Tales from the Anfield Road: Magical memories from Liverpool’s ‘other’ end

It may lack the storied glamour of the Kop or the soaring splendour of the new Main Stand, but Liverpool’s Anfield Road end has a history and atmosphere all of its own.

The bulldozers will move in after Saturday’s final home game of the season, replacing the current structure with a new stand that will lift Anfield’s capacity to 61,000 at a cost of £80million ($101million) in time for the start of next season.

To mark the end of the stand in its current form, we asked those who have watched from or played in front of the ‘Annie Road End’ for their standout memories.

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Gerrard announces his arrival

Liverpool 4 Sheffield Wednesday 1 (December 5, 1999)

Many of Steven Gerrard’s iconic Liverpool moments came in front of the Kop, but – as Anfield season ticket holder Peter Clarkson remembers – “it all started for him at the Annie Road”.

Gerard Houllier’s side were leading Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 midway through the second half when Gerrard, who was making his 25th senior appearance, scored the first of his 186 goals for his boyhood club.

“I just remember him slaloming his way past a couple of defenders as he came flying towards us and then slamming the ball past Wednesday keeper Kevin Pressman,” Clarkson continues.

“Everyone had been talking about this kid who had come through the academy. He was still only 19. We’d seen flashes of his undoubted ability before, but that was the day Gerrard really announced himself on the big stage. He celebrated by diving full length right in front of us and never looked back.”

Gerrard’s memories of the day are just as vivid. He wrote in his book, ‘My Liverpool Story’, about how David Thompson, Danny Murphy and Michael Owen piled on top of him after the ball hit the net – fellow academy graduates who were just as thrilled as he was at opening his account for his boyhood club.

“As I trotted back into position, my name was read out (over the PA system) and a huge cheer erupted around Anfield,” Gerrard wrote. “I will never forget that moment. It was a huge boost to my confidence. When I was starting out, during my first five, 10, 15 games, I still had doubts that I might not be able to have a career at Liverpool and that I might get ‘found out’. My first goal helped me believe in myself a bit more.”

James Pearce

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Salah’s ‘Messi moment’

Liverpool 2 Manchester City 2 (October 3, 2021)

Mohamed Salah only needed seven seconds and 10 touches to score arguably the greatest Anfield Road end goal of all time. He skipped and dipped past six Manchester City players before lashing home a finish with his right foot.

Salah left City in a heap. Aymeric Laporte punched the floor. Joao Cancelo threw his arms up in frustration. They could and did get near him – but they could not stop him.

Jurgen Klopp said after the game it was a goal only the best players in the world can pull off. Gary Neville said it was from another planet.

“There was something about that season and that game in particular,” Paul Machin, co-founder of The Redmen TV, explains. “Salah had some rest and was coming into the season really ready to live up to the mantel of: ‘is he the best player in the world?’.

“Then you’ve got Liverpool and Manchester City, the two best sides in the world, going head to head at Anfield with all eyes on them. And then Mohamed Salah didn’t just score a penalty or tuck one away – that was a Lionel Messi moment.

“That was a take your shirt off and hold it up to the crowd and point at your name on the back kind of moment from Salah. It was a goal of the season contender and one of the best goals you’ve ever seen at the Anfield Road end in a game that had absolute titanic significance.”

Caoimhe O’Neill

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Redknapp almost gives United the title

Liverpool 2 Blackburn Rovers 1 (May 14, 1995)

There were just seconds remaining on a dramatic final day at Anfield when Jamie Redknapp curled a stunning free kick into the top corner at the Anfield Road end.

And never has a last-gasp winner triggered such angst among both sets of supporters behind that goal.

“When I was stood over the free kick, it just felt right and I caught it beautifully,” Redknapp tells The Athletic. “Once I scored, you could see my reaction. I thought: ‘Oh no, what have I done here? I’ve just given the title to Man United!’. I thought the fans would never forgive me.”

