It Was 20 Years Ago...

The interesting thing about tidying up the house is that some things show up that had long been forgotten about. In my wardrobe draw, full of old pairs of spectacles and a broken watch, were some envelopes containing photos from a few years ago. One, in particular, caught my attention. It was from the Liverpool based photo processors, Max Spielmann. Inside were photos that I took at Anfield on 28th April 1990. The match was not the most memorable - it was a 2-1 victory against QPR. However, it was notable in that it clinched the league title for a record 18th time. Little was I to know, but that would be the last time that Liverpool would win the league for at least 20 years.

I had moved away from Liverpool a few years earlier and I didn't manage to get to that many games - for any club. I worked in Newcastle and would occasionally go to St James Park - or occasionally to my friend's flat whose high rise apartment overlooked the pitch. I had caught Liverpool at Roker Park when they were playing Sunderland and managed to get odd tickets from my uncle who was a season ticket holder at Anfield. The QPR match was one such occasion and I took the opportunity to try out a compact Pentax camera which I had recently bought. The ticket was for the main stand towards the Anfield Road end. As you can see from the pictures, the Kemlyn Road stand had yet to be extended.

Liverpool played towards the Kop in the first half with Ian Rush grabbing a goal in front of the still all-standing Kop, cancelling out an earlier QPR goal. I recall that many fans were half-listening to transistor radios as the title also depended on the result of Aston Villa who were playing at the same time. At 1-1 the title could have gone either way when a penalty was awarded to Liverpool at the Anfield Road end. John Barnes stepped up to take the shot and I waited, camera in hand, to click at the precise moment. Barnes scored, sending the keeper (David Seaman, I think) the wrong way, although in my picture it looks like it was going wide! That was the goal that clinched the title - captured at the exact moment the ball was about to cross the line. It was the end of a remarkably successful period for the Reds which stretched back to the mid 1970's. No-one could have imagined that, 20 years on, we would still be waiting for a 19th title.

I took a few pictures of the celebrations - this is probably the best but still shows up the limitations of the little 35mm camera. I have often thought that the game has moved away from the community in recent years. The current Liverpool side has only two regular local players, Gerrard and Carragher, with the rest being drawn from far and wide, often with unpronounceable names, but it wasn't that much different then. Of the 13 players who took part, only two were what I would regard as local and within the clubs natural catchment area: Rush, from Flint, and McMahon, from the city itself. There were 3 English players in addition to McMahon: Burrows, Venison and Barnes (a Jamaican-born England international); 4 Scots: Nicol, Hansen, Gillespie and Houghton (although playing internationally for Ireland); 2 Scandinavians: Molby and Hysen; an Israeli, Rosenthal; and Zimbabwean, Grobbelaar.

It's difficult to say why Liverpool have failed to win the title since. Money to compete with other clubs has certainly has been an issue but there has been more money spent on players in the last 10 years than during the rest of the club's history - even if they haven't been able to play Fantasy Football with real players. They have come close to the title on a couple of occasions although this season has been a horrible disappointment from day one. Maybe that is a matter of expectation as Fulham have had a similar season and the fans seem delighted with their performance. The joint chairmanship of the last few years hasn't helped but the current financial uncertainty is making things worse. As I write the club are still in the Europa League so they could salvage something for the fans. However, it is uncertain as to how many of the star players and coaching staff will be around for next season.

If new owners can have some kind of long term plan then I can see a upturn in fortunes for the club - they just have to remember that there are 45,000 people in the stadium each week who would gladly put on that red shirt for free.