I live a long way from Anfield and only venture up 2 or 3 times a year these days....always bringing my son if possible. I have, as any good dad, brainwashed him into following my team.....something he has never argued with......he still doesn't. However, I have noticed that he is very disenfranchised with LFC of late. When asked if he wanted to come to a game over the next few weeks, he declined.....he's simply losing interest in the club.....and there's a limit to the level of brain washing that I'll stoop to!! Is this just a phase or is it driven by lack of results; I'd guess the latter... My point, there is one; how many other ten year olds with avid LFC supporting dads feel the same way? Or how many kids with non supporting parents would choose LFC? How many choose City, Chelsea, Utd, Spurs even....or Madrid, or Barca..... LFC once had a very strong brand.....massive in fact. Loyalty towards the LFC brand withstood two decades of relative failure (give or take a couple of decent seasons).....and this is what really matters in football today. Without the global support that we currently have, we would be nothing but a well supported regional team; I say 'currently' because competition for the next generation of fans is fierce.....ultra fierce in fact....and it's a competition that we are losing......and in my opinion, losing badly. If we are to ever get back to the heights of the 70's and 80's, we need to invest....and quickly......or risk losing a generation or four of global fans that will brainwash their kids in similar fashion to us.....only it won't be LFC that they'll follow..... Make no mistake; the game is truly global now; we need the income from overseas more than we need a bigger stadium.......and we can only expect that, or even demand that with a strong brand.....something that is not guaranteed right now. I, for one, won't hold my breath. While I wouldn't want an Abramovich character at Anfield, I'd welcome the investment! Otherwise, I fear, that the writing is on the wall for us as a global footballing brand; it won't happen overnight but the brand will slowly die on the vine, with no new global supporters to feed it.....in fact, I'd wager that it already is......
Whilst I have no problem with people who have no real connection with the club or city supporting us, neither do I care if they don't. If people attach themselves to whoever is the most successful club at the time then that's up to them, at the moment we're certainly not it. My first game was the derby in 1962, just after Liverpool had come up to the first division. My family were blues (we lived just off Goodison Road) and expected me to follow suit. I went for Liverpool precisely because they were the underdog, and the fact that we subsequently reached the heights we did was just coincidence. To my mind, the money in the modern game is ruining it, and rather than look for more, I'd prefer to see rules to effectively curtail the amount of money brought in from outside. Even if we, with our history, could attract a fair amount of inward investment, most clubs couldn't, and the gap between rich and poor becomes ever wider. Of course, if there is a rich/poor divide, it's best to be in the rich group, and I don't want us to fall by the wayside- but I still believe it's possible to do it the "right" way, i.e., run the club on a sound business footing. As far as I'm concerned, the sooner the Russian Mafia and the oil-rich Arabs lose interest, the better. Then perhaps we can have our game back.
I do agree with the sentiment but realism is that money is what drives everything. For us, that means increasing our fan base and that is driven primarily by success. Unfortunately, I see no end to that, ever......so i don't think we'll ever get our game back....if indeed it is actually our game anymore!
10 years before saint's first match, my Dad took me to Anfield to ensure that I would be a Red - it worked. With my son it was different as we lived in the South of England and opportunities to go to the match were rare. However my passion must have been infectious as he's still a Red even though he lives in Australia. With Liverpool, it's no good showing your support (any fool can buy a shirt, scarf, etc.), its no good just being loyal, you have to go well beyond that. You have to give your heart if you are to follow Kipplings advice and treat triumph and disaster as both the same. The and only then can you count yourself a REDMAN. These true REDMEN are few in number but have been proceeded by generations who share the passion. So KKK tell your lad that its a test and if he he passes then he too can become a true REDMAN for life.
Don't worry about my lad, am sure he'll come round eventually........if he doesn't then he can forget about christmas! tbh, it's not him I worry about....it's the millions, who if they supported LFC, would never set foot in Anfield, who want to worship another club and thus deprive us of new revenue streams.....for make no mistake, they hold the key to our future! It's a strange world indeed!
Where do you live mate? could it be his mates in school and stuff don't support Liverpool that he's not that interested?
In Essex....am sure it's a mixture of everything and he'll blow hot and cold for a while....but the point is lost if we focus on my lad......I just used that as an example of what happens when we have a prolonged lack of success.
Thanks to your mediocre season my step daughter has decided lfc is no longer a viable option and switched Charlton. She didn't want to at first as she didn't want to be called a glory hunter.