Kenny Dalglish’s Blackburn went into the final day with a two-point lead over Alex Ferguson’s United. They knew they would be crowned champions whatever the result at Anfield if United failed to win at West Ham.

“It was an odd situation to be in. For the first time in my life, there was this game where a lot of our own fans were keen for us not to win,” Redknapp adds.

“That doesn’t happen at Liverpool! People were even talking about turning up in Blackburn shirts. Alan Shearer put them 1-0 up but then we started to play and John Barnes equalised. We felt they were on the ropes.

“It was a double whammy for me with my dad manager of West Ham at the time. We heard they were hanging on against United. We were so keen for United not to win the league, but we also wanted to play well and win our last game of the season.

“Then you throw Kenny Dalglish into the equation – Kenny is a god to all of us. He had signed me for Liverpool and I could see all the emotion he was going through on the touchline. There were no mobile phones in those days. I could see all the Blackburn fans in the Anfield Road end looking anxious with their radios to their ears.”

Within seconds of Redknapp scoring that free kick, news filtered through of the United game finishing 1-1. Elation engulfed Anfield.

“I wanted Kenny to win the league. Blackburn deserved it. They had been the best team,” says Redknapp. “Blackburn were champions, we won the game – it all worked out perfectly.”

James Pearce

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Fowler’s quickfire hat-trick

Liverpool 3 Arsenal 0 (August 28, 1994) 

It was the day Robbie Fowler wrote his name into the record books with what was then the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history.

The fresh-faced teenager tormented Arsenal’s famed backline of Lee Dixon, Tony Adams, Martin Keown and Nigel Winterburn as he completed his treble in the space of just four minutes and 33 seconds midway through the first half.

“That was when the Kop was being redeveloped and made all-seater, so the capacity was reduced and we got moved down to the other end of the ground,” recalls Les Lawson, chairman of the Merseyside branch of the official Liverpool supporters’ club. “It was the first home game of the season and a beautiful sunny day. Robbie was sensational and we had the perfect view of his hat-trick from the Annie Road. Arsenal just couldn’t handle him.”

Fowler slammed home the opener from eight yards after the ball had bounced into his path off Ian Rush. When Steve McManaman picked him out soon after, he took a touch to steady himself and drilled clinically through Dixon’s legs and into the far corner.

His third came from John Barnes’ lofted pass. Fowler was initially denied by David Seaman but he whipped home the rebound from the tightest of angles.

“What I remember most is the noise,” Fowler says. “The old Kop had been demolished so all the season ticket holders had been moved to the Anfield Road end and the noise they made was incredible.

“When Barnesy put the ball through to me, I heard this roar go up as I was about to shoot. Martin Keown and David Seaman tried to block my first effort but I got the bounce of the ball and I managed to turn it in from a tight angle. It was an amazing moment.”

Fowler went on to score 31 goals in 1994-95 and was crowned PFA Young Player of the Year as Liverpool won the League Cup. His record for the fastest hat-trick stood for nearly 21 years until Sadio Mane achieved the feat in two minutes and 56 seconds in Southampton’s 6-1 win against Aston Villa in May 2015.

James Pearce

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Arsenal’s miracle, Liverpool’s agony

Liverpool 0 Arsenal 2 (May 26, 1989)

Emotional overload. My first and second visits to the corner of the away terrace at Anfield Road remain memories that will forever mean something deeper than most.

Visit one was Sunday, April 23, 1989. Like many from across football, I travelled to pay my respects to those lost at Hillsborough the previous weekend. I’d never been to Liverpool before and a lad on the train on his way to a funeral took me under his wing and he and his friends looked after me that day, showing me the way, buying me a portion of fish and chips.

At the end of a strangely beautiful four-hour queue winding through the narrow, local streets, I found myself in that away terrace at the exact time I should have been watching Liverpool v Arsenal, which was obviously postponed. I took out a pen and wrote something full of teenage fervour on the wall, sending love from our fans at that moment.

