Time for Liverpool to follow Preston's example by Andy Proudfoot, Liverpool Daily Post DON’T believe what you read in the papers – Preston taught us a lesson last Saturday. Admittedly not on the pitch – though at times in the second half I was grateful that John Arne Riise wasn’t around to threaten our near post – but in how to treat spectators, and their own history, with respect and prove that comfortable facilities can still be provided even when resources are thin. Deepdale has been completely rebuilt in the last 15 years, yet they’ve managed to retain the sense of history surrounding the oldest professional football site in the world while producing a smart, modern stadium perfectly sized for their league status. In naming the stands after club legends, including one of our own, they’ve shown the footballing soul of the club is never to be lost, the seat mosaics built into three of them providing fitting, attractive tributes to their heroes rather than sponsors’ logos. Better than a set of gates? You decide. No wonder the National Football Museum is housed on the site. You’ll either love or mock the programme printed on recycled paper, and as an avid collector (sad but rewarding) I’ll confess I fear mine falling to bits when I revisit it in about 15 years’ time. But it was packed with good articles and features on, among others, Neil Mellor, Peter Thompson, Gordon Milne and of course Bill Shankly. I’ll even forgive them the sin of printing a reversed picture of Thompson showing the Liver Bird back to front (isn’t that 20 years’ bad luck?); bizarrely I’ve seen this many times over the years. In the concourse of the Bill Shankly Kop (nice ring to it don’t you think?) further treats were in store. Plenty of TVs on show so we could watch the scores come in from around the country on third round day while munching on genuine Lancashire pies; the cause of many gasps as Forest racked up the goals at Eastlands, and of a mighty roar as Southend scored a late equaliser at the Bridge. Now, as a denizen of the Lower Centenary Stand, I can’t comment on the rest of the ground, but would it be asking too much for similar facilities to be installed to keep us entertained before the game at Anfield? At the very least we might see the team line-ups at the same time as the rest of the country, rather than wait until five to three for Phil Easton to share the secret with us. And guess what I found in the toilets? Yes, you’re right: HOT WATER! And hot-air blowers to dry the hands of the 5% who actually wash them after visiting the urinals! No need to restore the circulation to frozen digits, or rip them to pieces trying to extricate the next piece of tissue paper from its inaccessible holder. What these boffins can produce, eh? If Preston can do all this, why can’t we? The club have been reluctant to spend any money on the ground for the last few years while they have striven to find the funding for the new stadium. Now that we know this isn’t going to happen for at least three seasons, can we at least stop Anfield from sliding into the neglect that has befallen its immediate surroundings? Decent toilet facilities and a few tellies would help, and maybe some indication around the ground that we’ve actually won a few things and had one or two decent players? Even Chelsea have murals of Peter Osgood, Charlie Cooke and a few dozen others you’ve never heard of around the Bridge. And don’t get me started on the video screens...
He forgot to mention the soccer am generation type music that they kept playing on the pa - Come on deeeeeeepppppdale eye of the tiger Invincibles pavillion i cant hear you embarrasing as fcuk it was as im sure ant of the reds who travelled will tell you !