five minutes then start slating them if we're not 3-0 up.

Seriously. Our support needs sorting out before the quilts have watered us down to nothing. Let's wind back a bit. We support the greatest, most romantic football club in the world. I say romantic because our tales are so many and so F***ing heroic that it's like a book of legends and it makes you cry with pride that you've been a part of it. Now, sometimes, you just want to cry...

We used to have a pin-stripe scarf with a United Nations style emblem woven around the Liverbird: "Lverpool F.C: Supporters All Over The World". That's a thing of pride. Forget all the Local Support v Out Of Town debate. A supporter is a supporter no matter where they come from, just so long as they've had their education.

This is where we're falling down. Not so long ago we'd sing "You got your education from The Kop". Being a Liverpool supporter stood for something. Supporting this club brought responsibilities. You were different. You dressed different. You didn't follow the moronic chants that every other club came up with. You were part of something - something known and revered all over the world, and it was F***ing brilliant. Above all else, you supported Liverpool and you got behind the team.

What are we now? A gang of tw*ts, mainly. No different from Chelsea or Arsenal or Man.United. Most of the community on this site are right-thinking Reds who cherish the tradition and the values, so no-one needs me to list the litany of disgrace. All I'll say is, you wouldn't take a mobile into church and start taking photies of the priest.

Things have got to change, brethren, and soon. Good fans no longer feel a part of the increasingly shallow Anfield experience and it won't be long before more and more start spewing it. We need a reasonable, sensible, enforcable charter that properly educates as to what is required of them if they're to have the honour of representing this club of ours. In the spirit of KFS, let's get back to basics and reclaim the terraces.

True comment, from a true fan.
We need to clean our acts up...
You said everything that needed to be said Jab.
YNWA

Not my post Court - taken from a post on RAOTL.

But I fully echo the comments.  We need the Kop to be what it used to be all about.

I want it to be the best football stand in the country once again.

Reclaim the Kop indeed.

Some people just turn up now, expecting to soak up an atmosphere.  Anybody who goes to the Kop - YOU are responsible for being part of the atmosphere.

If you don't want to sing then don't get a ticket for the Kop - in fact don't even get a ticket for the game.  Watch it on the tele.

When you go to a game you are shoulder to shoulder with all the other reds, and get behind our team and scare the sh*t out of the opposition.  

This isn't a scouse - out of town thing - this is about sorting out the real fans who want to make Anfield great, and those who expect to go to Anfield to take nice video's with their mobiles while not participating.  We want more of the former, less of the latter.

Ole!!  Sign me up.

Too true.

The Kop needs revitalising.  I'm in.

Everyone on the Kop get involved and sing for your side.  

Learn the words to all the classic songs if you don't know them.

Let's start scaring the sh*t out the opposition like we used to.

It has been a grim atmosphere recently. We used to scare the opposition with the sound of our chants. I'm definatly in.

We sit in the Lower Centenary and usually there's a few around that will join in, its usually me that starts singing and a few join in around me.  I have me mum and me sister with me and they all sing as well.  Surprisingly its the women that start singing and all the blokes around start to join in  !!

We used to go in the Kop regularly but me mums getting on a bit now and can't stand up for great lengths of time !!  So its into the seated areas now i'm afraid, anyway no matter were i sit i'll be singing, to be truthful,if your encouraging your team its hard not to sing, i love it    

So its into the seated areas now i'm afraid,

Isn't the whole ground tho.

Anyway Smigs, that's not the point - it's not even to do with sitting down.  It's about participating in the great Anfield tradition rather than letting it all go on around you.

If there was 44,000 like you and me then there would be no problem.

Considering we haven't lost at Anfield for so long, the lads have done pretty well for such a poor showing from ourselves.

So its into the seated areas now i'm afraid,

Isn't the whole ground tho.

Anyway Smigs, that's not the point - it's not even to do with sitting down.  It's about participating in the great Anfield tradition rather than letting it all go on around you.

If there was 44,000 like you and me then there would be no problem.

Considering we haven't lost at Anfield for so long, the lads have done pretty well for such a poor showing from ourselves.

Sorry KK, when i said 'seated areas' - i meant were people actually sit down, not were there's seating available if you want to use it !!      

Anybody know how the campaign is doing??

Have any flasks been shoved up anyone's ar*es yet?  Knee-capping's for serious offences? 

Most importantly of all....