Visit two was a little over a month later. May 26, 1989. A difficult day for Liverpool but cherished for Arsenal in overcoming almost impossible odds to pull off a miracle. The away fans got caught up in Bank Holiday weekend traffic. We pulled up 10 minutes into the game, ran past the Arkle towards the turnstiles, up the stairs and onto the terrace, everyone already rapt with the unfolding drama under the lights. The red of Liverpool, the yellow of Arsenal, the green on the pitch and the darkening blue of the evening summer sky. It was intoxicating.

Liverpool fans were to our left along the stand and our right towards the goal, and the 4,000 travellers sang and prayed and ultimately experienced a moment of rare delirium.

Because of the unique circumstances, the energy felt different to how it might have otherwise been. There was no noticeable hostility or tension from the opposing fans. Many Liverpudlians stayed to applaud – something noticed and cherished by Arsenal’s players that night. Even more extraordinarily, a few even hung about at the exit to the away section to shake hands and pat backs and offer congratulations. I can still see the face of the fella I swapped scarves with.

In the passing years, at Anfield, my glance has always been drawn to that corner – since seated and turned into a home section – and I return to those moments. The memories remain vivid in my mind’s eye.

Amy Lawrence

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Alisson’s save for the ages

Liverpool 1 Napoli 0 (Dec 11, 2018)

A season is a long, hard slog, but within all of it, there is usually a moment which defines everything. As the ball sailed into the Liverpool box in the 92nd minute of the final group game of the 2018-19 Champions League, against Napoli, the home fans knew a goal would send them into the Europa League.

“Everyone was singing but you could sense the fear as we went into stoppage time. One goal and it was done,” says Liverpool fan Alex Povall, who was sat in the upper tier of the Anfield Road end that night.

Jose Callejon’s cross was missed by Virgil van Dijk, then Fabinho. Dejan Lovren couldn’t connect… and there at the back post was Arkadiusz Milik – six yards out.

Time stood still. “For that split second, it just went silent,” continues Povall. “It looked a certain goal. How couldn’t it be? I was just hoping for an offside or something, anything so it wouldn’t count.”

Milik took a touch to control it, but the net didn’t bulge with an equaliser. Instead, it bounced off an impenetrable wall: Alisson had pulled off a magnificent, split-second reaction save after spotting the trigger of Milik’s touch. But how did he do it?

“An all-or-nothing moment, with our Champions League lives on the line. I put everything I had into that save,” Alisson reflected nearly a year later. “I tried to close the angle as much as I could, make myself big and I forced him to stop and shoot quickly. Then the ball came straight to me, but that’s because I attacked it, I bought time, I made the situation complicated for him.”

You shouldn’t need reminding of what it all meant. It continued Liverpool’s Champions League campaign which culminated in them winning their sixth European Cup in Madrid.

“The ground just erupted when he made that save,” says Povall. “Pure relief, it was as if we’d scored a goal. Then the chant of ‘Alisson, Alisson, Alisson’ echoed around Anfield, the loudest chant of the night. You just knew it was one of those historic moments that you will never forget and the way the season went made it even more special.”

Andy Jones

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‘The best goal Anfield has ever seen’

Liverpool 7 Tottenham 0 (September 2, 1978)

Bob Paisley described it as “the best goal Anfield has ever seen”.

Paisley’s side, the reigning European champions, were running riot against Tottenham in the old First Division. It summed up their relentless nature that despite leading 6-0 with 14 minutes to go, they were still hungry for more. They embarked on a sweeping counter-attack after clearing a corner at the Kop end.

Ray Kennedy found Kenny Dalglish, who picked out David Johnson close to halfway. Johnson turned and pinged a delightful pass out to Steve Heighway down the left flank. Heighway didn’t even need to break stride and his first-time cross arched perfectly into the path of Terry McDermott, who arrived at the far post to power a header past Barry Daines in front of a joyous Anfield Road end.

