Uncategorized

Continued uncertainty over the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games 202(1) in Tokyo

Olympic Games (OG) and Paralympic Games (PG) are for athletes, both in Denmark and internationally, a very special event – not least because of the OG’s and PG’s enormous media coverage and the personal, collective and national prestige that is associated with winning the OG or PG medals. As early as the end of March 2020, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Government of Japan decided to postpone the 2020 Olympic Games to the period July 23 – August 8, 2021 and the 2020 Paralymic Games to the period August 24 – September 5, 2021. The IOC – and not least many Olympic federations, which have the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games as the overriding source of income – will go “incredibly far” in relation to global public health, to conduct the OG and the PL in the summer of 2021. Cancellation of the OG and the PG will result in the loss of giant television revenues and sharply declining revenues from commercial partners, which will throw all Olympic sports – except football – into an existential, economic crisis. Postponement of the OG and the PL has already resulted in an extra costs of DKK 12 billion for Japan as a nation and Tokyo as a city. The extra costs will be used in particular for a large number of measures to prevent the spread of infection during the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games. In addition, the support of the Japanese people for the OG and the PL has been markedly declining in recent months. The latest poll from the news media Kyodo News shows that over 70% of the Japanese population is in favor of a further postponement or a complete cancellation of the games. Most – and not least “sports fanatics” – can now “only” hope that an approved vaccine can create greater and better safety for all – athletes, coaches, leaders and spectators – when people from more than 200 countries gather to compete for Olympic and Paralympic honors.

Denmark has qualified OG athletes and teams in many sports

This year’s cancellations of the World Championships in i.a. badminton, wrestling, kayaking and rowing as well as the cancellations of the European Championships in i.a. athletics and swimming make it very difficult to assess the Danish medal chances in Tokyo. Overall, it can be stated that Denmark currently has qualified athletes and teams for the Olympic Games in 12 different sports: Athletics, table tennis, archery, wrestling, cycling (track and road), handball (men), kayaking, horseback riding (dressage, military and jumping), rowing, sailing, shooting and swimming. In addition, Denmark has very good chances of qualifying athletes in badminton and golf based on world ranking positions, so the number of sports probably lands close to 15, which was the number of Danish sports at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Track cycling has the most and biggest Olympic medal chances

In my opinion, the biggest Danish Olympic medal favorites must be found in track cycling, where the Danish riders at the World Championships in February achieved impressive results. This year’s by far the best Danish sports performance is the World Championship and a new world record with a time of 3.44.672 in 4 km team pursuit. Lasse Norman Hansen, Julius Johansen, Frederik Rodenberg and Rasmus Pedersen won ahead of New Zealand and Italy, whereas proud track cycling nations such as Australia and Great Britain disappointed terribly. These two nations have traditionally fought for Olympic and World Cup gold for a number of years. And they will definitely try to challenge Denmark in the battle for the Olympic gold medals in Tokyo. I also believe in the Olympic medal for the two experienced track riders – Lasse Norman Hansen and Michael Mørkøv – in madison. Both have previously won Olympic medals and in February 2020 they became supreme world champions. It will also be really exciting to follow both Julie Leth and Amalie Dideriksen in madison and Amalie Dideriksen in omnium at the upcoming Olympic Games. Recent years’ World Championships and World Cup results have shown that – also among the female track riders – there is medal potential.

Cycling is clearly the sport in Denmark that has shown the best results and the greatest sporting progress in the last 3-4 years. Danish riders have also achieved great results in 2020, both in classic races such as the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana as well as one-day classic races such as Gent-Welvelgen, which this year was won by ex-world champion Mads Pedersen. The impressive international level among Danish riders was also confirmed at the 2020 World Championships in September, which was held in Italy. It did not become World Championships medals, but 4 top 8 places in 4 different Olympic disciplines: Jakob Fuglsang was No. 5 in line race, Kasper Asgren was No. 6 in time trial, Cecilie Uttrup was No. 8 in line race and Emma Norsgaard was No. 7 in time trial. For that reason, road riders must also be credited with good medal chances when it gets off the road in and outside Tokyo.

Sailing is traditionally a strong Danish Olympic sport

I also believe in Olympic medals in sailing – one of the classic Danish Olympic sports. Over the years, Danish sailors have won as many as 30 Olympic medals, including 12 of gold. The 2020 World Championships in Olympic disciplines such as 49’s, 49’s FX, Nacra and Laser Radial, which was held in Australia just before the outbreak of the pandemic, unfortunately did not yield any World Championship medals, but all 4 top 8 places: Anne-Marie Rindom was No. 4 in Laser Radial, Jonas Warrer and Jacob Precht became No. 7 in 49’s, Anne-Julie Schütt and Iben Nielsby became No. 6 in 49’s FX, while Lin Cenholt and Christian Peter Lübeck became No. 8 in Nacra. In my opinion, Anne-Marie Rindum in Laser Radial has the greatest Olympic medal potential in Tokyo. Rindom has won 2 World Championships  and 2 WC bronze medals within the last 5 years and at the 2016 Olympic Games she won a bronze medal. I also think that Cenholt and Lübeck have good chances of winning a (surprising) Olympic medal in Tokyo.

Rowing and badminton also have Olympic medal candidates

Among good Danish sporting results in 2020 should also be mentioned Sverri E. Nielsen’s European Championship in rowing, not least because two of the strong Faroese’s probably worst competitors for the upcoming Olympic Games – Kjetil Borch from Norway and Oliver Zeidler from Germany – were clearly defeated in a nicely disposed finale. Viktor Axelsen’s All England victory in badminton, which was played immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic’s global lock-down, was also among the best Danish sports results in 2020.

The men’s national team handball delivered the most disappointing result

The most disappointing sporting performance of the year was, in my opinion, the Danish men’s national team handball at the European Championships at the beginning of 2020. It is extremely rare for a reigning Olympic champion and world champion to leave the European Championships after the group game. But a one-goal defeat to Iceland and a draw against Hungary meant an early return trip for an otherwise very victorious and medal-winning Danish national team. It will be exciting to follow the men’s national team’s performance, both at the World Championship in Egypt in a few weeks and not least at the Olympic Games, where the titles will be defended. I will not be surprised if it turns out to be both a World Championship and an Olympic medal – perhaps not of gold – but the quality and especially the variaty of top players on the Danish men’s national team is completely unique in recent years. The same quality and variaty is not found on the women’s national team handball, although the European Championships at home count contained several uplifting elements and good play leading up to a very disappointing performance against the tournament’s surprise Croatia in the battle for bronze medals.

