Wear the Black Kit at Anfield?

On a similar note, I hate the lads playing in all Blue, we not only look like Chelsea, but it always brings back bad memories of being knocked out of cups or being fucking hammered playing decent teams, like Arsenal & Leeds years ago & who we still struggle against today!

I think the problem is not with the kit, the approach to the game, the build up, or the "it's just another away day" mentality... The problem lies with DM not wanting to lose so badly that we rarely look like winning at the place.

I think your idea is hateful, crass, and born out of very poor taste.

We cannot be seen standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them over Hillsborough, only to then adopt an official position re: Heysel....and take it upon ourselves to remind/ taunt/ protest or 'distance ourselves from,' them about it at EVERY (or even one) single Anfield Derby.

It would seriously poison the city, to say nothing about the reputation of Scousers.

If a change-strip was proposed exclusively for a sporting, psychological reason, then THAT theory is worthy of debate, but for me, it would lessen the sense of theatre & history associated with the fixture.

It has to remain Red versus Royal Blue & White.

I worked in London at the time of the 9/11 atrocities. On 12 September, I took the tube and went in to to work as normal despite all of the worry at the time.

If this is your first post, then perhaps you should think a bit longer and harder before you write your second one.

I see that Juventus have no problem with their city rivals who they haven't lost to in 18 years god forbid it takes that long for us to win over there.

Though I do agree with the sentiment – 'treat it as an ordinary away game' and wear the away strip.

I think it's better to wear the Royal Blue and not be drawn into petty point scoring by methods that most might find distasteful in the extreme, and if there was anything that would re-ignite that sorry time, bringing it to light again would be part of it.

Just give them a footballing lesson in Royal Blue for fuck's sake...........PLEASE!

On the psychological advantage of wearing black, not sure. If there was any impact on the Liverpool players it would be outweighed by the feeling of inferiority our players seem to have as soon as they step on a pitch with them, so don't worry.

But the black kit for the sake of invoking a psychological change in the players is an intriguing idea. Black represents serious, dark intentions, and it looks boss, so maybe it might have some subliminal effect?

We could really throw them for a massive loop and do it for Anne Williams in lieu of armbands? Wreck their heads that would, as well as one in the eye for Thatcherites and denialists everywhere.

Don't mind so long as we win, or at least kick fucking lumps out of the red bastards trying.

It's a bit of an embarrassment to see such an excellent site tainted in this way.

Changing to black for any other reason is worth consideration. But not the reasons Mr McArdle has given.

On the subject of the psychological factor, I agree wholeheartedly. There is nothing I know of stipulating that we can't play in the all black kit, and yes psychologically speaking I believe it could unnerve them much like their all red kit unnerves others. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that colours that teams play in affect the outcome of their results, I believe it would be quite intimidating seeing a see of black swarming around the pitch, black as a colour has long had an intimidatory quality to it. I say give it a go.

Jags supports Man Utd.

Blue for the derby, end of thread!

I can see where you're coming from, I think. You've had up to here (hand to head) with the shit that's coming from the shite. All the 'woe is me' bollocks and their lack of self awareness that makes them try to claim Heysel was also a tragedy for themselves. Not to mention Suarez, Southport DJ's, Whealen's niece, Stirling's ex et al.

I disagree with you post though. Blue is our traditional colour and we should play in it whenever possible. I also think that wearing our home kit might have an infinitesimally psychological edge over the black kit as it might put into the players minds our home form.

Plus, it's not our place to condemn a section of their support or leadership, they should be doing that themselves.

This meant my wife who travelled to Blues away games could also come to the game.
We will never forget the Super Super Kevin Campbell song and little Jug Ears handbags with the massive Westervelt.

The final whistle sounded for our one nil victory and the sight of shattered Kopites trudging home dragging their banners on the ground to the accompany of massed singing from our end of Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life.

My hopes for a repeat of such glorious moments at this weeks game are only tempered by the fact that dour Davy is our manager this time around.

Baines supports them not us.

I couldn't find it because it's not there, and I wouldn't dream of advocating such contemptible behaviour!

For those who started heading for the pitchforks at the mere mention of Heysel, please calm down and do me the courtesy of reading my post properly and from the perspective from which it was intended.

For a start, it was clearly in two distinct parts, hinted at by the paragraph which starts: “That was then, and this is now......” with the main thrust of the article being the latter part, and how the wearing of the black 'away' strip might affect the psychological approach to the game (nb: no mention of Heysel, and no intended connection with the black of the kit and a suggestion of mourning for the victims of that unfortunate event, as some respondents seem to have deduced).

“Okay, so what was the Heysel reference all about?“ — I hear you say. Well, as a first-time poster, it was intended (in the absence of a formal introduction) to hint at my vintage and at the length of time the kopites have been a thorn in my side. As I explained in the OP, given my situation at the time, that terrible tragedy was a watershed moment for me, and my distaste for all things Red reached another level. At a time not too far removed from this, Blues fans had enjoyed a memorable and trouble-free night in Rotterdam, and had received due praise for their behaviour. However, I believed the events at Heysel had the potential to cast all Scousers in a bad light.

It was in this context that the idea of wearing the 'away' kit at Anfield first came to me. Please note once again, I said the “away” kit — not a black kit — nothing to do with a false display of sympathy or mourning for those who lost their lives at Heysel, in a cheap attempt to score points over the kopites. Not at all.

