Fans renowned for their sportsmanship

Press, 1 June 1985, Page 10

Fans renowned for their sportsmanship

NZPA-Reuter London Liverpool fans, embroiled in incidents that led to the deaths of at least 40 people in Brussels’ Heysel Stadium on Thursday, have traditionally been renowned for their humour and sportsmanship. Fans of the European Cup final rival, Juventus of Turin,- Italy, many of whom were among the victims, also have little or no history of violence. Juventus fan clubs throughout Italy are strictly controlled and anyone with a history of violence is refused membership, say club officials in Turin. But vocal support at Liverpool’s Anfield Ground, when crammed with 20,000 passionate fans, can terrify even the most hardened teams. Liverpool players reckon that the support of the Kop — the nickname of the stands where the home fans watch — and the wall of noise that emanates from it, is often worth a goal start. Named after the Spion Kop, a famous battle in the Boer War, at the beginning of this century, the Kop has been the subject of television documentaries. At least six discs of the Koppites’ singing have been made. During the 1970 s supporters from Liverpool, a depressed port city in the north of England, were rarely entangled in crowd disturbances despite the vast numbers of fans who followed the club all over the country. Three years ago, when a visiting goalkeeper was hit on the head by a bottle thrown from the terraces,

the Kop howled its disapproval and handed the culprit over to the police. But recently attendances

at Anfield have fallen steadily, partly because of high unemployment in the area, and the high standards of

supporter behaviour have shown that they might be slipping. Followers of the Turin-

based side, owned by the powerful Agnelli family, which also owns the Fiat motor company, are also

known for noisy support of their team, but that has not normally erupted into violence.