The men’s national football team is going to two “exams” in the coming year

The Danish men’s national football team is facing two very exciting “exams” in 2021: the European Championship finals in 2020 with three home matches in the “Parken”: Finland (June 12), Belgium (June 17) and Russia (June 21). Based on the individual nations’ rankings on FIFA’s world rankings, Belgium (No. 1) and Denmark (No. 12) are favorites to advance from the group stage, but also in the world of football, big surprises happen from time to time. For me, it will also be a big surprise – or more precisely a big disappointment – if Denmark does not succeed in 2021 in qualifying for the 2022 World Championship in football, which will be held in the oil state of Qatar. Opponents in WC qualifiers – Austria (No. 23), Scotland (No. 48), Israel (No. 87), the Faroe Islands (No. 107) and Moldova (No. 177) – are all placed significantly lower on FIFA’s world rankings than Denmark (No. 12).

Finally, I would like to wish everyone – athletes, coaches, leaders and spectators – in Danish and international elite sports – a Merry Christmas and a very busy New sports Year.

Strong combination of theoretical knowledge and applied practice

Back in the 1970s and 1980s, Jens Bangsbo played over 350 matches in Denmark’s best football league, including for Kastrup Boldklub, Hvidovre IF, Lyngby Boldklub and Esbjerg fB. He’s a graduate of P.E. and math and has written more than 300 scientific articles and 25 books on football. And not least, he has managed to integrate the physical, technical and tactical elements of the game, both in the daily training and the club’s game concept. Bangsbo has also been associated with the Danish national football team for several periods as physical coach during the final rounds and has been coach and educator of the DBU, UEFA and FIFA. Today, Bangsbo is regarded as one of the world’s most competent experts in physical training in football. And the commitment to Atalanta B.C. is today combined with the job of professor in applied physiology at the Department of Sport Science and Nutrition at the University of Copenhagen.

An offensive and aggressive game concept

It was also as a physical coach that Jens Bangsbo met Gian Piero Gasperini at Juventus F.C. – Italy’s most winning club, both nationally and internationally. At the time, Bangsbo was a consultant for the club under legendary coach Marcello Lippi, while Gasperini served as youth coach at the same club. Gasperini and Bangsbo quickly found each other in conversations about the qualities and challenges of different game concepts. Gasperini has always been a believer in an offensive style of play that demands the individual players, both physically, technically, tactically and mentally. “It is far from coincidental that we have been the highest-scoring Serie A team in the last two seasons. Our formation is typically 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 with offensive, aggressive pressure on the opponent. This means that players have to deliver a very large running syllabus in every single game, whether we play at home or away. The game concept also means that all training sessions take place with very high intensity, which is far from suitable for all players. Football is a team sport, but training must be individualised to achieve the greatest possible impact. Therefore, we very often work with specific technical-tactical training in groups of 3-5 players. With us, players must fulfil the game concept – and not the other way around. Therefore, it also happens relatively often that the club buys players that we sell on relatively quickly or rent out, because they simply cannot honor the kind of football that Atalanta B.C. must achieve results on”, says the 63-year-old Bangsbo.

Physical and mental fatigue “just around the corner”

The offensive game concept of aggressive pressure on opponent and a high defensive line with 3 defenders and short distance between defense and midfield also makes in between Atalanta B.C. vulnerable. Not least against teams who master the counter-game at a high level, such as Liverpool F.C. “We have seen that in the first game of the season many goals have been scored against us, both in Serie A and the Champions League. That’s because our pressure game hasn’t worked quite as well as last season. And then we have made too many personal mistakes – it will be punished about the very best teams”, says Bangsbo. Among the reasons for Atalanta B.C.’s good results over a long period of time is according to Bangsbo that the club has been spared from injuries. “We have only used 14-15 players for almost a year, which is quite unusual in terms of the large number of matches we have played. However, we can now see several negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, which extended last season and meant virtually no summer break. Many of our players are now both physically and mentally tired after a very large number of matches. It costs that the players have not been given the break their bodies are used to and need. For that reason, I may be a little concerned about the coming weeks as we have to perform in Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League. The decisive battle for qualification for the eighth-place final in CL will probably be the match against Ajax in Amsterdam”.

Conversations are the key factor to a very strong sense of community

Jens Bangsbo has worked in Italy for several years now, but has also been associated with clubs in both Greece and Turkey. “I love Italy and football – and not least the Italians’ attitude to life. It was a great experience for me and my family to stay here for three years. We felt welcome and Italians are generally open-minded and very passionate about the things that they find important in life. I have also experienced with Italian top coaches such as Lippi, Ancelotti and Gasperini that they are very adept at seeking advice and guidance from the professional experts who are part of their staff. Italian top coaches often have very high charisma, as is the case with Gasperini. And then they have a clear philosophy with the team’s game concept. In addition, I learn these years a great deal from Gian Piero’s crew treatment. He manages, through often long and in-depth conversations, both with the individual players, the team and the staff around the team, to create a very strong sense of community” continues Bangsbo, who has not set a date for the end of his cooperation with Gasperini and Atalanta B.C. “I have learned from a long life in football that things can change in a split second – also in Italy”.

You can read more with Atalanta B.C. on the website: https://www.atalanta.it

You can also read about Jens Bangsbo’s scientific articles and books on football here:

https://nexs.ku.dk/ansatte/?pure=da/persons/jens-bangsbo%2824839560-f889-42a6-9b73-97b69f101548%29.html

Northern and Southern Italy are two different worlds

There is a big difference between prosperity, living conditions and mentality in Northern and Southern Italy. Rome has always been the capital of Italy and not least the country’s political and religious centre of Western civilization, partly as the capital of the Roman Empire and partly as the home of the Holy See. It was mainly industrialisation at the end of the last century that created great income and wealth disparities between the South and the North in Italy. Today, Northern Italy is rich, industrially well developed and dominated by private companies, while Southern Italy is poor, highly dependent on agriculture and with very high unemployment in several regions. Therefore, it is no coincidence that most, richest and most winning football clubs, both nationally and internationally, are located in Northern Italy. More than 3/4 of the Serie A clubs come from Northern Italy and only S.S.C. Napoli have historically been able to challenge the clubs in Northern Italy.

“The old lady” that no one gets close to

The biggest among Italian clubs is Juventus F.C. from Turin, which has won no less than 37 national Championships. Or more than twice as many as the two Milan clubs – A.C. Milan and F.C. Inter – both of which have won 18 national Championships. “The Old Lady,” the club’s nickname, has won the national Championship for the past nine seasons and there is no indication that any other club can prevent Juventus F.C. with world stars such as Bonucci, Chiellini, Ronaldo and Dybala winning the 10th Championship in a row when the bottom line is to be made up for spring 2021. In addition, Juventus F.C. have won two Champions League titles and three Europa League titles in recent decades. The national and international success of the Turin club has long been a thorn in the side of all tifosi in Milan – Italy’s second largest city with more than 1.3 million inhabitants. And now the two traditional clubs are being squeezed from a completely unexpected edge: Atalanta B.C. from Bergamo.

