Anfield was a sight to behold as Liverpool got its first chance in 35 years to properly celebrate a title. And the incredible spectacle within the stadium definitely owed something to Virgil van Dijk.
There’s a chance that the captain didn’t fully appreciate the significance of his request. But after signing his new contract on April 17, Van Dijk asked the Liverpool faithful to come wearing red to the remaining games, which, for some, goes against a staunch matchday tradition.
There’s a school of thought that it stems from the culture of away days, when fans might be well-advised to dress neutrally in order to avoid any trouble — wearing the same sort of colors to Anfield can mark you out as a diehard fan, the kind who travels to all the away fixtures too.
But the long and the short of it is that some fans think they are too cool for red. Wearing club colors has become associated with “tourists”, and there’s almost an element of embarrassment now attached to it.
Discourse surrounding fan attire really picked up pace after Liverpool lost the Carabao Cup final at Wembley earlier this year. There was a marked contrast between the sea of black and white in the Newcastle sections and the less homogenous appearance of the Reds fans.
That came with a number of caveats. If you don’t want to wear a club jersey, then it’s much easier to come dressed in something black than something red — and it was a cold March afternoon at Wembley, so even some of those Liverpool fans who were wearing club shirts were covering them up with dark jackets and coats.
There was also the fact that Newcastle had provided scarves to every fan. The natural instinct was to deride this as “tinpot”, but perhaps that’s part of the problem too.
Either way, there’s no denying that the Newcastle end looked really impressive. And while what you wear to the game is always going to be a matter of personal preference, Van Dijk’s comments after signing his contract showed that the players do notice these things.
(Image: Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“I would just encourage everyone that comes to Anfield for the remaining games of the season to wear red,” Van Dijk said. “Come in red or come with all red, make it a red Anfield because that would look incredible. Make as much noise as you can, and then you will enjoy it even more than you already should do, in my opinion.”
It was always going to be interesting to see how fans responded to Van Dijk’s request. And as things panned out, the first home game since the captain’s remarks happened to be the one where Liverpool could seal the title.
I had my doubts, but Anfield rose to his rallying call magnificently. Against Spurs, the stadium looked markedly different to a usual matchday, with vast swathes of red on all four sides. Again, the weather played its part — barely a month on from Wembley, this was a sunny day with a hint of summer in the air. But there seems little doubt that Van Dijk had a direct effect as well.
That in itself is something quite remarkable. A word from Van Dijk has clearly changed the matchday routines of a significant number of supporters; it’s the same sort of respect and influence a captain like Steven Gerrard might have wielded in the past.
And it looked incredible. It only added to the sense of collectivism, the idea that every single person in red had come to share in an experience that had been, in many cases, a lifetime in the making.
(Image: Steven Halliwell | MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Obviously, the circumstances meant that the atmosphere was always going to be something special. But those in attendance were struck by the color as well as the sound.
“It’s obviously worked”, said one Spurs fan in attendance at Anfield, when I told him about Van Dijk’s plea for fans to wear red. “Haven’t heard many grounds like this before,” he added.
The Anfield atmosphere doesn’t need any help — regardless of what fans choose to wear, it is a truly special place to go and watch football. But Van Dijk identified something that could make it even better, and it has to be said that he was right.
