- Kop
The Kop is currently a 12,000-seater grandstand, at the home goal end of Anfield, but it's been so much more. The Oakfield Road Embankment opened on September the first 1906. It was renamed the Spion Kop after a battle during the Boer war, when three hundred men, mostly from Lancashire, died defending a hill against enormous odds. In 1928 The Kop was rebuilt and given a roof to shelter some 27,000 fans. It was 425ft wide and 80ft high, the largest covered terrace in the country. The Kop became famous in the 1960's with the arrival of Bill Shankley. Anfield became the most vocal ground in the country, thanks to the Spion Kop. It didn't take long for the ground to be nicknamed 'The Coliseum'. Away teams visiting the ground would be instilled with fear by the atmosphere. As they walked down the tunnel they saw the 'This Is Anfield' sign which crushed their confidence. The atmosphere of the standing Kop before the late eighties was irreplaceable. It would sway from side to side chanting, hurrying the Liverpool side on and down heartening the visitors. A great defender of the times once said that the Kop was good for at least one goal a game, as it uplifted player's spirits. Numerous incidents on terraces, and of course the tragic Hillsborough disaster led to the Kop's capacity being lowered in the late eighties. It also prompted the FA to state that all Premiership grounds around the country must be all-seater by the end of the 94 season. Then to the Kop's last stand on Saturday the 30th of April 1994. We played Norwich and 16,480 fans packed the Victorian stand for the last time. But in typical Kop style when Norwich scored and won the game 1-0, we sang "Your supposed to let us win". Ever since the New Kop grandstand has opened, only twice has the same atmosphere been experienced, once when the roof wasn't finished, so we all stood up and chanted "we only sing when its Raining". The other time was last season when we played United with a badly under strength side and came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2. At the time it seemed that Arsenal would be able to win the league but in sickening style Leeds handed United the league by beating Arsenal at Ellen road.
The Spion Kop