From “lift club” to Champions League quarter-finalist

Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio, founded in 1907 by a group of high school students, has played in Serie A for 58 seasons but never won the national Championship. And until a few seasons ago it was a “lift club” between Serie A and Serie B. But with the recruitment of Gian Piero Gasperini in the summer of 2016, a new era began for the club, which has also had well-known Danish national team players such as Jørgen Leschly Sørensen (1949-1953) and Flemming Nielsen (1961-1964) among the profiles of the club. It was with Flemming Nielsen on the team that Atalanta B.C. won the “Coppa Italia” in 1963 – the Italian Cup. Gasparini introduced a highly offensive and aggressive style of play with little Argentine Alejandro “Papu” Gomez as the focal point of midfield as well as Luis Muriel and Duvan Zapata from Colombia and Slovenian Josip Ilicic as hyper-dangerous strikers. The results were also absent, with the club becoming No 4 in the 2016-17 season and trailing No 3 in the past two seasons. And last season, the team scored as many as 98 goals, the highest number of goals in Serie A since 1948. With the top positions in Serie A Atalanta B.C. has also gained access to the Champions League group stage, thereby also securing a very substantial injection of capital for the purchase of players from the “top international shelf”. In terms of results, the debut in the Champions League in the 2019-2020 season also surpassed everything and everyone’s expectations, with only a few seconds separating the club from a place in the CL semi-final.

“Gli Azzurri” – the pride of the nation

Italy’s strong passion for football includes not only club football, but definitely the national team “Gli Azzurri” – the azure ones – who have won the World Championship four times (1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006) – second only to Brazil with 5 World Championships (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002). Somewhat surprisingly, Italy, where the goalkeeping legend and captain 42-year-old Gianluigi Buffon will play national no. 177 in a few weeks, have won only one European Championship, namely on home soil in 1968. Italy has often emerged as a nation with many political conflicts and conflicts between the individual regions of the North and South. Despite these conflicts and contradictions, the national football team has always been a national pride across the age, gender, political persuasions and economic hapitus.

The beautiful moments of life

On Tuesday night, Atalanta B.C. will meet one of the world’s best club teams: the national champions of England and the 2018-2019 CL-Champions from Liverpool F.C. in the CL group stage. And next Sunday there will be a special match at the “Gewiss Stadium” when F.C. Inter from Milan – presumably with Christian Eriksen as the substitute – will visit Bergamo. Unfortunately, due to the risk of infection, it is not possible, either for me or other spectators, to be physically present in the stadium. So I must instead follow the matches “live on TV” at one of the local bars. On the other hand, it is still allowed to enjoy a good dinner with wine from the Valcalepio district at “Ristorante Il Ducale”, visit the art gallery “Accademia Carrara” and buy a pair of shoes and new pants in one of the many fashion stores at “Via XX Settember”. A “peasant from Jutland” has also learned that life can consist of “beautiful moments”.

In my next blog I will tell you a little about the background to Atalanta B.C.’s sporting achievements in recent years with my good friend – and today assistant coach of Atalanta B.C. – Jens Bangsbo as the main source.

You can get more information about Serie A here: http://www.legaseriea.it/en

In addition, the book by Jesper Ralberg & Mikael Sørensen: “Calcio Italiano – Culture, Politics and Economics” (2013) can be recommended.

FCM is a debutant in the CL group stage

FCM’s ranking as No. 102 on UEFA’s rankings indicates that the club’s qualification for the CL group stage and not least the accompanying capital injection is definitely not “everyday life” for the ambitious club from Herning-Ikast, which so recently 7 years ago was stumbling close to financial bankruptcy. The English rich man Matthew Benham, who is also the owner of the English Championship club Brentford F.C., at that time bought the majority of the club’s shares and thereby secured it financially. Subsequently, FCM with three Danish championships, one silver and two bronze medals and a cup title of 6 seasons has taken over FCK’s dominance in Danish football. The coming months and years will show whether FCM can also perform on the biggest international football scene: the UEFA Champions League.

Economic capital concentration in the major leagues

The cash flow in the UEFA Champions League is gigantic, according to the latest annual report from the international accounting and analysis company Deloitte. The total turnover in European football is almost DKK 220 billion and constitutes more than 80% of the turnover for all sports in Europe. And almost 2/3 of the turnover in European football is within the five biggest leagues: Premier League (England), La Liga (Spain), Bundesliga (Germany), Serie A (Italy) and Ligue 1 (France). The economic concentration in the major leagues has only gone one way since the turn of the millennium: Upwards. The economic growth is primarily due to astronomical TV contracts, both in relation to the national leagues and the two European club tournaments: Champions League (CL) and Europa League (EL).

Sale of TV rights = the financial success of club football

UEFA sells the television rights to the Champions League on multi-year contracts to a number of different broadcasters, which broadcast the matches on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in one or more countries. The individual CL matches are included in different packages, where some matches are “free”, while others are “pay-per-view” matches. The broadcasters also trade the rights between each other across national borders. The sale of television rights to the Champions League makes up the vast majority of UEFA’s total revenue. And these have almost doubled over the past 5 years, namely from DKK 11 billion in 2014 to DKK 21 billion in 2019. On the other hand, the financial turnover on match days from spectators, both nationally and internationally, makes up only 10-15% of the total turnover. The all-important reason why last season’s Champions League and Europa League were settled over one match, without spectators and within a few days from the quarter-finals until the final was not sporting, but purely financial. The substantial contributions to UEFA and the individual European top clubs from TV contracts and exposure of multinational sponsors were simply too great for CL and EL not to be completed.

European top clubs are owned by non-European capital

UEFA supports the concentration of gigantic sums in the five biggest leagues by distributing 70% of the payouts from the two European club tournaments – the Champions League and the Europa League – to these five football nations. The five biggest leagues are also pre-allocated 19 places – or 60% – out of 32 places in CL’s group stage. A significant explanation for this distribution is a latent threat from the strongest money clubs – Real Madrid C.F., F.C. Barcelona, ​​Manchester United F.C., F.C. Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Manchester City F.C. and Liverpool F.C. – to go their own way in the form of a “closed tournament” exclusively for these clubs. The top European clubs, most of which are owned by investors from Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the United States or other countries outside Europe, have had annual growth rates of 8-10% over the past decade and the individual clubs’ annual turnover is today at DKK 5-7 billion.