“That goal typified what Terry was all about,” says his team-mate Alan Kennedy. “We were winning 6-0 and he was guarding the far post from their corner. He wasn’t the best in the heading stakes. He didn’t like the ball messing up his perm! But he ran 90 yards to meet that cross. What a fantastic goal. The fans behind that goal went wild. Terry was one of the greatest midfield players Liverpool have ever had.”

McDermott celebrated by re-enacting his flying header before being mobbed by his team-mates.

“It was an unbelievable goal — not because I scored it but because of the quality of the build-up,” adds McDermott. “For Bob to say it was the best he’d ever seen at Anfield was some compliment. It came from their corner and I was defending the post. Fifteen seconds later, the ball was in the back of their net.

“For what reason — I don’t know — I decided to run the length of the pitch. I tell you what, I’m glad I did. Without even having a touch, Steve hit it first time with his left peg and the cross was absolutely inch-perfect. I came running in, got my head on it and it flew into the top corner. We were fantastic that day. It could have been double figures. We pummelled them.”

James Pearce

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“Hey, Riise!”

Liverpool 2 Manchester United 0 (November 4, 2001)

Fabien Barthez pointed to his right eye and fixed his left glove. The Manchester United goalkeeper wanted his wall to watch out. In the end, that is all it could do.

John Arne Riise was standing over a free kick 28 yards from goal. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was stood behind him like a maths teacher with a protractor. He was organising the wall and trying to close his compatriot’s angle. He knew the inevitable smash was coming. Everyone did.

Liverpool fans were already singing “Hey, hey Riise, I wanna know-ow-ow how you scored that goal” to the tune of Hey Baby. Little did they know this was going to be the goal they would think of the next time, and probably every time, they sang that song in future.

 

It was Didi Hamann who passed the ball into the path of Riise to shift the angle. It was Quinton Fortune who charged at him but failed to get there in time.

The ball was on its own collision course and rocketed in and back out of the goal. Martin Tyler on commentary wondered how the goal was still standing as Riise ran to celebrate like a kid being let out onto the playground at lunchtime.

It is no wonder Riise later picked this out as his favourite goal from his career. “It really made my name stick with the Liverpool fans,” he said in an interview with the Liverpool Echo. “That made it easy for me to connect with them. I know the fans still sing about it now and that means a lot.”

Caoimhe O’Neill

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A swarm of red

Liverpool 5 Arsenal 1 (February 8, 2014)

It was a swarm of red. A blur of flames streaming towards the Anfield Road end again and again and again and again.

Brendan Rodgers’ red arrows were not happy with one, two or three. They wanted more, to suck the life out of Arsenal and make their Anfield trip a nightmare they will never live down.

They got four in the first 20 minutes (one came after half-time, at the Kop), but it could have been five or six or seven. Watching from the Anfield Road end that day, it just looked like men against boys. Year 11 versus year seven. Arsenal were spooked, then they were scared, then they wanted the ground to open up and swallow them.

There are fast starts but this was electricity bouncing from one Liverpool player to the next as they outran, bullied and kept their composure better than Arsenal.

Before fans had even settled in their seats, Martin Skrtel had put Liverpool ahead from a free kick to drown out the chants about being top of the league from the away side. They were where? No chance.

Skrtel was at it again to score a quick-fire double before Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge ended the game before it had barely started. The latter missed a one-on-one, too, and Anfield witnessed the greatest goal that never was when Luis Suarez cannoned a thunderbolt off the post, with Kolo Toure failing to direct the rebound into an open goal.

Surveying those around me, the wide-eyed bewilderment was etched across every face. Wild celebrations were replaced by laughter and “oh my god” exclamations as each goal hit the net. Nobody could fully process what was happening, but nobody in the Anfield Road end that day will forget what they saw. Unstoppable.

Andy Jones

(Top photos: Getty Images; design by Samuel Richardson)