Santa hats at Anfield.  RTK-complaint or not?

RTK indeed I'm deffo in

Jabba not sure if santa hats falls into jester hat territory

Being honest the atmosphere at the game has been waning for a while, sometimes it is to do with out-of-town support

ie there are some who come to anfield not only expecting the atmosphere to be good but won't join in themselves, there are those that will join in but sing the wrong songs or chants (who are yer!! easy easy chants) then when corrected take great offence

I remember first couple of games aged 5, 6, 7 all i did was sit and listen to the chants and as got older learnt the words to some of the songs so i could join in.

With Sky and soccer am everyone coming to anfield now think something they have seen on soccer am is worth trying out at anfield

Unfortunately some are cringeworthy at best and are more appropriate at chavski or other london clubs were some that sh*t is expected because there support is a joke

We do need new songs and chants - but they need to be clever, witty and above all original - this was always expected from the kop - it is needed again!!

Just got back from the match today, and I've got to say the R.T.K. campaign is just not working. Today, the Kop was as quiet as I have ever 'not' heard. Yes the opposition wasn't the greatest, but even so, there was no atmosphere. Now I'm not having a go at anybody, just putting my view accross.
At the beginning of every match we have the banner paraded in front of the Kop 'R.T.K.' but I bet that at least half of those sat there haven't a clue what it means. What Anfield needs is atmosphere, and today I heard the Watford fans chant things like 'we forgot you were here', 'is this a library' and 'worst support we've ever seen'. Now I'm sorry, but they do have a point.
All I say is, that if you do go in the Kop, spread the word, sing out loud and be proud of who you are watching.

I know how you feel mate.
We've sorta lost that electricity in our chants.
The Kop was probably the loudest signing stand in the country... but now?
We are as quiet as a mouse.
What is making us loose our voice?

Sorry fellas just posted a message about this in the Watford game thread.  I have merged this with the other Reclaim The Kop thread.

I agree.  Yesterday was woeful.  But then some of our songs these days are proper sh*te - for instance that '5 times - We won it Istanbul...' it's just so slow no wonder no one joins in.  Fields of Anfield Road had a half-arsed attempt (one of our better songs), but YNWA at the end was nothing short of a disgrace.

I was ashamed to be there amongst the day-trippers yesterday. We didn't even get very far with 'O come all ye faithful' one, about 20 people were singing it??? And before anyone gets on the back of the non-scousers (and I am a scouser) I have to say most of the chanting was started by the out of towners who get way too much stick...Good on you fella for trying to rouse the dying Kop in to action.  It doesn't matter where your from - its what you do while your there.

I go to as many matches as i can as i am from Ireland but it's quite hard now as im living in oz for a while. I usually go with a group of lads were singing is made a necessity as we have all become aware of how quiet the anfield faithful is becoming especially the kop .Now the last match I was at was the Newcastle match with xabis wonder goal as I flew to oz a couple of weeks later. We dominated that match from start to finish and should of scored more but it was an embaressment the level of noise and the amount of supporters?? leaving no joke 10 mins before the end. Even on tele anfield is deadly quiet for most of the game even when we are winning.

Now when we do get going we are the best and loudest fans in the world but we need to keep going the whole match as pompey fans do. I was at the fa cup match last year at fratton park in the pouring rain and they didnt stop and thats what it used to be like at anfield when i went with my dad years ago. The other thing is why do some people(non scousers mostly even though most of us are singing are hearts out)go to matches to sit on their backsides and keep stump.  It's bloody ridiculous and something needs to be down cos it is a disgrace

Anyway im going to stop ranting now as i'll prob not be going to any matches for a while so I can't say much about the ones who do go. Just know this, that my biggest regret about coming to oz was not being near the team i love so much. I hate to see what is happening at the fortress these days and just urge all fans to get behind your team and roar our beloved team on.YNWA

I sit in the Lower Centenary.......just realised that RTK could transfer over to my stand 'Reclaim The Kemlyn' - and if you dont know what the Kemlyn is then my point is proven..

This whole reclaim the Kop thing.  Reclaim from who?

Surely it should be 'Revive the Kop'

This whole reclaim the Kop thing.  Reclaim from who?