The richest clubs have a monopoly on sporting success

UEFA has gone to great lengths sportingly to accommodate the strongest clubs and today the Champions League is a “closed VIP party” for the richest, while smaller nations’ best clubs – in i.a. Denmark, Sweden and Norway – in the vast majority of cases must “just” qualify for the second best European club tournament: Europa League and from next season the third best European club tournament: Conference League. The enormous capital concentration of the top clubs in the five biggest leagues also has a number of sporting consequences. In the 2019-2020 season, no clubs from other than the top five leagues managed to advance among the top 16 clubs from the group stage. And on UEFA’s ranking, which is calculated according to the clubs’ results in the last 5 years of European club tournaments, there are only 3 clubs – F.C. Shaktar Donetsk of Ukraine (No. 12), F.C. Porto (No. 19) and S.L. Benfica (No. 20) from Portugal – among the 20 highest ranked clubs.

Inequality in European club football is growing

Developments in European football are unequivocal: the richest clubs in the biggest leagues are getting richer and richer. And the clubs in the smaller leagues – i.a. the Danish Superliga – gets (perhaps) a (marginally) larger financial turnover, but in relation to financial races among Europe’s strongest money clubs, the clubs from the smaller nations become poorer and poorer. The best players – also from Denmark – will naturally compete against the five strongest leagues and the concentration of top players is – and will in future be further – in relatively few clubs. It is thought-provoking that the second best series in England – The Championship – today has a significantly higher turnover than e.g. the best leagues in the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal. In a “global and unregulated market”, the (few) strongest will always do best. And with capital transfers across borders and continents, inequality will (just) get bigger and bigger – especially in football, which has the entire world’s population as consumers.

You can get more information here:

• ”Deloitte Football Money League” – https://www2.deloitte.com/bg/en/pages/finance/articles/football-money-league-2020.html
• UEFA Champions League – https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/

Roy Hodgson’s Backyard: A run-down, sad and impoverished suburb

I visited shortly after Roy Hodgson’s appointment as manager of Crystal Palace F.C. 3 years ago the dilapidated and sad district of Croydon, where Roy Hodgson was born and raised. Roy’s mother worked in a bakery and his father was a bus driver in one of London’s poorest areas, where apartment blocks, terraced houses, greengrocers, hairdressers, fish-and-chips shops, betting companies and pubs form a cluttered and raw suburban area. In the same way as the many different ethnicities, it forms the pulsating and colorful street scene. It was by no means coincidental that almost 10 years ago, Croydon was the center of a series of riots in which houses and shops were set on fire and confrontations between police and troublemakers became front-page news in the media. As a boy, unlike his father who was a Newcastle United fan, Roy was a happy Crystal Palace supporter and he also tried to break through as a youth player in the favorite club. It never succeeds, however, but the dream of winning football matches, respect and recognition with Crystal Palace F.C. remained unchanged at Hodgson throughout his lifelong career as manager of 16 different clubs and national teams in 8 different countries.

Great sporting success in Sweden: Four Championships and two cup titles

Roy Hodgson was educated as a P.E. teacher, but already at the age of 23, Hodgson began his coaching career in English amateur clubs. However, it was not until he was appointed head coach of Halmstad BK in the mid-1970s that his impressive coaching career really took off. Halmstad BK was at that time bottom team and threatened with relegation in Sweden’s best football league – Allsvenskan – but in record time Hodgson introduced a new style of play with great success: Halmstad BK sensationally won the Swedish championship in Hodgson’s first season at the club, which was repeated three years later. Also in Malmö FF, which has always been one of Sweden’s top clubs, Hodgson achieved great sporting success with two Championships and two Cup titles in four seasons (1985-1989). Because of these achievements, Hodgson was highly regarded and he had a great influence on the development of Swedish football throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Hodgson, along with his good friend and coaching colleague Bob Houghton, introduced zone coverage with a high offside line of the four defenders as well as high pressure on the opponents’ ball carrier of the midfield and forwards.

The cornerstone of FCK’s dominance in Danish football

Roy Hodgson also laid the foundation for FCK’s sporting success in recent decades, even though he was only associated with the club for a single season: 2000-2001. Hodgson is, in my opinion, by far the greatest coaching capacity that has worked in the Super League. In record time, the experienced Englishman, who at the time had also been coach of the Milan club Inter in Serie A and national coach in Switzerland, succeeds with a classic British 4-4-2 game concept and a strong discipline on the team exemplified through the two leadership types : Jacob Laursen as central defender and Ståle Solbakken as back midfielder to achieve great sporting success: FCK lost only four matches in the season 2000-2001 and became supreme Danish champion. In many ways, Hodgson has put together his game concept according to simple principles – unlike many “modern” coaches and managers. Hodgson has e.g. always believed that the farther the ball is from one’s own goal, the fewer goals the opponents score. Hodgson also became known in FCK for his raw – but also familiar – tone with players, staff, chairman and board. FCK has of course developed and nuanced Hogdson’s 4-4-2 game concept, but in my opinion there is no doubt that it was primarily Hodgson who changed FCK from being a mediocre team to a champion team.

“England Manager”: The hottest seat in football

Of course, this is far from the only success that can be attributed to Roy Hodgson’s career as a manager for more than four decades. Among his more “dark” chapters is a very short period in the autumn of 2010 as manager of one of the big clubs in British football: Liverpool F.C. Despite a 3-year contract, the relationship between Hodgson and the players, staff, board and not least fans of the LFC never worked well – the chemistry simply fit. Nor did Roy Hodgson’s work as manager of the English national team in the period 2012-2016 become a real success. For any English manager, the dream job is “England Manager”, but the pressure from the media in particular on this position is relentless and at times very painful. It seems that several of the English media are still living “in the shadow of” the World Cup triumph at Wembley in 1966. During Hodgson’s 4-year appointment as manager, England achieved its best position so far as No. 2 in the FIFA World Ranking (autumn 2013). Hodgson also manages to qualify England for both the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the European Championship 2016 in France, but both Cups were sporting failures. Expectations for the English national team were towering ahead of the 2014 World Cup, but defeats to both Italy (1-2) and Uruguay (1-2) as well as a goalless match against Costa Rica sent the nation’s pride – “The Three Lions” – humiliated return after that initial group stage. The results put Hodgson under tremendous pressure in the British media and among the enthusiastic – or more precisely fanatical – English fans. And with the absolute low point – the traumatic defeat of 1-2 to the “mini-put nation” Iceland in the round of 16 at the European Championships 2016 – Hodgson’s time as manager of the English national team was over.

