The origin story of an iconic Anfield banner – and why Arne Slot will soon adorn it

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It is one of Anfield’s most iconic banners.

Six metres wide and three metres high, it features the faces of six cherished managers from Liverpool’s illustrious history — Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Kenny Dalglish, Rafa Benitez and Jurgen Klopp — and takes pride of place near the front of the Kop before each home game.

This summer, it will undergo a makeover, with Arne Slot set to be added alongside Klopp for the start of next season. It is recognition for the Dutch head coach guiding Liverpool to the Premier League title during a remarkable first campaign.

The banner belongs to the Irish Kop, an online forum Dublin-based Liverpool supporter Paul Larkin set up in 2003. It boasts around 8,000 members, including fellow regular match-goers Liam Flanagan and Ger Kane.

The question of whether to add Slot to the banner so early in his Anfield reign has been a topic of debate since it became clear that Liverpool would clinch a 20th top-flight title.

“Some people think it’s too soon, but the criteria has always been that if you either win the league or the European Cup, you go on it,” Larkin says. “The majority who help out with the banner think we should get it updated and I agree with them. I’ve asked a graphic designer to come up with some new designs. Then we’ll pick one and get a new version made over in the United States in time for August. Slot deserves it.”

Flanagan was among those with reservations. “You don’t want to be slapping every manager who comes along on it,” he says. “Slot has done great, but he hasn’t built his own team yet. He needs to carry that success on to become an even worthier candidate.”

Kane thinks differently. “Just put him on the ****ing banner! He has won the league in his first season. We always said the criteria since Shankly was anyone who wins the league or the European Cup gets their head on it. I’m firmly in that camp.”

The banner has pride of place on the Kop (Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

The banner, minus Klopp, first appeared on the Kop at the start of the 2009-10 season during Benitez’s reign.

It was based on a painting by local artist David Neve, who had been inspired by the Five Heads of Communism symbol depicting Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong.

Having developed close ties with supporters group Spion Kop 1906, which organises the displays of flags and banners, the Irish Kop wanted to make its own contribution to the matchday pageantry. The banner quickly became a hit.

“We were coming over to games from Ireland so often, we wanted to add to the atmosphere, and we considered various ideas before going for that one,” Larkin explains. “Not many clubs put managers on a pedestal the way we do. Most clubs have banners just about current or ex players, but Liverpool is different.”

“It goes back to Shankly,” Kane says. “Everyone bought into him. He was the most important person at the club and put Liverpool on the road to becoming the club we are today.

“The banner has had a lot of coverage over the years with Match of the Day and Sky Sports using it. As well as the great design, it’s the sheer size of it and the position of it just to the side of the goal at the Kop end that makes it stand out.”

Flanagan adds: “Some people overthink it. Whenever it’s pictured on TV, you get people on social media saying: ‘Where’s Gerard Houllier? Why isn’t he on it?’.

“There’s no snub. It’s as simple as Houllier wasn’t on the initial painting that the banner was based on. He won everything else for Liverpool, but he didn’t win either the league or the Champions League. That was the criteria from the artist.”

Gerard Houllier is not featured on the banner (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Liverpool boast a huge fanbase in Ireland. Larkin, who works for transport company Dublin Bus, launched the Irish Kop 22 years ago, largely as a means for supporters travelling over to Merseyside for matches to share information about tickets and travel.

Their fundraising efforts have supported the work of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and helped create a memorial to Paisley in his hometown of Hetton-le-Hole in the north east of England.

“There are no membership fees, we’re not an official supporters’ club, we don’t have a chairman or a secretary, it’s never been about making a profit,” Larkin says. “It’s just about helping people out and trying to ensure they don’t get ripped off by ticket touts or travel firms.”

Flanagan, who manages software development teams, moved to Liverpool from Dublin in 2018. He can see the back of the Kop from his garden.

“The journey to Anfield is a bit shorter these days than it used to be,” he says. “I started coming to games in the late 1980s — we used to get the ferry over. Now with all the different flights available, it’s easier and the numbers travelling has definitely grown. You’ve got thousands coming from Ireland for every home game.

“It’s about helping them get over in the cheapest and best possible way, but there’s also an educational side to it in terms of the culture of Liverpool, explaining about Hillsborough and why you can’t be carrying around a copy of The Sun newspaper.”

Members of the Irish Kop with the banner (Paul Larkin)

Kane, who owns a haulage company, is based in Summerhill, County Meath, around 40 minutes’ drive from Dublin. He has missed just one home league game this season — the Chelsea match in October when his flight was cancelled.

Back in 2012, 15 of them clubbed together to buy a minibus, which meant they could make the round trip to Anfield from Dublin for around €35 (£29.40; $39 at current rates) each per game.

“It was a drunken idea while we were at the Euros in Poland, which led to some great times together,” Kane adds. “But times change with other commitments and these days we tend to fly in and out on the day of a game.”

There’s a set routine each matchday to display the banner, which requires four people to hold up the poles attached to it.

“It’s kept with all the Spion Kop flags in a little area behind the Kop,” Larkin says. “You need to get the lads out of the pub and in the ground around 30 to 40 minutes before kick-off to get set up before it’s too busy.”

“That’s why I haven’t held it up in years!” chuckles Kane.

After Benitez’s departure in 2010, they presented a canvas of the banner to the Spaniard’s wife, Montse, and were delighted to later see it on TV hanging on the wall of his office in Madrid.

Liverpool fan Ian Graves presents a canvas version of the banner to Rafael Benitez’s wife, Montse (Paul Larkin)

The only previous change to the banner was in the summer of 2019, when Klopp was added after leading Liverpool to Champions League final glory against Tottenham Hotspur.

The Irish Kop raised the money required through crowdfunding in just 24 hours; they will do something similar to come up with the estimated €1,000 needed to produce a new version including Slot.

None of them expected the banner to require another makeover so soon after Klopp’s departure. They were braced for a season of transition rather than a title procession.

“From the first minute he walked through the door, it was clear that Slot was going to be his own man,” Kane says. “He could have tried to be Klopp light, tapping into the emotion like Klopp did. But he had his own way of doing things — calm and measured. It’s turned out to be more successful than any of us dreamed.

“Every excuse was there for him to fail. The size of the job, who he was following on from, three big contracts sagas in the background, but he’s been immaculate from day one.”

“Yeah, he’s done an amazing job,” Larkin says. “I’m not having any of this weak Premier League nonsense. We’ve blown everyone else away.”

(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)

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