Anfield

Liverpool Have Won Six European Cups. The “This Is Anfield” Sign Has Been at the Top of the Players’ Tunnel Since 1974.

The sign was installed by Bill Shankly to intimidate opposing players before they walked out onto the pitch. Shankly managed Liverpool from 1959 to 1974, transformed a second-division club into a First Division champion, and created the culture from which everything since has followed. When you touch the sign on the stadium tour (and you can, though some find it inadvisable on grounds of superstition), you are touching something Bill Shankly thought would give his team an advantage, and it is now one of the more copied items of football psychology in the world.

Anfield has been Liverpool’s home since 1892. The current capacity is just over 61,000 following the expansion of the lower main stand. Match tickets are very difficult to obtain for casual visitors; the club operates a membership ballot system and almost all home allocation goes to members. Stadium tours (approximately GBP 20 to 25, book online) run on most non-match days and are genuinely worthwhile: the walk through the tunnel onto the pitch, the dressing room, the dugout, and the museum covering the European Cup victories and the Hillsborough memorial.

The Hillsborough Memorial

On April 15, 1989, 97 Liverpool supporters died in a crush at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough stadium during an FA Cup semi-final. The disaster and the subsequent cover-up by South Yorkshire Police, which was officially confirmed by inquiries in 2012 and 2016, remains one of the most significant events in English football history. The memorial at Anfield is treated with genuine reverence. Approach it accordingly.

The Neighbourhood

The streets around Anfield are working-class North Liverpool – not a sanitised tourist district. The Albert pub directly across from the stadium gates is the pre-match pub. The Beatles were from Liverpool (across the city to the south, near the waterfront) and there is good reason to combine an Anfield visit with a day at the Cavern Club, Albert Dock, and the Beatles Story museum.

Merseyrail trains to Liverpool Lime Street, then bus routes 14 or 14C to the stadium. Approximately 15 minutes from the city centre.