Liverpool Football Club versus Melbourne Victory Football Club - #LFCTour 2013

To be a true Liverpool supporter is to live and breathe the English Premier League club and everything it stands for.

It also means taking part in arguably the most rousing rendition of a sporting anthem on the planet.

And so, imagine hearing it sung by a 95,000+ strong crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground... this was the privilege of the spectators at the much-anticipated game on Wednesday 24 July. Watch:



Goosebumps, right? Even those who are steadfastly not Liverpool fans cannot deny the incredible power of probably the greatest 'terrace song' of all time.

Gerry and the Pacemakers made it famous in the 1960s and was almost immediately adopted as the Anfield anthem, after actually being written for Broadway musical 'Carousel' in the 1940s.

Funny: you actually believe it was written for Liverpool FC. The chorus demands to be sung along to, and it's always an emotionally charged delivery, as it was last night.

Asked in the press conference post-match what he thought about the rendition, LFC manager Brendan Rodgers was clearly as moved as the crowd who sang it, and proud of his club's efforts and how they've been received during the Jakarta to Melbourne, and now Bangkok tour.


"They can be very proud of what they put on tonight. 'You'll Never Walk Alone' at the beginning was a real tear-jerker. There's not many clubs in the world can do what we've done in the last week or so. Over 80,000 in Jakarta, over 90,000 here. It's a day that hopefully many of the supporters over here in Australia will never forget."

That, we never will Brendan. What a gent this man is, being as gracious as you'd hope post- press conference by happily posing for snaps with media who doubled as LFC fans. Even MVFC staff wanted a pic with this man, and why wouldn't they?

To Melbourne Victory's credit, what a spectacular show they put on. The final result of Liverpool 2, Melbourne Victory nil belies the sheer grunt and guts this strong A-League side displayed. They did Australia proud.

"Great night for football. Great game and really proud of our boys," MVFC coach Ange Postecoglou told Yahoo 7 post-match. "We're trying to be better. We're trying to reach the heights that they're at. It's nice that they acknowledge we played some good football tonight. I think we did gain some respect for our competition here in Australia and for our football club."

They did more than that. They hosted a game that will go down as an Australian sporting spectacular which made even bigger fans of LFC and MVFC football 'tragics', and endeared the game even more to those not quite under its spell yet.

"There's no doubt the game is growing and nights like just this confirm it," Postecoglou told Yahoo 7. "There wouldn't be anyone in this ground tonight with the level of play that doesn't fall in love with the game. That's what the game is all about. It's not just what happens on the field. It's more than that. It's great that so many people got to experience it."

True words those, Ange. The stuff of sporting legend. More of this in Australia, please.

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