One of football’s most famous songs isn’t a football song at all – but Bill Shankly gave it a place in history.
You’ll Never Walk Alone, written by Rodgers and Hammerstein for 1945 stage musical Carousel, became Liverpool’s club song because Shankly was enamoured with the 1963 cover by Merseyside band Gerry and the Pacemakers. Soon after, it reached No.1; Anfield’s stadium DJ would play the top 10 in reverse order before games and fans would join in for You’ll Never Walk Alone. It held top spot for only four weeks, but popular demand ensured that it returned as the final song before kick-off. In 1964, Shankly even sent his squad to New York to perform the track with Gerry Marsden on The Ed Sullivan Show. “Bill said, ‘Gerry, my son, I’ve given you a football team and you’ve given us a song’,” Marsden later reminisced.
And other clubs have adopted the iconic song, too, including Celtic and Borussia Dortmund.