Where to begin with this blog, in the wake of one of the most remarkable, emotional weekends I've ever experienced. Let's briefly get the last couple of weeks out of the way: a hugely disappointing draw for Forest at home to Wolves, which at the time seemed like the 'end' of hope for many. Wolves looked awful, we played pretty well, but still couldn't find a win.
That one really left us needing to pick up some unlikely points from one of the less 'winnable' fixtures left - and when you're on the kind of form we are and in the position we're in, very few look winnable! The United match should have felt like a 'free hit' but given our situation it had become a match we really needed to get something from. Ultimately, despite the injustice of the VAR decision on Maguire's clear handball, they were too good for us and strolled through the 2nd half. SC had a dig at VAR, much to the amusement/anger of online Huddersfield fans incapable of differentiating between mentioning something on the day and bleating on about it nearly a year after the event. ;-)
(Not handball. Really?)
The weekend before had taken Zagger to Genoa for a desperate relegation battle between Sampdoria and Cremonese, finally getting to see a match in the iconic Stadio Luigi Ferraris, a venue well past its prime but nonetheless absolutely fantastic. No catastrophic floods to scupper things this time (see https://peeveeh.wixsite.com/ziggerzagger/post/friday-10th-september-not-looking-forward-to-forest-v-cardiff-you-ll-never-beat-des-walker)
This time, we got to see a cracking, open match between two teams in terrible trouble. Samp bossed it, went ahead twice, took off their two best players (both full backs) twenty minutes from the end and contrived to blow it 3-2. As a city, highly recommended: amazing old town, very down to earth, friendly, loads to see and do and a match on every week in the season with Genoa pretty much nailed on to go jump into Serie A as Samp go the other way. For the Forest fan, lots of reference and tribute to our man Giuseppe Garibaldi, regarded as a proper hero locally. Genoa, of course, a city touched by recent tragedy with the 2018 collapse of the Morandi Bridge leading to 43 lives being lost and countless others in turmoil.
So, neatly but sadly, from one tragedy-struck great port city to another...
For a number of us, the past few weeks have been very much pre-occupied with the build up to Forest's first visit to Anfield in 25 years. Not that we didn't already know it, but the February meeting of the HSA was very much concerned with the rising tide of tragedy chanting. Recent LFC matches v CIty and Chelsea had seen an upsurge in hateful Hillsborough related chants and the impact of these on survivors and those who lost loved ones is immeasurable. Talk at that meeting turned to the lack of response from the authorities and that it needs to be fans who kick-start a fight against it. Who better placed to 'get it' than Forest, with numerous supporters still also deeply affected by what they witnessed that day and a number also being helped through that by the good folk at the HSA, motto, Unity Is Strength.
So, a campaign was born. Recruiting the support of a number of great people at either end, it was decided to take an action at Anfield. A fund raising drive brought in enough for a banner. There was lengthy consultation on the wording: the HSA, survivors, families of some of the 97, LFC Trust Spirit of Shankly, LFC's comms team. NFFC were approached, did not get directly involved, but ultimately gave notice that they were positive about the action and would be laying floral tributes themselves. LFC, let it be said, were nothing but helpful and incredibly accommodating - they have some fantastic people on their supporter liaison side of things. At the Forest end, a number of prominent, some might say legendary, faces offered support, financial and practical: Gary 'Boatsy', Clark, Jitz, Blackie. All played their part. Likewise, a donation was received from the Morley family, HSA members and home and away everywhere this season until Anfield (no tickets!).
Another special mention here for Danny Taylor and the Athletic, who did a superb piece on Peachy and the tragic loss at Hillsborough of his mate Paul Clark and took down the paywall on this and another feature on the '97 Remembered', so these could be accessible free to view:
Rish at the 1865 NFFC podcast helped with a donation and with sharing our aims widely. Top man.
Also really helpful in the run up, was Matt at Forza Garibaldi, who provided such useful advice as "try to hold it the right way up."
