WHAT do you do when you’ve penned a popular play about one of the seminal moments in Liverpool Football Club’s history? Write a second one about the other 118 years. That’s just what Nicky Allt, the man behind the 2006 hit One Night in Istanbul, has done. The result is You’ll Never Walk Alone – The Legend of Liverpool FC which comes to the Royal Court this month. “I wrote down some ideas a couple of years ago about the history of the club,†the lifelong Reds fan explains. “I think a lot of people just stick me down now as a football writer, and I was worried about it at one time. But I don’t really care anymore.†It’s one thing creating a show around Bill Shankly, or the Heysel disaster, or the 2005 UEFA Champions League final, but with more than a century of history to tackle, where do you start? At the beginning seems to be as good a place as any. “Basically I started with JK Houlding, the guy who pulled away from Everton,†says Nicky. “Because of course it was only one football club at the start. “And I didn’t know this, I found this out, that it ended up being a Protestant fall out. “JK Houlding was a Presbyterian and the Everton board were Methodists, and I think they were really upset with him that he was selling booze to the rest of the city. “So it was all interesting stuff to find out. Like most supporters, I used to ignore all the little nitty gritty things. All you want to do is see the team win.†And it’s through the eyes of ordinary supporters – a family of Reds who come to Anfield to spread their grandfather’s ashes in the goal mouth – that the tale unfolds. The Royal Court cast includes Mark Moraghan, Pauline Daniels, Lenny Wood and Twopence to Cross the Mersey’s Jamie Clarke, all of whom take on multiple roles as the play progresses. Like One Night in Istanbul, audiences can expect giant video screens and plenty of music, including THAT song. “I didn’t really want to include it because it seemed too obvious,†admits Nicky. “But they were really keen for it, and I suppose it’s become such an iconic football song with people all over the world.†As a Liverpool fan who’s attended games at Anfield since he was a tot (the first match he remembers being at was Liverpool v Everton reserves in 1967), the 50-year-old has also included some of his own stories and memories in the show, not least all the foreign trips following the team which led to his book Boys From the Mersey. He says: “I started going abroad to watch football when I was 15 and my mum and dad used to go crazy. I had wanderlust and I couldn’t be held down. “I just wanted to travel and the football club became like my passport.†Now it’s become Nicky’s passport back to the Royal Court after two solo shows at the Empire, and he says he believes the relative intimacy of the art deco theatre will serve You’ll Never Walk Alone well. It will also be a fitting farewell to Nicky’s football writing career. “I won’t write another football show,†he insists. “Once you’ve written the history of Liverpool Football Club, there’s nothig else for me to write.†You’ll Never Walk Alone – the Legend of Liverpool FC is at the Royal Court from September 30 to October 29.
Ideal for those travelling to and staying over for the Man U and Norwich home games and the Everton away. The matinee on Saturday will be great for the Norwich game actually for those day tripping.
You’ll Never Walk Alone – the Legend of Liverpool FC is at the Royal Court from September 30 to October 29.