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From Merseyside to Australia: Liverpool fans revel in title success

‘After celebrating a Liverpool league win together as lads, here we were again 35 years later’

Twelve thousand, seven hundred and eighty-three days ago (not that anyone’s counting) my mate and I stood on the old Kop, watching Liverpool edge QPR 2-1, with Rush and Barnes doing what Rush and Barnes did best. It was a simpler time: fewer grey hairs, no smartphones, and considerably fewer dodgy knees.

Fast forward 35 years (during which, like two errant midfielders, we somehow lost track of each other) and a few weeks ago, we finally met up again. Over pints and nostalgia, he casually mentioned he might pop over to Anfield one weekend, “just to take in the atmosphere”. Fast forward again to Sunday at 12.15pm, I fired off a hopeful message asking if he was going – only to be told he was already there, deep in the thick of it.

There was only one thing to do. An impromptu car journey from Lincoln to Sheffield, a train to Lime Street, and then a mad taxi ride straight into the heaving humanity of Taggy’s bar and beer garden. I kid you not, just as I barrelled through the crowd into the throng at 4.25pm, You’ll Never Walk Alone was rising from Anfield and the beer garden.

What followed was an afternoon of utter mayhem, catharsis and joy: pints flying, songs belted out with heart and croaky lungs, old memories dusted off and new ones made. Thirty-five years after celebrating a Liverpool league win together as lads, here we were: older, greyer, slightly more creaky – but somehow, impossibly, just the same. Liverpool champions, mates reunited, and a beer garden for the ages. Some things really are worth waiting 12,783 days for. Jason, Lincoln

‘Watching with my grandson was about passing on something precious – just as my grandad once did for me’

When my 13-year-old grandson Alfie returned from Australia last year we started going to matches together. For me, it wasn’t just about watching football; it was about passing on something precious, just as my own grandad once did for me. He gave me my love for this club – a love that has shaped so much of my life. And now, standing beside my grandson in the ground on Sunday, I felt that same magic at work again. Watching his face light up, feeling the emotion in the stands, seeing the pride in his eyes – it was overwhelming. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. A bond between generations, built on something far greater than just the game. Andy Gibbs, 69, consultant, Liverpool

‘You gotta tip the hat for Arne Slot – what a debutant’

As everybody knows, Liverpool has quite a large, Scandinavian following. Not least because of Saturday afternoon live screenings from the old 1st Division in the 70s and 80s. I’ve been following the team since 1977. Along with a couple of friends I try to see them live once a year: this season we saw a rare defeat at Craven Cottage a couple of weeks ago. Nonetheless this has been a phenomenal league season. You just gotta tip the hat for Arne Slot – what a debutant! We saw the game on Sunday at some pub in Copenhagen. Lots of young people, but also a large number of old timers who shared a little tear whenever Dalglish and Rush were on the screen. I know that Premier League tourists ain’t too popular everywhere, but the feelings run deep. It’s as devoted as it is – somewhat – childish. It’s a childhood thing. Jacob, Denmark

‘The polish and style that has been added is beyond anything I could have dreamed of’

By any standards, this season has been outstanding, but for a first season in charge, having taken over from Jürgen Klopp, the dad/mentor/prime minister every Red wishes we had in our lives, it really is remarkable. It goes without saying the players are exceptionally talented and total professionals, so I understand people correctly reference legacy, but the polish and style that has been added to the exuberance, physical and mental attributes of this special squad has elevated Liverpool this season beyond anything I could possibly have dreamed of.

I wouldn’t have thought improvement across the squad from already brilliant players was something that I needed or was possible, but every single contribution has been taken further than my expectations.There’s not a lot to be cheerful about in the world but I can honestly say my team’s achievement this season gives me hope that great things can happen sometimes when talent is combined with hard work and a good attitude. I am so grateful to Arne Slot for all he has done, it means so much. Elizabeth, Merseyside

‘Never felt assured we would win it even when 11 points clear’

I started supporting the Reds the season after the 1990 title, and I realise many other fans around the world did so too. So the wait till 2020 for the next title has brought me through the bittersweet moments of life. Thankfully this title hasn’t come after another 30, but it feels very unreal and unexpected especially with the departure of Jürgen Klopp. Never felt assured we would win it even when 11 points clear, but perhaps the sense that it would really happen came when Arsenal dropped more points against Brentford just when Liverpool was beating the Hammers! Chun Wei, Singapore

‘I want to do the whole day again’

Yesterday was my highlight. I was lucky enough to be at the game and I’ll never forget it. Even though we’ve known for a while it was coming, the sheer elation once the full-time whistle went was something else. I’ve never experienced an atmosphere like Sunday’s and want to do the whole day again.

