Liverpool fans hurled smoke bombs this evening outside Anfield as they ignored police advice to stay at home ahead of their side’s Premier League trophy presentation.
The team play Chelsea tonight and later will be presented with the Premier League trophy after the match. It will be their first title victory in 30 years.
Merseyside Police have already urged fans to stay at home this week and enjoy the title-winning celebrations from their living rooms. The match is being held behind closed doors and social distancing measures are in place.
Despite the warnings that come in the midst of a pandemic that has killed more than 45,000 people, fans are already starting to congregate outside the historic stadium.
Groups of supporters have already been pictured this evening close together in breach of social distancing and red coloured smoke bombs have been thrown outside the stadium.
Liverpool legend Sir Kenny Dalglish took to social media to implore fans not to come to the stadium. Dalglish was the last manager to lead Liverpool to a top-flight title in 1990. He tweeted: “Can everyone please respect the guidelines and enjoy the moment. This is a dress rehearsal for when we can all celebrate together safely.”
It comes amid fears that thousands of supporters will flock to the stadium much like in late June when the team secured the title
Hundreds of Liverpool fans have already started congregating outside Anfield and have let of red flares
Liverpool fans wait to greet the Liverpool FC team bus outside Anfield in Liverpool this evening
At the time supporters were also told to stay at home and adhere to the government’s social-distancing guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic.
But those warnings were ignored by large numbers of fans, many of whom had been waiting 30 years to see their side crowned champions.
Assistant Chief Constable Natalie Perischine, from Merseyside Police, said: “This is such an important night for all Liverpool fans in the city and worldwide, with the Premier League trophy to be lifted inside the stadium.
‘The club and TV companies have made careful preparations to ensure that millions of people can enjoy these special moments on screen, in the comfort of their homes.
“On this occasion, the best seat in the house is in your living room. There is simply no benefit to going to the ground and we as a city cannot afford for people to gather in large numbers.
“We are all still in unprecedented times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the last thing anyone wants is a resurgence of cases in Merseyside, with every life lost a tragedy.
‘The last thing anyone wants is for all Merseyside’s patience and selflessness to unravel and for lockdown measures to be reintroduced, as we have seen in other areas.”
It comes the Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp urged his squad to savour every moment of the title triump this evening.
Liverpool fans set off flares outside Anfield as the Liverpool team bus arrives before their clash with Chelsea
Jurgen Klopp has urged his squad to savour every moment of a golden period in Liverpool‘s history as he prepares to lift the Premier League trophy.
He said: ‘In the moment, when I spoke about the last 13 or 14 months, it was for sure the most exceptional and successful year of my career.
‘Being champion of Europe, England and the world, it doesn’t happen too often.
‘So I think it makes sense that we take a picture with all four trophies because I don’t think there are a lot of pictures in existence where a club has all four of these trophies. We will do that 100 per cent and rightly so.
‘It’s not that I had to say it to them – but I have mentioned it. This is absolutely special. This is the moment, pretty much where you talk about things after a season, but this is the moment that you really have to cherish. You have to appreciate it and reflect, 100 per cent, it has been exceptional.
‘The last 13 or 14 months of this team, it didn’t start then, it started before then but we won all that since then so that makes it really, really special. But all the things in the one-and-a-half to two years before were really exceptional. We just didn’t get the reward.
It goes to show, if you are good and you work hard, which we have obviously done and you put in all you can, there is a chance. It doesn’t mean you can get it as we saw the year before, but there is a chance. We were ready to work for this chance and, in the end, the boys made it happen.’
There will be some symmetry with Liverpool’s last title triumph in 1990 this evening as Jordan Henderson will replicate Alan Hansen in lifting the prize after missing the ceremonial match through injury.
Liverpool won that fixture against Derby 1-0 and Klopp would settle for the same score.
Klopp was serene when he thinking about the way this collision with Chelsea will go and says there can be no comparison to how he felt before Liverpool faced Tottenham in Madrid last June, needing to win to lift the Champions League.
‘I had some good moments since we won the Premier League, being reflective and happy about how big of a prize it is but the difference could not be bigger,’ said Klopp. ‘Before the Champions League final I had massive pressure that it was really important.
‘I always thought it would be much nicer winning a Premier League early than going into a Champions League where everything goes into an all-or-nothing point. Winning the league seven games before a season ends is incredible
‘It is 100 percent the moment when we get the trophy. That is what it is all about. It is one of the big stories in football history. If someone had a chance to decide to become champion in any country this year, which team would you want to be to have it special, make your choice?
‘The choice would have been Liverpool FC because it was the one everyone wanted to be part of, and we are lucky to be part of it. I appreciate that a lot. It is a really big one. It is not that other championships will ever be forgotten, but this one no-one will forget.’