Sunday, August 01, 2010

Liverpool FC’s Clash With Borussia Moenchengladbach Is The Celebration Of A Unique Friendship

It’s a friendship unique in world football which has blossomed over four decades.

When Liverpool and Borussia Moenchengladbach met five times during the 1970s the stakes were high and it was the Reds who took the spoils.

In 1973 they edged out the Germans 3-2 on aggregate in the final of the UEFA Cup and then four years later the European Cup was secured for the first time as Gladbach were beaten 3-1 on a memorable night in Rome.

The rivals faced each other again in the semi-finals a year later when Bob Paisley’s side booked their passage to Wembley by overturning a 2-1 deficit with a 3-0 victory at Anfield.

Thirty two years have past since they last locked horns in a competitive fixture but the affinity between the clubs has never been stronger.

The bond which was forged between the two sets of fans on those glorious European nights has not only stood the test of time but strengthened.

And the depth of that mutual respect and admiration will be evident when Liverpool visit a sold-out Borussia Park for their final pre-season friendly tomorrow.

For Kopite Graham Agg, who leads an annual pilgrimage of Reds fans to Moenchengladbach, it will be a special occasion.

“This friendship goes back to those great games in the 70s and it really took off after some Borussia fans came to Liverpool in 1991 to present a cheque for 21,000 Deutsch Marks (about £7,000) to the Hillsborough fund,” he said.

“That meant a great deal and in 1992 a group of Borussia fans started coming over to Anfield every year to support us during the Bundesliga’s winter break.

“The only year they haven’t come over was in 2007 when during their break we only had two home games – against Chelsea and Everton.

“They decided they didn’t want to take 100 tickets off genuine Liverpool fans for such big games so stayed at home which was a nice gesture.

“I speak fluent German having lived over there for a few years so when they came over in 2006 I met up with them for a night in town.

“I was chatting to one of them who said the relationship between the clubs was great but that it was a bit one-sided. They had been coming over here since ‘92 but there wasn’t much coming back the other way.

“I was a bit embarrassed and decided we needed to do something about it.”

The 48-year-old from Netherton started planning a trip to Moenchengladbach to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the clubs’ meeting in the European Cup final.

It proved to be an unforgettable experience and since then the popularity of the trips to Germany has grown.

“There were 25 of us who went in 2007 and the hospitality and friendship shown to us was unbelievable,” he added.

“Just before Gladbach’s final home game a few of us went on the pitch to unveil a special friendship flag to our German friends.

“Their fans roared and then chanted ‘Liverpool, Liverpool’ before giving a perfect rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. It was very emotional.

“We decided then to do it every year. We’ve been four times now and every year it gets bigger and better.

“The supporters who have joined me on our friendship visits have been superb ambassadors for both Liverpool FC and the city.

“We owe a lot to Borussia’s fan liaison officer Thomas “Tower” Weinmann, Thomas “Jonny” Polcher and Matthes Neumann from the BMG Fan Projekt and lifelong Borussia supporter Willi Hartmann, who has made every single friendship visit to Liverpool alongside “Jonny” since ‘92, as they’ve been great in helping to organize our visits.

“Back in April there were 75 of us over there and when Liverpool fans see how they are treated this weekend I’m sure next April we will have over 100.

“The affinity their fans have for our club is remarkable. When we were there about 30 per cent of their fans were wearing Liverpool shirts. I thought it was because we were visiting but we found out it’s a tradition for their supporters to wear Liverpool shirts to all their home games.

“Their official supporters club house near the stadium has a corner dedicated to Liverpool Football Club. And in the stadium their corporate hospitality is in the LFC suite which has a framed picture of the Kop from the 70s.

“It really is remarkable. Both Liverpool and Moenchengladbach are working class cities so I think that’s why the fans identify with each other so much.”

There promises to be a party atmosphere in the German city this weekend.

Liverpool have sold 1,000 tickets for tomorrow’s match and that number will be swelled by supporters’ clubs from across Europe.

The clubs last met in a friendly back in 1994 and this fixture, which is being held to celebrate Borussia’s 110th anniversary, has been a long time coming.

“Back in 2006 they asked me to join them to hand in a petition to Rick Parry at Anfield with 5,000 signatures asking for Liverpool to play them in a friendly,” Agg said.

“They’ve been pushing for it ever since and Sunday’s game means a lot to their supporters. It’s a 54,000 sell-out and it’s the first time in their history they have ever sold out for a pre-season friendly.

“It’s going to be incredible and Liverpool fans going over there for the first time don’t realize what they have let themselves in for. On Saturday there is a five-aside tournament involving teams from Borussia and Liverpool as well as teams from the French, Dutch, German and Hungarian Liverpool Supporters’ Clubs.

“After that there is a big fan festival organized for the evening. Liverpool got about 1,000 tickets but with all the other fans from across Europe they’ll probably be about 3,000 Reds fans.

“Just before the game on Sunday a few of us are going to do a lap of honour around the pitch to parade all the flags we have taken over there.

“No other two clubs have this kind of friendship and it’s something we should be very proud of.”

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