It just felt so special to see my club, and the club of my dad, grandad and great-grandad win our 20th title in the flesh. My dad was born on Anfield Road in the 1940s and the site of his childhood home has long since been swallowed up by the stadium. He doesn’t go to the games any more, but I’m so happy he’s still around to celebrate this incredible season.

One of the most important things to us as a family is actually the way the club has been a massive distraction to us during terrible times. My mum had terminal cancer during much of the Klopp era, and Liverpool winning the Champions League and Premier League during that period meant so much to her and us because it took our minds off everything else for a time. She died in 2021 but would’ve been over the moon that the club finally got to celebrate a Premier League title with the fans. It’s very special sharing this moment with so many family members and friends, but it’s also nice reflecting back on the magical moments you shared with those who are no longer here. Jenny, 40s, editor, Wirral

‘The special bond between club, city, community and supporters all over the world’

Just a fabulous feeling. I first saw Liverpool on TV as a just-turned-nine-year-old in 1977. I stayed over at a friend’s house which had a colour TV, (Australia didn’t get colour until 1975), and we got to stay up past midnight to watch the FA Cup final. Of course we lost to Manchester United and weren’t even wearing red! But it sealed a support for them ever since. Luckily later that week the TV news told me they were European champions. From then on I followed their results in the newspaper every Monday and through Friday night Match of the Day vision – yes six days after the games! Over the 80s winning was regular but so was the passion. And then came the Heysel tragedy. Followed by a redemptive arc of the double in 85-86, where I could finally watch a full live game of them for the first time in nine years. Still more victories but not without a huge fight with Everton.

Then during uni, I had a job delivering newspapers through the bitter cold of a Canberra winter morning. And finding out while doing so that the overnight FA Cup semi-final result was no result but the devastation of Hillsborough in 89. In all the fallow years that followed after 1990, that never left me – the special bond between club, city, community and supporters all over the world. The euphoria of Istanbul in 2005 and its flip side of “damm can’t Ferguson stuff up a Man U season” and the collapse at the end of 2013-2014 season. It seemed we would never bridge the gap to United and then City. Then Klopp arrived and a belief was found again, especially when Salah arrived in 2017. The Barcelona semi-final second leg in 2019 was as special as Istanbul but winning on Sunday means more because we’ve erased that Man U lead. Truly the journey is as important as the success but going through what happened to the club after 1990, and not having the Anfield crowd to celebrate it in 2020, just makes this. Julian, Australia

‘I was at Hillsborough – Sunday took me back to happier times’

The last time I saw Liverpool win the league was as a second-year student at the University of Liverpool. I was also at Hillsborough the year before so for the next 10 years or so football was not really important. Just seeing the scenes on the streets on Sunday took me back to happier times. I’m pleased for the people of Liverpool. A great city. The best. Warren, 54, Epsom

‘I knew from the very beginning of this season that Slot would take us back to where we belong’

I’ve been an avid Liverpool fan since I was 12, long before Mo Salah was even born. My brother is a huge Man Utd fan, so you can imagine how that goes on. In 2012, I was able to save £2,500 to travel to Anfield and watch our game with Man Utd, which we sadly lost 2-1.

This season has been enormously astounding. With the culture Klopp nurtured, and the work rate Slot maintained, I knew from the very beginning of this season that he would take us back to where we belong. We’re back on our perch! Salama, Kuwait

‘I am an exiled Scouser who enjoyed Sunday’s celebrations at home with the kids’

I am an exiled Scouser who enjoyed Sunday’s celebrations at home with the kids (one is named Virgil, born after European glory in Madrid), who were going mad and jumping around despite at this age not being able to understand the full gravity of the moment. Notwithstanding the somewhat subdued and surreal celebrations during the last title win, I was around the same age as them in 1990 so wasn’t able to truly understand the gravity of it either, so this feels like my first title win as well. Will happily be going home to participate in the celebrations and parade at the end of the season. All the best to other exiled Scousers and fellow Liverpool fans around the world. Graeme, Czech Republic

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