A Twitter account for the day was set up and we started to drip out teasers and hints at the plans. This soon took off.
Tickets, as has been the case for anyone wanting to follow Forest away this season, were a major concern and, after an epic fail in the dystopian nightmare of the official ticketing system, some 'favours' were called in. Thanks for their efforts particularly to the three mentioned above and also, we believe, behind the scenes, director Jonny Owen. Another real help, especially with tickets and a bit of media-savvy, was Danny Taylor of the Athletic. Shout out too, for ex Forest media man Matt Appleby and Forest's current supporter liaison Will for their advice and encouragement.
On the Anniversary Saturday, after a few bevvies in the Arkles, busy with Fulham fans en route to Goodison, we held a 'trial run' with the banner at Anfield which helped us iron out some of the concerns around actually getting the banner in and up. Again, incredible support from LFC here: Yonit, Laura, Paul and countless stewards and security people. Flowers were laid at the memorial and we took our place on the Kop for the silence, reading of names and release of 97 red balloons, before retiring to Hotel Anfield for a few beers.
The mainstream media picked up on things in the week and there was great support from both Radio Nottingham (notably, Sarah Julian who invited both myself and HSA Chair Peter Scarfe onto her Breakfast Show). Radio Merseyside did an interview feature and the Echo ran a long, detailed very supportive article courtesy of Stephen Killen: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-rivalry-without-hate-fans-26747426
Come the day, travelling companions were Peachy, Bailey, 'Brian' Julie and Mrs Zagger. Set-up in an Air B'n'B in leafy Woolton, we headed for the Spoons on Lime Street Station. Some reservations overcome around drinking in one of gammony Tim Martin's pubs - we convinced ourselves it was a necessary evil and that for the day morality was the preserve of the wealthy! - we hooked up with a large gathering of Forest faces: Boatsy and Blackie had some of the 1FC Köln contingent with them and we also nattered to such legends as Peanut and Tets. The latter I'd not knowingly seen since the halcyon days of the Trent End Supporters Club bus, back in the late 70s/early 80s when it used to pick him and others up in Shirebrook. A few reminiscences about people from those days, some in all likelihood no longer with us: Derek, Tony who used to sell badges on Trent Bridge, Big Neil the St John's Ambulance man... There was also a young guy from Buenos Aires, a River Plate supporter, who seemed to have somehow ended up on a day trip with Blackie and was completely thrown when yours truly misunderstood that he was from Köln and subjected him to a rambling story in bad German about an away train trip to Union Berlin. "I think my German's a bit rusty - he looked really lost." "That'll be because he's Argentinian, you dickhead." That slight hiccup resolved, we swapped details and arranged that the Zagger family will see him on our own football odyssey to Argentina next year.
From there to The Church to meet up with some of our Spirit of Shankly contacts: Peter Hooton, Joe Blott and MP Ian Byrne. Another warm welcome here - apparently we'd just missed being introduced a minute or two before we actually arrived - a quick pint and off with our hosts to the Heysel Memorial. We'd thought long and hard about doing this and decided it might help put to bed some of the misconceptions that LFC and their supporters have never acknowledged the victims of that tragedy. They have and they continue to. The memorial was busy with large numbers of supporters pausing there to pay respects. We laid a bunch of carnations on behalf of ourselves and our friends across the river, who gave Juve their colours and were the chosen opposition for the opening of their current stadium in 2011.
Onwards to the Hillsborough memorial to lay 97 red roses there and to meet up with LFC friends and a large contingent of Forest fans, some we knew, many more we didn't.
LFC security head Paul Hudson, who had been fantastic throughout the week, took us in and set us up in the spot he'd identified to hoist the banner. Having assured those in the section for those with a disability behind us that we'd not be blocking their view throughout, we got everything in place. HSA member Amanda joined us to take hold of the group's flag, a duplicate of the one used on the Kop by flag-bearer Jay.