Home to the street of childhood and the playground of youth

Due to the lack of results with the English national team, there were also many who doubted Roy Hodgson’s quality as manager of the childhood club Crystal Palace F.C. when he was offered the job in September 2017. And the start as Crystal Palace manager was also anything but flashy: 7 lost matches and a goal score of 0-17. However, Hodgson had a strong belief, both in his game concept and in rock-hard work, which has always been a part of Hodgson’s everyday life. Slowly – but surely – the team and Hodgson found each other. And with 44 points in the remaining 31 matches, the club achieved a form 11th place in the Premier League. It has never happened before in the history of the Premier League that a team has avoided relegation after losing the first 7 matches of the season. Hodgson’s second season (2018-2019) was also a success with a 12th place and 49 points – the highest number of points the club has ever achieved. Also not in Hodgson’s third season (2019-2020) was Crystal Palace with a 14th place and 43 points near relegation, which meant that Hogdson’s contract with the childhood club was extended to the summer of 2021.

On Saturday afternoon, the post-war and working-class boy from Croydon will once again sit at the sidelines at Selhurst Park and follow every detail “on the pitch” – a gentleman is back in the street of childhood and on the playground of youth.

You can read more about here:

• Richard Allen: Roy Hodgson: A football Life: The first biography of England’s manager (2014).
• Mike Carson: The Manager – Inside the Minds of Football’s Leaders (Bloomsbury Publishing Plc., 2013).

Elite sports at the international level are a selective and exclusive system

This is not a thorough revision of the existing Act on Elite Sport, but only additions. It is, in my opinion, both inappropriate and annoying. There is more than ever a need for politicians to put words to and direction for the most important purpose(s) of Danish elite sports in an international context. The first section of the Act on Elite Sport states that “… Team Denmark is a public, self-governing institution that aims to develop Danish elite sports in a  socially manner” – but develop Danish elite sports for what? Today, there is an unfortunate mix of targets or means in relation to the overall aim of the Act. Sporting results are e.g. not specifically mentioned, neither in the main clause of the Act nor in the 12 tasks described by the Act. However, it is pointless not to view Team Denmark’s work from an international results perspective, ie. good sporting results at international events such as the Olympic Games, the World Championships and the European Championships – but certainly not at any price. Sexual offenses, dispensing of medicine without medical approval or the like do not (nor) belong in the world of sports, but examples of e.g. non-well-being and eating disorders will always occur in certain training environments. Likewise, it is my opinion that “… elite sports at the international level is a selective and exclusive system where athletes can and must be deselected. Far from everyone thrives in such a system. Yes – maybe it’s really the fewest. There will always be a power relationship between athlete and coach, as the coach’s task is to deselect and prioritize among the athletes. For that reason, it is also pointless to compare elite sports environments with, for example, workplaces and educational institutions, where inclusion and social care are core values ​​”(” Will all that talk of well-being force Danish athletes down from the medal podium “, Jyllands-Posten,  July 8, 2020 ).

Will the additions to the Act on Elite Sports have consequences for Team Denmark’s next support programme or and the contract with the Ministry of Culture?

If the Minister of Culture and the parties in the Parlament (Folketing) fail to discuss and take a position on the most essential issue in the discussion of Danish elite sports in an international perspective – the overall aim(s) and direction of development of Danish elite sports – it will be exciting to follow the consequences. partly for Team Denmark’s support programme 2021-2024 and partly for the contract between Team Denmark and the Ministry of Culture in the same period. The latest 4 support programme (2005-2020), which define who, what and how Team Denmark can support athletes, teams and federations and the latest three contracts between Team Denmark and the Ministry of Culture (2009-2020) have emphasized that the most important aim has been to ” … Team Denmark-supported federations must perform at the highest international level and win medals at the European Championships, World Championships and Olympic Games. At the same time, Denmark as a nation must place in the Top-5 among nations under 10 million inhabitants and in the Top-25 among all nations measured on international rankings ”(Contract between Team Denmark and the Ministry of Culture 2017-2020, February 2017). Will objective, measurable sporting results have the same value and significance when the additions to the Act on Elite Sports enter into force on 1 January 2021 or will other objectives achieve higher priority at the request of Team Denmark and/or the Minister of Culture?

An “independent” function can be a completely wrong solution

With the additions to the Act on Elite Sports, as mentioned earlier, the Minister of Culture wishes to strengthen Team Denmark’s supervisory obligation, so that the institution “… is obliged to supervise that the rules and guidelines that apply to Team Denmark and that Team Denmark lays down are complied with, and that the work of the federations and similar partners with whom Team Danmark collaborates takes place in accordance with Team Danmark’s ethical and social guidelines”and“… Team Danmark establishes an independent function with a specially appointed person that athletes, coaches and others can contact them if they experience unacceptable behavior in the training and competition environments that Team Denmark collaborates with. The independent function refers directly to Team Denmark’s board ”. The most interesting thing about the above addition, however, is that “… Team Denmark is responsible for establishing and preparing a detailed description of the independent function after discussion with the athletes’ representatives and the involvement of the Danish Data Protection Agency. The description of the function must appear in Team Denmark’s articles of association ”(Proposal for the Act on Elite Sports, the Act on the Promotion of Integrity in Sport and the Act on the Distribution of Profits from the Lottery, July 2020). However, it will be paramount to the value and quality of an “independent” function that the general legal principles of separation between a legislative, executive and judicial power apply. If Team Denmark’s Board of Directors is to be both a legislative and judicial institution with a “specially appointed person” with reference to Team Denmark’s Board of Directors as executive institution, this will be a very unfortunate construction. I have always been very concerned when sports organizations – or others – have established and developed “parallel systems” for the general courts. And precisely in relation to elite sports, where the “work”  by training and competitions rests on a legal basis, conflicts, disputes and serious disagreements should be decided in general courts when a party – athlete, coach, sports director, federation or others – experiences an offense by a counterparty. The greatest strengths in ordinary courts are that all actors have the right and duty to testify and that all statements are made under the responsibility of witnesses. Media and public debate are absolutely central in any democratic legal society, but interpretation, punishment and sanctions in relation to society’s laws and rules – including the Act on Elite Sports – must be handled by the courts and not by other bodies.