Surely it should be 'Revive the Kop'

Yeah, get it changed.
Maybe a banner would do at the match? Get it recognized. Whoever can take a banner with just a plain background with red writing saying  RTK. Just like Jabba first posted. It might catch peoples eye's if it's at every home game. It will make people wonder what it means and when they find out the meaning to RTK they will realize we need to get behind the team with our electricity of chants.
Who likes my idea?

As originally posted on RAOTL by Sammo:  The Campaign so far......

Weird to think the campaign didn't exist two months ago. Loads has happened, loads more to come. There were a couple of initial meetings that were thrown open to all-comers and from this, a nucleus of about 12-15 activists has come together.

The target, broadly speaking, has been to improve the match day atmosphere at Anfield. We may only have two seasons left after this one, and it seemed tragic that the most romantic football stadium in the world might go out with a whimper - just another homogenised ground where silly fans bait each other with silly, predictable songs. The Kop, deservedly, became world famous for its wit, originality and the sheer passionate volume of its vocal support for the men in Red. No way were we going to stand back and let all that history and tradition fade away to nothing. Not without a fight.

It's too easy to blame the decline in everything that used to be brilliant about Anfield on the new breed of supporters. Yes, there are more of them - but they're no different from us older heads in that they come to Anfield to support the team they love. There's no doubting that the vast majority who make the pilgrimage to L4 are passionate in their love of the team. They want to join in. They want to be part of it. But that's easier said than done.

The difference is that it's harder to get your education, now. It's harder to get a ticket, for starters, so someone on the PTS who gets lucky twice a season doesn't have that ongoing, nurturing experience of standing on The Kop week after week, gradually getting to know the songs. And not just the songs - they don't get chance to absorb the way we do things at Liverpool. Basic, general rules like - if someone else sings it, we don't - they're not going to pick up on this stuff if they're not here to work out the essentials. Instead of sitting on old BR rattler to Leicester lsitening to the older crew going through their repertoire of songs, a new breed of fans is tuning into shows like Soccer A.M, and picking up a whole host of bad habits and tragic, crap songs from websites (personally, I'm still in shock that anyone could try and set a Liverpool song to Gangsta's Paradise, let alone weave the word 'fool' into it. Clearly there's work to be done.) The Soccer A.M effect happens because, when they get to the match, the newer fans want to be part of the crowd, joining in with the songs. Obviously, it's easy to get the hang of "Who are yer" and "You're not singing any more" - that's why rubbish like this, and the played-out Won It 5 Times (Chorus Only Version) get heard more often and louder at the match than some of our timeless classics.

So Mission 1 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, if you want. Far and away the biggest of source of info for the bulk of Liverpool's support is the Official LFC Website. The response from liverpoolfc.tv was superb from the start - particular thanks to Mark Platt and Paul Rogers who got behind RTK right from our first contact. From 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'll consist of archive footage, interviews, the unveiling of a Kop Charter to co-incide with the city's 800th birthday... and you drunken buffoons going through the songbook at The Oakfield the other night.

The next thing was to see what we could do about the atmosphere inside the ground, for as long as we remain at Anfield. Mission 2 is all about making sure Anfield goes down with a roar. We had a meeting with Rick Parry just before Christmas and again, the response was better than you could have dared hope. He, and the club, were already well aware of RTK and said they support our aims. We raised a whole load of issues - how does a locally-based brickie who doesn't have daytime access to the internet or a phone manage to get a ticket? How does a 14 year-old from Bootle ever get on the first rung of the ladder? How does a pensioner who's been there from the start but who doesn't have a credit card - how does that fan get inside the ground in the Ticketmaster era? RP conceded that these types of challenges will be easier to tackle when we have a new ground (because of restrictions on height, it's sealed at 62,000 maximum, by the way), but he's ready and willing to help with motions to get The Kop rocking again. BHB came up with a cracking idea - and a dead simple one, too - but we haven't had chance to talk it through with the club yet, so it's better not to jinx it before it's seen daylight. Anyway, bottom line is that this campaign would have been dead in the water without support from the club and the official website and, two months on, we have both. Our voices might yet make a difference.

Part 3 of the mission is all about the sad but inevitable move to a new ground. If it has to happen, let's make sure it benefits us, the fans, as much as possible. This will start to take effect as the move gets nearer, but we floated some of the ideas that were put forward by posters on this site, RAWK, OTK and others - for example, RP saw the sense of having big screens by the bar areas inside the ground.