For me, the wearing of the 'away' kit at Anfield would have been an attempt to symbolise a trip to that God-forsaken arena as a journey into a different mentality, a different culture, a different sense of decorum (now there's a word that needs to be revived, if ever there was one)... A philosophical away game, for want of a better description.

For those who will insist that the first part of my original article was an unnecessary preamble to what was intended to be a light-hearted thread, I respect your opinion. I must admit to an 'epic fail' on that count, but I hope a careful re-reading of the article would show that it's not the sacrilegious shite that some people have taken it for.

Thanks for the support. I was beginning to feel like Jake and Elwood at the Cook County Assessor's office.

In the rush to defend my original post I've evidently missed what should have been glaringly obvious.

Your assertion that the original idea was “hateful, crass, and born out of very poor taste”, I would probably agree with in retrospect. But it was a knee-jerk reaction to the outrage I felt at the time, and for which I make no apologies.

I do apologise for failing to grasp your point that a policy of wearing our 'away' kit to Anfield implemented at the time of the Heysel events would INEVITABLY serve to memorialise the tragedy... regardless of the colour of the kit and any other intended purpose.
Consider me suitably chastened.

Simon Jones.....
Thanks for the advice. I'll probably take it.

I hate LFC and I think as an institution it is very adept at damaging itself. I hate all their players to varying degrees but I cannot hate their fans crikey I know lots of them and they even have plus points, give to charity go to church pay taxes etc. It is not right to to associate the fans as a whole with blame for Heysel and as for Hillsborough never go there...
.

Everything else those bastards are involved in either ends in pain for someone else or hands them an advantage.

Heysel, bent refs, whinging when they didn't qualify for the CL, Suarez and the fact he is a misunderstood saint.

Never has a club dragged the name of football and this city through the dirt as much as these bastards and not once was it their fault.

I fucking hate them with a passion that cannot be believed.

Have LFC, as club or business, ever acknowledged any wrongdoing, ever? for anything?

Recently, over a discussion with a kopite over Heysel (I never brought it up) his whole viewpoint was that LFC had telex'd (ask your grandads) UEFA to complain about the venue and the selling of tickets to Italian-based fans living in Brussells so....
So what, said I, that doesn't justify what happened
His reply "yer doin me head in" - whatever that means, followed by a flounce
I see nothing wrong in reminding them of and maintaining "Justice for the 39"

Their years of supremacy in the past have made the majority of kopites (whatever attributes they may have as "people") the most obnoxious, self-serving, blinkered, up-their-own arses, wallowing in faux pathos, deluded gits going

Latest example, a direct quote re Suarez, "We Liverpool fans are not being allowed to move on and the witch hunt against our star is reaching outrageous levels. It's time to draw the waggons in and look after our own".

Bollocks to the whole lot of them - all fur coat and no knickers

I'm banking on the law of averages allowing us to stiff them on Sunday.

3-0 blues.

Nurrrrrrse!

Heysel did spoil a lot and I have every right to be a Bitter Blue. I do separate that from Hillsborough big time. However, I have found RS supporters try to put the two together to somehow muddy the facts about Heysel. I do not speak to them anymore.

The most recent Suarez incident with him biting is easily forgiven as "red mist" and a moment of stupidity, and passion common in sport. I cannot forgive that player for the diving to get players sent off and gain penalties, because that is calculated and has no place in sport. That should be punished a lot more.

Let's smash them on Sunday.

Tony, if you are not the 'McArdle' that ray referred to, are you our club photographer?

Hmmm....I've been called "dead common" before, but I never thought it referred to my name.

Imposter.

The kit may or may not have an effect on the team and its performance – though I think certain colours have a practical impact on a team's performance (remember Man Utd's grey kit at Southampton), but does the kit have a psychological effect on the fans?

I HATE the all blue kit. I associate with failure, and we seldom excel in that dreadful combination. I would like to see a degree more individuality, imagination and nostalgia. If there is a clash with shorts or socks (and by the way Everton ARE blue, white , white), then, instead of substituting blue for white, why can't we substitute black for white, or even yellow like we did back in the late 60s and early 70s? I suppose the fact that I have bothered to say this must mean it DOES have a psychological impact.

Like I say, if I see the all-blue kit, my optimism plummets. Colour is used as means of testing patients' psychological states by using the Luscher test, so it clearly has a resonance at a subconscious level. Nevertheless, I wouldn't care if we wore shite brown as long as we beat the RS.

I suppose it's all a matter of taste.

I appreciate your having recognised the intended tone of the article (024) and jumping to my defence in the face of Mark Pierpoint's criticism, but then you go and mention the other "H" word (598). Bad move ! ( winces, turns head away and sucks air through pursed lips ).

No mate, I'm not that fella either. Although I have had a long-term connection with Australia in my time, I've never been to Nambour.

Amongst the replies from those who managed to focus on the intended theme of the piece, I was surprised at the number who would be willing to give it a go. Apparently, a suggestion which involves tampering with the history and long-held traditions of the derby fixture is not the “heresy” I imagined it might be, in the opinion of some.
Of course, whether a change of strip would bring a different dynamic to the fixture could only ever be a matter of conjecture, as I believe the idea wouldn't go down well with the majority of fans, nor would it be considered for a nanosecond by the club.

Anyway.......for Sunday......... C.O.Y.B !......'KIN GERRINTERDEM !!

As someone has mentioned too, the blue and white shorts is a lot better than all blue that we wear away.