Capacity applies to everyone – except the members of the Confederation of Danish Sport’s (DIF) board members

The additions to the Act on Elite Sports also contain some positive changes, not least in relation to the capacity of board members. The Minister of Culture proposes that “… members of Team Denmark’s board may not at the same time be employed in the Confederation of Danish Sports or federation under the Confederation of Danish Sports or be a member of the board of a federation under the Confederation of Danish Sports (DIF)”. In my opinion, Team Denmark should be an independent, professional knowledge institution without board members with narrow sports policy and financial self-interests. It is very positive that the Minister of Culture – after the grotesque mixing of interests with the CEO of the Danish Swimming Federation, who was nominated by DIF to Team Denmark’s board – now proposes that this can not take place in the future. But it is still extremely unfortunate that board members of the Confederation of Danish Sports (DIF) can still – also – be board members of Team Denmark. Over the years, there have been a number of cases, including The Danish Volleyball Federation’s lawsuit against Team Denmark (2010-2011) and the case  regarding the location of a national elite sports center (2011-2014), where several of Team Denmark’s board members nominated by DIF had more than difficulty finding out which interests they represented: Team Denmark or the Confederation of Danish Sports. In my opinion, there are no reasons for the special status of DIF’s board members – in relation to DIF’s members: Board members and employees in the federations – when it comes to membership of Team Denmark’s board.

You can read about my views and attitudes regarding Act on Elite sports and the “swimming case” in the following blogs:

• In deep water – Act on elite sports, incapacity and power relations (25 April 2019) – https://ma57.dk/paa-dybt-vand-lov-om-eliteidraet-inhabilitet-og-magt-relationer/
  Continued in deep water – A lifebuoy was thrown, but without land in sight (May 10, 2019) –
  https://ma57.dk/fortsat-paa-dybt-vand-en-redningskrans-blev-kastet-men-uden-land-i-sigte/
• The dream that was shattered by power politics and a foolish lease agreement (November 18, 2019) – https://ma57.dk/droemmen-som-blev-knust-af-magtpolitik-og-en-taabelig-lejeaftale/
  “Study of the conditions for elite swimmers in the Danish Swimming Union” – Personal comments (9 February 2020) – https://ma57.dk/undersoegelse-af-forholdene-for-elitesvoemmere-i-dansk-svoemmeunion/

Much more than a textbook

The book’s primary target group is high school students and teachers, but it is also aimed at students and teachers at seminars, university colleges and universities as well as people who are interested in the body as a historical, cultural, political and identity phenomenon. Primarly, the book is a textbook, which i.a. illustrated by the many tasks, analyzes, tour guides and questions contained in the book’s six chapters. The book consists of an impressive historical source material, both in texts and pictures, which gives rise to and the opportunity for learning and immersion in the reader. And the two historians demonstrate throughout the book that they possess “knowledge of human beings and the world”, which is crucial to be able to ask and answer questions in a qualified way. In addition, the book is supplemented by a number of podcasts on the channel “Mediano Sport & Perspektiv”, where Bonde and Elsborg elaborate and discuss the book’s main topics. The new channel, which also contains a number of current broadcasts on sports and politics, has become a collaboration between the Danish Sports Studies (IDAN) and the dissemination portal Idrætshistorie.dk.

It is a difficult and complicated task to review and analyze the body as a phenomenon from ancient Greece to today’s Olympic Games. For this reason, the authors have also been forced to make a number of opt-outs and instead focus on selected main body and sports history topics: Sports in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire (500 BCE – 480 BCE), the Danish gymnastics pioneer J.P. Müller and the modern breakthrough (1870-1890), the Danish-German sports cooperation before and during World War II (1933-1945), sport as a means of power politics during the Cold War (1948-1991) and the super power nations China and Russia’s use of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi as national political propaganda.

Source criticism and methodological insight are very importent tools among students and teachers

Unfortunately, in my opinion, there are fewer and fewer high school students, students and teachers who have secure and strong methodological insight and knowledge in relation to source criticism and methodological key concepts. Therefore, the first chapter of the book: “Historical method and theory” is a really good starting point for the following five chapters. Through the use of pictures, films, symbols and sources, the reader is introduced to concepts such as historical awareness and use, credibility and tendency, primary and secondary sources, first- and second-hand witnesses, communication model, visual analysis, “soft” and “hard power” and imaginative national communities. This is a compulsory curriculum if the readers’ skills in sports history is to be expanded and nuanced.

Sports, body culture and politics – from ancient Greece to Putin’s 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

Many books on sports and body culture in ancient Greece have been published, both in Denmark and abroad. The reason for this is the French Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937), who wanted to improve the upbringing and education of children and adolencents through sport. Coubertin was very inspired by the Olympic Games of ancient and not least that adolencents through sports and fair competitions can learn to behave according to certain rules and acquire certain values. In addition, Coubertin also had a vision that sport can be a means to make the world better and more peaceful, i.a. by meeting youth from all over the world every four years to create peace and understanding between people. And in 1896, Coubertin succeeded in reviving the Olympic Games, albeit in a form and content that is far from the form and content we know today.

There is a connection between the ancient and the modern sports culture, but Bonde and Elsborg also succeed in a distinguished way in pointing out some significant breaks between the role of sport in ancient Greece and the modern Olympic Games, which we have experienced them in recent decades. Slightly simplified, one can say that the ancient sport was completely intertwined with the culture of society in the form of religion, democracy, politics, war, art and sexuality. Today, in my opinion, the Olympics are completely intertwined with gigantic commercial interests between super power nations, multinational sponsors and international TV companies, which strive for an entertainment show without too much disruption. That conclusion was only confirmed after having personally experienced the 2008 Olympic Games and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games up close and partly having read the book’s chapter on “Today’s Olympic Games: Beijing 2008 and Sochi 2014”.

New knowledge abounds in the chapter on the Danish gymnastics pioneer J.P. Müller, which is based on Bonde’s latest research: “The Health Apostle J.P. Müller, volume 1: The bodily modern breakthrough ”(Syddansk Universitetsforlag, 2020). The modern breakthrough is most often associated with a spiritual, democratic and literary break-up, but Bonde adds a new dimension to the break-up: a sensuous-erotic break-up, which the health educator J.P. Müller became a pioneer for. Müller’s individual, holistic gymnastics also focuses on nutrition, smoking, sleep, underwear, room temperature, sex and the care of teeth, mouth, throat, hair and feet – and the liberated. naked body thus became a violent revolt against Victorian contemporaries at the end of the last century.

There is also plenty of new knowledge in the chapter on “The Cold War in the Arena”, where sports in the 1970’s and 1980’s became a very useful means in the battle between the Eastern Bloc with the USSR in front and the Western Bloc with the United States in front. Not least the battle between the two Germany: GDR and BRD in the sports arenas and not least in the doping laboratories during the Cold War is at the same time both fascinating and frightening reading. The break of the Wall and the reunification of Germany is in my opinion one of the greatest and best events in world history, where sport – and not least the “new” Germany’s World Cup triumph in football in 1990 – gained incredible importance for the Germans’ self-understanding and identity.

