Liverpool, What a Weekend!

Much to my annoyance as a Manchester United supporter, Liverpool won the 2025 Premier League this year. As soon as they announced their title parade had been planned in the City of Liverpool for the 26th of May. I curiously went to Booking.com to see what accommodation would cost for that weekend. Even though our teams are arch nemeses I couldn’t give up the once in a lifetime opportunity to capture photos of the celebrations.

Imagine the shock on my face when within 48 hours over 95% of listings had been booked and the cheapest accommodation you could find was being advertised for over £1000 (R25 000) per night. I quickly gave up on that dream and moved on with the rest of my life. Only for 7 days before my mate Thomas (Liverpool fan through and through) phones and says that they are interested in going, let’s see if we can make it work. Without boring you on the details we thankfully did not pay £2000 (R50 000) for the 2 nights. Our initial accommodation did cancel on us while we were literally standing on the porch ready to check in but that is a story for another day. We managed to MacGyver a 2-night stay that did not financially bankrupt us, which is just about all we could have asked for.

Day 1 – Sunday

After arriving to find out our accommodation was up in flames we did the only responsible thing we could think of, walked to Anfield to be part of the pre-match festivities before Liverpool kicked off in their final game of the season against Crystal Palace. We decided after soaking in the atmosphere, we would find a bar, have a well-deserved drink and worry about the accommodation then. 2 hours before kick-off Anfield was buzzing!!! Tens of Thousands of people took to the streets outside of the stadium, in a sea of red, filling the streets like flood water. Songs being sung around every corner, flags held high in the sky and enough beer being consumed to fill an Olympic Swimming Pool. We knew that it would be busy but we couldn’t believe what we were seeing.

Eventually after soaking in the songs and celebrations we would walk away from the stadium to try and find a bar to sit at. The crowds were unrelenting, masses of people pouring in from each direction, shutting down entire boulevards as 1000s of fans lit flares and marched on Anfield, there was no escaping. Not a single bar we found had space for a mouse, let alone the 4 of us. So, we did the sensible thing and hopped in a bus headed for City Centre where we hoped to escape some of the chaos. Although less chaotic, Liverpool Centre was buzzing, every TV screen had an audience, the City was ready to watch their Local Hero’s crowned Premier League Champions.

On a side note – Liverpool is a fantastic City. A mixture of history, culture and heritage, with a population of fiercely passionate alcoholics with funny accents, I could not recommend it more. Being home to The Beatles, the bars and nightlife is fantastic (Matthew Street especially), live music found everywhere you look. It is just great, have a visit if ever you get the opportunity.

Day 2 – Monday – The Parade

You’re always uncertain what to expect in situations like these. I mean we knew it would be busy (Yesterday was already crazy and that was just for a football game), you hear that over 1 million people will be entering the city to watch the parade. So, you knew to expect crowds, singing, cheering, excitement, but as always what happens in real life always manages to surprise you.

THE ENTIRE CITY WAS HAVING A PARTY!!! 6 hours before the bus is even scheduled to arrive at our location and the City Centre is overrun by Liverpool supporters. Bars are packed to the rafters, lines of 50+ people outside of the supermarkets (trying to buy beer) and people chatting, hugging, laughing, I have never seen so many people so happy. This is more than football. After a little walk around City Centre, we decided to have a look at the Street where the Bus Parade would come through in about 5 hours’ time. 1000s of people have already lined up, lighting flares and singing their songs. The rain coming down for the last 2 hours has done nothing to dampen anyone’s spirits.  

(Another side note – I have met few people who know how to have fun like the English).

Having drank a few of our beers now and soaked in some of the festivities we decided to drop our bags in our hotel room, maybe put on some dry clothes, smash another few beers and head out again. By the Grace of some Divine Entity the last-minute Apartment that we booked was on the Parade route, overlooking the parade, in potentially the most prime location you could get. Deciding to shelter from the unrelenting rain we held up in our apartment for the next few hours, sitting on the balcony, enjoying our beers and taking in the crowds, songs and unfortunately copious amounts of flare smoke.

Within 2 hours the entire street was overflowing, what started as a few thousand people is now 1 kilometre of road without space to move and still more people were streaming in. Through the red smoke at times, it became difficult to tell just how many people there were. With the busses finally rounding the corner 100s of flares go off simultaneously, swallowing everywhere the eye could see in a tsunami of red smoke. It became difficult to see the bus at times, that was standing not 50 meters away from our balcony, a cacophony of sound rising up from the street as the City welcomes their hero’s home. It is all pretty difficult to remember, you feel as if you are in a mass trance like state. You become a part of the collective, losing your ability to process any external stimuli and just lose yourself in the crowd and the celebrations.

Then just as quickly as it came, it went. 5 hours of steady anticipation building towards an inevitable breaking point, manifesting itself into 3 minutes of sheer pandemonium. Hundreds of thousands of voices drowning each other out, creating a sound akin to heavy waves breaking up against the rocks. A strange sense of quiet follows as the busses head into the distance. While it isn’t actually quiet at all, you slowly begin to realise that it is all over and exit the trance like state you were in, suddenly aware of your surroundings and what is happening.

We rushed down to the streets once the busses passed to get in on some of the fun, as people vacated the busy streets. Thousands remained, generally in smaller groups each singing their favourite Liverpool songs. “Allez, Allez, Allez” rang through the streets, accompanied by others for Gerrard, Van Dijk and Arne Slot. This was the sort of after party, the crowds not wanting to go home or off to the next pub but rather soak in a bit more of what they had waited so long for.

This trip was unlike anything I could have imagined. Experiencing the passion and dedication that these Liverpool supports have for their team. How deeply they feel, how much they care and just how much it could mean to them. Not just to the individuals but to an entire City. The City celebrated, strangers became friends, sharing in a moment that they had waited to celebrate for so long. The power of football is unimaginable, the ability to bring a people together regardless of their age, race, gender, religion or social status. A moment in time where nothing else matter but the fact that the person standing opposite of you, is on your team.

Well done Liverpool, thanks for a banging weekend.