You’ll Never Walk Alone – Why Liverpool fans sing the greatest ever football song
You’ll Never Walk Alone has become iconic across the footballing world.
It is synonymous with Liverpool Football Club and represents what Reds fans are all about, supporting each other through the good and the bad.
Whether it be after Jurgen Klopp’s departure at the end of the 2023/24 season or after Liverpool’s recent title-winning season, Kopites have shown that they are a family.
But where does You’ll Never Walk Alone come from, and why do Liverpool fans sing the famous anthem?
Why do Liverpool fans sing YNWA?
YNWA has become a symbol of the club and its history.
The song became embedded within the fabric of Liverpool’s history following the Hillsborough Disaster of 1989 and has again shown just how much it means to people after the tragic passing of Diogo Jota.
Liverpool’s anthem was originally a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.
It was recorded by Gerry & The Pacemakers in 1963, which became a successful cover of the song as it peaked at number one on the UK singles chart and was adopted by Reds fans at Anfield.
Former player Tommy Smith stated that the band’s lead singer, Liverpool-born Gerry Marsden, presented Liverpool manager Bill Shankly with a recording of the song for the 1963 preseason trip and the song stuck from there.
Shankly was a guest on the BBC show Desert Island Discs before the 1965 FA Cup final, and selected the song.
After winning the FA Cup, the song became Liverpool’s signature tune.
The song’s title officially became the club’s motto when the words ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ were added to the club’s crest in 1992.
YNWA and the Hillsborough disaster
The song was already adopted by the club before the 1989 tragedy but YNWA became even more fitting after the events.
During an FA Cup match between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool, 97 fans were killed do to overcrowding in a crush that resulted from crowd control failures.
The song has now become famous, being sung by Liverpool, Celtic and Dortmund.
Kopites can be heard for miles on iconic Champions League nights, and the anthem has helped Reds fans become known as some of the best in the world.
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