We do not understand the present or the future – without knowing the past

The French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) has stated that “nothing changes as often as the past. Each generation creates its own historical picture”. The book “With the body into the culture – Gleam of light in Sports history” can help to give our generation a really good frame of reference to understand and explain our historical picture(s) about the body in the culture… for better or worse. Enjoy reading – MA

You can get more information about the book here:

Idrætshistorie.dk – http://idraetshistorie.dk/med-kroppen-ind-i-kulturen/
Mediano – Sport & Perspektiv – https://www.mediano.nu

Swedish athletes and national teams won as many as 16 World Championships medals in 2019

Today Sweden has secured qualification for the Olympic Games 2020 in 13 sports: Athletics, table tennis, wrestling, archery, cycling (road), football (women), gymnastics (artistic), judo, kayaking, equestrian (dressage, eventing and jumping), sailing, shooting and swimming. In addition, Sweden also has really good chances of qualifying in handball, both women’s team and men’s team, golf and taekwondo in the upcoming qualifying tournaments or by the world rankings. By contrast, there is no indication that Sweden qualify for the new sports on the Olympic program: Baseball (men), softball (women), climbing, karate, skateboarding and surfing. Sweden has always had a tradition of qualifying in many sports, but in my point of wiew Sweden gets very difficult to qualify in 22 different sports, as was the case at the 2016 Olympic Games, where Sweden won 11 medals in 7 different sports. Swedish athletes and teams, however, have in recent years achieved very good World Championship results in Olympic disciplines. Sweden won no less than 16 WC medals in Olympic disciplines in 2019 and the top 8 ranking points at the WC have also been larger in recent years than in the years before the 2016 Olympic Games. Sweden is thus strongly ahead of the 2021 Olympics with the potential medalist in athletics at the only 21-year-old pole vault Armand Duplantis, who won the WC silver medal in 2019 and a few months ago set a new world record with a jump of 6.18 meters. Additionally, discus thrower Daniel Ståhl, who won the WC silver medal in 2017 and became world champion in 2019, is a strong medalist candidate in Tokyo. However, in my opinion, the biggest medal favorite is 26-year-old swimming star Sarah Sjöström, who won a total of 3 medals in the 2016 Olympic Games and no less than 4 medals in Olympic disciplines at the 2019 World Championships. Additionally, in sports, such as wrestling, golf, equestrian, sailing, shooting and soccer for women, Swedish athletes and team has realistic medal chances at the 2021 Olympics Games.

Denmark was the best performing Nordic nation at the 2016 Olympics Games, with a total of 15 medals in 9 different sports – one of the historically best Danish Olympic results ever. Today, Denmark has secured qualification for the Olympic Games 2020 in 12 sports: Athletics, table tennis, wrestling, archery, cycling (road and track), handball (men), kayaking, equestrian (dressage, jumping and eventing), rowing, sailing, shooting and swimming. In addition, Denmark has very good chances of qualifying athletes in badminton and golf by world rankings, so that the number of sports with Danish participation at the Olympics 2020 comes very close to 15, which was the number at the 2016 Olympic Games. Danish athletes and teams showed good World Championship results in 2019 in Olympic disciplines, with a total of 12 medals and no less than three of gold: Mads Pedersen in road cycling, Anne-Marie Rindom in sailing (Laser Radial) and handball for men. Both Rindom, who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games and the men’s team handball, who are defending Olympic champions, are, in my opinion, potential medalists in Tokyo. However, the biggest Danish medal favorites are the 4 km team pursuit in track cycling, which in February 2020 became World Champions and at the same time set a new world record with time 3 minutes and 46.203 seconds. Additionally, Lasse Norman Hansen and Michael Mørkøv in madison have shown world class over the past few years and the two experienced riders are a really good bid for Danish Olympic gold in Tokyo. In addition to track cycling, sailing and handball, badminton with Viktor Axelsen and Anders Antonsen in men’s singles as well as kayaking with Emma Åstrand Jørgensen in the K1 200 must be awarded realistic medal chances at the 2021 Olympic Games. In contrast to Sweden and Norway, Denmark has achieved significantly fewer medals and Top-8 placement points at the World Championships in recent years. On that background, it will be more than difficult to get near by 15 medals at the 2021 Olympic Games.

Norwegian athletes and national teams have shown very marked progress in the last 3 years

Norway has achieved many good World Championship results, both in terms of WC medals and Top-8 placement points, in recent years. And all indications are that Norway will win significantly more medals and get far more Top-8 ranking points at the 2020 Olympic Games than at both the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2016 Olympic Games, both of which were very disappointing for one of the world’s best sports nations. Today, Norway has secured qualification for the 2021 Olympic Games in 8 sports: Athletics, cycling (road and track), gymnastics (artistic), equestrian (dressage and jumping), rowing, sailing, shooting and swimming. In addition, Norway has very good chances of qualifying for the Olympic handball tournament, both for women and men. And in my opinion, both handball teams must also be considered realistic potential medalists. In particular, Norway’s women’s handball team has achieved impressive results at the past three Olympic Games with two gold medals and one bronze medal. Among the biggest medal candidates should also be mentioned the 400 meter hurdles runner Karsten Warholm, who became World Champion in the distance in both 2017 and 2019, and the swimmer Henrik Christiansen, who won the WC silver medal at the 800 free style in 2019 and the single sculler Kjetil Borch, who won the World Championship in 2018 and the WC bronze medal in 2019. Among Borch’s competitors for the Olympic medals is the faroe Sverri Nielsen, which has shown impressive progress in the past year.

Finland may find it difficult to avoid sporting Olympic failure in Tokyo

Finland, unlike Norway, has won very few World Championship medals and achieved few Top-8 ranking points in recent years. Finnish athletes or teams hold only one World Championship medals in Olympic disciplines in 2019, and many suggest that Finland may have difficulty in improving the nation’s worst summer Olympics ever, the 2016 Olympic Games where it became only a single bronze medal. Today, Finland has only secured qualification for the 2020 Olympic Games in 6 sports: Athletics, cycling (road), equestrian (dressage), sailing, shooting and swimming. In addition, Finland has good chances to qualify athletes in martial arts such as boxing, wrestling, taekwondo and judo as well as weightlifting and golf. However, I do not think that Finland comes close to representation in 16 sports, as was the case in Rio. In my opinion, the highest medal chances among Finnish athletes is the wrestler Petra Olli, who has previously won the World Championship and the sailor Tuula Tenkanen in Laser Radial. Additionally, Lizzie Armanto, who is born and raised in California, US in the new olympic sport – Skateboarding.

Iceland has no medal candidates, but will probably qualify in 5 sports

Iceland has won four Olympic medals over the years, lastest the silver medal in the men’s handball tournament at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. At present, Iceland has only qualified swimmer Anton Sveinn McKee (200 m breaststroke), but hopefully obtain qualification in one or two sports more over the next 11 months.

