FOUR FOUR TWO
You’ll Never Walk Alone is a song that is synonymous with emotional renditions sung by Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund and Celtic supporters, with the three clubs adopting the classic to be played before home games.
First released in 1945, Gerry and the Pacemakers adapted You’ll Never Walk Alone in 1963 to a song of their own, which has since taken on a life much bigger than the band could have ever imagined.
In 2016, You’ll Never Walk Alone had never been heard so cleanly, as Liverpool hosted Borussia Dortmund at Anfield in the Europa League. Fans all raised their scarves in the air, with the Anfield crowd then taking over the song as the music is cut from the speakers, leaving just the voices of both sets of fans.
Why was You’ll Never Walk Alone first sung ?
You’ll Never Walk Alone is perhaps the most famous football anthem in the world, yet its origins have nothing to do with football. In 1945 a musical called Carousel used the song as a show tune to comfort and encourage a suffering character.
Its fame, however, begins when a Liverpool based band called Gerry and the Pacemakers turned the song into a single that hit the charts across the UK in October 1963.
With music being such a pivotal part of the culture of Liverpool as a city, the music on the charts were played over the public address system at Anfield with the Kop swaying and singing along. She Loves You by The Beatles was famously sung as a news reporter stood in front of the Kop to talk about the connection between music and Liverpool fans.
The top 10 were counted down as kick-off got closer and in the weeks that YNWA was at No. 1 the Kop began to expect it to be played just before the players ran out. Fittingly in the 1963-64 season Liverpool won the league and You’ll Never Walk Alone was etched into Liverpool history forever.
Famously, legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly – who ranks at no.4 in FourFourTwo’s list of the greatest managers ever – spoke to Gerry Marsden and told him: “I have given you a football team and you have given us a song.”
