The Kop: Liverpool's Twelfth Man

Description

AN ENTERTAINING AND INSIGHTFUL HISTORY OF LIVERPOOL'S FAMOUS KOP, TOLD BY THOSE WHO HAVE OCCUPIED IT AND THOSE WHO HAVE PLAYED IN FRONT OF IT 'When The Kop is roaring it really is like having a twelfth man out there on the pitch. They're the best fans in the country - by miles.' Jamie Carragher The Spion Kop is one of the most famous, emotive and atmospheric vantage points in all of sport. The one-time terracing that could 'suck the ball into the net' - in Bill Shankly's immortal phrase - still inspires and intimidates today. Once the home of more than 25,000 swaying, singing, standing Kopites, it's now seated and can hold merely half that number, but its magic still remains. In this fully revised and updated edition, Stephen F Kelly uses eyewitness testimonies from Kopites, policemen, cleaners and referees as well as newspaper reports and the recollections of players and managers to trace the history of this amazing and fascinating stand - each anecdote wonderfully evoking the spirit of the changing times the Kop has experienced. Stirring, emotional and marvellously readable, The Kop is a must for any Liverpool fan and anyone interested in what it means to be a supporter of any football club.

Stephen F. Kelly has written more than 20 books including a number on Liverpool Football Club. These include: You'll Never Walk Alone: The Official History of Liverpool FC, Liverpool In Europe, The Kop (updated and reprinted half a dozen times), The Boot Room Boys and biographies of Bill Shankly (reprinted seven times), Kenny Dalglish (updated three times), Graeme Souness and Gerard Houllier.

Brilliantly compiled ...Stephen F Kelly's fascinating tribute to this mass of emotion is jest. -- Henry Winter * Daily Telegraph * Like many non-Liverpudlians I was always slightly sceptical about the kop. Was it really such a unique terrace? Stephen F Kelly's The Kop has persuaded me it was. -- Simon Inglis * Independent *