Of course, much can happen over the coming year. Some athletes and teams can make great progress, while others may find it difficult to maintain their current level – or be “overtaken” by competitors from other nations. Overall, however, there is reason for optimism for the Nordic nations – not least Sweden and Norway – while Denmark, Finland and Iceland may find it difficult to achieve results as at the 2016 Olympic Games.

You can find more information about each country’s results and Olympic qualifications on the following websites:

• Swedish Olympic Committee (Sweden) – https://sok.se
• Team Denmark (Denmark) – https://www.teamdanmark.dk
• Olympiatoppen (Norway) – https://www.olympiatoppen.no
• Suomen Olympiakomitean (Finland) – https://www.olympiakomitea.fi
• The National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland (Iceland) – https://www.isi.is

At the end of a storm
There’s a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark

Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown

Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone

You’ll never walk alone

Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone

You’ll never walk alone

On next Sunday, when Liverpool Football Club hosts Aston Villa from Birmingham in the Premier League, the song “You’ll Never Walk Alone” will once again sound from the public-address system at Anfield – Liverpool FC’s legendary home ground since the club’s founding in 1892. Unfortunately without the spectators at “The Kop” and the other stands, but for all the club’s millions of supporters – in Liverpool and across the globe – the song and emotion this evening will be very special. The supporters can celebrate Liverpool FC’s first national Championship in 30 years. A club that has endured triumphs and tragedies of unimaginable dimensions over the past decades.

From the musical about a father’s “mistakes through life” to the world’s most famous football song

“You’ll Never Walk Alone” is first of all known as the world’s most famous football song. The lyrics make it rattle down the spine, and when the song sounds at Anfield in Liverpool, Celtic Park in Glasgow or Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, one must humbly acknowledge that however emotional and generous football can be. The song’s reach and fixpoint through the generations for millions of football fans is really surprising. The story of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” began back in 1945, when it was authored by the legendary duo Rodgers & Hammerstein for the musical “Carousel”. The musical is a very sad story of a father being sent down from heaven to seek forgiveness for some of the mistakes he made during his life on earth. “You’ll Never Walk Alone” as the closing number in the musical, where the father is allowed to return to heaven after reconciling and attending the daughter’s high-school graduation. This closing number has meant that the song has often been – and continues to be – sung in connection with end-of-term celebrations in the United States.

LFC – the hope of greatness for a sad and poor port city

The port city of Liverpool has always been closely linked culturally and socially to the United States, and the young singer Gerry Marsden had seen in the cinema in the early 1960’s the American filmization of the musical “Carousel”. He was not so impressed with the film itself, but he could not shake off “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. Gerry Marsden was singer in the Liverpool group “Gerry and The Pacemakers”, and in the fall of 1963 Gerry Marsden was ready to record the song on single. Gerry Marsden had seen, and not least heard right: A classic was born, but no one had ever dreamed what influence the song would have over time. Back in the fall of 1963, Liverpool FC, with the legendary Bill Shankly as manager, had just begun its ascendancy to the best football clubs in England. The club was the season before returned to the best division – after 8 seasons in the second best. The many dock workers from Liverpool’s dock areas had also just won the right to be released every Saturday afternoon, and “Merseybeat” with bands like “The Beatles” and “Gerry and The Pacemakers” really put Liverpool on the map. And on the world’s most famous stand – The Kop – 28,000 “scousers” stood every other Saturday and romped on the hit parade of time, which was played over the public-address system before every home game. When the tour came to “You’ll Never Walk Alone” the scousers” continued to sing, even after the speakers were turned off. And even as the song disappeared from the public-address system, the fans at “The Kop” continued to sing it. After that, it wasn’t long before it became a solid repertoire for all LFC’s matches. An indispensable ritual just before the players run on the field. Later that season (1963-64), the club won its first national Championship in 17 years, which was also the first championship with Bill Shankly as manager. And “You’ll Never Walk Alone” has since accompanied the club in good times and bad.

Among Liverpool FC’s biggest triumphs are 6 titles in the most prestigious European Champions League, 3 UEFA Cup titles, 19 national Championships and 7 FA Cup titles, making Liverpool FC one of the most winning English clubs ever, and the football club in the UK that has won the most European titles.

Two tragedies that will never be forgotten

But the song has seemed the strongest and most comforting in the club’s black moments – not least in connection with the tragedies at Heysel and Hillsborough. The tragedy at Heysel Stadium in Brussels took place during the final of the European Champions final between Liverpool FC and Juventus FC in May 1985. An hour before the match, it was revealed that the fences were set up to maintain a so-called neutral area in the stands between Liverpool and Juventus supporters were far too flimsy. The shutdowns gave way and chaos ensued among Juventus’ supporters due to pressure from Liverpool’s supporters. As a result, all fans gathered in the one grandstand, which crashed, killing 39 people. The game was finished despite protests from the teams’ managers, and it ended with a 1-0 win for Juventus FC. Subsequently, 14 Liverpool supporters were sentenced to imprisonment for up to 3 years for negligent manslaughter.

Only four years later, Liverpool FC and its supporters experienced yet another tragedy at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, with 96 fans perishing and more than 400 fans injured. The accident happened in a match where “The Reds” met Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi-finals. More than 25,000 Liverpool supporters had traveled to Sheffield and shortly after the start of the match, they became 96 supporters – including children of 6-8 years – mast to death. Both immediately after the match and right up until a few years ago there have been countless investigations and explanations of the causes of the tragedy. Just 4 years ago – and a quarter of a century after the Hillsborough Stadium tragedy – a jury set up by the British government announced that the 96 LFC supporters perished as a result of a criminal offense. The police, who were present during the match, were thus convicted of negligent manslaughter. In addition, the organizers of the match were criticized for not controlling the conduct of the match, including failing to postpone the start of the match due to the massive crowd influx. And finally, the rescuers were criticized for not realizing the scale of the disaster in time. In doing so, Liverpool supporters were resurrected for the accusations that had been directed at them over the years for awareness of the tragedy.

In joy and sorrow….

“You’ll Never Walk Alone” is also sung elsewhere than on Anfield and it has an understandable global appeal. But regardless of the fact, the song will always be closely associated with Liverpool Football Club. The relationship to the song has been strengthened after the Hillsborough tragedy, and for Liverpool fans, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” has become the epitome of what football and life are all about: We stand together – in joy and sorrow.

You can find more information about Liverpool Football Club on the website: https://www.liverpoolfc.com

The following books about Liverpool Football Club are recommended:

Hughes, Simon: The Red Journey. An Oral History of Liverpool Football Club (de Coubertin Books, 2017).

Platt, Mark: Liverpool Football Club. Champions of Europe. (Grange Communication Ltd., 2019).