Why do Liverpool fans sing You'll Never Walk Alone?
How did this iconic anthem become synonymous with Liverpool, who really wrote it and why is it still so powerful all these years later? We're exploring the history, culture and little-known facts about the song.
Soccer
By OG.com Staff
It’s one of soccer’s most iconic anthems, blasted out from the terraces of Anfield and elsewhere since a version of the song was released by Gerry and the Pacemakers in the 1960s.
If you’ve ever wondered why this song is so inextricably linked to Liverpool and why other teams’ fans have borrowed it, this article explores it all; from the origins to how it became a pre-game ritual for Liverpool fans.
Who wrote You’ll Never Walk Alone? Broadway origins
Although they popularized it, Gerry and the Pacemakers didn’t write You’ll Never Walk Alone (YNWA). It was a Rodgers and Hammerstein number composed for the 1945 Broadway musical Carousel. The song carries a strong message of solidarity and hope, with a rousing crescendo around the “walk on” refrain.
Liverpool band Gerry and the Pacemakers, contemporaries of The Beatles and Merseybeat stalwarts, recorded their version of the song 15 years after it was written. They recorded it in a much more pop music style, arguably making it more accessible to radio listeners and football fans.
Gerry and the Pacemakers bring YNWA to Anfield
Pacemakers lead singer Gerry Marsden was a Liverpool boy and lifelong supporter of Liverpool FC. The band’s version of YNWA shot straight to number 1 in the charts, earning it heavy radio rotation. By chance, Anfield, Liverpool’s home stadium, was one of the first to have a public address system and DJ, meaning fans could hear pop music before the game and at half time.
Even in grounds without public address systems, it was common at the time for fans to sing popular songs from the radio before the game. YNWA caught on for a couple of reasons: 1. it was rousing and lent itself well to crowd singing, 2. it was local and it was written by a fellow Liverpudlian and Liverpool fan.
How Liverpool fans made YNWA an anthem
In the early 1960s, Anfield regularly played the UK’s top 10 records before matches. When Gerry and the Pacemakers released You’ll Never Walk Alone in 1963, Liverpool supporters on the Kop quickly began singing along. The song remained a favourite even after it left the charts, and fans reportedly asked why “their song” was no longer being played.
The Kop’s steep design and position behind the goal helped thousands of voices carry around Anfield. Over time, the song became part of Liverpool’s matchday tradition and eventually the club’s defining anthem. It is still sung before home games today.
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Bill Shankly and the institutionalization of YNWA
Bill Shankly remains today one of the most iconic and successful coaches in Liverpool’s illustrious history. Former Liverpool player Tommy Smith famously recalled that Shankly was among the first to hear the Gerry and the Pacemakers version of YNWA, after Gerry Marsden himself gave him an advance copy of the single before its official release.
Long after the song’s release, fans continued to sing it. Eventually it made its way into an official part of the Liverpool game day experience, with the club DJ always playing the song as the players took to the field before a game. Speaking years later, Bill Shankly famously thanked Gerry for the song, saying:
“Gerry my son, I have given you a football team, and you have given us a song.”
More than a motto: YNWA on the club crest
As well as a song, You’ll Never Walk Alone became a motto for Liverpool fans. Liverpool FC officially recognized the significance of the song and the motto in their 1992 centenary year, updating the team’s crest to include the words You’ll Never Walk Alone into the club’s badge, where it’s been ever since.
While Liverpool aren’t unique in having a pop song become an unofficial team anthem, theirs is perhaps the most instantly recognizable and enduring.
Hillsborough Disaster and the song as a symbol of justice
The song took on much more significance after the Hillsborough Disaster. On 15 April 1989, a fatal crush occurred in overcrowded pens at an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, killing 97 Liverpool supporters.
The Hillsborough Disaster changed football forever and saw Liverpool fans join forces with other fans, campaigners, politicians, celebrities and public figures in demanding justice for the victims.
Throughout the entire campaign for justice, YNWA became an official slogan, again emphasizing the solidarity between the affected families, supporters and campaigners.
In 2021, after the release of an initial report into the Hillsborough Disaster, supporters launched a campaign to get the song back into the charts. Gerry Marsden announced at the time that any royalties and other payments from the campaign would go back into Hillsborough related charities.
Why other clubs sing it – but Liverpool owns it
Liverpool isn’t the only team to sing, or have sung, You’ll Never Walk Alone. Celtic is probably the best known team to use the song aside from Liverpool. The club has strong connections due to both having links to the Irish Catholic immigrant communities in Liverpool and Glasgow.
Other clubs associated with YNWA include Germany’s Borussia Dortmund and Feyenoord, based in The Netherlands. The song is popular as a football anthem because of its lyrics and melody, which make it easy to remember and sing as part of a crowd.
Back in the early 1960s, many other teams sang it purely due to the tradition of football fans belting out popular radio songs from the terraces.
How US fans experience YNWA
US fans who watch Liverpool games on TV will know the song well and fans of a certain vintage may even recall the song being popular on radio the first time around. But for most it’ll be the association with Liverpool that brought the song to their attention.
Supporter groups will also be familiar with the song, especially if they gather in English-themed bars to watch Liverpool’s games. Aside from hearing the song, the phrase and the initialism ‘YNWA’ will be familiar, especially to people deeply into Liverpool football content on social media.
FAQs about Liverpool fans and YNWA
Who wrote the Liverpool anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone?
Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, known collectively as Rodgers and Hammerstein, wrote the song for the Broadway musical ‘Carousel’.
Why do Liverpool fans sing You’ll Never Walk Alone?
The song was popularized on radio by Merseybeat band Gerry and the Pacemakers, fronted by Liverpool resident and fan Gerry Marsden. The song caught on after it was played over the Anfield public address system.
What variations of You’ll Never Walk Alone have Liverpool fans come up with?
The fans tend to stay faithful to the original, but for a while in the 1980s and 1990s there was a joke in football circles about Liverpool fans singing You’ll Never Walk Again to players who got on the wrong side of tough-tackling Scotsman Graeme Souness.