The Kop, Anfield,
Liverpool
The end at Anfield that was to become the Kop, was originally known as the Oakfield Road Embankment or Walton Breck Bank. It was renamed the Spion Kop in 1906 after the battle of Spion Kop and later it became known as 'the Kop'. This was the hill in present day South Africa, where Boer guerrillas had inflicted a heavy defeat on the British army in 1900. Many of the men killed were from the North West so the name was especially poignant. Other grounds around the country also renamed some of their terraces after the Spion Kop, such as St Andrews in Birmingham and Hillsborough in Sheffield.
Han Van Eijden (on the right) Standing In Front Of The Old Kop
In the late
1920's the Kop was expanded and covered, so that in total it housed 28,000 fans,
making it one of the largest terraces in the country. It was not however until
1964, that the Kop became famous across the world, thanks to a BBC Panorama
programme. It showed the swaying masses of fans on the Kop, on the day that
Liverpool clinched the League title. The images of those fans and the spontaneity
of the outbreaks of singing that even included a Beatles song or two, lived long
into the memory and is often shown on TV today. It was also during the 1960's that the Kop adopted Gerry and the Pacemakers' 'You'll Never Walk Alone' as its theme tune
Following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 the Kops' capacity was severely reduced as safety at football grounds was
made a number one priority. April 30th, 1994, saw the last game to be played in
front of the terraced Kop, before it was re-developed with a new all seated
stand.