As ‘The Secret Footballer”s identity is revealed as former striker Kitson, who made 81 Premier League appearances, he has given a fascinating interview in which he praises Liverpool’s atmosphere.
Kitson has played at Anfield twice in his career, both in 2008, once for Stoke and once for Reading.
The former football player explains in a revealing interview Liberty rock sport: “The crowd never bothered me. The stadiums never bothered me. I was never very impressed with playing somewhere. It never bothered me.”
“The only place I ever felt real emotion was Anfield.
“When I came out of the tunnel at Anfield and you had that Fagan and Paisley and Shankly and all these flags, and you thought, ‘Oh my, you know. This is as good as it gets’.”
The two times he played at Anfield he drew 0-0 against Stoke and lost 2-1 against Reading. Kitson is not the only ex-pro to share a similar opinion about the atmosphere in Liverpool.
He added: “There are the opening notes of You’ll Never Walk Alone, there are the flags. It’s not necessarily showmanship, it’s a celebration of ‘this is who we are, we are the biggest club’.
‘That’s how they behave, whether you agree with it or not.
‘We are the biggest club in this country, one of the biggest clubs in the world and this is what we have won and we are going to shove it in your face.’
“But they’re also proud of it. It’s an interesting dynamic. If you’re not careful, you can find yourself a little bit unfocused.”
This Is Anfield sign “like a bullet in the head”
As the crowd makes noise around the field, back into the tunnel, the intimidation starts early.
Since 1972, the famous ‘This Is Anfield’ sign has adorned the wall above players’ heads as they enter Liverpool’s Colosseum.
Kitson doesn’t think you can underestimate the effect it can have on players, saying: “That sign (This Is Anfield), interestingly enough, when I started studying psychology I thought about that sign. And obviously that sign didn’t start out to be what it is now, but it is.”
“‘This is Anfield’ is like a bullet in the head when you’re an opposition player. I remember one of my players saying, ‘Oh, good. We’ve come to the right place,’ which relaxed everyone a bit.”
However, the secret footballer isn’t entirely right about the sign’s origins; In fact, Bill Shankly always intended to torment the opposition and boost the men in red.
The wall next to the board in the new main stand even features Shankly’s words: “It’s there to remind our boys who they play for, and to remind the opposition who they play against.”
Danny Dwyer, once Liverpool FC Stadium Tour Guide, explained This is Anfield: “It was actually recommended to him by a groundskeeper.
“The groundsman then went to our then secretary Peter Robinson and said, ‘Listen, let’s put a sign in the players’ tunnel.’
“And then Shankly approved it, but the original sign that was recommended said: ‘Welcome to Anfield’.
“Bill said, ‘No. We haven’t, you’re not here to have a nice time, you’re not here to have a nice day, let’s have This Is Anfield’.”
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