This week's Premier League games are set to be a strange set, with the coronation of King Charles affecting the schedule, and clubs formally asked to play the national anthem of 'God Save The King' to mark the occasion. Of course, when it comes to matters such as these, all eyes tend to dart to Anfield for the response of Liverpool.
With the club being based in a famously anti-establishment city, and the club's fans taking pride in said identity, it was always likely that a move to play the national anthem as a mark of respect to the Royal Family could go down badly.
When Liverpool played in various cup games just last year at Wembley, the national anthem did not receive the most positive of reactions, with the FA Cup final in particular bringing a resounding chorus of boos for 'God Save The Queen.'
With Liverpool confirming that they will indeed play 'God Save The King' before kick-off of their Premier League game against Brentford at Anfield on Saturday, the reaction from fans has been about what you would expect.
Liverpool: Fans react to club marking coronation weekend
The coronation of King Charles this weekend is set to wreak havoc with other major events in the UK, and the Premier League is one of the places its affect can be seen most visibly.
With the 12:30pm kick-off removed from the schedule to allow widespread coronation coverage, all afternoon and evening games will see the national anthem played at all Premier League grounds ahead of kick off - including at Anfield in Liverpool.
In hilarious fashion, the club confirmed that they would indeed play 'God Save The King' before kick-off at 5:30pm on Saturday - but there was little to no fanfare on a post on their website titled "Three events to be marked at Anfield". Their statement on the coronation said:
Saturay marks the coronation of their Majesties the King and Queen Consort at Westminster Abbey. Just over a week ago, the Premier League contacted all home clubs and strongly suggested to mark this historic occasion across home matches this weekend and provided a list of activity for clubs to get involved in.
Before kick-off and in recognition of the Premier League’s request to mark the coronation, players and officials will congregate around the centre circle when the national anthem will be played. It is, of course, a personal choice how those at Anfield on Saturday mark this occasion and we know some supporters have strong views on it.
Needless to say, the club understand where many fans will sit on this debate.
Liverpool had already been planning two major pre-match ceremonies - a celebration of the city's imminent hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest, and a celebration of the club's LFC Foundation's 20th anniversary - both of which have now had to be altered to accommodate the requests of the Premier League.
Even if Liverpool had hoped to avoid playing the anthem, there was not much that could be done to avoid it, with all home clubs in the Premier League expected to abide by the Premier League's request.
In the replies to Liverpool's tweet announcing the news, many fans had similar reactions.
Glad you've decided to play it, will be a fantastic watch with the booing 🤩
— Shea 🇮🇪🫡 (@bigsheabai) May 5, 2023
GET READY 😁 pic.twitter.com/Hhm8aBSRWM
— DarDarBinks (@footyfiend1) May 5, 2023
Awful decision - it’s not wanted at Anfield & the inevitable booing will create a bad look for the club. Could’ve been avoided. That said if I was there I would also boo it.
— Óg 🇵🇸🇮🇪 (@johnnysalami74) May 5, 2023
"Some supporters have strong views on it"
Love it!! 🤣😂🤣😂#YNWA pic.twitter.com/2ZGDj8g459— Pearl Noir (@noir_pearl) May 5, 2023
fucking love that eurovision gets top billing over the coronation https://t.co/UhNt3J6svn pic.twitter.com/PtRtPGjhKV
— Sam (@samuel__jack) May 5, 2023
Them going:
1) Eurovision
2) coronation
Is a little funny 😭 https://t.co/LGRsE6ciZ6— Belinder (@_bubblxs) May 5, 2023
They really said boo if you want babes we’re cool https://t.co/LuZqD2ONhF pic.twitter.com/oOK4vtGzPj
— Becky Taylor-Gill (@beckytaylorgill) May 5, 2023
Love how for the one earlier in the season it felt like they were wheeling out everybody to say don’t do it to the fans.
And for this one it’s just, yeah we know what’s gonna happen. https://t.co/LVIUiIrbnm— Justin (@juza_23) May 5, 2023
THEY GAVE US PERMISSION TO BOO IM CRYING 😭😭😭 https://t.co/7Ev0rPg93C pic.twitter.com/7ePBaZP2ki
— eimear (@8WDCS) May 5, 2023
Have you ever seen a more “we’ve been forced into making this decision” paragraph lol https://t.co/mm47cgxXoj pic.twitter.com/cpPvmRHch8
— Danny Corcoran (@calcio_danny) May 5, 2023
It will be intriguing to see the reactions of Premier League fans up and down the country as 'God Save The King' rings around grounds pre-match this weekend - and one would hazard a guess that more than a few Royal Family fanatics will have a keener eye on Liverpool than elsewhere.
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