In addition to all this, there have been the one-offs like the piss-up, I mean launch night in The Oaky which raised £125 towards the leaflets and Truth banner, and the F.A Cup Truth Days. There'll be more events and more targeted activities as and when the occasion demands it. All in all, it feels like RTK is up and running, and good things can come of it. Onwards and upwards, comrades.

Important Link >>> http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N154544070101-0015.htm



The Kop Charter

1. First is that we are only custodians. The Kop is a spirit, an attitude, the heart and soul of Liverpool F.C. No-one owns it, but together we are a legion, a force like no other.
 
2. There is no other. The Kop is a one-off. It’s the cradle of terrace culture, humour, songs - the original 12th Man. The Kop innovates. It has never followed. As Liverpudlians, we should never follow the rest of country’s trends and fancies. Whether that takes the form of lower-league grade chanting, overhead seal-clapping or the wearing of yokel-style headgear, The Kop deserves better.
 
3. "Liverpool FC exists as a source of pride for its supporters. It has no other purpose." If that is the club's pledge to us, here's ours to the team: "The Kop exists as a bastion of support. We will get behind the team through thick and thin. We will always give them strength."
 
4. It's the law of nature that fans have favourites. Let's leave the negative stuff in the pubs and schools and wherever else there's debate to be had. Once we set foot inside Anfield, we are Redmen and we have one purpose – to help the team win.
 
5. Let's get inside the ground earlier. This is all about playing our part in making Anfield special, and providing the backdrop and the inspiration for the team to walk tall. It's also about letting the other team know where they are. When they come out to warm-up, we want our heroes' hearts pumping and the opposition shriveling. Everyone loves a pre-match pint but let's get the Kop rocking too.
 
6. On 15th April 1989, many thousands of us set off to support our team in the semi final of the F.A Cup. 96 of us never came home again. We will always honour the memory of those who died at Hillsborough. In our respect for them and their families, and in our disdain for the unprincipled and unregulated hacks who scared up a shameful pack of lies out of a desperate human tragedy, we will never purchase or read The Sun newspaper, and we deplore the reading of it by any Liverpool supporter.
 
7. It is our custom and our privilege as Liverpudlians to welcome supporters from far and wide. We expect all Kopites of all ages, wherever they sit inside the ground, to show similar respect to the city of the team they support. It’s not endearing when visitors don curly-perm wigs and tell locals to “calm down”. It’s not clever to laugh along with away fans who sing tiresome nursery rhymes about car crime. Support Liverpool F.C, and you support Liverpool, too.
 
8. We always applaud the other team's goalie. But if he should fail to acknowledge that – let him have it!
 
9. "Liverpool FC Supporters All Over The World." We don’t tolerate racism. Everyone knows LFC, all around the globe. From Nairobi to Nagoya, we have fans, people who love us because we do things 'The Liverpool Way'. We have style, we have honour, we have principles. We are a global force with a local pulse - truly, a club of the people.
 
10. Our own icon, the symbol that makes The Kop a legend all over the world, is our anthem: You’ll Never Walk Alone. If there is one thing that sets us apart as fans, it’s this pre-match ritual, this war cry, our hymn of triumph, and occasional pain. We’re custodians of the anthem, and we have to maintain it and pass it on to the next generation, in pristine condition. We can never dilute the song, its message and its impact with half-measures and bursts of applause half way through. Let’s respect the anthem and do it proud, sing it slowly and with heartfelt emotion, right to the end, scarves held high. Amen.
 
For more songs, wit, wisdom and advice on suitable headgear stay logged on to liverpoolfc.tv or visit reclaimthekop.co.uk and raotl.co.uk
 
The views of the RTK, including the Kop Charter, are just that and do not necessarily represent those of Liverpool Football Club.

I particularly like points 5 and 6 

I agree with all of your comments, although i wasn't born in Liverpool, I was born a scouser! my roots are Liverpool and I'm a scouser always at heart! Who ever doesnt sing at Anfield shouldn't be there! Our songs are the best in Europe if not the world! I think we need new songs to support the new boys like Dirk Kuyt, Mark Gonzalez and Craig Bellamy etc. Craig Bellamy IMO has settled now and looks increasingly good! In fact im pleased with Kuyt and Gonzalez plus the other signings! But they are new and need encouragement and that is what makes Liverpool FC such a force! Our support and the atmosphere at anfield, anyone who comes there shits themselves!

Basically, IMO we need new songs to support the new and the home bred!

Cheers