The first five minutes passed in a blur, puncuated by yours truly getting into a bit of a daft altercation with two lads initiating a "sign on" chant. I should probably have let it lie for the time being, but it's a crap chant and it makes us look ignorant. I tried to point out the stupidity of people from one of the UK's poorest cities/regions singing this, but I was wasting my time. "I don't give a fuck about the unemployed" being about all I got back. That and a completely baffling, "It's about the miner's strike." Let's get it out the way then - there was a fair bit of that. Asking amongst LFC fans after, the vast majority expressed either apathy about it or viewed it as a 'minor infringement'. It's probably fair to say we feel the same about "scabs". Most of our support weren't even born, most of us have never had anything to do with mining and plenty of us were actively involved in the striking side of things in 1985, famously including our club and our manager at the time, one BH Clough. In the past, we too have faced poverty stuff from London clubs and reference to the worst days of gun crime in our city. It's not nice and we'd all be better just cheering on our teams and if we must dig at least make it funny and harmless. Anyhoo... Some, a very small number, online later were angry about "sign on" and suggested it undermined all we'd been trying to achieve and proved what a vile fanbase we are. Others still had a bit of a go at us for hypocrisy and tokenism, but you can't please everyone, eh? I get the bitterness, lots of us do, but it's something for another day. One battle at a time...
Come the hoisting of the banner, the reaction from both home and away supporters was astonishing. Few, if any, in the away section did not join in with the applause and the reaction from the home supporters was humbling. My own favourite clip is that one in which you can see Sir Kenny Dalglish getting to his feet and applauding. The social media reaction was overwhelmingly positive and even MOTD passed an appropriate comment in the commentary. Overall, we hope to have done a good thing and that it builds on the recent positive behaviour from both Arsenal and Leeds. Surely, with all due respect to Leeds, a club I have a rather odd - some may say perverse - soft-spot for, if they can do it, anyone can!
The match itself might have become a bit of a side-show for those of us involved in this, but the much improved performance from Forest, particularly the desire and fight, kept us totally engaged with it. "How shit must you be, we've scored two away," increasing our away goal tally for the season by 50% in a mad 16 minutes. A weakness at set pieces did for us and Jota's keepie-uppie goal was brilliant but ridiculous in terms of time he was allowed. He could probably have got a few more flicks in before Freuler woke up and decided to try to do anything about it.
Football-wise then, we're still in the mire and every game becomes even more of a cup final. Onto Brighton on Wednesday, hoping their semi-final might have taken something out of them rather than firing them up.
Post match we took up an invitation from Paul Bevan to join the Dark House Socialists, essentially a collection of left-wing Pauls, for a bevvy in the Barlow Arms, Kirkdale. This was a very good move. Great pub, lovely people - including the Evertonians in the back bar - and we were treated to rousing performances of a kind of LFC's greatest hits sing-along, including a remarkable version of Mané , Mané, Mané and an REM inspired 'tribute' to Kepa Arrizabalaga's missed Carabao Cup final penalty.
What was meant to be a quick pint or two developed into a full-on session which finished us off, poor Mrs Zagger, no lightweight when it comes to putting away straight JD, for about 24 hours. Plans were made for a reunion, whether or not we're back to play at Anfield next year - likelihood is, of course, we can do this when we visit Everton's smart new ground in the Championship! ;-)
And so onto the Sunday. Whilst Mrs Z slept off the worst of her 'illness' in the St John's precinct car park, the rest of us returned to Lime St Spoons to catch up with HSA's Peter Scarfe for a brekky, no one even close to being able to face a hair of the dog.
