Why Liverpool Fans Boo the National Anthem
If Liverpool make it to a cup final in England, which isn’t exactly out of the realms of the possible, then there is a very real chance that the nation will lose their heads. It isn’t because Liverpool are therefore being successful, although there are more than a few who adopt an attitude of ‘LIVERPOOL=BAD’ at all times. Instead, it is because of how the supporters of the Reds inside Wembley, or whichever stadium is hosting the final, will react when the national anthem is sung.
There will be loud boos ringing out around the venue, with fans letting it be known precisely what they think about the Royal Family and the authority they represent.
97 Lives Lost
There are plenty of reasons why Liverpool supporters boo the national anthem when it is sung, but one of the key ones happened on the 15th of April 1989. Liverpool were playing Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium, the home of Sheffield Wednesday football club. The ground had been the site of crushes in the years before the Disaster happened, but the authorities refused to learn any lessons.
This was in the days when football fans were treated like cattle; not that things have improved all that much in some locations nowadays. It was also an era when Her Majesty’s Constabulary regular behaved in an appalling manner.
Funny how all opposition fans are using the death of the queen to have a pop at liverpool fans by using hillsborough to have a dig whilst mocking the deaths of 97 people…
Vile ignorant bastards
— Jen (@liverbirdjen) September 9, 2022
They did so as representatives of the monarch. When the cover up began, the government, appointed by the Queen, happily went along with the lies. Successive governments, both Labour and Conservative, continued to deny the family and survivors of the Hillsborough Disaster any sort justice. To this day, no one has been held responsible for the deaths of 97 people and the emotional scars inflicted on countless more.
That happened whilst the monarchy continued to ‘rule over us’, with many of those responsible for the lies, the cover-ups and the refusal of justice ostensibly doing so as representatives of Her Majesty the Queen.
A Pointless Figurehead
What, exactly, has the monarchy done for Liverpool supporters in the years that followed the Hillsborough Disaster? If you are of the opinion that there isn’t anything that the Queen could’ve done or the King could do now, the question you need to ask yourself is ‘what’s the point of them, then?’
If they are, as seems to be the case, an entirely pointless figurehead then why do British people spend so much money on their upkeep?
The argument that they contribute more to society than they take out will often come back to anyone being anti-Royal, but there are plenty of countries that make money from tourism having removed their monarchy.
@dw_berlinfresh Everyone’s talking about the UK Royals. Here’s my European take #abolishthemonarchy #opinion
The Royal Family takes billions from the state, in spite of the fact that it is one of the richest families in the world. If a law was passed to ensure that no public money was ever paid to the Royal Family again, they would be absolutely fine. At the very worst they might have to sell some jewellery or some of the countless works of art that can be found in their numerous palaces up and down the land.
There is very little to suggest that the Royals would struggle in any way, shape or form if they stopped receiving public money. The British people, meanwhile, would benefit to a huge degree from the money saved, so why not?
The ‘Othering’ of Scousers
There is a phrase, ‘Scouse not English‘, which many on Merseyside use to describe how they feel when it comes to their nationality. Liverpool is in England but isn’t part of it. A huge part of the reason why this is the case is that the city has been ‘othered’ by countless Conservative-led governments over the years, with the people of Liverpool treated with contempt.
This became especially true in the 1980s, when Margaret Thatcher’s government, knowing it would never win the votes of the majority of Scousers, decide to employ a policy of ‘managed decline’ to the city, cutting public services and being entirely unwilling to help.
Again, the monarchy did nothing. There is little doubt that the monarchy and the Conservative and Unionist Party are closely linked, so the failure of the Queen to do anything to protect her people on Merseyside has not been quickly forgotten.
It is worth noting that many opposition supporters are regularly happy to sing about ‘hating Scousers’, turning up at Anfield and singing the national anthem as if it’s some sort of ‘gotcha’ that would make us all feel terrible, rather than making them looking particularly odd. Given the extent to which so many people seem to hate Liverpudlians, it is odd that few of us want to be part of their ‘gang’.
A Terrible National Anthem
Aside from anything else, one of the major reasons why many Scousers boo the national anthem is that it just isn’t very good. Many counties have national anthems that celebrate the country, such as ‘Fair Antigua, We Salute Thee’, ‘O Canada’ and ‘Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty’. The United Kingdom’s national anthem, meanwhile, is all about the monarch. ‘God Save the King’, it says.
We the people are hoping that he will ‘live long’ in order to ‘reign over us’. It asks to ‘send him victorious’, putting the monarch front and centre in the lyrics in spite of him only being there by an accident of birth. It isn’t an anthem that celebrates England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland but rather one person.
The best thing that will come of the monarchy being abolished is getting rid of this terrible national anthem
— Adam (@Adam_EFC_1878) June 30, 2024
There are many people who are quite happy not being ‘reigned over’, thank you very much. When King Charles III’s coronation was carried out, it happened during a cost of living crisis in the United Kingdom. Yet the jewel-covered crown that would be placed on his head was driven to the church in it’s own Rolls Royce, much to the disgust of many.
Children were literally starving to death, but we should all put our hands over our hearts and sing of our fidelity to the King? The truth of the matter, when you actually think about it and remove ‘LIVERPOOL=BAD’ from your thought process, is that it isn’t weird that Scousers boo the national anthem; it’s that more people don’t.
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