A quick look round the Catholic Cathedral, as much to avoid the persistent rain and to indulge Peachy's love of concrete brutalist architecture as for any spiritual reason and then along to the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts to meet up with a group undertaking a musical walking tour with The Farm's Peter Hooton. The rain subsided and we enjoyed a brilliant three hour ramble. Peter is a great raconteur and has a mass of stories, including the legendary Oasis dust-up-that-wasn't, to back up his encyclopaedic knowledge of Liverpool's singularly incredible music heritage. Highly recommended and details of tours with Peter, Keith Mullin (The Farm) or Nasher (FGTH) here: https://theguideliverpool.com/three-liverpool-band-legends-are-launching-a-new-music-history-tour-in-the-city/
For the terrace fashion obsessive, a highlight, though sad inasmuch as it's now just a facade, a sighting of the legendary Wade Smith shop, cradle of all things scally/casual and once the highest turnover Adidas store on the planet. Other notable locations: John Lennon's early flat; the Cracke, where Lennon held court; the site of Cream; Parr Street studios where just about everyone recorded; The Blue Angel, Zagger's back-up Thursday night dive of choice in the 80s; The State, top choice on a smarter Thursday night and where I once saw both BAD and New Order; Checkmate, cradle of the Liverpool punk/Bowie/scally melting-pot crossover scene and the legendary Eric's. Not forgetting a shocking statue of Cilla amongst the more obvious Beatles references.
A pint in the Lion with Peter and the rest of the walkers, a lovely bunch by the way, and time to head off home. Some weekend. Some city. Some people. That said, very proud of our own city, our club, the vast majority of our supporters and the stand taken on Saturday.
You reds!
Now to thank people. We hope we've got everyone. It's been a huge team effort. Unity is Strength.:
Now that the dust has settled from Saturday, we just wanted to wrap things up by saying a few thank yous. This was a 100% fan-led project, driven by us from #NFFC, but only made possible by working together with fans from #LFC throughout the process.
Firstly, huge thanks to @peterscarfe1 and Diane at @Hillsboroughsu1 . WIthout you reaching out to #NFFC fans in the first place, the links that have been built over the past two years would not have been in place for any of this to happen. You are wonderful people doing incredible things for fans of both clubs and we hope we repaid some of our gratitude to you on Saturday.
Thank you to @charlhennessy1 @sue14roberts and Tracey Clark for being so supportive from the beginning and helping us get the wording on the banner right. The last thing we wanted to do was cause you any further hurt or pain - we hope we did you and your loved ones proud.
Special thanks also to Stephen Wright, who took time out of his day on Saturday to meet us at the memorial and tell us the story of his brother Graham. Your support meant the world to us.
Thanks to @DTathletic for talking to us, telling our story and getting the message out to the wider world with your beautifully written piece for The Athletic. Also, huge thanks to you and @Bennettsj for your help with tickets - we literally couldn’t have done it without you!
Big thanks to Jay at @TheKopHQ @TheFarm_Peter @spiritofshankly @IanByrneMP @crawfordplfc and all the “Pauls” at the Dark House for welcoming us into your pubs and your city with such warmth and love all weekend. To stand, drink, sing, laugh and cry with you all was an absolute pleasure and a privilege.
From a practical point of view, we needed the help of Yonit and Paul Hudson at @LFC , both of whom couldn’t have been more helpful and accommodating - a real credit to their club and city. Thanks also to Will at @NFFC and Matt at @Forza_Garibaldi for the support and practical advice (“Make sure you hold it up the right way round…*laughing emoji*) and to Rich at @nottm_forest for getting behind the project from the very start.
Credit also to @_mattappleby for your help and support, and for coming up with the idea of lifting the banner in the sixth minute. Thanks mate.
Amanda from the NFFC end of the HSA overcame her powerful emotions to do a brilliant job with the HSA flag at 3:06. X
The Morley family made a generous contribution to the banner appeal, despite Anfield being the first away match they'd not got tickets for this season.
Lastly, we want to thank the wider fanbases of both #LFC and #NFFC for your overwhelming support and positivity. I think we can all agree we’ve not had the easiest of relationships over the years. None of us are perfect, we certainly don’t pretend to be, but deep down we know there’s much more that unites us than divides us, and we’ve proven that by working together we can bring a positive change. Unity is Strength. #JFT97
Cheers, @ziggerzagger67 @Ground_Designs @redinlondon @GBoatsy @OllieGauld @jitzjani, Ness, Julie and Bailey.
Comentários